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THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE

SCRAP BOOK

NUMBER 3

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Stories of the Camp,

March, Battle, Hospital

and Prison Told by

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PRICE 25 CENTS

PUBLISHED BY

THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE, WASHINGTON, D. C.

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The National Tribune

SCRAP BOOK

Number 3

STORIES OF THE CAMP, MARCH, BATTLE,HOSPITAL AND PRISON TOLD

BY COMRADES

PRICE 25 CENTS

^-ii PUBLISHED BYTHE NATIONAL TRIBUNE

WASHINGTON, D. C.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PagesThe Rousseau and McCook Raids. Thrilling Adventures, Desperate Chances,

Much Hard Fighting and Narrow Escapes. By Alexander Eckels, 4th

Tenn. Cav 3

Before Atlanta. By B. A. Williams, First Lieutenant, Co. D, 91st Ind 13

Personal Recollections, 1862-1865 16

The Passing of Two Andersonville Prisoners—Also Something in Behalf of

Surviving Ex-Prisoners of AVar. By C. W. Archbold 19

Hood at Nashville. By John C. Titus, Co. C, 10th Ky 23

Greeted by Lincoln. By N. G. Sparks 26

Regiments From Tennessee. By W. R. Carter 27

Lincoln Revised His Speech. By S. R. Averill, Co. F, 13th Pa. Cav 30

Forts Harrison and Gilmer. By Stephen F. Wells, Battery C, 2d Pa. H. A. . . . 32

The "Rebellion Record" of an Enlisted Man. By W. E. H. Morse, Co. E,

5th Me 33

No Snail Pace for Sherman. By J. D. Calehan, Staff Lieutenant CommandingProvost Guard, First Division, Sixth Corps '. 101

The Early Days of the War; a Retrospect. By J. C. M. Hamilton, 110th Pa. . 102

Suey and Mother Fight. By Alfred Spence 108

Some Cavalry Service in Northern Mississippi. By Brig.-Gen. J. K6mp Miz-

ner, U. S. V.; Colonel, 20th U. P. Cav 109

Saved by the Southern Confederacy. By Theo. F. Allen 112

Diary Jottings of March From Nashville to Eastport, Miss., Morning After the

Battle, Dec. 17, 1864. By R. A. Spink, Co. A, 14th Wis 116

With the 13th Ohio. By Anthony Leonard, Co. A, 13th Ohio 120

The Guntown Disaster. By Wm. Guynn 123

Cavalry in the Navy. By F. W. Sedgwick, 10th 111. Cav 125

Sad Tragedy at Columbia. By John R. Palmer, Cos. A and H, 3 2d 111 127

First Corps at Gettysburg. By Chas. W. Cook, Sergeant. Co. G, 76th N. Y. . 128

Boats, Battles and Beef. By J. A. DeMuth, Co. D, 8 5th Pa 130

Ohio Generals in the War. By Frank H. Snow 131

Through Chances of War. By Frank Holsinger, Co. F, 8th Pa. Reserves. . . . 132

Tupelo. By Gilford Hervey 133

Fifteen Months in Rebel Prison. By James Greacen, Co. I, 22d Mich 134

"The Old Sixth Corps." By Thos. Lynch 144

Robert E. Lee. By W. Medkirk 145

Our Noble Dead. By Mrs. H. Sexton 150

The Battle of Pittsburg Landing. By Col. E. T. Lee 151

124th Ohio at Pickett's Mills. By Peter Price, Co. H, 124th Ohio 156

The 2 4th Ind. at Shiloh. The Long March to Get Into the Battle. By Lewis

B. Jessup 158

At Chancellor's House. By S. A. Osborn, Lieutenant, Co. G, 145th Pa 160

The Rousseau and McCook Raids

Thrilling Adventures, Desperate Chances, Much Hard Fighting andNarrow Escapes.

By Alexander Eckels, 4th Tenn. Cav., Knoxville, Tenn.

As I have seen but little in the columns of The National Tribune con-

cerning the Tennessee troops in the Union army during the rebellion, andthere seems to be an interest manifested of late concerning them, I aminduced to write a few reminiscences of the 4th Tenn. Cav. I write moreto correct some mistaken impressions that seem to have gained credencethan to write a full history of the regiment. In an issue of The NationalTribune I had an article on the beginning and completion of the organ-ization of the regiment and a brief sketch of its first "baptism of fire."

Many incidents of importance were left out of that article; but I shall

not go back at present to supply them, but begin where I left off.

It will be remembered that I briefly referred to Gen. Morgan's bril-

liant, arduous and hazardous retreat from Cumberland Gap to the OhioRiver at Grunsupsburg, and a short sketch of the raid into Mississippi

imder Gen. Wm. Sooey 8mith, and the disaster that overtook him. Hiscommand returned to Collinville badly used up—the 4th Tenn. Cav. withthe rest, but with an experience worth very much to them, and of whichthey profited in future campaigns.

On March 18, 1864, the 4th Tenn. Cav. returned to Nashville sore,

tired and somewhat dejected on account of their defeat, but with their

fighting blood at fire heat. Co. C, which had been on detached service at

Gen. Slocum's headquarters at Tullahoma, returned to the regiment aboutthe same time. A more extended notice of their service at Gen. Slocum'sheadquarters will be given further on. The regiment was remounted andotherwise prepared for active service.

THE ROUSSEAU RAID.

In the Summer of 1864 Gen. Sherman was hammering away at

Atlanta, which at that time seemed almost impregnable, so in June heconceived another idea of sending an expedition into the heart of Ala-bama for the purpose of cutting the railroads leading west by way ofTalladega and the West Point & Montgomery Railroad and destroyingall the Confederate property along the intermediate points. He wroteto Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau and laid his plans before him and asked him

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to study them and be ready to move when directed. At the proper timehe was directed to organize a cavalry force of about 2,500 men and a

section of artillery. This force he was to collect at Decatur, Ala. Hewas given the option of going himself or sending an experienced officer.

He chose going in person. For this expedition Gen. Rousseau selected

the 8th Ind., 2d Ky., 4th Tenn.^ 9th Ohio and 6th Iowa Cav. and a section

of the 1st Mich. Art. Gen. Sherman's instructions to him were to go byway of Summerville, across Sand Mountain, thru Blountville and overStrait Mountain to Ashville and on to Greensport, on the Coosa River;thence to Talladega, and to cross Talladega River at Stowe's Ferry;thence thru Dadeville to Loachapoka, on the West Point & MontgomeryRailroad.

The 4th Tenn. Cav. reported to Gen. Rousseau at Decatur, and wentinto camp at Mooresville, about five miles above Decatur. While wait-

ing the completion of the fitting out of the command the 4th Tenn.,

under command of Lieut.-Col. Thomburgh, was ordered to go in the

direction of Tuscumbia and ascertain, if he could, the whereabouts of

Roddey, who was reported in that vicinity threatening the communica-tions at that place. Col. Thornburgh moved his regiment out aboutsundown, and after marching all night came upon Roddey about daylight, completely surprising and capturing his camp, taking several

prisoners and destroying his camp equipage and stores, and returned to

camp without the loss of a man.

THE START.

All things now being ready at 1 o'clock p. m., on the 10th day of July,

Gen. Rousseau moved out with his command and was soon on hostile

territory, with Roddey somewhere west of him, but not thought to be in

dangerous proximity. Only one battalion of the 4th Tenn. Cav., undercommand of Maj. Stevens, was sent with Gen. Rousseau. About sundownhe reached Summerville, 17 miles away, and encamped for the night. OnJuly 11 he crossed Sand Mountain, thru Blountville, and over Strait

Mountain, and went into camp. July 12 he marched to within five miles

of Ashville. Maj. Stevens was ordered to proceed on to the town andsecure whatever might be of value to the command. This he proceededto do, taking possession of the town, there being but a small guard at the

place. He found a considerable quantity of corn and quite an amount of

commissary stores, all of which he took possession of. The men andhorses were supplied with what they needed and the balance destroyed.

The next day, July 13, he reached Greensport, on the Coosa River. Butbefore reaching this place the rear of his column was fired into by someguerrillas, resulting in the killing of Capt. Curl and wounding Capt.

Wilcox, of the 5th Iowa Cav.At Greensport there was a ferry with a small boat, which was on the

opposite side of the river, and on the hills beyond was stationed a con-

siderable force of rebels, who disputed his crossing. Before he could get

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possession of the boat the enemy had to be dislodged. Gren. Rousseauplaced some sharpshooters in the houses of the town while he sent the 4thTenn. and 5th Iowa down the river about four miles to the Ten Islands,

where there was an old ford, said to be where Gen. Jackson crossed whenhe was fighting the Indians. The 4th Tenn. was ordered to cross the

river and the 5th Iowa was to follow, and when across were to chargethe rebels. Considerable skirmishing ensued before a crossing could beeffected.

When across they charged into them, while the sharpshooters keptup a constant fire, and they were soon routed. Some men were detailed

to swim over now and bring the boat back, when about 200 men wereferried over and the enemy driven off. The result of the skirmish wasthe killing of Capts. Abercrombie and Moore and 15 men and woundingof 40. Lieut.-Col Long and Maj. McWhirter and six men were captured.

The only casualty to Gen. Rousseau was the wounding of one man in the

8th Ind. The troops engaged were the 6th and 8th Ala. Cav. and a fewmilitia under Gen. Clinton.

INSPECTING THE COMMAND.

Gen. Rousseau now made a thoro inspection of his command, andevery man and horse not fit for the remainder of the raid—about 300—was sent back to Guntersville. This reduced his force to about 2,200.

On July 14 the entire command was safely across, and the march wasresumed. The weather was intensely hot and the roads were very poor,

so that Gen. Rousseau was forced to abandon one piece of his artillei:y

after so disabling it as to be worthless to the enemy. The extra horseswere attached to the other pieces ; so, thus unencumbered, he was enabledto move with more ease and celerity, which was a thing now very desirable.

On July 15 Talladega was reached, a village of some importance, situ-

ated in the midst of broad cottonfields and on the railroad running westfrom Atlanta and one of the main arteries supplying the army at Atlanta.The large depot was filled with leather, grainsacks, flour, wheat, salt andcotton. There was found stored in other parts of the town about 100,000rations of sugar and salt, 20,000 rations of flour and bacon and a largequantity of other commissary stores. The men were supplied with whatthey wanted and the balance committed to the flames.

There was two gun factories in the place, which were also destroyed,

together with several cars. One hundred and forty-three rebel soldiers

were found in the hospital located here, all of whom were paroled. Severalcotton-gins and presses were destroyed.

In the evening of July 16 the Talladega River was reached at Stowe'sFerry. The pack-mules and artillery were ferried over, while the mencrossed at an old ford about half a mile above the ferry.

This ford was deep and swift at the bank of entrance, and some of thehorses and men were drawn down by the swift current and drowned. Afew feet from the bank the water got shallow, but the bottom was rough.


and it was slow work getting over. The greater portion of the inght wasconsumed in crossing. The 4th Tenn., however, crossed over before night.This exhausted the men and horses very much, but as it was only about aday's march to the West Point & Montgomery Eailroad, the objectivepoint of the expedition, Gen. Rousseau deemed it advisable to push on tothe railroad. He accordingly moved in the direction of Montgomery, tocreate the impression that he was going to that place, but, after marchin^^sufficiently far to create the ruse, he deflected to the left and marchedthru Dadeville and directly to Loachapoka on the West Point &> Mont-gomery Railroad, about 12 miles from Opelika, which place he reachedabout night of July IT.

Orders were given the men to feed their horses and cook their cup-pers, while he sent out reconnoitering parties to ascertain the situation,

and if there were any of the enemy in the vicinity, when the work ofdestruction began.

To the 4th Tenn. and 5th Iowa was assigned the duty of destroyingthe depot and railroad and all Confederate property at Cheraw Station^

which was done in a satisfactory manner.

FIGHT AT OPELIKA.

Next day Opelika was reached, where a considerable number of rebels

had concentrated, and a brisk little fight followed, resulting in the killing

of about 15 of the enemy and wounding of about 40 more. Three of Gen.Rousseau's men were killed, one of whom was of the 4th Tenn.

The work of destroying the depot at Opelika was committed to the4th Tenn. and 5th Iowa, which was done to perfection. The depot at this

place was filled with cavalry saddles, or saddle-trees, as there was nothingbut the tree, with stirrups and a girth. While the work of destroyingthe Government property was going on the town caught on fire, but bythe heroic efforts of the soldiers the town was saved from destruction.

Gen. Rousseau now pushed the work vigorously on toward WeptPoint. An engine with a few guards was sent down from the direction

of West Point by the rebels to ascertain what was wrong. It was cap-

tured, but not without first killing the engineer. The prisoners wereparoled and the engine destroyed.

The work was rushed with all speed, for it was not known how soonWheeler, who was thought to be somewhere in the north part of Georgia,might pounce down upon the command and thus would be trouble. Therailroad was completely destroyed for a distance of 35 miles, together withevery depot and all Confederate property.

DESTROYING THE RAILROAD.

It was not a difficult matter to destroy the railroad, as the rails werespiked onto string timbers and they keyed into the cross-ties, and all that

was necessary was to drive out the keys and lay one track beside the other

and apply the torch and the work was soon done, as the weather was ex-

cessively hot and the timber dry, so that the work was easily and rapidly

The National Tribune Scrap Book. 7

accomplished. At 10 o'clock of the 19th the work which the expedition

was sent to perfomx was completed, and now the serious part of the

affair confronted Gen. Rousseau.Gen. Sherman gave him tlie option of returning to whatever point

most convenient and presented the least obstacles. Gen. Rousseau thoughthe could reach Marietta and not encounter Wheeler, which he did by anexceedingly narrow escape.

Accordingly at 2 o'clock he set out for Marietta, about 150 miles

distant. About midnight he passed thru Lafayette, about 25 miles dis-

tant, halting and resting until daylight, July 20. At an early hour the

march was resumed, when 35 miles was covered.

July 21 he marched the same distance, passing thru CarroUton andVilla Rica. As the command was marching on the night of July 21 andthe advance guard was emerging from the woods, across the field a little

distance ahead they discovered troops passing on a road that crossed

theirs, going south. Word was sent to Gen. Rousseau, the command washalted, and all parties ordered to keep quiet. It is needless to say quiet

reigned. On investigation it was ascertained that Wheeler was goingsouth, hunting for Gen. Rousseau. After Wheeler had passed on at a

safe distance the command "forward" was given, and they moved off at

a brisk pace. The march was continued until well along toward daybreak,when a halt was made and the men and horses given a short and much-needed rest.

At early dawn, July 22, the march was resumed, and without anyincident worthy of note the command reached Marietta at about 4 o'clock

in the evening, thoroly exhausted, and it was not long until man andbeast were peacefully slumbering beneath the folds of the Star-spangledBanner, after having been in the saddle almost day and night for about15 days and having marched about 500 miles and destroyed 35 miles of

railroad, burning eight or 10 depots, killing about 30 rebels, capturingabout 200 and wounding about 40, all with the loss of only two men killed

and some eight or 10 wounded. Gen. Wheeler did not discover his de-

ception until next morning, when he was very much chagrined and dis-

gusted because he had missed his opportunity of catching Gen. Rousseau,and the language he indulged in was not the kind that is taught in Sun-day-school classes. The writer has talked with one of Wheeler's men, andhe said the General did some "tall cussing."

This was one of the many brilliant cavalry exploits of the war andreflected much credit on Gen. Rousseau's skill and ability as a cavalrycommander. It materially aided Gen. Sherman in his grand flank move-ment on Atlanta, while at the same time it seriously crippled the enemym and around Atlanta.

McCOOK'S RAID INTO GEORGIA.In the Summer of '64 the value of the cavalry was beginning to be

fully realized and its services were in constant demand, and Gen. Shermankept his cavalry on the jump, scouting here, raiding yonder, hunting the

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enemy everywhere, learning their whereabouts, ascertaining their num-ber, the strength of their position, the condition of the country, the roads,crossings of rivers and creeks, and in fact obtaining all the informationpossible that would be of any value to the Commanding General. Thefact is, the cavalry became the &yQs of the army. They were particularly

valuable in raiding weak pomts in the lines and destroying the communi-cations and supplies of the enemy. They were advantageously used oftenharassing the enemy in retreat. Such were the uses to which Gen. Sher-man was putting his cavalry in the Atlanta campaign. It was exceed-

ingly hazardous service. There was, however, a fascination about it thatattracted and enticed the cavalrymen, and they were always willing andeven anxious for such expeditions. It was hard and dangerous service^

but the excitement of the chase or the destruction of the enemy's line of

communications or his property oftentimes more than compensated for

iho) fatigue and bruises received.

The 4th Tenn. Cav. came in for its share of such service. The Atlantacampaign was particularly trying on the regiment.

July 23 Gen. Rousseau returned to Marietta from a successful raid

of about 15 days into the interior of Alabama, where he had cut two lines

of railroad, seriously delaying the supplies to the enemy at Atlanta. Tofurther cripple his communications with the West, Gen. Sherman orderedGen. E. M. McCook to take his cavalry and Col. Harrison's Brigade andmarch "rapidly on Fayetteville and the railroad beyond." Col. Harri-son's Brigade was taken along as reserve. At the same time he orderedGen. Stoneman to take 5,000 cavalry and move on the left of Atlantaand meet Gen. McCook at or near McDonough, a station near Lovejoy's

on the now Central of Georgia Railroad. Gen. Sherman's object was to

cut the West Point & Montgomery Railroad at Palmetto and the Centralof Georgia Railroad at Lovejoy's, while Stoneman was to cut the road to

Macon, to prevent reinforcements expected from Alabama and Mississippi

from arriving.

STRIPPING TO FIGHTING WEIGHT.

On July 26 Col. Harrison was ordered to report to Gen. McCook at

Sandtown, some 25 or 30 miles below Atlanta, on the Chattahoochee River.

Here a thoro inspection was made of the brigade and all men and horses

not fit for the expedition were sent back to Marietta. This reduced the

4th Tenn. to about 300 effective men. About 4 o'clock the brigade wasover, the 4th Tenn. being the last to cross, and was to bring up the rear,

Avith Co. C as rear-guard. A little after dark the rear-guard reached

Palmetto, where Gen. McCook had preceded Col. Harrison an hour or

so, and was busily engaged in destroying the railroad and depot. Un-fortunately there was some commissary whisky found in the depot, andsome of the boys had a hilarious time the remainder of the night.


PLENTY OF MONEY.

About 10 o'clock Col. Harrison's Brigade moved out for Lovejoy's

on the West Point & Montgomery Road, with Gen. McCook's com-mand in advance. About daylight they passed thru Fayetteville, whevea large wagon train was captured and left for Col. Harrison's Brigade to

destroy. Among the many trophies captured in this train was the Pay-master's outfit, and all of a sudden many of the boys became immenselyrich—in Confederate bluebacks. The train was effectively destroyed.

The command pressed on, and about 12 o'clock of the 27th the rear-guardreached Lovejoy's Station. Gen. McCook's men were busily engagedburning the railroad and cutting the telegraph wires and otherwise

destroying the Confederacy. Here Gen. McCook expected to meet Gen.Stoneman. He waited some two hours. This gave an opportunity for

the men to feed their horses and make a pot of coffee and incidentally to

catch a few winks of sleep, as they had now been in the saddle for about24 hours.

THE SITUATION LOOKS SERIOUS.

Hearing nothing from Gen. Stoneman, and Wheeler's cavalry press

ing on him from all sides, the situation began to look pretty serious. Geii.

Sherman said McCook became panic-stricken here. It was enough to

panic-strike the most courageous General. The plans, as Gen. McCookunderstood them, had miscarried, and visions of Andersonville and Maconbegan to rise before his mental vision. However, the only altemp tive left

was for him to make an attempt to get back to his "proper place on theflank," as ordered. He decided to return by way of Newnan to Moore'sbridge across the Chattahoochee River.

At 2 p. m. he started, and after going about a mile, as his rear-

guard, which was Croxton's Brigade, was passing the forks of the roadwhere Gen. McCook had turned to the left for Newnan they were attackedby a considerable force of the enemy and Col. Croxton was forced to

charge thru them. After a considerable skirmish he was able to proceedand catch up with the column.

After crossing Flint River night overtook them, and as the moonwas not shining it was very dark. It was with great difficulty they couldfollow the road, as it lay mostly thru dense woods. It was very hard to

keep the men in line, and had it not been for the training of the horsesto follow the file leader many of the men would have been lost, as theywere almost overcome with fatigue and want of sleep, and in fact manyof them slept on their horses, trusting to their faithful beasts to keep in

line. The route lay thru a country dense with undergrowth, with manybogs and swamps, and the men had to flounder along as best they could,with guides stationed along the road at the most dangerous places to

direct the men how to go. After struggling all night thru this denseforest Newnan was reached. Passing thru the town, a few miles bej^ond

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a strong force of cavalry was struck, supported by a brigade of infj^ntrj^,which had been delayed here on account of the railroad being destroyedat Palmetto. This was Wheeler's, Jackson's and Roddey's cavalry, andwith the infantrj^ outnumbered McCook's force about three times.

THE ROAD BLOCKADED.

They had planted themselves squarely across Gen. McCook's routeand were preparing to capture his entire force. Cols. Croxton's andTorry's Brigades were ordered to break the line and open a way of escape.

They moved out gallantly to the task, but, after fighting for an hour ormore, found they were unable to break thru. Col. Harrison's Brigade,which had been held in reserve, was ordered in to make another attemT't.

The 4th Tenn. Cav. was dismounted in the south end of a large field andsent in on the right. After fighting the rebels about an hour they suc-

ceeded in getting around their right flank and were about to get mbetween them and their horses, when they fell back, and, rallying, chargedacross the field to the woods and drove them back.

In the meantime the artillery came up, and unlimbering shelled the

woods and drove them out. The firing now ceased, and Gen. McCookcalled a counsel of the com.manding officers and explained the situation

and asked their advice, suggesting they had better surrender. Col. Brown-low, of the 1st Tenn., who was present, declared he would not surrender,

but that he would cut his way out. Col. Croxton was directed to open a

way of escape, when Col. Croxton gave Col. Brownlow the privilege of

leading the charge. Cols. Croxton and Torry followed Col. Brownlow,and they succeeded in going out. Croxton and Torry became separated

from each other, and from Col. Brownlow also, after they had cut out.

This left Gen. McCook with Col. Harrison's Brigade. In the fight Col.

Harrison was captured, when Lieut.-Col. Jones, of the 8th Ind., wasplaced in command. Gen. McCook ordered the artillery wheels cut downand the guns spiked and the prisoners which had been captured paroled.

EIGHT FOR LIBERTY.

Gen. McCook was now in the south end of a long field about 300 yardswide and about 1,000 long, with a ravine running across it near the south

end. On the right of the field was a narrow strip of woods, beyond whichwas a road and on the right of the road was a large body of cleared land.

The rebels were stationed in this timber and behind the fence, and as the

brigade charged thru this timber and along the road they poured a fur-

ious musketry fire into the men as they galloped out. The 4th Tenn. wasthe last to leave the field, and Co. C brought up the rear. A short dis-

tance from where they emerged from the woods into the road was a

bridge across a large creek, where some confusion ensued on account of

the men trying to get across.

The enemy now became more bold and rallied on a rise in the field

The JSational Tribune Scrav Book. 11

and was firing into the rear of the column when a detachment of Co. Cwas ordered to charge oh them and drive them back. This they did,

when the regiment succeeded in getting safely over. The casualty the

regiment suffered in the fight and flight was the shooting of one man whowas holding horses. Whether he was killed or wounded or his name or

the company to which he belonged is unknown to the writer. Serg't Wm.Taylor's horse was shot just after he had gotten into the road, and falling

on his leg held him so that he was captured.

Night came on soon after crossing this bridge and the regiment wasnot molested any more during the night. The march was continued, andabout 11 o'clock the head of the column reached the river at Philpot's

Ferry. About 4 o'clock the 4th Tenn. arrived. Detachments from the

regiment were sent back to the foot of the hills about half a mile fromthe river to hold the rebels back until the brigade could be ferried over.

The river was narrow, deep and the current swift, the boat was small, andmuch time was consumed in ferrying the men and horses over. Thehorses were so jaded that they could not be forced to swim. over. Some25 or 30 of the 4th Tenn. Cav. were captured at the river, having been outon the skirmish line holding the rebels in check, and were not called in

time to catch the boat on its last trip. Lieut. Smith, of Co. C, and somethree or four men fled down the river some distance and constructed a

raft of rails and succeeded in this manner in getting across.

xV FORLORN HOPE.

Some 150 or 200 men were now dismounted. They were ordered to

fall in line and march on foot, and efforts would be made to find mountsfor them. Scouts were sent out on each side of the route taken, but fewhorses were found. The rebel cavalry had stripped the country of everyhorse and mule. Some men, in their desperation to keep up with the

column, yoked cattle to cart:^, buggies and carriages—any kind of a vehicle

that would carry men. Some were mounted on oxen, and even cows, andthe cavalcade presented many grotesque scenes, and, even desperate as

the situation was, there was much merriment at the expense of the riders

as the boys trudged along trying to keep up with the column.In the after noon itbegan to rain, and the wet clay stuck "closer than

a brother," and it was exceedingly slavish on the footmen, and many menfell by the wayside exhausted. The weather was very hot, and the men,weary, sleepy and hungry, it was impossible for some of them to keep up.

One particularly sad incident happened late in the evening as themen were dragging along. One mail began to stagger and reel, andfloundering fell to the ground, uttering a distressing groan. He madeseveral attempts to rise, but finally fell insensible to the ground. He waspicked up and carried to a house near by and left to the tender merciesof the inmates. His name or the regiment to which he belonged is un-known to the writer.

This was the fourth day since the regiment had crossed the river at

12 The Nationdl Tribune Scrap Book.

Sandtown, and they had been in the saddle constantly, except what timethey spent destroying the Confederacy or fighting, and about 24 fourssince they had had anything to eat, and it took heroes to stand such a

strain. About sundown the rear-guard was ordered up and the dis-

mounted men directed to get back to Marietta the best way possible. Theywere advised to keep in the woods and not travel the public roads, andavoid all towns and public places. About sundown the rain began asteady downpour. Every man took to the woods and the commandmoved off, leaving them to their fate.

THE SCATTERED COMMANDS.

Maj. Stevens succeeded in reaching Marietta with some 250 men.Lieut. Smith and 15 men of Co. C were captured, Capt. Gamble an'1

several of Co. G were also captured; in all some 50 of the regiment be-

came prisoners of war.The men kept coming in for several days, hatless, coatless and some

barefooted, as they had not been accustomed to marching on foot, andtheir feet being tender, thin boots soon blistered them so they could notwear them. Lieut. Darnell, of Co. G, succeeded in getting thru with somefour or five men, but not without two or three fights with the homeguardsor bushwhackers.

Such was the kind of service and the hardships the cavalry had to

perform and endure in and around Atlanta. Sherman was making themuseful as well as ornamental.

Before Atlanta.

By B. A, Williams, 1st Lieutenant, Co. D, 91st Ind., Poseyville, Ind

Editor National Tribune : The writer of this has long been an inter-

ested reader of The National Tribune, and has read the story of the

Atlanta Campaign as written by Gen. O. O. Howard; and also the bookwritten by Gen. Jacob D. Cox, giving the leading events of the AtlantaCampaign, and does not write to add anything as to the general move-ments of the army, but to give some details of a soldier's experience whiledown in Dixie. The regiment to which I belonged, the 91st Ind., wentinto Georgia from East Tennessee, May 25, 1864, joining Sherman's armynear New Hope Church, and was assigned to the First Brigade, SecondDivision, Twenty-third Corps, and saw some hard service during the

Atlanta Campaign. We were on the extreme right of Gen. Sherman'sarmy around Kenesaw Mountain, and assisted in extending our liae to

the extreme right and south of the mountain, and were on the extremeright when Johnston evacuated it, falling back to the ChattahoocheeRiver, which we crossed July 8, 1864, near the mouth of Soap Creek. WeJbuilt fortifications on the hills south and near the crossing. From there

we moved via Decatur, Ga., in the direction of Atlanta, on the northside of the Georgia Railroad. July 20, as the regiment was hurrying to

the front to assist our forces that were engaged fighting the enemy, wepassed an ambulance bearing rapidly to the rear a wounded soldier whoseface was covered with blood, and I at once thought of a young brotherof mine, Geo. R. Williams, Co. D, 120th Ind., and soon after learnedfrom Dr. J. M. Neely, Surgeon of that regiment, that it was my brother.

I visited him at the field hospital at night and found him suflPering froma severe wound in the face, which caused him to lose his left eye. Herecovered from the wound in time to participate in the closing scenes of

the war, and since that time has been engaged in farming and schoolteaching; but the wound in the face continues to be a visible reminder ofthe dark days of the great war. The next morning, July 21, we wenton the skirmish line with Cos. C. and D, 91st Ind., which proved to be a

hotly-contested line, neither side sparing ammunition. Lieut.-Col. C. H.Butterfield, commanding the 91st, took pleasure in forwarding ammuni-tion to us; and the boys of the two companies as freely used it. A con-

stant fight was kept up throughout the day. Shortly after noon the enemyundertook to drive us from our riflepits. We could not see them, onaccount of the dense foliage of cedars and underbrush, but knew from thesharp crack of their rifles that they were advancing. The rain was falling

fast. The boys of the two companies did their duty well, aiming low and

• 13-'

-.t

14 . The National Tribune Scrap Booh.

keeping up a constant fire, and succeeded in driving back the advancingline, after which quiet continued for a time. At one time during the dayWe discovered a man up a tree in the direction of Atlanta, and he wasfiring at us. We tried in vain to dislodge him, but our Springfield andEnfield rifles would not reach him. He was finally seen from the mainline, and I received word to have my sharpshooters pick that man out ofthe tree. I sent w^ord back that our guns would not reach him, and theyhunted up an old Vincennes rifle and sent it out to us. We only got oiie

shot at him with this gun, as he hurriedly got down and out of the tree,

and we were troubled by him no more. Night came on, and comparativequiet reigned in our front until near daylight. On the morning of July22, a day long to be remembered by the brave boys of Gen. Sherman'sarmy, about 3 :30 o'clock some one whistled in our front, and was quicklyanswered by a shot or two from our skirmish line. A man in our frontSaid: "Don't shoot; we Avant to come over and surrender." They werepermitted to come, and two Confederate soldiers came over and gave uptheir guns. The writer inqiared of them about the Confederates in ourfront, and learned from them that they had fallen back to their mainline near the city. They said that they had been ordered to drive us fromour position the day before, and were crawling towards us while the rain

^as pouring down, but that our fire was so constant and well directed that

they were driven back. Wc sent them to the rear, directing the guard to

take them to rhe headquarters of Gen. Cooper, who commanded ourbrigade. We were immediately ordered to move forward, and we crossed

the line of the Confederate works just at the dawn of day. Some 50 yardsbeyond the Confederate works we found a rebel soldier sleeping, with his

gun by his side. A soldier by the name of Wilson, Co. C, was advancingdirectly towards him, and I told Wilson to pick up his gun before heawoke. But the Confederate sprang to his feet, taking hold of his gunat the same time Wilson did, and they stood facing each other holdingthe same gun, when I spoke to him telling him to give up his gun, as the

Johnnies were gone and the Yankees were here, pointing him to the mainline of the boys in blue advancing behind us. We moved rapidly forwarduntil we were in plain sight of the city of Atlanta, and the enemy turnedtheir artillery upon us. Here we built fortifications while the desperate

battle of Atlanta was being fought to our left, and the enemy were shell-

ing us from their main line. Gen. Howard, some years ago, in his inter-

esting history of the campaign, says that it was observed at the dawnof the 22d that the strong Confederate works in our front had beenabandoned, and pushing forward in the usual way we at last came uponthe principal defense of the city of Atlanta. Now I believe that thru

these two deserters the first news was conveyed to our forces that the

enemy had fallen back, and we were among the first to advance, passi'xg

near the Howard house, where Gen. Sherman had his headquarters dur-

ing the battle.

In 1896 I visited the Exposition at Atlanta, and while there went out

to the old battlefield and saw the ground over which we marched and


fought that eventful morning more than 43 years ago. I also visited tlie

National Cemetery at Marietta, Ga., where lie buried more than 10,000

of the brave boys that accompanied us into Georgia; among them mybrother, William C. Williams, and others of my company and regiment.

This brings up sad memories of the great struggle for the maintenance of

our Government. The Superintendent of the cemetery informed us thatthe average age of the men buried here w.as between 20 and 25 years.

This is a beautiful cemetery, well cared for by the Government. It is sadto know that 2,800 of those buried there are in graves marked imknown

:

but they are as carefully cared for as are the others. In plain sight of

Marietta is Kenesaw, Pine, and Lost Mountains. This town and the sur-

roundings looked much as it did in 1864; but Atlanta had made a won-derful change. The street cars traverse the ground over which we ad-

vanced in 1864, and it is now known as Inman Park.

^ Personal Recollections, 1862-1865.

• Following IS a paper read by Webber S. Seavey, Captain, Co. H, 5th

Iowa Cav., at a meeting of the Loyal Legion, at Seattle, Wash., Nov. 20,

1907. Capt. Seavey, at the age of 20, enlisted as a private, and by re-

peated promotions attained the rank of Captain. The Captain says:

"I enlisted in Co. H, in the regiment known as Curtis's Horse, Jan. 1,

1862, at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Mo., until by general order (I be-

lieve) of the War Department, sometime during the month of June, 1862,

at Fort Hieman, Ky., the name of the regiment was changed to that of

the 5th Iowa Cav. My company and regiment left St. Louis Feb. 8,

1862, and arrived at Fort Henry, Tenn., April 11, 1862. During the bat-

tle of Fort Donelson my company was engaged in escorting wagon trains

between Fort Henry and Fort Donelson and scouting both sides of the

Tennessee River from Smithland, Ky., to near Paris, Tenn. Our regimentmoved camp across the Tennessee River from Fort Henry to Fort Hiemai]

,

Ky., soon after the battle of Fort Donelson, where we remained nearly a

year, scouting the woods of Tennessee and along the Kentucky borders,

engaging in many skirmishes and several hard-fought battles, LockridgeMills, Tenn., Clarksville, Tenn., near Hopkinsville, Ky., CumberlandIron Works and the second battle of Fort Donelson. In the Spring of

1863 we mearched to Murfreesboro, Tenn., by way of Clarksville and-Nashville, where our regiment was joined by the 4:th U. S. Cav., ^Jth

Mich. Cav., and 7th Pa. Cav., and the command became known as Minty s

Cavalry Brigade. Our first battle was at Guy's Gap, Tenn., June, 1863

;

the next at Shelbyville, Tenn. ; and during the balance of the year wefollowed the retreating Cohfederates, engaging in many skirmishes andhard fights with them under Wheeler, Morgan and Forrest, until wereached the Tennessee River south of Chattanooga, which we picketed for

20 miles during the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Mis-sion Ridge. About 80 per cent of our regiment re-enlisted Dec. 31, 1863,

except Brackett's Minnesota Battalion, which was sent out on the plaijiS

to fight the Indians. After our reinlisted ftien returned from furlough,together with the recruits and veteran portion of the 5th Iowa, we ren-

dezvoused at Davenport, Iowa, thence to Nashville, Tenn., and after

being organized with two brigades of cavalry we left Decatur, Ala., July4, 1864, on the Rousseau raid under Gen. Rousseau; went around a por-

tion of the Confederate army, burned many bridges, tore up miles of rail-

roads, destroyed millions of dollars' worth of stores and other property;and after many successful battles and skirmishes entered Atlanta July 22,

1864. The night of July 25 we reorganized and started on the McCookraid, and were in the saddle almost continuously for six days and nights,

16


during which raid we lost 75 per cent of our command. My company(H) having started out on this raid with 56 men, returned with seven

besides myself. About Aug. 20 our cavalry forces were again reorganized,

with headquarters at Sandtown, Ga. We made a raid under Gen. Kil-

patrick, engaged in a fierce battle at Jonesboro, Ga. ; cut through the

rebel lines, and made a complete circuit of their army. Aug. 31, 1864,

my regiment received instructions from Gen. Kilpatricli to go from wherewe were encamped near Flint Eiver to Jonesboro. We made about half

the distance, when we met Hardee's Corps in full force, marching to meetthe commands of Gens. Howard and Logan. Our regiment was driven

back. We lost a number of men in killed and wounded. While crossing

Flint River on a log I was wounded by a piece of bursting shell, whichknocked me into the river, and when I gained consciousness I was in die

hands of two rebel soldiers, who were rolling the water out of me, andbrought me to life. I was taken to provost guard headquarters that night,

and two days after was put on a train with 24 other prisoners and 800

wounded from the battlefield of Jonesboro, the destination of the pris-

oners being Andersonville, Ga. A railroad collision near Barnesville, Ga.,

about noon, Sept. 3, killed a great many people who were wounded and onour train. After assisting in clearing up the wreck for several hours, I

went to a spring for a bucket of water, and, it being dark, I went to the

bottoms of Flint River and followed up the stream, avoiding scouts andbloodhounds for nine days i.nd nine nights, and when within three miles

of our camp at Sandtown I was recaptured by rebel scouts and takenback to Andersonville prison. I remained in Andersonville prison 16

days, during which time the greatest number of dead bodies of our sol-

diers that was taken out for burial in one day was 169 and the smallest

number taken out in any one day was 146. Hood, wishing to get backsome of his able-bodied men by exchange of prisoners, sent an order for

500 men to be taken from Andersonville prison to West Point, near At-lanta. The condition of the men of this 500 prisoners was deplorable, andfew of them were able to walk five miles. I stole out of Andersonvillewith this detachment of 500 prisoners, and when we arrived at WestPoint Gen. Sherman sent word that he had ordered no exchange and thathe did not propose to be dictated to by the defeated Hood, and refused to

accept us. I stole away from this crowd of prisoners, and was recapturedthe second clay and was taken to Macon prison, where I remained a fewdays, until 150 of our officers who were in prison at Charleston, S. C,were sent up for exchange and kept in Macon prison one day before leav-

ing for Atlanta. I stole out with and accompanied them as far as Jones-boro; and after 24 hours' tramp arrived at our advance picket line at

East Point, near Atlanta, Ga., in the early morning of Oct. 3, 1864, whereT rejoined my company. My company and regiment was soon ordered to

Nashville, and later to Louisville, Ky., for horses; and on our return marchto Nashville, Tenn., we held our first regimental election at the mouth ofMammoth Cave, Ky., where I cast my first vote on election day, Noveic-ber, 1864, for Abraham Lincoln. Our regiment, with all other cavalry at


Nashville, was organized into a Cavalry Corps commanded by Co^Wilson. We fought the advancing rebels at Columbia and different points

on Duck River, Tenn. My company and regiment was cut off from its

command the night of the battle of Franklin, Tenn., and we made ourescape by leading our horses through the woods until about midnight,

when we found our battalion, and with the 16th 111. Cav. in our rear wecharged the rebel lines and rejoined our forces at daylight next morning.Our regiment was assigned to duty on the advance of the army on Char-lotte Pike at the battle of Nashville, Tenn., and the first shot from a rebel

cannon in the early morning of Dec. 15, 1864, killed my Lieutenant (Wat-son) by whose side I was riding at the head of my company. We werecontinually on the advance, fighting and skirmishing nearly every day, upto Christmas, 1864, about which time we followed the retreating rebels

across the Tennessee River at Mussel Shoals. After this campaign the

Cavalry Corps, under Gen. Wilson, was reorganized at Gravelly Springs,

Ala., and left there Feb. 22 on the famous Wilson raid, and was in the

saddle 44 days, traveling through Alabama and Georgia, where, duringthe hardest kind of fighting at Talladega, Ebenezer Church, Selma andMontgomery, Ala., and Columbus, Ga., we destroyed millions of dollars'

worth of Confederate stores, arsenals, powerworks and other property,

afterwards relieving our prisoners at Andersonville. We met a flag of

truce at Macon, Ga., on April 14, 1865, which gave us the first informa-

tion that Lee had surrendered and the war was practically over. Aftera short rest we left Macon and leisurely marched to Atlanta, picking upon the way thousands of prisoners. And when we rode into Atlanta ourown forces thought us Confederates who had voluntarily surrendered,

because every one of us was dressed in Confederate gray, our blue uni-

forms having worn out during the long and tedious ride. Our regimentremained in camp in Atlanta several weeks, during which time we did

some scouting and were ordered into central Georgia to look for Jeffer-

son Davis and his escort. Soon after the capture of Davis by the 4th

Mich. Cav. and other troops, we were ordered to Nashville, Tenn., andremained in camp at Edgefield until mustered out, Aug. 11, 1865.

The Passing of Two Andersonville Prisoners—Also Something inBehalf of Surviving Ex-Prisoners of War.

By C. W. Archbold.

Within about a year past Andrew Mather Post has lost by deathtwo of its highly-valued members—Comrades Martin Van BurenTrough and James Filson Hull, the former having passed away at the

age of about 70 years on Nov. IT, 1906, and the latter in the T8th yearof his age, Oct. 20, 1907. They were both enthusiastic G. A. R. men,reaaers of The National Tribune, and in every sense true comrades. Theywere members of the 14th W. Va., and were captured after the battle of

Cloyd Mountain, Va., May 13, 1864, and were shipped to Andersonville,

Ga., where Comrade Trough was confined in the Confederate prison ninemonths and 19 days and Comrade Hull a little over six months.

From what they have told of their experience and suffering in this

infamous prison one might well wonder that they should ever recover

their natural cheerfulness of disposition and equanimity of mind; butthey did, and their friends and neighbors will gladly testify they alwaysmet them with a smile and a friendly greeting. They were friends ofgood men and women and lovers of little children. They were good story-

tellers and singers of patriotic and sacred songs and what they call downm Georgia, "Songs of the Soil." The writer will not soon forget the

delight of the company gathered at his home for a reunion of Anderson-ville prisoners when Capt. Trough sang a long song (not too long) in

which the stanzas closed with these words

:

"H'ist the window, Norah,Let the dove come in."

They fully deserved, as have many other comrades I have known, thenoble tribute paid the comrades gathered at Saratoga at a National En-campment by the Daily Saratogian

:

"They learned somewhere and somehow to be brave and cheerful andto retain into the days of Life's twilight the priceless possessions of a

smile, a cheering word, a hearty handclasp and a faith in the goodness ofthe world and their fellowm.en that would be an inheritance beyond valueto any people."

In view of the fact that both of the comrades about whom I am writ-

ing were ex-Andersonville prisoners I am moved to advert to that famousor rather infamous prison in behalf of the rapidly-lessening number ofcomrades who were confined there and who still survive. In this con-nection I wish to record my hearty approval of the editorial in TheNational Tribune of Nov. 28 entitled "Justice to the Ex-Prisoners."

About two years ago as my wife and I were starting for a sojourn in

19


Florida, Capt. Trough begged that we visit Andersonville en route. Thiswe did and found the experience of surpassing interest and one that wowould like to recommend to any comrades who may be journeying in thatpart of the South. Both the Prison Park (formerly Prison Pen) and theNational Cemetery are now beautiful inclosures, but there is much to belearned on the ground under skilful guidance, such as we had by theSuperintendents of each inclosure, that will throw light on the awfulstraits and sufferings of the multitude of young Union soldiers confinedthere 43 years ago.

This visit to Andersonville greatly stimulated my interest in the his-

tory of the Confederate prison there, and I have interviewed not a fewof those who were confined there and have read much about it. The bookthat has interested me most about Andersonville was written by Dr.Augustus Choate Hamline, Medical Inspector, U. S. Army, and is en-

titled "Martyria, or Andersonville Prison." I was deeply impressed withthese words in the preface of this book which refer to the unspeakablecruelties and suiferings involved in the history of this prison

:

"There are times in the history of men when human invectives arewithout force. There are deeds of which men are no judges and whichmount without appeal direct to the tribunal of God."

I found in my investigations of Andersonville prison life there weretimes when it was necessary for my own peace of mind that I desist froma contemplation of the horrors related to me by such witnesses as Capt.Trough and other comrades. After hearing their stories of hunger, thirst

and exposure my mind has reverted to the impressive Scripture which wesaw inscribed oii the beautiful Iowa monument in the Cemetery at Ander-sonville: "They shall hunger no more; neither shall they thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them,, nor any heat." No more appro-priate inscription could be placed over the graves of those poor fellows,

for as many have explained to me, they were driven to the verge of mad-ness by hunger and were humiliated beyond expression by having to

drink alleged water made foul by the drainage of stables and in otherways that I cannot mention here, until glorious Providence Spring burstout, the gift, as I believe, of Almighty God to these sadly-beleagueredboys—for many of them were mere boys. Also, many of the poor fellows,

in order to escape the pitiless Georgia sun and the pitiless Georgia rain,

actually burrowed in the ground in order to secure shelter otherwisedenied them.

It is not pleasant to recall these horrors, and for one I should beloath to do so except for the feeling that duty to the ex-prisoners who still

survive requires that their suiferings should not be forgotten.

It would be out of the question in an article of this character to takeup the controversy as to the real responsibility for the cruelties of Ander-sonville Prison. For my own part I do not have the feeling that the real

officers and soldiers of the Southern army—those who did the fighting andbore the burden and heat of the day in the field—were in sympathy withthe atrocities practiced upon the inmates of Andersonville and other

The National Tribune Scrap Book, 21

Southern prisons. It has been my fortune to see and talk with many of

these men when I was for a brief time a prisoner and since the war in

sojourning in the South and elsewhere, also living, as I do, on the bor-

derland of Dixie, I have many respected neighbors who were in the

Confederate army. It is inconceivable to me that such men as I have just

referred to, for many of whom I have a high regard, could ever haveapproved of such treatment of prisoners of war as resulted in the virtual

murder of thousands and the de-humanizing of many hundreds of others.

I use the word "de-humanizing" advisedly, as a trusted comrade told mehe saw 200 or 300 of the last of the Andersonville prisoners who werecarried out of the inclosure, being too weak to walk, who were so haggardand emaciated they could scarcely be recognized as human beings.

Perhaps the public mind is not yet fully clear as to who was chiefly

responsible for the horrors of Andersonville, but all who have studied the

matter, if they speak fairly, am sure, will agree that the crime of Ander-sonville deserves to rank among the great crimes of the ages. I am frankto say I do not feel like incfulging in as bitter a denunciation of KeeperWirz as some of my comrades. Wirz was a subaltern and had placedupon him an amount of work and responsibility that no single man shouldhave borne. Nevertheless, I think no greater blunder could be committedthan to build a monument to this man and locate it at Andersonville, as

IS now proposed. I have before me a copy of an article appearing in the

Americus (Ga.) Times-Recorder of Nov. 8, 1908, conveying this informa-tion with the added explanation that those concerned in pushing this

scheme "Wish the monument to stand at Andersonville, a silent sentinel,

where the thousands who come from the North to visit the National Cem-etery may read in letters of bronze the refutation of their misrepresenta-tions." The refutation of alleged misrepresentations is not so easily ac-

complished when there are so many living witnesses of the cruelties of this

man. It would be far better to lend every effort toward "downing" this

most persistent of all the ghosts of the war, as I am sure all concernedwill in time discover.

The fact that about one in four of the young men who entered Ander-sonville Prison laid down their lives within that awful inclosure is not theonly pitiful thing to consider. My inquiries and observations lead me to

conclude that a very large percentage of those who lived through theordeal of imprisonment and were finally restored to their homes foundthemselves weighted doAvn with one or more diseases, frequently loath-

some diseases, due to their Andersonville imprisonment. It is laj customto visit weekly one of these ex-prisoners, who has been a patient sufferer

all the years since his release, from two loathsome diseases fastened uponhim at Andersonville and who is now a prisoner in his room and most ofthe time in his bed.

I believe as The National Tribune does, that ex-prisoners of war (notAndersonville prisoners alone) should have their claims recognized byCongress, and am of the further belief that those who suffered actual in-

carceration should have a pension of not less than $50 each per month. I

22 _ The National Tinhune Scrap Book.

feel sure that the beloved comrades whose names have been inadequatelycommemorated in this sketch would not be displeased because of a plea in

this connection in behalf of their surviving comrades.I will close this sketch by quoting a well-known stanza from the

most beautiful of all soldier dirges

:

"Close his eyes ; his work is done,

What to him is friend or foeman

;

Rise of moon or set of sun,

Hand of man or kiss of woman."

Hood at Nashville.

By John C. Titus, Co. C, 10th Ky., 251 Vine St., Marion, Ohio.

Editor National Tribune: In your issue of March 19, is an article

headed "Hood at Nashville,'' in which the writer questions the correctness

of Hood's statements in his history of the battle, and goes on to give his

own version of it.

Now it seems to me that one is as near correct as the other, and that

both sides are a little overdrawn. To substantiate this conclusion I will

give my own memory and impression of the battle as I see it after 44years, and give some incidents not bearing on the subject under dis-

cussion.

My regiment belonged to the Sixteenth Corps (A. J. Smith's), whichoccupied the extreme right of Thomas's army. We had been witli it onlytwo weeks before the battle, and the day before the opening of it hadbeen transferred to a new position in the corps; so do not knoAv whatbrigade we were then attached to.

On the evening of Dec. 14 we got orders to be in marching order,

equipped with three days' rations, 40 rounds of ammunition and oneblanket, ready to move at 4 o'clock the next morning ; all camp equipageto be left in charge of a detail. Supposedly for picket duty, we weremarched out on the morning of the 15th and relieved the pickets beforedaylight.

About daybreak we were taken off of the picket posts and formed in

skirmish line. Then came a long wait for the heavy fog to raise and also

a very trying time on my nervous system ; in spite of all my best efforts

I would lose control of my jaws at times and my teeth would chatter andmy knees shake^—on account of the chilly fog, you know. While we werewaiting the Johnnies were getting busy. We could hear the officers giv-

ing commands and strengthening their works; the fog seemed to be a

good vehicle to carry sound. Finally, about 8 or 9 o'clock, the order camefor us to advance; which was a relief. The fog had lifted and the sunwas shining warm; that and the exercise soon started our blood, so that

we soon got control of our nerves. We did not go far until we found the

enemy's skirmishers, but kept on moving forward, pressing them backuntil we reached a point in a cornfield in sight of their works and wereordered to lie down. A battery took a position directly behind where I

lay, some distance in the rear, and opened up on the rebel battery, and theyreplied. This duel lasted, I should think, about two hours, and we skir-

mishers had to hug the ground close, as we were on as high ground as thebatteries were, and in order to get the range they had to cut the corn very

23

24 The National Tribune Scrap Book.

close. This lying down was quite a relief, as we were tired and hungry.After eating some hardtack, I made myself as comfortable as possible anddropped off to sleep. Just how long I slept I do not know, but when I

woke up the artillery duel was still going on, but the skirmish line wasgone. I hustled to my feet, but they were not in sight, so I ran forwardto the brow of the hill and saw them in the valley under the rebels' works.It did not take me long to g^i down to where they were. We were now in

a pasture lot wdth a few large trees, logs and stumps in it, an ideal placefor skirmishers—well sheltered and within musket range of the rebel

lines. They turned their battery on us, trying shells and canister, butthey could not drive us out

;probably because it was safer to stay than go.

I met a comrade at the Encampment at Minneapolis two years ago that

was a neighbor to a comrade that was shot at this point by grapeshot.

This was the first I had heard from him since I had seen hiiri carried

from the field that day, apparently torn to pieces; but he had lived andwas now a helpless invalid. The shot had torn all his ribs loose from his

back bone on one side. We held this position until late in the evening,when we were relieved, but before w^e got off the field a charge wasordered and the works taken, the skirmishers going over ahead of the

main column, capturing the battery and other equipment. This is proba-bly the outpost that Gen. Hood conceded in his article, this being on his

left. This finished that day's fighting. What took place on other partsof the line I know nothing about, but it seems now that the works that wetook on our right. Hood's left, were the only ones taken that day.

We spent a miserable night on the cold ground, listening to the rebels

strengthening their works and keeping the orderlies from riding overus, and were in line bright and early the next morning. The skirmishers

commenced poping away as soon as they could see, and the lines wereformed and then the orders came to rest in our places until furtherorders.

Noon came, and no orders. Right in front of our position in the line

was a farm house with the usual outbuildings, one of which was a smoke-house. These buildings were between the two skirmish lines, but closer to

ours, and some of the venturesome spirits managed to get to the smoke-house, and found some fine hams hanging up ready to smoke, and broughtone away. This caused quite a rush for the smokehouse, but the rebels

spied them and made it so hot for them that only a couple succeeded in

getting there. One man was wounded, and that stopped the rush on the

smokehouse ; but he had ham for dinner in our company that day.

So far as we knew everything was quiet along the line until aboutnoon, when there was a terrible uproar away off to the left, cannon roar-

ing, muskets rattling and men cheering. We could hear it, but could notsee anything. It lasted only a few minutes and all was quiet again.

Word soon came that a portion of the Fourth Corps had made a chargeand was repulsed (vindicating Hood's statement to some extent) ; at the

same time it was said that it was only a feint to cover the real movementthat was under way, and which was developed a couple of hours later.

The National Tribune Scra'p Book. 25

This movement consisted of the cavalry making a long detour aroundHood's left, striking him in the rear.

To give a clear idea of the situation I will try to describe the lay of

the ground and the rebel works in our front and as far as we could see

either way. The works in front of us were on a level plain, v/ith high,

abrupt bluffs at the rear; in front of our position there was a valley camedown thru the bluffs. The rebels' works crossed the mouth of this valley

and followed up the brow of the hill as far as we could see. To the right

the face of this hill was covered with timber. About 4 o'clock we heardcannonading to the rear and left of the rebels. The cavalry had reached

their goal. We could see commotion in the rebel lines, and they rushed a

battery up the valley to their rear. Word was passed that the troops

to our right would charge first, and as soon as they should gain the workswe were to charge. We soon saw the blue line going up through the tim-

ber, and the white smoke began to puff out along the crest of the hill,

coming thicker and faster every minute; but that blue line never slack-

ened speed or hesitated. Oh, but it was exciting to us who were watch-ing ! Up, up they go ! Will they make it ? There they go, over the top

!

Then we received the order, "Forward." We dashed out of the little

creek bottom, that had sheltered us, onto the plain in easy range of the

rebel works. We received a terrible crash of artillery and musketry as

we broke cover. Men began to drop fast, but it seemed that our rattling

fire that we kept up as we ran made them shoot wild, and they did not domuch damage after the first volley. The right of the line charging first

and swinging to the left caused us to charge in an oblique course, increas-

ing the distance to be traveled. It was too far for one run,' and after

making about half the distance we were ordered to lie down to recoverbreath. When we again started forward we soon saw that the enemy wereon the run in our front. The swinging process of charging the right

first and in detail from right to left, continually exposing their left flank,

together with the cavalry charging them in the rear, settled the question.

Now the point that I want to make is, that there was no desperate fight-

ing, considering the size of the armies and the time required or con-

sumed in accomplishing our task. Anyone giving the matter a little

study will see that the battle was won by generalship instead of by des-

perate fighting and heavy and unnecessary sacrifice of life. In all the

first day's fighting there was not a volley fired from the battle line, theskirmishers and artillery doing all the fighting that was done, even to the

carrying of the outpost that Gen. Hood speaks of on his left. The skir-

mishers took it, supported, of course, by a column of infantry. Thruoutthis whole day we only advanced a couple or three miles. Notwithstand-ing that, the rebels gave way when we advanced, and this brought usin front of the main line of defense on the first day. The next dayit was a wait from early morn until 4 o'clock, with only fighting enoughto keep the rebels' attention from the real movement that was underway, which proved to be so successful; and it was sucessful in everysense of the word, for it effectually destroyed an army and one of the


greatest fighting captains the Confederacy had, with a small loss of life.

So while Gen. Hood glorifies himself and his army on the gallant de-fense they made, and Comrade W. W. Wood glorifies our gallant armyon its constant success, I glorify Gen. Thomas on the wonderful feat heaccomplished with such a small sacrifice of life.

Greeted by Lincoln.

N. G. Sparks, Moore's Hill, Ind.

Editor National Tribune : Your editorial, "Lincoln's Greatness," ofFeb. 11, is the finest tribute to Lincoln I have ever read and is as true as

truth. I thank you for it and I am satisfied that all comrades do the

same. If The National Tribune had reached here a few hours earlier thetribute would have been read at the Lincoln exercises her as a part ofthe most admirable program, which was rendered. This old town, whichfurnished as many soldiers for the civil war, in proportion to its size, as

any town in the State, was fully alive on Friday, the centenary of Lin-coln's birth. All business closed, and the college, public schools, membersof the Grand Army and citizens generally united in doing honor to thegreat American. And the work was done, too, and done well. Dr. H. O.Enwall, a son of a veteran, of Cincinnati, was the chief orator. His sub-

ject, "The Meaning of the Flag," was eloquently treated, and Dr. Enwellreceived round after round of applause. I was the only person presentwho had ever seen President Lincoln and shaken hands with him. HenceI enjoyed my great distinction all by myself. The incident happened this

way: While my regiment, 18th Ind., was in Washington City, in July,

1864, en route to the Valley, after tEe expiration of its furlough, to meetan emergency, instead of returning to the Army of the Tennessee, whereit belonged, it had a brief rest. On Saturday, as I remember, accompa-nied by O. W. Moore and Albert J. Harding, of my company (A) , I wasstrolling up Pennsylvania avenue just as Mr. Lincoln and a number of

others—members of his staff, I presume—^were coming down on the oppo-site side. We knew Mr. Lincoln at sight, by his hight and high blackhat, and as a result of a banter from Comrade Harding, we crossed

directly over, faced Mr. Lincoln and saluted him.A little Second Lieutenant, who was in the crowd—not John Hay, by

a long way—seemed shocked at our impudence and was inclined to shoveus into the street. But over three years of service at that time hadremoved most of our timidity, and, to use the language of the street, wedidn't shove worth a cent. Not so with Mr. Lincoln. He stopped, re-

moved his hat, returned our salutation, took each one of us by the hand,asked our name and name of regiment, and gave us his blessing. A little

thing, I know, but I have often thought of it. It doubtless made me a

better soldier, and I feel that it has made me a better citizen. Hence Iwill never forget those wonderfully kindly eyes and the clasp of those

long, solemn, eloquent fingers.

1 Regiments from Tennessee.

W. R. Carter, Knoxville, Tenn.

Editor National Tribune : In your issue of Dec. 31, 1908, you pub-lished a brief history of the 1st and 2d Tenn. You said the 1st Tenn.Vv^as organized at Williamsburg, Barboursville and Camp Dick Robinson,Ky., in August and September, and that the regiment was consolidated

into a battalion of two companies, etc. The Adjutant-General's Reportof Tennessee gives the place of organization as Camp Dick Robinson,Ky., August, 1861, by Col. R. K. Byrd, of Roan County. This was a

very large regiment, and was never known as a battalion. It was oneof those splendid regiments that went from East Tennessee, and wasactively engaged during its three years' service. The regiment was underfire for the first time at Mill Springs, where Zollicoffer, the rebel com-mander, was killed. It was at Stone River and was with Byrd andSaunders on the raid into East Tennessee in the Summer of 1863 ; cameto East Tennessee with Gen. Burnside and took an active part in that

Winter campaign; was with Gen. Sherman on the Atlanta campaign,and only a few days before its time was out was sharply engaged nearAtlanta, on Aug. 6, 1864. This regiment was in the Third Brigade, ThirdDivision, Twenty-third Corps, and Col. Byrd was in command of this

brigade when relieved and ordered home for muster-out. The regimentlost 40 killed and 336 from disease, etc. The 2d Tenn. was organized at

Camp Dick Robinson, Ky., in September, 1861, by Col. J. P. T. Carter, a

brother of Gen. S. P. Carter. This was also a large regiment, and Avas

from East Tennessee. This regiment was captured before it had servedout its full time, but its record was good. It was at Mill Springs, StoneRiver, and with the Union forces that pursued John H. Morgan on his

raid in Indiana and Ohio, and on to his capture. It entered East Ten-nessee with Gen. Burnside, and took part in the capture of the rebel

Frazier and his troops at Cumberland Gap, Sept. 9, 1863. The day beforeFrazier surrendered Maj. Carpenter, with a detachment of 2d Tenn.,drove in his pickets, dashed inside his lines, burned a mill that was filled

with grain and returned with a loss of only two men. It was in the en-

gagement at Blue Springs, East Tenn. From here this regiment, the TthOhio Cav., and four guns of Phillips's Illinois Battery, were sent fourmiles east of Rogersville to guard the valley. On Nov. 6 this small force wasattacked by a large Confederate force under the command of Sam Jones.After a brave resistance by the 2d Tenn. and the battery, Maj. Carpen-ter, who was in command of the 2d Tenn., was forced to surrender. TheTth Ohio Cav. managed to escape. With the capture of this brave regi-

ment practically ended its military service, as all the men present were

2T

28 The National Tribune Scraj) Book.

captured. The night after capture about 100 of them made their escapeand returned to Knoxville. At this place Col. Melton gathered up theremainder of his regiment and escorted Gen. Burnside to Camp Nelson,Ky. The captured men were first sent to Belle Isle, Va., and later toAndersonville, where the remainder of them most all died. But fewregiments lost more men in prison than the 2d Tenn. It lost 27 killed and613 from disease, etc. What a sad death roll. In order that the readersof the great soldier paper may fully understand the circumstances lead-

ing up to the capture of the 2d Tenn. and the Illinois Battery, I will giveit as near as I can from the report of Maj. Carpenter, to be found in

Vol. XXXI, Part 1, pages 551-554. This small brigade was commandedby Col. Israel Garrard, 7th Ohio Cav., who made a very short report oftheir action and capture. Maj. Carpenter says: "By order of Col. Gar-rard I was directed to send 50 men under a good officer up the valley roadto find out all he could concerning the movements of the enemy. Aboutnine miles from camp Capt. Murray, Co. A, met a large force of theenemy, who at once charged upon and routed his men. Those not cap-tured returned to camp and reported a large force marching down thevalley. I suggested to Col. Garrard that our position was a bad one andthat it would be better to cross the river (Holston) and take up a better

one on the north bank. Garrard remarked that it was nothing but a

small raiding party and that we could whip them. My regiment and the

battery were soon hotly engaged. About this time a report was sent in

that the enemy were in Bogersville. Col. Garrard said that he wouldtake the 7th Ohio Cav., and move down toward Rogersville and find outif the report was true. * * * jj^ ^^ meantime he ordered me to sendtwo companies east of our camp to meet the enemy if they should comefrom that direction. Col. Garrard had been gone only a short time until

I heard a volley of musketry, and soon the 7th Ohio Cav. returned at full

speed and in confusion * * * Maj. Mclntire came to me and said

that Col. Garrard was killed and that I would have to take command.* * * I requested Maj. Mclntire to try and collect his men, they beingcompletely demoralized. He said the panic and confusion in his regimentresulted from the death of Col. Garrard. About this time Col. Garrardarrived and appeared to be excited * * *

^ jje ordered me to movemy regiment toward Kogersville, as the reebls were coming from that

direction. He accompanied me and pointed out the position he wishedmy regiment to occupy. He requested me to hitch my horses and put as

many men in the fight as I could; that we would not try to escape, butwhip the rebels, if possible, ordering me to hold the position assigned meat all hazards until further orders from him. I ordered Capt. Carnes to

move forward with companies C, G and B as skirmishers. He did so, anddrove them back some 300 yards. At this time the rebels charged andcaptured the two guns east of the creek * *

. The 7th Ohio Cav.was formed near our camp and supporting the two remaining guns. Col.

Garrard sent me word to send three companies to support the two guns,

but before they reached the point ordered to, he discovered the rebels had

The National Tinbune Scrap Book. 29

taken the guns * * *. The rebels raised the yell and commenced

advancing, from every direction, on my position. I sent word to Col.

Garrard if he did not assist me I would soon be completely surrounded* *

. Gapt. Games reported to me that Gol. Garrard and his regiment,the Tth Ohio Gav., had left the field and were across the Holtson River.Being completely surrounded and out of ammunition, and my horses cap-

tured, I summoned the officers of my regiment and consulted them as to

what we should do. All agreed that a surrender was the only thing pos-

sible, so I surrendered myself and command. William Russell, Go. A,was killed after we had grounded arms. The officers and men of Philip's

2nd 111. Battery discharged their duty nobly. The position in which wewere placed by Gol. Garrard I was ordered to hold until he should give

me directions to abandon it, and it was in carrying out my instructions

that the regiment was captured."

It is said that about the time the regiment was surrendered a rebel

approached Maj. Garpenter and ordered him to throw down his revolvers,

but this brave officer remarked that they were not given him for thatpurpose, and if he wanted them he would have to take them from him.

Lincoln Revised His Speech.

S. R. Averill, Co. F, 13th Pa. Car., Bradford, Pa.

Editor National Tribune: Col. Henry Clay Cockran, of Chester,Pa., retired officer of the United States Marine Corps, made the assertion

Sunday, Feb. 7, 1909, in an address on Abraham Lincoln, before theMethodist Episcopal Preachers' Association, 1018 Arch street, Philadel-phia, Pa., that the wording of Lincoln's famous Gettysburg speech as it

appears today is not as the martyred President delivered it.

"The speech as quoted today," declared Col. Cockran, "contains re-

visions in 13 different places. President Lincoln himself revised the ad-dress, adding a word here and there, and taking out oiie or two. It wasseveral weeks after the address that its significance as one of the greatest

pieces of modern English literature became apparent. There were onlyabout 250 words, and it took Lincoln just ten minutes, actual time, todeliver it. When its worth became apparent there came to Lincoln re-

quests from every section for an actual copy of the original. In makingthe copies Lincoln changed the wording here and there, but retained thegeneral thought. I have compared a copy of the original speech with thatnow generally quoted, and I have found 13 changes in it." Col. Cockranis the only survivor of the 11 public officers and army men who formedLincoln's personal escort from Washington to Gettysburg. He is theonly survivor among the men who sat on the platform with the Emanci-pator. The above is copied from the issue of the North American ofFeb. 8, 1909, and appears on page 9

:

"My dear Editor and your host of readers, I must acknowledge that

I have been cheated. In the first place I have always believed in Lin-coln as the saying goes, as "Honest Abe." But my confidence is crippled

by reading the Colonel's address. If he made a speech at Gettysburg,which I guess he actually did, and then wrote or changed the original in

13 different places and added as much as nine more words, why, we can-

not believe that he is "Honest Abe." I had not believed him capable ofbeing deceitful enough to so treat the people. I have wondered if there

were no newspaper correspondents at Gettysburg, or whether Lincolnand the 11 honorable gentlemen on the platform were all that werepresent on that occasion. I have read the Gettysburg speech and haveheard it read very many times, but it will have lost a large amount of its

grandness by being sandpapered, painted and varnished since Oct. 19,

1863. Unfortunately, the Colonel saw the original manuscript—notknowing that after Lincoln reached Gettysburg he revised it! Thesechanges did not appear in the newspaper reports at the time; so, you see,

the Colonel has been keeping all these many years simply an outline of the

30


famous speech by a man too honest, truthful, wise, to use deceit to the

extent alleged by the Philadelphia address. It was unfortunate that

such a speech should have been made and published at a time when the

whole patriotic people of our land was going to observe with honors the

day that Lincoln was born. There are many who will believe that pos-

sibly he did do what the Colonel put at his door. Strange that the

Colonel put that speech off for nearly 46 years, until the other 10 menwho occupied the platform was called across the river. Next we will see

someone rise up and tell us that the address George Washington gavethe army was not at all as we have it in print today. It is hard to believe

that Abraham Lincoln said one thing at Gettysburg and wrote his friends

on request something entirely different. I am one not prepared to accept

it that way. Had it been Capt. Jinks, of the Horse Marines, it would bedifferent, for we know how to take him when he tells us he fed his horseon corn and beans. The Colonel merits rebuke. No sane American will

believe that Lincoln was as deceitful as the Colonel's address would makehim appear to be.

Forts Harrison and Gilmer.

Stephen F. Wells. Battery C, 2d Pa. H. A., Honesdale, Pa.

Editor National Tribune: Some years ago I saw a piece in TheNational Tribune by George R. Sherman, on the attack of Forts Harri-son and Gilmer. Two of our battalions of the 112th Pa. and 2d Pa. H. A.were the first to attack Gilmer, and we lost over 200 killed and woundedthere. We were in Hackman's Division and our brigade was commandedby Col. Fairchilds. We attacked the fort about 10 o'clock in the morningof Sept. 29, 1864. We lost so heavily because they had cut down trees

and left them fast to the stumps. We got among those trees, and theythen gave us grape and canister. I was raked with a canister shot, butkept on, in the thickest of the fight, until we were ordered by Capt. Hig-gins to fall back, he being the only commissioned officer present ; all therest were killed, wounded, or captured. We lost many officers that day.,

Maj. Anderson was killed right in front of the fort; his commission as

Colonel came the next day after his death. Maj. Sadler was woundedand taken prisoner, with many wounded comrades. Two staff officers

were killed. As we were falling back we came among the commissarystores, and I got one of their large account books, and saw in it how theydealt out their rations, clothing, etc. This was as we got to the Varniaroad. While we were in the Varnia road that leads to Richmond—just

four miles from Richmond—an officer came along on a horse and Capt.Higgins saluted and wished to know what to do with his command. Hewas told to leave them there until further orders. While we were there

the colored troops came and made that gallant attack. I and a fellow in

Co. B, of our battalion, went to a well with seven or eight canteens, each,

to fill with water. We could see the fort and saw the charge of those

colored troops. They fought valiantly for awhile, but were soon over-

come, and came out on a rush—all there were left of them. All that wesaw attack Fort Gilmer were our two battalions and those colored troops,

and we drove them so they left their guns; but they got reinforcements.

Some men of our company got cut off from the company and were in

sight of Richmond, and they told us they saw boys with equipments onmoving around those forts around Richmond. We see that the Confed-erates say it was the bravery and devotion of two decimated Confed-erate brigades, of about 300 men each, that saved Richmond at that time.

They were fighting only two battalions of Yankees at that time, and if

we had had any support at all when we rushed together among those

trees we would have captured Richmond. The rebels had sent out rein-

forcements from those forts, and had manned the forts with boys. Pleasegive us honors where honors are due.

32

The "Rebellion Record" of an Enlisted ManBy W. E. H. Morse, Co. E, 5th Maine, Algona, Iowa.

OFF TO THE WAR.

Dec. 21, 1861.—Bade good-by to homeand friends in. Minot, Maine, and went to

Lewiston, where, with nine others, I en-rolled my name as volunteer recruit for

the 5th Maine Regliment, Co. E, and un-der charge of the First Lieutenant, FrankLamont, left Lewiston at 10 :30 a. m. for

Augusta, which place we reached aboutsunset, and took up quarters at a privatehouse.

Dec. 22, 1861.—Went over east of the

Kennebec River, and saw some of myfriends, who were in the 13th Regiment,encamped on the Arsenal grounds. In the

evening I visited the Flying Artillery andCavalry, camped near the State House.In the evening I was examined at the

Augusta House and mustered into ser-

vice ; then went to the State House andreceived a blanket, two shirts, a pair of

drawei's, two pairs of stockings and a

Dec. 23, 1861.—Snow and rain. LeftAugusta at 5 a. m, and reached Boston at

2 :30 p. m. In the evening left Bostonfor Fall River, where we took a boat for

New York.Dec. 24, 1861.—Owing to a bad night on

the Sound, we did not get into New Yorkuntil 10 a. m., thereby missing the moa-n-

ing train, and spent the day in the city.

Marched to the City Hall Park for break-fast. Left New York at 5 p. m. on aferryboat and reached Amboy, N. Y., at

7 :30, where we took a train for Philadel-

phia.Christmas.—Reached Philadelphia at 3

a. m. and went to Union ration house,where we received the best of treatment.The Union soldiers will ever rememberthe people of Philadelphia with gratitude.

Left this "City of Fi^iends" at 9:30 a.

m. for Baltimore, Md., and thence to

Havre de Grace.Dec. 26, 1861.—Reached Havre de

Grace at 1 a. m., where the train was runonto a large ferryboat, on which wecrossed the Delaware River. We went on,

passing the Relay House, and reachedWashington at 8 p. m.

Dec. 27, 1861.—Passed a cold night in

the ration house in. Washington, and this

morning went out to see the city. At 8a. m. we received orders to cross the city

to the bank of the Potomac, where wewent on board a boat, which landed us atAlexandria, Va. ; then we marched aboutfour miles to Camp Franklin, near theFemale Seminary, which we reached at 2p. m.

IN WINTER QUARTERS.

Dec. 28, 1861 to Jan. 14, 1862.—Oiu'troops went into Winter quarters, and the5th Me. was located just at the edge of apiece of woods and occupied ''A" tents.Most of the boys had already become in-

ured to a soldier's life, and could lie downat night without undressling, using theirshoes or a stick of wood for a pillow,and with a blanket or two around themsleep comfortably all night. At first Isuffered with the cold and would pile onall the spare coats and rubber blankets 1

could get hold of and then shiver myselfto sleep, glad to turn out at roll call andwarm myself at the cook's fire ; but L

am becoming hardened to the privationsand inconveniences so that I do not noticethem so much.

Jan. 15, 1862.—Rainy. Trees heavilycoated with ice. The weather thus farhas been cold, windy and rainy. Thecontinual traveling in our company streetand about the camp has so worked overthe "sacred soil" that with the aid of afunnel about eight inches of the top mightbe easily bottled up. Sent to Alexandriafoir a tin plate, some one having stolenmine. No drill or dress parade.

Jan. 17, 1862.—Cold and clear. Can-nonading down the river last night. Thismorning our company was called out topractice target shooting. The target wasa piece of tobacco in the center of a

board three feet square ; distance 150yards. The best shot was made by this

raw recruit, who put a ball thru the cen-ter of the tobacco. Our parade ground is

a complete paradise for hogs, so we don'tuse it much.

Jan. 19, 1862.—Showery all day.^ Notvery well ; could not ea.t my ration of

beans. Lieut. Lamont came in during the

day and ate them for me. Had nearly fin-

ished writing a piece for the "MinotStar" when out little "wooden Corporal"upset the ink over it, so it will not go to

press.

Jan. 21, 1862.—Heavy showers thru the

33

31- The National Tribune Scrap Book.

night and steady rain this morning.Packed our knapsacks, took a day's ra-tions and 40 rounds of ball cartridges, andat 8 a. m. six companldes of us started outon picket, leaving two companies to guardthe tents. Went about seven miles on theroad to Fairfax, most of the vây the mudand water being over our shoetops. Wehave good accommodations at a buildingcalled Brenton's Tavern.

Jan. 22, 1862.—Cloudy, wiith some irain

and snow. A team comes out at noon andbrings our rations and mail. When ourpickets were first stationed here a womangave the information to the rebels bywaving a white handkerchief from herwindow. Whatever became of the seceshlady I know not, unless she went up ; herhouse, however, went down. Rainy night.We were turned out in the night on ac-count of an alarm caused by the shootingof a dog that did not have the counter-sign.

Jan. 2.3, 1862.—Cloudy. Got permis-sion, with two other boys, to ^''isit theGaribaldi regiment a mile and a half to

the right, near Mason's Hill ; they sustainthe chain of pickets. From Mason's Ilill

Ave could see Bailey's Crossroads.Jan. 24, 1862.—Ground frozen quite

hard. Snow, rain and sleet all last night,with a high wind. On guard. The offi-

cers let the men have the use of theirrubber coats, and I was fortunate enoughto get one on my post.

Jan. 25, 1862.—Cleared- ofe in the fore-noon. Two inches of snow and trees cov-ered with ice, but all soon melted off. Atnoon a detachment of the 18th N. Y. re-

lieved us on guard, and we commenced awearisome march back to camp. Verymuddy. Were three hours going sevenmiles and only made one halt of six min-utes. I had on three shirts, vest, dresscoat and overcoat, all of which I sweatto such an extent that my knapsack waswet thru and the sweat was runnling fromit when I took it off.

Jan. 26, 1862.—No religious services to-

day, it being cold, windy and muddy. Or-ders received forbidding an.yone viisiting

other regiments for fear of smallpox.Jan. 27, 1862.—Our company went

down to the woods for target shooting.Battalion drill in the afternoon. Schoolfor nons-coms. at night.

Jan. 28, 1862.—Drew the first pair of

shoes I have had from the Government to-

day. There is sti'll due me a rnbbei*

blanket, canteen, blouse, and some dishes—ând I need them.Jan. 20, 1862.—No drill or dre.ss parade,

which agreedwith mv ideas, as I am notwell. Tiast night we heard heavy firing bythe rebel batteries down the river. Heardthis morning it was on account of one of

our steamers passing them ; they didn'thit her and she returned no fire. One ofthe rebel shells weighing 100 poundscrossed the Potomac to the Maryland sidewithout exploding. Had a good night'ssleep, was comfortably warm all night.

Jan. 30, 1862.—Made a lamp to bur]ibacon fat and lit works well. Candles aretoo expensive. Received a singing bookfrom home and the occupants of our tentenjoyed the evening.

Feb. 1, 1862.—Two inches of snow and10 inches of mud. For several days therehas been a firing of big guns and mortarsat the navy yard, near Washington. Wehear they are practicing with some newpatent arms and ammunition. At 5 p. m..

the sun came out and set clear.

ALL KINDS OF WEATHER.

Feb. 2, 1862.—Gold night, froze a crustover the mud just thick enough to let usthru into the miry depths below. Myturn to stand guard at brigade headquar-ters. Virginia rejoiced today in about tenhours of sunshine and ten inches of mud.

Feb. 3, 1862.—Snowing all day. Arebel with a flag of truce came this side ofthe lines requesting to see Gen. McClel-lan 'in person. He was taken to Washing-ton blindfolded. The interview was notmade public.

Feb. 5, 1862.—Three inches of snowyesterday. Cold and clear today. Nodrill except a bayonet exercise. Many ofthe boys in this regiment, and I supposein others, are about sick with colds, M.ycold is getting better.

Feb. 6, 1862.—Rainy most of the day.Was invited down to the Chaplain's tentto discuss theology. On returninqr I look-ed in the glass to see if my nose was outof joint—concluded it was slightly sprung.

Feb. 8, 1862.—^Cloudy yesterday and to-

day. Had to draw another shirt today.Feb. 9, 1862.—Pleasant but cold, with

high wind. The mud dried up very fast.

Our company street, which this morningwas all mud and slush, has become so drythat the boys are in it the first time in along w^hile. My turn to so on guatrd to-

night, which was not agreeable, as I

wanted the time for writing. Freezingcold toniiaht.

Feb. 10, 1862.—Cold and clear. Re-lieved from guard at 8 a. m. Had bat-talion drill and then went to target shoot-

ing. In the evening I did my wâshing.

Our "little paper man," who used to ride

around among the regiments selling pa-pers, has been missing for some time,

and T learn he was taken by some ourscouts outside of the lines, as a rebel spy.He is an Austrian and has seen service

in some other country. The mud hasdried up very fast in the last two days. I

The National Tribune Scrap Booh. 35

Should judge that ou our parade groundit is not more than half a leg deep, on anaverage.

Feb. 11, 1862,—Brisk cannonading last

night, down the river, between some ofour vessels and the blockade. This morn-ing our cook found the oven open and akettle of beans and pork missing. JimMaloney, the thief, is strongly suspectedof having a hand in it.

Feb. 12, 18G2.—Target shooting this

afternoon. Our drill ground presents alively appearance, squads drilling thebayonet service in every direction. Goodnews from the Burnside expedition. Theyhave taken Roanoke Island.

Feb. 13, 1862.—Comfortable in ourtents without fire. Gen. Slocum invitedall the boys in his brigade who have serv-ed as seamen to go with gunboats on theMississippii, and 32 went from our regi-

ment. One of the boys from Co. F camein tonight and treated us to some peaches(they were mighty good), after which wetried the virtues of the singing book.

Feb. 14, 1862."—Cloudy, with some rain.

The boys who enlisted for the gunboatswere marched off today, among them thenotorious Jim Maloney. He and oneother were all we lost from our company.Made another lamp out of a meat can

—

it works all right.

Feb. 15, 1862,—Snowing all day. Greatrejoicing on account of the taking of

Fort Donelson.

CHURCH AND COURT DUTIES.

Feb. 16, 1862.—Pleasant. Three inchesof snow on the ground. Short religiousservices this morning. The band beganwith "Old Hundred" and finished willi

"Star Spangled Banner." On dress pa-rade was read an account of the sentencesof four or five men from other regimentswho had been court-martialed for variousoffenses. The lightest punishment was forbeing too drunk for duty while on guardwith the penalty of doing police duty forthree months with a ball-and-chain onleft leg and having his pay cut down to$6 a month. The heaviest sentence wasfor stabbing a man ^Tlithout just provoca-tion with the penalty of doing police dutywith a ball-and-chain on leg, every alter-

nate week, for six months ; the Test of thetime solitary confinement with bread andwater rations, and to forfeit $10 of eachmonth's wages. We hear Bowling Greenhas been evacuated.

Feb. 17, 1862.—Rainfall all day, whichfreezes as it falls. Spent the day writingand mending my clothes. The "Washing-ton Evening Star" has a telegram in it

stating that our forces have taken FortDonelson with 15,000 prisoners. Greatnoise in camp.

Feb. 18, 1862—Rained all night and this

morning. Clear in the evening. Therehas been a continual boomiing of cannonon account of yesterday's news on everyside except the rebel batteries, and theyare perfectly quiet. At 5 p. m. we receiv-ed news that the Garibaldi regiment took200 prisoners, who were out scouting thisside of Fairfax, and brought them in to-

day. The ijrisoners report that the rebelsare evacuating Manassas and Bull Run.This evening the "Washington EveningStar" brings news that Savannah hasbeen taken. If they keep on at this rate,we shall begin to think of taking ourknapsacks and singing "HomewardBound."

Feb. 21, 1862.—Daa^k day with somesnow. It rained hard all day and I wasdetailed to go on guard at headquarters.Yesterday pleasant. Captain and Lieu-tenant came into my tent in the eveniui^',

and we had a good sing. Today we wentout target shooting. The targets weretaken to Colonel's tent to be recorded, andhe says 'I am the best shot in the regiment.We hear the rebels are throwing upbreastworks at Fairfax.

Feb. 22, 1862.—Rainy. We were call-

ed out at 11 a. m. to participate in thecelebration of Washington's Birthday.Extracts from his last address were read,followed by prayer. They are having agrand time in Washington. The nationalsalute of 100 guns is fired morning, noonand night. The illumination of the Capi-tol is omitted on account of the death of

"Little Willie," President Lincoln's sec-

ond son, 11 years old, who died of small-pox yesterday afternoon. Savannahsurrendered without a shot being fired or

a blow struck, and the rebels have notgained a victory so far this year.

Feb. 24, 1862.—Misty morning. About9 o'clock the sun came out warm andbright ; an hour later the clouds piled upblack and heavy and the rain came downin torrents ; the wind blew a hurricaneand roared like thunder. All thru thecamp the boys were out trying to securetheir tents, which were in many oasesblov/n dov.m, the rain having softened theground so the pegs would not hold. Ourcompany street was completely blockadedwlith trees that were blown down. Afteran hour or so the sun burst out as sud-denly as it had disappeared and theclouds went over the city of Washington,making a background of inky blackness,against which the unfinished WashingtonMonument showed to good advantage.

Feb. 25, 1862.—Bright, but cold andwlindy. Sun set clear, which has not hap-pened in five weeks. Was detailed onhome guard. My post was inside theguard-house, where I had some prisoners


to guard. Two of them had to weai- uchaiu-and-ball of o5 pounds by turns,

and I had to change it every hour. Gotthru it bettei* than expected to. Occupiedmy time off guard in studying Army Reg-ulations.

Feb. 26, 18G2.—Cloudy and rainy. Wasrelieved from guard at 8 a. m. We hadbattalion drill—the ground being frozen,

quite hard. On dress parade orders wereread for knapsacks to be packed andready to march on short notice, afterwhich our Colonel requested us to givethree cheers for the prospect of gettingout of the mud. It was heartily done.

Feb. 27, 1862.—Rained all night. Clearand windy today and the mud has driedfast. It was discovered that a private of

one of our companies had been forgingsutler's tickets. He is now standing ona barrel with a ball-and-chain around his

neck. Orders . received for every able-

bodied man to go on picket tomorrow. TheCaptain says we shall not be likely to

come .back to this camp again, so thereis considerable stir in packing up. It is

said that McClellan, with several regi-

ments, started toward Richmond yester-

day by way of Fairfax.

MORE VIRGINIA WINTER WEATHER,

Feb. 28, 1862.—Bright, with a cold

wind, which is very acceptable whenmarching. We left camp for picketing at

8 :30 a. m. Went the same route we did

before (Jan. 21) and stopped at the sameplace. Ground frozen enough to makegood traveling for the men, but the horsesbroke thru into the mud occasionally.The large building where we stopped be-fore has been so badly demolished sincethen that *it promises but little protec-tion. Bitter cold night. I was on guardand watched the Winter out and Springin; and, by the way, March came in like

a lion seeking where he might freeze a

sentinel.March 1, 1862.—^Cold in the morning,

mild and Springlike in the evening. OurMajo;r came along and invited our com-'pany to march to the top of the hill andthere meet four other companies and havea drill and dress parade. Our Captainreceived orders to be ;ready to march to-

morrow noon if called upon. He thinksthere will be no movement made beforeMonday. Our company will not be likely

to start till the day after the division

goes, and the artillery goes ahead.March 2, 1862.—Cold. Commenced

snowinc at noon. A balloon was seen this

morning in the direction of Fairfax. Re-ceived our rubber blankets, canteens andhaversacks today. About noon a troop of

cavalry Avent out beyond our lines on a

scouting expedition and were gone about

two hours. Rained nearly all night. Wenton guard at 7 :80 p. m. and stood for twohours, during which time I heard twentyheavy guns tired in the direction of BullRun. It must mean some kind of a row,or they would not be fii-ing after dark.March 3, 1862.—Cold and rainy. Pour-

ed in torrents from 8 to 10 lin the eveningand then cleared off cold and windy. Agood many of the men are sick with colds.We hear that two divisions have crossedthe river below Alexandria, and that theyhad a brush with the rebels last nightwhich occasioned the firing we heard.Went on guard at 5 :30 p. m.

March 4, 1862.—A part of Gen. Sum-ner's Division made an advance today.Some of the pickets stationed about amile on ouj left, on the railroad, werefired on by an old negro, but they weretoo quick foir him and he was shot thruthe heart and otherwise badly mangled.He lies there now about half buried.Went on guard from 1 :30 to 3 :30.

March 6, 1862.—Pleasant, except a

snow squall in the evening. The robinsand quail begin to appear. On guardfrom 3 :30 to 5 :30 p. m. A regiment cameout and relieved us, and we immediatelystarted for camp. One of the boysbrought in a 'possum with him, takenfrom a tree, and we had considerable sportwith it. Received orders to have twodays' rations cooked for a march.March 7, 1862.—We had hardest drill

today that we have had since I have beenhere. Received our new traveling "puptents" and think they wlill prove a goodthing, but will make our load heavierwhen we march. They are about two feethigh at the ridge pole and seven feet long,affording room for two men to crawl in

and He down. Each man is supposed to

carry one piece. Any number of piece.^

can be buttoned together.March 8, 1862.—The mud was dried so

that we can get around comfortably.During drill today we each fired 20rounds of blank cartridges. Ten cases of

boots were distributed to our regiments bythe sutler at $3.00 per pair.

CARRYING OUR HOUSE WITH US.

March 9, 1862.—We had iregimental In-

spection today for the first time since wehave been here. Were required to appearcoat, closely rolled up. The knapsackto contain w^oolen blanket, rubber blanket,one shirt, one pair of drawers, and onepair of stockings packed inside. Outsideof the pocket and under the flap of theknapsack 'is packed half of the travelingtent with three pegs and the guy ropesrolled in it. Outside of the flap is se-

cured one of the tent poles and upon thetop of the knapsack is strapped the over-

The National Tribune Scrai? Book.

coat, closely rolled up. The knapsacknow weighs from 23 to 25 pounds. Nextis the cartridge box containing 40 roundsof ball cartridges and a few implementsused in cleaning out and repairing the

gun ; cap box and bayonet together weigh12 pounds. After inspection, I found bythe Quartermaster's scales that my load

on a march would be about 50 pounds.The Major complimented us for keepingour rifles in good order, and advised as

when we used them to aim low, as thereis not one shot in a thousand but goes over.

After inspection came religious services.

We were marched without equipments to

headquarters, the band playing "Red,White and Blue," and formed a hollowsquare with officers. Chaplain and band in

the center. Chaplain Adams's text wasthe first three verses of Luke 13. He lec-

tured the soldiers severely for using pro-fane language. The first time I attendedreligious services here he read the 12t]i

chapter of Romans, all but the last twowords. I thought it was pretty good ad-

vice for the occasion.March 10, 1862.—At 3 a. m. our regi-

ment received orders to march at 9, andimmediately all were wide awake andpacking up. It commenced raining at

da'^dight and continued until 2 p. m., whenthe sun came out for half an hour, duringwhich time more men fell out of the ranksthan in all the rest of the march. Wecame out on the Fairfax road, and at noonreached our old picket post and halted to

eat dinner of hardtack. We reachedFairfax at 4:30 p. m. and pitched ourtents on the ground where the rebels

were encamped yesterday. In taking this

place our side lost one Lieutenant andtwo horses, and took 13 men and killed

two. Slept well until about 1 a. m., wlien

I awoke chilled thru. As I could nor.

sleep, I got up as most of the others haddone. It was a splendid sight to see thecampfires burning brightly in every di-

rection, for we are a multitude. Whenwe got here at 4 :30 p. m. we found otherregiments already camped here, and theykept coming in till 12 at night. Gen.McClellan and staff passed by at sunset.

A negro came into camp and said the

rebel troops had left Manassas and Cen-terville and gone to Richmond.March 11, 1862.—Pleasant day. At

sunrise we took breakfast, struck tents.

and packed up. We are in hostile landwith no house or home except what wecarry on our backs. At 9 a. m. I wentwith one of the Sergeants to visit Fair-fax Courthouse jail and other buildings.

In the jail we found haversacks belongingto the 5th Me. and other regiments whichwere taken at Bull Run. An officer sent

word to our Colonel that he had been toManassas and all was clear.

March 12, 1862.—^Clear and cool. Lastnights Sergt's Bailey and Libby, Corp'lStevens and myself put our two little

tents together, taking one to make endsto the other, and we had a good night'ssleep in spite of the cold, sharp air. Thismorning I went with the Captain to seethe rifle pits, howitzers, etc. Went overto the breastworlis the rebels left, whichwere poor affairs. Hear that the 7thMe. is about three miles to our right, andthat the 10th Me. started for Harper'sFerry about a week ago. Our boys havepicked up a good many prisoners today,who state that the rebs left Manassasfearing they would be surrounded andstarved out.

March 13, 1862.—Cold and dark, withsome rain. Today, while the cavalrywere drilling, in making a charge someof the horses fell, throwing their riders

and injuring them severely. One manand one horse were killed. Yesterdayseveral were badly hurt in the same way.This afternoon some covered wagonscame inside the division lines With pas-try, beer, etc., to sell. The boys took thefirst wagon by the wheels and tipped it

over, and were distributing the contentswhen the officer of the day came aroundand immediately axed the head out of thebeer barrel. The beer started off seek-ing its common level much to the sorrowof those who imbibed. The peddler camedown on the boys with a volley of curses,and the result was they dumped him into

his wagon and actually hauled him, horses,wagon and all, stern foremost into thestreet. The others were served in a simi-lar manner.March 14, 1862.—Fine rain. At 11 a.

m. we had orders to prepare for a generalreview by Gen. McClellan in 15 minutes

;

at the end of which time all were pa-tiently or impatiently waiting. At 4 pm. we were told there would be no review,and were called out for dress parade. Atsunset w^e received orders to march backto camp, and start for Alexandria and godown the river by boat tomorrow. Start-ed at 7 p. m. Rained all night. Wemade pretty good time till we came toHunting Creek, where we waited an hourfor our turn to cross a miserable little

bridge, wdien our Colonel told us to breakranks and find a fording place and getback to Camp Ifranklin, four miles away,the best we could. I foitnd myself in myold tent at 2 :30 a. m.March 15, 1862.—At 10 a. m. it rained

in torrents and continued till 5 p. m.when it held up about an hour, just longenough for us to tear down and cut up


the old gnai'dhoiise for firewood ; then it

rained again, if possible, harder thanever and continued all night. We had noguard out during the day or night. Mend-ed my boots this morning.March 16, 1862.—Dull day with some

rain. Was detailed on home guard to-

day, which seems to be a Sunday job withme. Mended my other boot. Today ourcompany received 22 new recruits.

March 17, 1862.—Windy. The grass is

beginning to start. Battalion drill in themorning, which proves that we are not to

march today, tho we had orders last nightto be ready. Did my washing this even-ing.

REVIEWED BY GEN. M'CLELLAN.

March 19, 1862.—Pleasant. Today wewere reviewed on the hights near theseminary by Gen. McClellan. Last nightwe were awakened by the sentinel's cry-

ing "Fire." We could not afford to turnout for trifles, so we lay still till morning,when we found that one of the tents in

the company next to us had burned down.March 23, 1862.—Pleasant most of the

day. The Colonel came in last eveningand said that Island No. 10 is taken with15,000 prisoners. Find myself lame fromplaying ball yesterday. There were 400of us playing at one time. Company in-

spections at 9 :30 a. m. Religious ser-

vices at 10 :30.

March 25, 1862.—In the morning wewere ordered to level and smooth up the

parade ground. In the afternoon we werereviewed by Gen. Mcbowell. Quite agrand occasion. In the evening a negroand his wife gave us a dance. Today ourregiment received a present of a beauti-ful silk flag from the State of Maine.March 27, 1862.—Pleasant. In the af-

ternoon we were reviewed by Gens. Mc-Dowell, King, Slocum and other ofiicers,

and honored with the presence of Gen.McClellan and some ladies. The 5th Me.was complimented as being the best ap-pearing regiment on the field. Don't weswell up ?

March 22, 1862.—Warm and pleasant.We begin to have a taste of the "SunnySouth." This afternoon we were invitedto be present at a sham battle, the 27thN. Y., in conjunction with a battery,

against an imaginary foe. The infantrywere to support the battery and it wasquite exciting.

March 29, 1862.—Turned cold last

night. Commenced snowing about 10 :30

a. m. and continued till 10 at night. I

was detailed on home guard today. Aboutmidniffht we were awakened by some onecalling out, "Are there any' boys herefrom the 11th Me?" He was answered"Ves" from three or four tents. He then

said : "Turn out as quick as possibleand help me find the rest, for we have tostart at 6 o'clock in the morning forAlexandria, Va.

April 1, 1862.—Warm and pleasant.After drill 1 went down in the woods a"Maying"—found two kinds of flowers,one of them like the trailing arbutus athome, only smaller. I went "Maying" inApril and picked March flowers. In myramble I suddenly came upon the camp ofthe 96th Pa., located in a beautiful spot.

April 2, 1862.—Battalion drill in themorning. In the afternoon we were or-

dered to the Captain's tent to sign thepay rolls. Since Gen. Slocum compliment-ed us at the review the 27th N. Y. hasfelt rather hard toward us and calls us"Franklin's Pets;" so when we furnishguard at headquarters our Adjutant re-

quests us to appear with our white glovesand a Union shine on our shoes. We haveorders to be ready to march.

April 4, 1862.—We were to have beenpaid off today if we had remained atCamp Franklin. They were paying off the27th N. Y. yesterday. We started on ourmarch about noon and went 2 1-2 miles to

the railroad, passing several forts. Wenton board the cars at 2 p. m. and landedat Manassas at sunset.

THE BATTLEFIELD OF BULL RUN.

April 5, 1862.—I spent my spare timelooking around, as we had liberty to gowhere we pleased. I went up to thedepot, about a mile distant, to look at theruins. The rebels destroyed a greatamount of property heire, clothing, pro-visions, etc. In the graveyard nearbysome of the graves were open, and cof-fins empty, the bodies having been takenaway by friends. I visited what hodbeen a general hospital. From the black-ened squares were two rows of brokencrockery, each row marking where a line

of beds stood. In one hospital the bodiesof three dead soldiers had been burned in

their haste, tho I saw the graves that hadbeen dug foir them. In the hospital grave-yard I found numbers on the stakes setup by the graves running as high as 294

;

these with other graves in the vicinitymake the number as high as 400 ; all hadbeen buried this Winter and Spring ; andnone of them fell in battle.

April 6, 1862.—Pleasant with coolwind. About 8 a. m. vSerg't Libby, Corp'IStevens and I started for Bull Run bat-tlefield, about five miles distant. Notknowing the way, »we made eight or ninemiles of it. On arriving there we sawgraves with bones and clothing stickingout of them. We saw a place that look-

ed as if it might perhaps have negroesliving in it and went to it to ask infor-


mation. An old 'white-haired man cameout, g'iving us a hearty welcome. Wefound him quite sociable and a rank se-

cesh. Had we known that two of ourmen were shot in that neighborhood j^es-

terday we should not have felt so com-fortable, as we had no arms other thanjack-knives. As it was we took dinnerwith the old gentleman, who treated ushandsomely, and had not a word to sayagainst the Federals. He gave us a his-

tory of himself and his blessing when weparted. I shall always have a pleasantmemory of him. We went to see a stonehouse that had withstood the battle. Afamily is living in it, and a woman show-ed us the rooms where some of the

wounded were carried at the time of thebattle. About a mile from here we foundwhat we were looking for—the placewhere the rebel "Black Horse Cavalry''charged with such deadly effect ; andw'here, at the same time, our Zouavesspotted them with such certainty. Therewere skeletons of horses and some menscattered around. In one instance I

counted skeletons of seven horses huddledtogether as if they had fallen in a heap,and among them were some human bones.

Thru the middle of the field was a longridge which marked the trench dug to ]'e-

ceive the main bulk of the dead. Othergraves were very thick and fj:om soiTie

peeped red garments of Zouaves. In someinstances a shoe and even bones were pro-

truding from a grave. We got back to

camp at sunset.April 7, 1862.—Commenced snov/ing at

5 a. m. and continued till nearly noon.We were ordered to march at 9 a. m. Wemarched 10 miles on the railroad andcamped at Catlett Station. We foundplenty of pigs and rabbits in the woods,and in a short time the trees of our campground had much meat on the boughs.

April S, 1862.—Rained and snowed alj

day and night. Went off to see what 1

could find to make myself comfortable.Got a backload of boards and made a flooir

to our tent. The first night we scraped to-

gether a lot of wet leaves, and went to the

nearest house and got a bundle of strawto put on them, and over all we spreadour rubber blankets. It made a fine bed.

Last night many of the boys spread their

rubber blankets right on the ground, andthis morning the water was running overthe blankets. About one-third of the

regiment have taken up their abode in the

houses near here, one-half of which areunoccupied. The occupied houses haveguards to keep the soldiers from destroy-

ing things and to prevent the occupantsfi'om giving information to guerrilla bands.

Carcasses of sheep, pigs, young cattle,

turkeys and hens abound in this camp.We are living high.

April 9, 1862.—Cold windy day withsnow and rain. Regiment paid off. I re-ceived $26 for January and February.Am about tired of looking for fair weath-er. Last night we drove down stakes mfront of our tents and piled logs againstthem and built a rousing fire, and man-aged to keep our courage up till morning.Tonight at 12 it is snowing fast.

April 11, 1862.—Yesterday was coldand stormy all day and night till 3 a. m.,when the snow was three inches deep; if

it had not melted as it fell, it would havebeen at least eight inches deep. A badnight. We would lie in our wet blanketsand wet clothes till we were so cold thatwe could neither sleep nor rest, and thenget up and hover over the fire. Thismorning the sun shines, the birds sing,

and squirrels are jumping around thecamp. Spent the forenoon washing up,cleaning clothes, guns, etc. Yesterdaywas such a bad day and we were so un-comfortable and dispirited that many of

us for the first time neither washed our-selves nor combed our hair. At 7 p. m.came orders to strike tents and pack upfor a march, as the other regiments werealready filing into the cars. We lookedforward to a good nip-ht's rest in the carsto make up for the sleep we had lost in

our late exposure, but we little knew whatwas in store for us. Hour after hourpa.ssed waiting for orders, and 3 :30 a. m.came word that there were not carsenough and our regiment would have lo

march at 7 a. m. for Alexandria, Va.April 12, 1862.—After sitting over our

fires all night, we started at 7 a. m. witha load of 50 pounds besides our clothing,

to march 'back thru the mud to Alexan-dria. I understand we are to be two daysgoing. We ireached our old camp groundabout noon and halted about 45 minutes,during which time I think I slept 40 min-utes. We then left the railroad andstarted for Centerville thru the outskirtsof Bull Run battlefield. Encamped about7 p. m. one mile from Centerville, andbuilt our fires. The night was cold andI got up several times to warm myself.On our march we saw some of the rebel"Quaker guns" (wooden guns).

April 13, 1862.—Struck tents andmarched at 7 a. m. Reached our oldcamp ground at Fairfax about noou.where we stopped an hour. Here two companies hired a team for $15 to take tlieii

knapsacks the remaining 17 miles. OurMajor undertook to "cut across" and in-

stead led us two miles out of the way overa dreadful country and streams withoutbridges. We reached our old Winter quar-


ters, near Alexandria, at 7 p. m., withblistered feeL and ourselves tired out. Wewere glad to see our old tents still stand-ing, as we expected the Government hadpacked them away till next Winter.

April 14, 1862.—Sprinkle of rain in themorning. Pleasant the rest of the day.Forty of us detailed to go on patrolguard at Alexandria and pick up membersof our regiment. Found about 20 of them,mostly on the streets and in eating houses.Learned that black crape is tied on doorhandles for othei* purposes than death.Our guard at camp is now of doublestrength.

April 16, 1862.—Warm. Sick yesterdayand am no better today. Went with theCaptain to the doctor's tent for medicine.Excused from duty for the first time. Thedoctor talked quite furiously about out'

late march and its effect on the men.Drew a pair of pants and another pair ofstockings today.

April 17, 1862.—We received march-ing orders last night about midnight. Westruck 12 tents in each company, and forthe fourth time left our old camp groundthinking we were not to ireturn. It raineda little when we stared, but proved a goodday for marching. I put my knapsack onone of the wagons and found it all I

could do to carry my gun and equipments.We left at 9 a. m. and at noon we wenton board a steamer at Alexandria, anddropped down the river a few miles.

DOW^N THE POTOMAC.

April 18, 1862.—Pleasant. Weighed an-chor at 10 a. m. and stood down the river

with four schooners in tow, loaded withcavalry, artillery, horses and supplies.Strong head wind and we proceeded slow-ly. Anchored at dark just above Mat-thias Point. Had a view of Mt. Vernonand of the rebel fortifications that block-aded the Potomac so ineffectually that ourvessels passed and repassed wheneve]'they '-^leased.

April 19, 1862.—^^Cold and showêry.Water smooth. Started at daylight downthe river. Many of the boys amusedthemselves shooting ducks. Entered theChesapeake Bay about noon. Anchoredat Hampton Roads at 10 p. m. Heardcannonading in the direction of York-town.

April 20, 1862.—Rainy day. We start-

ed on a back track at daylight and an-chored in the mouth of the PoquosinRiver at 30 a. m. among a large numberof steamers artd schooners. I understandwe went to Hampton Roads to receive or-

ders.April 23, 1862.—Pleasant day. Still

on board the steamer, lying about sevenmiles from Yorktown, where there is a

large force of the enemy. There are agood many of the boys sick with the dys-entery, myself among the rest. This

"^

is

the ninth day since I was taken sick andI have lost much in weight. Sufferedmuch for want of good water since wehave been lying here a few feet fromshore. Today the regiment went on shorewhile the boat was being cleaned. Gotsome fresh water, oysters, clams, etc,

April 24, 1862.—Pleasant. In the af-ternoon W'C steamed up and went down to

Fortress Ivlonroe. We took back a steamerof coal. Saw a quantity of shipping, alsoa French warship and an English one.We passed close to the little MonitorEricsson, and gave her three hearty cheers.She has lately had an engagement withthe IMerrimac and I saw where two ofthe Merrimac's shots bit her and where it

ran into her. Unless one had read a de-scription of the Monitor, one would hardlysuspect such an uncouth looking thing tobe a powerful war vessel. • Fortress Mon-roe is a strong and pretty place. Nonebut ofiicers were allowed to go ashore. I

saw the noted Rip Raps, on which is abig Union gun, and I also saw the largegun called the "Nigger." The big Uniongun is rifled and carries a slug weighing532 pounds and 22 inches long. The costof each discharge is $50.

April 27, 1862.—^Cold and cloudy. Nocard or checker playing, which is the mostessential difference I can see between to-

day and yesterday. The Chaplain distrib-

uted some tracts to the boys. We arediscontented on account of receiving nomail. Lieut. Robinson is back fromMaine. There was a detail from eachcompany tonight to go on so^me sort of anexpedition^—they don't know^ what until

they get tliere.

April 28, 1862.—Regiment went onshore this afteirnoon. I took my clothes

with me and did my washing and mend-ing. The boys detailed yesterday cameback this morning victorious. They weresent to recover 50 pontoons from YorkRiver, where they were in danger of be-

ing taken by the rebs.

April 29, 1862.—Vary foggy morning,warm day, and showery evening. In theafternoon we all wênt on shore again andamused ourselves in vairious ways, somediving for oysters and clams, some read-ing and wa-iting, and some roaming the

wôods, wdiere we found extensive beds ofprickly pear. Heavy cannonading at

Yorktown, which ceased at 4 p. m. Hearreport that New Orleans had been takenby our forces and that the Merrimac hadbeen sunk.May 1, 1862.—Foggy, misty day. Oar

company, with one other, occupies the

upper cabin, which is more light, airy,


convenient, and healthy than any otherpart of the boat. Those below decks arehaving the worst of it.

May 2, 1862.—Very warm. Went onshore in the afternoon and did my wash-ing. I then went into a creek wherethere was an oyster bed and dove foroysters, got enough for dinner and sold aquart for 40 cents. Heavy firing last

night. Our boat moved up the river halfa mile and anchored opposite the rebelbarracks.May o, 1862.—Our regiment and two

or three others slung knapsacks, took oureauipments, and moved on shore in theafternoon. Marched half a mile and en-camped in a cornfield. We are glad to

leave the boat for a place where we canhave more elbow room and better air.

This is the 17th day since we embarked atAlexandria.May 4, 1862.—Signs of rain. Regi-

mental and company inspection this

morning. We were expecting to marchto Yoi-ktown, but about 9 a. m. we re-

ceived news of the evacuation of thatstronghold, consequently all plans werechanged. After inspection our Chaplainaddressed us and spoke of the change in

our plans and reminded us of that Beingwho is unchangeable, and then closed witha short prayer. We then broke iranks,

struck tents, packed knapsacks and whilewaiting for orders to march I embracedthe opportunity to do some mending. At1 p. m. -received orders to march back to

the river and go on board the "JohnBrooks." We found back mail had arriv-ed and I received a letter from home.This time we have to take the forwardlower cabin and give up our pleasant sa-

loon to those who before occupied this

hole. It is tough, but no more than fair.

May 5, 1862.—Rained hard all day.At daylight we started for Yorktown,about 12 miles by water, as we have to

go a long way around on account of asand bar. We anchored opposite York-town at 8 p. m. I counted eighteen 100-pounders mounted on the rebel fortifica-

tions. It is a place to fortify, as naturehas done more than art for it. The oldearthworks built in Washington's timeare perfect and covered with green grass.

Cannonading all the afternoon but stoppedat dark. Officers sent for two regimentsto go out and take prisoners, also for 100ambulances. The fighting is about 10miles from here.May 6, 1862.—Pleasant. We started at

8 :30 a. m. for West Point with about 40pontoons in tow which broke adrift threetimes during the trip. Two were stoveup and one was lost. As there was a

strong head wind we lost from two to

four miles each time. Reached our des-

tination at 3 p. m. and landed at the headof York River, where the Pamunky andMattapony rivers unite. Just as the first

regiment landed five rebels left a housenear by and rode into the woods. Thegunboats threw some shells that bursinear them, but none of them were hit.

This was the first shot I had seen firedat the enemy. Our regiment landed aboutsunset, and pitched tents on a high, level,green bank, and it seemed good to be freefrom that prison-hole of a ship. An Or-derly of the 27th N. Y. was killed in thenight by a rebel while on picket, and therebel was killed by one of our Sergeants.

FIRST EXPEEIENCE UNDEE FIEE.

May 7, 1862.—Cool and pleasant. Analarm at daybreak, and we were orderedto fall in with as little noise as possible.The alarm was caused by the rebs re-moving the blockade constructed by ourpioneers last night. About 7 a. m. w'e

heard volleys of musketry in the woodsnot far from where we landed, and wewere all marched down there. Our dutywas to support one of the batteries. Wewaited two hours for the rebs to come out:

of the woods, expecting every moment thatthe whole force which had been routedfrom Yorktown would be upon us. Pres-ently came long rolls of musketry, and twosaw several companies that had been irec-

onnoitering driven back double quick intothe fields. Our Colonel could stand it nolonger, and asked leave to take his regi-

ment into the woods. Going in I sawCapt. Curtis, of the 27th N. Y., walking a

few steps to the rear holding his handto his breast, when one of his companystepped up to assist him. A ball hadpassed thru his right breast and out thruhis back. (See May 16, 1863.) We movedinto the woods, making our way slowlyand carefully thru thick underbrush, ex-pecting every moment to receive a volleyfrom the rebs, not thinking in our excite-ment and fright of our having a picket*line in front of us. Soon, however, ourpickets appeared ^and fell in with us. Therebel line now opened on us and afterexchanging a few volleys they fell backand followed on after their main army upthe Peninsula. They appeared tobe therearguard of their retreating army fromYorktown. This was my first experiencein actual warfare and it thoroughly test-

ed my courage while silently making myway thru the dense underbrush to meetthe enemy. Sometimes I was so weak in

the knees that I had to take hold of thebushes and pull myself along, but pridesupported me and after the first volleyfrom the enemy I was all right. (Memo.Dec, 1865. ) I have been in many a hard-fought battle since this but never expe-

4:2 The National Tribune Scra'p Book,

rienced anj^ weakness equal to this iu

making ray ^Yay to tlie ''front and center.'"

May 8, 18G2.—Pleasant. Troops liave

been landing all day. McClellan's pickeLsreached us about 4 p. m. Dead bodiesare being brought in from the woods. I

think there must have been 80 or 100wounded in yesterday's skirmish. I wasdetailed to work from 8 a. m. to 3 p. m.,bringing army wagons from the schoon-ers.

May 9, 1802.—Warm and pleasant. At9 a. m. we had orders to march. We wentto the lower end of our skirmish field andwere ordered to pitch tents. We had just

got them well bedded with pine boughswhen orders came to be ready to march at

noon. We ate some salt junk and hard-tack and then struck tents and packed up.We struck into the woods ; two milesbrought us to a field of about 200 acres, a

mile farther we found another large field

and were surprised to see the PamunkyRiver with its shipping. We campedthree miles from the mouth of the Po-tomac in New Kent County. Our iregi-

ment had to go on picket for the night.

May 10, 1862.—Very warm. We wererelieved about noon and marched into

camp and pitched out tents on RichardP. Lacey's plantation. Dr. Warren re-

ports 42 dead and 93 wounded in ourregiment as the effects of the skirmish last

Wednesday.May 11, 1862.—Comfortable day. Was

detailed on home guard. Our brigadestarted on a march a half hour before I

was relieved from guard, so I had to

double-quick while the regiments ahead of

me were resting, and came up to minejust as they entered the present campground. We met a long string of McCk^i-ian's wagons going to TS'est Point forsupplies sent by water. A rebel desertersa^s they had 300 killed and woundedlast Wednesdav. On guard at night.

May 13, 1862.—Warm. We were called

up at 3 a. m., got our breakfast as soon as

possible, and fell in for marching. Stoodand hour before we were ordered forward.Marched 13 miles and encamped on thelargest plantation I have seen, close to tlie

Pamunky River. Our gunboats andtransports are near us. Around us are60,000 troops and more coming. The 6tii

and 7th Me. are here.May 15, 1862.—Rainv nil night and to-

day. We were called up at 2 a. m.Struck tents, which were heavy and wet,and then waited till 6 o'clock for orders

to start. We marched a mile and thenhalted an hour, and in tliis manner wewent six or seven miles to the WhiteHouse, on Col. Lee's plantation (Gen.Lee's son), which we reached at 2 p. m.A fine place, with 200 negroes on it, and

they say 100 have been lately sold. Therebel forces which were between the Pa-munky and Mattapony came up here lastFriday and joined their Yorktown armythat we were engaged with, by crossingthe railroad bridge, which they burned af-ter them. Saturday noon they all left, andtoward night our advance column reachedhere.May 17, 1862.—Warm and pleasant.

Our regiment detailed on fatigue duty.We went two miles from camp with axes,shovels, picks, etc., to take up some oldbridges and build new ones on the road toRichmond. A ration of whisky dealt outand some drunkenness ensued. Receivedfour letters from home.May 18, 1862.—In the afternoon I

swam out into the river and did mywashing. There was . so much mouldybread, offal, etc., near the shore that I

could not consistently use the water.May 19, 1862.—Rained toward niglit.

We marched five miles toward Richmond.The boys found a lot of tobacco in its nat-ural state in a barn and brought it in byarmfuls. On our march we passed aguideboard which read as follows

:

"Richmond, Va., 20 miles. Gorham,Me., 673 miles."

It was hailed with cheers and spicycomments.May 20, 1862.—Pleasant. We begin to

find strawberries. We marched four milesand camped. On our way we passed atrim little church, the first one I haveseen in a long time. Last night whenone of the boys of the 27th N. Y. got upto go on guard, in reaching out his hand,he put it on a large black snake that hadcrawled into the tent and stretched itself

between the boys.May 21, 1862.—Very hot day. Wfe

struck tents at 7 :30 a. m. and marched to

3 p. m., and only went seven miles, butit proved the most fatiguing march wehave had since leaving Alexandria. Whenwe went into camp there were but 26 en-

listed men present of our company. T

am quite sick tonight. We are now with-

in 10 or 12 miles of Richmond, near the

Chickahominy River. The rebel picketsare less than two miles from us.

May 23, 1862.—Extremely hot yester-

day and today. On our late march wepassed a great many overcoats and blan-

kets which our men had thrown away to

lighten their loads. iV balloon was upseveral times todav. Our forces have beenshelling the woods to see if rehel forces

are concealed there. They drove out somecavalry during the operation. Fresh meatis dealt out instead of salt junk, conse-

quently there are 60 men from our regi-

ment alone on the sick list.

May 24, 1862.—Cold morning and a

The National Tribune ScrajJ Book. \?>

rainy day. Yesterday the boys werearound in shirts and drawers only ; todayin full dress and overcoats. Gen. McClei-lan passed thru our camp with bodyguard, the 4th Mich., and some prisoner.s

taken in an engagement this forenoon.Mended my boots. A lot of light blue

pants delivered to our regiment today.

The Colonel sent one of our boys out of

the ranks the other day for appearing In

white draweirs instead of blue pants whenit was all the poor wretch had.May 2-5, 1862.—Last night was so cold

that although w^rapped in an overcoatand blanket I got very little sleep. Manyof the boys left their tents and hoveredover the sentinel fires, but they cannotdo so tonight, for we have moved tvvo

miles nearer the rebel lines and no tires

will be allowed after G p. m. The picketlines are not three-quarters of a mile

apart, and the rebs might shell us if theyknew just how we lie. At sunset, whileattending prayers, they threw three shells

over us.

JMay 2G, 1862.—Our tents were coveredwith frost this morning. Dug a trencharound my tent to keep the water out andat 8 p. m. I turned in for the night. Ina few minutes I was called out by anOrderly to know iO I felt well enough to

go on fatigue duty for the night. If not,

he would excuse me. That is not the

usual way of calling out a detail, so _L

said I was able and willing to go,_ but it

was easier to make him believe it thanit was to believe it myself. We marchedoff with axes, etc., two miles to build a

bridge. On the way across a high knoll

we had a good view of our camp, seen bylights from the officers' tents. We couldalso see the rebel camp and there are byno means a few of them. We could notfinish the bridge, as the pontoons were de-layed and we left as soon as it began to

grow light. We are now seven m.iles

from Richmond.May 27, 1862.—We got back this morn-

ing in time to strike tents and marcTi. Wewent two miles at a quick pace, in the

rain, with mud ankle deep and everythingheavy with water, and reached a placecalled Mechanicsville, where the Michiganregiment took the prisoners last Satur-

day. We then pitched our tents and got

our breakfast. The houses around hereare riddled with bullets. We are five

miles from Richmond. Received letters

from home.

EICHMOND—so NEAE AND YET SO FAE.

May 29, 1862.—Pleasant. I saw for thefirst time, not the promised land, but the

disputed city of Richmond. I went just

outside of the picket line and climbed to

the top of a tall tree, on a little hill, and

there could plainly see the city. Wemoved about 40 rods for a better campingplace.May 30, 1862.—Warm and pleasant.

Our company was called out to help pro-tect a foraging party'. We went on picketjust before dark. My post was along astone wall and I was not relieved until

daylight. Under cover of my rubber blan-ket I watched all night thru the mostterrific thunderstorm and brilliant dis-

play of lightning I ever saw. At day-break the storm ceased.May 31, 1862.—Our regiment fired on

the rebel picket this morning. Some of

their cavalry came out on the bridge wehad orders to keep clear. We fired onthem, but none of them were hit. About1 p. m. a brisk cannonading with voUevsof musketry was heard on our left, whichlasted nearly all the afternoon. We at-

tempted to cross the Chickahominy, butwere driven back. Kearny then came to

reinforce us ; we retook the ground wehad lost, and gained the day, but withheavy loss. When we got back to camp wewere immediately marched out to the bat-tlefield again to support two batteries

should it be necessary. We returned to

camp at dark. This was the battle of

Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines. Federalskilled. 891; wounded, 3,627; Confeder-ates killed, 1,987; wounded, 3,233.June 3, 1862.—Warm and pleasant

We started out on picket at 4 p. m. Wewere placed four on each post and stood24 hours without being relieved. Com-menced raining about dark and continue;]

all night. We heard a smart engagementabout two miles on our left, caused bytroops crossing the river. Passed a dis-

agreeable night. We lay secreted underthe bushes in a drenching rain, doing ourbest to keep our eyes open and our am-munition dry. I stood seven hours for

the two that belonged to me, and stoodfive of them alone, as I dared not trust

the man whose turn it was, he havingbeen on guard last night and was verysleepy and also troubled with a badcough, not the best thing to have on picketwithin speaking distance of the enemy.Received letters and papers from home.June 5, 1862.—^Clouds and sunshine.

Relieved from picket at 4 p. m. and re-

turned to camp wet .and tired and did ourbest to dry blankets, clothing, etc. I

spent the rest of the day cleaning my gunand equipments and doing my washing.June 6, 1862.^01eared off at noon. I

was detailed to go on guard at noon. Wehear that Smith's Division is crossing the

river a short distance below us. Our bri-

gade struck tents and marched back twomiles to join the rest of our division. I

marched in the rear with the guard and


on our way the rebs threw shells at usthat burst uncomfortably close. Of thenine who enlisted and came when 1 did

six months ago but three are able to doduty.June 9, 1862.—Cool. At 10 a. m. we

started on picket to relieve the ICth N.Y. We have five men on a post now.Prom where I now sit I can count sevenrebs. All quiet till about 2 p. m., whenthe Captain sent us word to secrete our-selves, for the rebs were creeping downtoward us in the bushes. We had a shel-

ter of boards leaning against a tree, butwere sitting out in full view playingcheckei-s when they commenced firing onus, several bullets whizzing very near ourheads. They fired about a dozen times at

our right. We kept the same place dur-ing the night, taking tnrns sleeping. Com-menced raining at 3 a. m.June 10, 1862.—Rained most all day.

We were relieved at 10 a. m. by the ISthN. Y, Just as we were starting back anegro made liis appearance on the otherside of the creek and motioned that hewished to co-me over. He said tie left

Richmond last Sunday with four others,

but our pickets fired on them wlien theyattempted to cross over to our lines andthey got separated and he had not seen theothers since. He had information to give

and was taken to the officers. The other

four had reported. We are now campedon Wm. Gaines's plantation, on the

Chickahominy River, seven miles east ofRichmond.June 13, 1862.—Very hot day. The

nights would be called cold in Maine.One hundred and fifty men were detailed

from our regiment to go on fatigue duty.

We started at 8 a. m. and went aboutfour miles to where they were building

bridges on the Chickahominy. As they

had men enough, we were ordered to the

woods, about a mile farther on, to build

corduroy roads. Beyond us was the 2dMe., standing in water up to their belts,

cutting down trees. They left at 3 p. m.for Mechanicsville, five miles distant. Weleft at 4 o'clock. Our regiment now mus-ters of able bodied men a little over 600,

which is more than they will average.

The 2d Me. has but 285. Received letters

from home. Went to bed with the sick

headache.June 14, 1862.—Exceedingly hot with

little air stirring. Our regiment called

out under light marching orders at 6 a.

m., and sent to the place where we workedon the road yesterday. There we stood in

the hot sun as guard till noon, then work-ed on the road two hours, after wliich

all but two companies were sent back,

and went elsewhere under Gen. Edwards.We hear that the New Jersey boys are

having a hard time across the river. Theywere in the late battle of Fair Oaks andare now but a short distance from thebattleground. They have labored hardcovering the dead, hundreds of which areburied but a few rods from their camp.The ground is covered with remains of

dead men. The Jersey boys cannot ad-vance, by reason of the heavy force in

front, and they will not fall back, as theywould lose the ground. They cannot evencut down a tree without the rebels shell-

ing them.June 17, 1862.—Pleasant. We are go-

ing out on picket. Am 30 years old to-

day.June 19, 1862.—Warm, fine day. Start-

ed to find a place to do some washing,and penetrating quite a distance into theChickahominy Swamp, where I foundbeautiful magnolia trees in full bloom.June 20, 1862.—Pleasant. Went over

to the 7th Me. and called on some of theboys. Have been doing my sewing today.Last Tuesday night one of our boys whohad been out on picket came back andtold the reserve that the rebs were build-

ing a bridge in front of us, across theriver, in the woods. We thought he wasmistaken, but today our sharpshootersdiscovered five bridges pretty well underway and all of them between where wewere picketed and Mechanicsville. Theywon't be allowed to complete them.June 21, 1862.—Very warm, but pleas-

ant. On guard from midnight till 4 p.

m. There was quite a smart engagementthis afternoon and we expected a generalbattle, but it subsided. It was occasion-ed by a rebel brigade coming out of the

woods and driving back our pickets withthe help of shell. We had two men killed

and a number wounded. The rebel loss

must have been much greater. The rebswere fired on again because they came outafter their dead and wounded Avithout afiag of truce.June 22, 1862.—Very warm.^ This

morning after daylight a rebel displayeda piece of newspaper on a stick and oneof our men went out to see what it meant.He found a 2d N. C. man so badly hurt as

to be unable to move. The hoys filled his

haversack with oranges, cakes, etc., andhe was taken to the hospital with ourwounded. After inspection, Davis, Mer-rill, and I went to visit Fair Oaks bat-

tlefield. We had an interesting day withmuch to see.

June 26,' 1862.—The hottest day we

have had. Yesterday our forces made anadvance along the lines and there washeavy firing from 9 :30 a. m. till dark,

and we w^ere ready with 65 rounds ofcartridges to be called out at any time,

but were finally sent to our quartei-s.


McOlellan passed our brigade on liis wayfrom the battletield and informed us thatwe had .not only driven the enemy back,but could hold our position, which was in-

correct. Today at 4 p. m. a very heavycannonading commenced in the direction

of Mecahnicsville, which grew hotter andheavier till it was terrific. It continuedtill dark and we were informed that therebs had made an attack on our right

wing, but had been driven back and final-

ly whipped, but we feel strongly uncer-tain about it. For a long time there luis

been no unnecessary noise in our army,the bands have been silent, and not evena drum or a bugle call ; but tonight the

bands were playing and regiments werecalled out to cheer for the victory andthis was kept up till a late hour. Wecannot get particulars.

BATTLE OF GAINES'S HILL.

June 27, 1862.—Very hot day. About2 :30 a. m. we were aroused by a furiousvolley of musketry on our left. We im-mediately fell in, but soon all was quietagain. In the afternoon, while reconnoi-tering, we were smartly shelled and sa-

luted with solid shot and for the fiirst timewe were obliged to skedaddle. Theyovershot us, however, and no one was in-

jured. All the forenoon a heavy battle

raged across the river on our right, andour forces were driven back from Me-chanicsville to Gaines's Hill, and fromtbere to Gaines's Mill. We were orderedout to tear up a bridge that we had built

across the river, and which our brigadehad been guarding. The new bridge abouta mile above has been blown up. About2 p. m. we started under light marchingorders for Woodbury's Bridge, expectingwe were to guard it oi' destroy it ; butafter meeting large numbers of woundedand finding we were going directly acrossthe bridge we began to mistrust what wascoming, that we w^ere in for a row. Wemarched at a quick pace directly to thebattlefield and took position in the rearof some batteries as a support, the solid

shot and shell striking on each side of

our column and shrieking like demonsover our heads, and also a generoussprinkling of bullets. Only one man washit and he was promptly carried off thefield. After lying in a low place abouthalf an hour listening to the incessantroar and watching the tide of battle weweer ordered forward ; at this time therewas a lull in the roar of musketry and thecannons appeared to have stopped to gettheir breath. We marched up to relieve

the brigade of Regulars who had been en-gaging the enemy and who had just lost n

batterJ^ They were rushing away fromthe scene of carnage, carrying with them

their dead and dying. Many of theirwounded were dragging themselves off thefield, some of them covered with grimeand blood. Full of real grit, they wouldlook up at us with sorrowful smiles andsay, "Give it to them, boys." Poor fel-

lows. They had done well, but wereobliged to leave on account of overwhelm-ing force. We took our position betweentwo old negro huts with a rail fence aboutten irods in front of us and another a fewrods in our rear. Over the rail fence in

front of us was a descending field and be-

yond that the woods. The width of the

field was perhaps a long rifle shot. Assoon as we got our positions we wereordered to lie down, when the most fu-

rious hail of lead passed over and amongus I ever wish to see or hear. One of

the boys said at the time, ''Hell, boys, I

can't get the point of my bayonet betweenthe bullets." Perhaps we didn't hugmother earth then, and then again per-

haps we did. The rain of lead eased up alittle and we received oa."ders to load andfire at will and not waste our ammunition.Our batteries had opened anew on bothsides of us and the infernal screaming of

vshell from them and the whizzing andtearing of the iron from the rebel batteries,

which was in many instances too close to

be comfo^rtable, made a veititable hell

upon earth. If anyone could have beenin a safe place and looked on at that timethey would have doubted that there hadever been such a saying as "Peace onearth, good will toward men." At theexpiration of the fiirst half hour our regi-

ment was left almost without officers.

Our Colonel had about a pound of flesh

torn from his arm by a shell Our Lieu-tenant-Colonel was shot thru the head bya bullet. Our Major is sick in the hos-

pital, and our First Lieutenant, in com-mand of the company, was shot threetimes. We suppose he is now in thehands of the rebs. Private Dan Harvey,the third man on my right, was shot thruthe head. We having orders to fall back,took our station behind the rail fence in

our rear, and the rebs advanced upon u.s•

when we in turn advanced upon them anddrove them back with bullets, not bayo-nets (for we had but few officers and werefighting almost on our own hook), andgained the coveir of their fence and sometrees in the vicinitv. Here we had a,

fair sight of the rebs. and I was aston-ished that I could with so little compunc-tion let slip death messengers at thos<''

poor victims. The rebs were from 10 to

80 yards from us, but many shots wereexchanged at a much less distance thanthat. We were in the fight, I think, abouttwo hours and a half, and when the last

of our brigade left the field, being relieved


by another that acted as picket at night,the rebs had fallen back into the edge ofthe woods and the firing had ceased onall sides. Should it happen that I neverreturn, it mvLj be some satisfaction to myfriends to know that of the 49 men thatcompose my company all but pne had lefi:

the field of battle before I came away,

—

that one was Serg't J. B. Bailey ; wetent together and we stuck by each otherthru the whole fight. A bullet took somehair off my head just over my right earand another made a hole in my pants leg

is all I have to show for being in thethickest of the fight.

June 28, 18G2.—We got into camp at

1 :30. At daylight we were called out bythe rebs opening on our left about a miledistant, with shell and musketry. Our di-

vision was rearguard, and the army,teams, etc., passed on all in good ordertowa.rds the James River. We wereshelled away from our knapsacks today,just after we had unslung them and putthem in a pile, and we had to skedaddleinto the woods. We were foolishly ex-

posed to the rebel batteries by our oiti-

cers. Some time after this some of us

got permission to go out one at a timeand pick up knapsacks—providing wewould hurry—and look out for sharp-shooters. Then the rebs would opentheiir batteries on each individual man.Mighty small business I call it. I broughtin three knapsacks and 10 blankets for

the boys, besides my own, at one load.

HARD PICKET DUTY.

June 29, 1862.—Raining slightly. Wew^ere out nearly all last night. We march-ed at 1 :30 a. m. back toward the JamesRiver. It appears we aire "changingbase." After marching about three mileswe came to a halt, and I got an hour'ssleep, which I needed. Here they weregiving to all of the soldiers who wouldtake them blankets, clothing, rations, andcommissary stores of all kinds, while large

piles of goods were burning. It looks to

me as if the rebs had us on the run. Atdaylight we pushed on and at night ourregiment, with others, was detailed to goon picket. Our company was held as a

reserve and we expected a little sleep

;

but during the first part of the nightthere was a disturbance and we were all

turned out and posted for a while ; and in

consequence of our Second Lieutenantmaking a blunder Serg't Bailey and J

were left, each on our post alone, all

night, without being relieved. This wastrying a fellow's waking powers rathersteep. By daylight I had got my mad up,

and regardless of the risk of being court-martialed I left my post and went to the

reserve and got Serg't Bailey and myself

changed. It was very quiet today, excepta continual popping of muskets in thefront line, till 9 p. m., when the rebsopened again on our left, and many bat-teries were brought into action. We hada glorious row for several minutes andthen all was quiet for the night. I thinkit was a general scare.June 30, 1862.—At 9 a. m. we marched

back about a mile to support batteries.

They opened on the rebs about 3 :30 p.

m. and we lay flat on the ground some 15rods in their rear, among pine trees. Therebs appeared to be swarming all aroundus, and as the booming of cannon closedin nearer and nearer we saw but two sure-ly that we were bagged. The staff officers

looked anxious, then decidedly £;erious

;

they held a council and decided on some-thing, for above the din we hoard the or-

der, "Double-shot those guns; pour in

grape and canister as fast as possible."'

Heavens ; didn't those pieces bellow. Theymust have performed awful execution, too.

The rebel shells, solid shot, railroad iroji

were by no means inactive either. Withawful screech and a spat, a shotwent past me and as I looked around to

see what it hit an officer pitched fromhis saddle unhurt, but his horse canteredoff! with one hind leg dangling, I saw thebattery boys drop, torn and mangled, andthey were quickly carried past us to therear. We lay there nearly three hours,during which time there must have beenan immense amount of lead and iron hurl-

ed thru the air. When we were orderedto march we filed into the woods to ourleft and commenced a reconnoissance, butthe enemy had fallen back and we did notget sight of them. After dark we march-ed back in the rear of the batteries and it

appeared to be our object now to get

away if possible. We started on abouta mile, when we met cavalry pickets whotold us that the rebs had possession of

the road a short distance ahead. Wethen went back a short ways and turnedinto the woods and lay quiet. The nightwas dark, which was favorable to us.

After midnight we had orders to fall in

and keep still. The rebs had fallen backfrom the road across the field into thewoods. Our artillery passed on veryquietly ahead of us, then we silently andquickly marched after them toward theJames River, By daylight we were outof the bag,

SURROUNDED BY CANNON.

July 1, 1862.—About an hour after

daylight we halted on a hill or table land,

nearly surrounded by woods and a line of

cannon almost around it and large num-bers of them inside the line.' Here wecould see the James River and were un-


der cover of our gunboats. We stopped acouple of hours and most of the time I

spent in sleep. It is astonishing how westand the hardships and exertions with solittle sleep and rest

;probably it is the

excitement that keeps us up. We are,

however, beginning to give out. Some of

us, myself among the number, have thrownaway our knapsacks, tents, woolen blan-kets, and dress coats ; some few have lost

everything, even their guns and equip-ments. About 8 :30 a. m. we were order-ed to fall in and marched several miles.

I was so near asleep that I knew but lit-

tle of what was going on. We halted in agtreat plain filled with wheatfields, uponwhich I saw more army wagons than I

ever did before or ever expect to seeagain. We stopped here till about 3 p.

m., when we were marched into the woodsto our left and placed on picket with anumber of other regiments ; for it wasthought that the enemy were trying to

outflank us in that direction. We work-ed hard till dark throwing up breastworks.The boys had a hot time at Malvern Hilltoday.

July 2, 1862.—Last night was an aw-ful one. Many of us only had rubberblankets for shelter, and the rain poureddown in torrents. I succeeded in gettingshelter under a comrade's tent. We wereon picket until 1 :30 a. m. and then fell

in and marched to the James River, wherew^e arrived at 8 a. m. It still continues to

rain. We are now on the banks of therivej* and our gunboats and any quantityof transports are here.

July 15, 1862.—Very warm and bright.

Most of our regiment have lost theirknapsacks and blankets. Lost them in thelate battles. All I have is a rubber blan-ket, haversack and canteen. The rebshave followed us up and have opened onus with shell, but our gunboats will keepthem back. We have received reinforce-ments and I hope we can now hold ourown at least. We are at Harrison'sLanding, five miles below City Point, eastside of the James River.

July 4, 1862.—Pleasant. Sent letters

home. Our bands are beginning to reviveagain. During the last two weeks wehave been almost constantly exposed to

the fire of the enemy, have slept but lit-

tle, have been on ducy seven-eighths of

the time, and have been in battle four orfive times. We have 'been on fatigueduty today.

July 5, 1862.—Very warm. I went outwith the company at daylight to cut downtrees to give the artillery range. Therebs sent in so many bullets that cavalrywas sent to drive them away. I workedtill I was about used up. We left for

camp at 1 p. m.

July 6, 1862.—Very warm. During themorning inspection I fainted and fell

down in the ranks. I believe I am sick.

July 8, 1862.—Sick in quarters yester-day and today. The company is outbuilding a fort.

July 9, 1862.—Very hot day. Started onpicket in the morning. We went outabout two miles. We are to have a com-pany cook now. President Lincoln vis-

ited camp today.July 10, 1862.—Showery in the fore-

noon. We were relieved from picket atnoon. We went out to work on a fort at8 p. m. and worked till midnight.

July 11, 1862.—Rainy day. We heardheavy cannonading on the river this af-

ternoon. Our regimental band is to bedischarged and sent home. One band to

an army is abundantly sufiicient I think.

Our Corps, the Sixth, is now commandedby Franklin ; our Division, the Second,by Slocum.

July 13, 1862.—Very warm. On guardfrom 4 to 8 a. m. Went up to a pondnear here and found some beautiful lilies.

The 3d and 4th Me. are camped near here.

The 16th and 27th N. Y. are out on fa-

tigue duty. Sent letters home..July 15, 1862.—Very warm and bright.

Went out on fatigue duty at daylight.

Worked till 8 a. m., getting out timbersfor the imagazine. Orders are gettingstrict. We are to have roll call four timesand inspection once a day.

July 16, 1862.—Intensely hot. Heavyshowers after sunset. The lightningkilled seven mules and a horse in our di-

vision, besides striking a man. Receivedorders to pack up and march, but we hadto go on picket in the afternoon, twomiles away, and we got a thorough soak-ing.

July 17, 1862.—Out on picket. Norebel forces within several miles, excepionce in a while a few scouts. The rebsmay have fallen back to draw us out ofour stronghold. Things are going irather

loose again. It is contrary to orders to

fire when on the outpost, except at theenemy ; but some of the boys are pickingoff the pigs and have dressed quite a lot

of them, which they will smuggle intocamp.

July 18, 1862.—Commenced rainingyesterday before we got in from picketand continued all night. We had ourtents to pitch, and everything was wotand muddy. Passed an uncomfortablenight. My paper, envelopes, stamps andeverything else is wet and even my pen-cil is unglued and came apart in mypocket. My pocketbook would be an as-

tonishment to the giver. I am glad theweather, times, and changes have notdealt so severely with me.


July 24, 1862.—Geo. Morgan died to-

day of heart disease, and Serg't Bailey,Alonzo Goodwin and I made a coffin to

bury him in.

July 26, 1862.—Rained all last night,

but pleasant today. Went on picket. Re-ceived letters and pictures from home.

July 27, 1862.—Pleasant. Came in frompicket sick tonight. John (Gross died to-

day.July . 28, 1S62.—Serg't Bailey sick.

Gross buried under arms. Six burials

nearby today. Funerals are getting tooplentiful.

July 29, 1862.—Five details made outtoday, but I escaped them all. I thinkit was very proper, as I am far fromwell. Serg't Bailey is better.

July 31, 1862.—Sick and off duty yes-

terday and today.Aug. 1, 1862.—The rebs opened a bat-

tery on our transports and sent a fewshells across the river at us. They sankone transport, killing five men andwounding several. It was a smart en-

gagement for an hour, but our gunboatssilenced them. This occurred about 1

o'clock last night. Our regiment went onpicket, but I was excused from duty bythe doctor. I find myself weak and irun-

ning down.Aug. 2, 1862.—Squads are busy work-

ing on the breastworks. I went over to

see Whitefield Verrill, but he had goneon picket.Aug. 3, 1862.—Showery. Squads still

working on the breastworks. Silas Crook-er went home on a furlough today. I ambetter, but still very weak.

ARMY PAY AND SUTLER PRICES.

Aug. 4, 1862.—Pleasant. We were paidoff today. I received $60, which is four

months' pay and $8 clothing allowance.

As I have no appetite for rations, I

bought a loaf of bread for 20 cents ; apound of sugar 30 cents, and .a can of con-

densed milk $1. Our only chance to get

anything besides rations is with the sut-

lers, and they charge enormous prices,

12c for one egg.

Aug. 5, 1862.—A large number of cav-

alry went out this moirning before day-

light. We received orders to pack up all

but our tents. At 6 a. m. a heavy can-

nonading commenced up the river, whichwe supposed to be an attack on Fort Dar-ling, but before night we concluded they

must be disputiiri over Malvern Hill, six

or seven miles tlistnnt.

Aug. 7. 1862.—Our regiment with

others detailed to go out and fell trees to

give the batteries range. We have cut

quite a nuniber of acres of timber since

we came here, built some forts and majiy

miles of road.

Aug. 8, 1862.—Received orders to packup knapsacks and carry them to theQuartermaster's to be taken down to thetransport immediately, and we are to holdourselves in readiness to march at 2 p.

m. tomorrow. All who are unable to

march 20 miles are to report to the doc-tor.

Aug. 11, 1862.—Very hot. We strucktents, packed up and went on picket.

Showers in the afternoon.Aug. 12, 1862.—Very hot. Col. Jack-

son, who was wounded June 27, and theChaplain, got back to the regiment today.

Aug. 13, 1862.—Pleasant. Last nightwas almost cold. Today Orderly Serg'tStevens was promoted to Lieutenant,Serg't B. Day was made Orderly, and F

was appointed Corporal.Aug. 15, 1862.—Cloudy day. I am not

very well yet. Last evening w^e had or-

ders to march at daybreak, and todaywould have been the best day for a marchwe have had this Summer, but we didn't

go. Nearly all the other brigades havegone and left g^reat quantities of tentstuff, axes, shovels, etc., on the ground,besides burning a great deal. We gotready to march, according to orders, andwaited hour after hour, and now at darkwe have made preparations to spend thenight here as usual. The sick have beentaken to the hospitals, and the cooks andfield officers have left.

Aug. 16, 1862.—^Cool and pleasant. Wefound some salt junk that some of thebrigades left, and spent the forenooncooking and eating it. We also foundsome rice and hardtack. Our teams haveall left, and tonight our two days' rationswill be gone. The iroads have beencrowded .all the time for two days withteams and troops and sometimes they re

main stationary for hours. At 3 p. m.we received orders to march immediatelyWe started down the river under cover of

our gunboats, altho we could not see v.he

river on account of the woods. We march-ed six miles, x)assing New Kent Court-house on the way. Green corn is plenil-

ful. We camped at dark, wrapped ourblankets around us and lay down on theground without pitching tents.

Aug. 17. 1862.—Very cold for this timeof the year. Cooked our breakfast andstarted on our march at 5 :20 a. m. Wemarched about 15 miles. A part of the

time our progress was much impeded bytenms. but we finally took a clear roadand reached the mouth of the Chickahora-iny, which we crossed on a pontoon bridge

*made of 100 boats, and camped about 2

p. m.Aug. 18, 1862.—Cool and pleasant.

Cooked breakfast and started on the

ninrch at 5 :20 a. m. Had a clear way.

The National Tribune Scra'p Booh. 49

as the wagons were on another road.

We marched at a quick pace 13 miles andreached old Williamsburg at 10 :30 a. m.Footsore and weary we came to a halt

and prepared for dinner, but were imme-diately marched off, and passed thru the

city. Surprised to tind it so large andfine.

Aug. 19, 1862.—Cold nights with heavydews. We heard the report of cannons in

the morning. Started at 6 :30 a. m.,

marched 10 miles, and came to Yorktownabout 2 p. m. Encamped on the YorkRiver a mile or so below the city. Wefind many peach orchards and fig trees

here. Did my washing in the forenoon.Olif. Jones and I spread our rubbers onthe sand by the river and slept there all

night.Aug. 21, 1862.—Very hot. Reached

Newport News at 11 a. m. and encampedclose to the river. We had a good timebathing and getting oysters.

UP THE POTOMAC.

Aug. 22, 1862.—Left Newport Newsabout midnight and marched to FortressMonroe, where we went on board thetransport "John Brooks."

Aug. 24, 1862.—Had a pleasant trip

up the Potomac yesterday and today welanded at Alexandria at 1 p. m. Womarched three miles and encamped at

Fort Ellsworth. Very cold night.

Aug. 2.5, 1862.—Signs of rain. Cyre-nus Stevens went to Alexandria this

morning to see Albert Freeman, butfound that he had died shortly before.His leg had been amputated by Dr. Gar-selon, and last night it began to bleed,and the doctor was unable to stop it andhe bled to death. Received letters fromhome. Much dispirited to hear of the

probable death of Brother Edward P. Ver-rill at the battle of Cedar Mountain,Aug. 9.

Aug. 26, 1862.—The hottest day vn^o

have had since leaving Harrison's Land-ing, but the nights are cool. Troops arepassing over the railroad as fast as pos-sible for Manassas Junction, Oatlett Sta-tion and that vicinity, and more are con-tinually coming in and pitching their

tents near us, waiting to take the cars.

Our whole company on guard today. Wehear that Horace H. Moody of our com-pany died a few days ago in a hospital in

Rhode Island.Aug. 27, 1862.—Very hot. Today we

were each furnished with a loaf of soft

Thread. Brisk cannonading in the direction

of Manassas. About noon the report wasthat the guerrillas had got in the rear of

Pope and that an engagement had takenplace this side of Manassas. It is also

reported that a Jersey brigade that left

here on the cars this morning were takenprisoners. At 3 p. m. we struck tents,and marched a mile or so to Fort Lyonand camped. Fruit, cakes, milk andeverything else very cheap compared withwhat Ave have been paying the sutler,but most of us 'have not a cent to buywith. A little after midnight we saw agreat fire in the direction of Manassas.

Aug. 28, 1862.—Cloudy. Some of the10th Maine Band were here and they toldme of Brother Edward Verrill's death.He was wounded shortly after the battleof Cedar. Mountain commenced, but didnot die immediately. Ed Kent Verrill andDanie] Lewis were in the battle. The16th Maine is near Camp Franklin, aboutfour miles from here, and Daniel Perrysent for me to come and see him. Wehear that 10,000 rebel cavalry are at Ma-nassas, and that Pope is in a tight place,with communications with Washingtoncut off.

Aug. 29, 1862.—Left Fort Lyon andmarched toward Centerville, camped atAnnandale. We can hear the report ofthe guns at the battle of Bull Run.

Aug. 30, 1862.—Marched all day. Passedthru Centerville, and crossed Cub Run alittle before sunset. We found a grandskedaddling of our forces and baggagew^agons under McCail, and we had to

cover their iretreat.

Aug. 31, 1862.—Marched back abouttwo miles to Centerville Hights andcamped.

Sept. 1, 1862.—About 10 p. m. we left

Centerville and marc'hed seven or eightmiles thru the mud, and then went back aways and camped two or three miles fromFairfax Courthouse. We had an awfulhard maroh for so short a one, and it wasdaybreak before we camped. Just beforeAve left Centerville Gen. Kearny passedalong about sunset toward the picket line,

and shortly after we heard he had beenkilled.

Sept. 2, 1862.—Cold night. In the af-

ter noon we were called out in line of

battle, but did not get sig'ht of the enemy.Marched to Fort Lyon and camped aboutmidnight. I lost my woolen blanket onthe Avav. Heavv firing in our rear.

Sept.' 3, 1862.—Marched to FairfaxSeminary.

Sept. 5, 1862.—Nat Downing came to

see me yesterday. Today I went overbeyond our old Camp Franklin and did myAA'ashing.

Sept. 6, 1862.—We left Alexandria,crossed the Potomac, marched thru Wash-ington and camped on GeorgetownIlights. Drew another woolen blanket.

Sept. 8, 1862.—Left Georgetown High Is

and took up our line of march toAvardSugarloaf Mountain.


MARCniNG, AND THEN SOME MORE.

Sept. 12, 1862.—We were called out at

daj'light and ordered to be ready to marchat 6, but did not start till 9. We crossedthe foot of Sugarloaf Mountain in the fore-

noon. Marched some 12 miles and campedat 5 p. m. about a mile from Hanover.Very warm day. The first of the marchwe were allowed to stop and rest occa-sionally ; but after the officers had takentheir dinners and filled themselves withwhisky they led us off at an unreasonablerate, and many of the boys fell out re-

gardless of court-mairtial, and quite anumber fainted. The doctors had plentyto do, and one of them said thesemarches were killing the men faster thanbullets ever would. We passed a placevacated last night by rebel cavalry whowent to Fredericksburg.

Sept. 13, 1862.—Cool and pleasant. At6 :30 a. m. a heavy cannonading com-menced toward Frederick City, Md. Onour march we crossed many clear run-ning streams. Our company and Co. Dformed the rearguard of the brigade. Wemarched four or five miles and went into

camp, and had gotten nicely settled whenthe regiment was called out on picker.

Marched out about six miles and thencame back two miles, as Maj. Edwardshad made a blunder and marched us oattoo far. I find myself nearly sick again.

Sept. 14, 1862.—Marched at 5 a. m.and crossed Maryland Hights. We had abeautiful view of the valley beyond Har-per's Ferry Gap, where three valleys

converge. It is the most beautiful viewI have ever seen. There are many fine

farms and an abundance of fruit. Wereached Crampton Gap (Blue Ridge)about 4 p. m. and here had a battle that

lasted till dark. Our regiment lost fourkilled and 31 wounded. Our company hadthree wounded beside Stub Chase, whowas wounded and afterwards died. Chasewould lie on his back and point his muskettowards the rebs and fire. Larrabee andI told him it was a cowardly way to fight.

He said he proposed to take things easy,

but was not afraid to face the rebs,

whereupon he arose to his knees and fired,

Just as he fired he received a ball in his

shoulder and died later. We took manyprisoners and camped on the Mountain.

Sept. 1.5, 1862.—I found the 7th :Me.

this morning and took breakfast with Si-

las Crooker, which consisted of irebel hoecake, boiled potatoes and hot coffee. Thiswas the first I have eaten since yesterdaymorning. I went to my regiment and lay

on my back all day. Our side lost 640 in

killed and wounded yesterday. We canhear cannonading at intervals, but this

part of the army is quiet.

Sept. 16, 1862.—Am Aveak and sick,and still obliged to lie flat on my back.We are quiet, but there is a smart battleraging over in the valley to our right, nearHarper's Ferry. Hear that Col. Milessurrendered a fort on the Heights and waskilled immediately afterwards. The regi-ments are so closely packed together thatwe cannot pitch our tents. I have no ap-petite for anything except letters fromhome and those I don't get.

Sept. 17, 1862.—Very weak this morn-ing, and went to the Surgeon, who exusedme from duty. Our regiment marchedabout 10 miles in the morning and sup-ported a battery that was playing into

the rebel lines. I could not keep up withthe regiment today, but from afar I

viewed the battle. Our lines extendedfour or five miles, and from the Hights I

had a splendid view of the firing line.

While standing there Gen. McClellan andstaff galloped by, and as I followed ontoward the battle I found a beautiful pairof field glasses that the General haddropped.

LOOKING OVER A BATTLEFIELD.

Sept. 18, 1862.—Showers in the morn-ing. I am able to do duty today. Ourregiment had some skirmishing aboutnoon. Flags of truce were exchanged in

the afternoon and both sides commencedburying their dead. I traveled about twomiles over the battleground which we hadtaken from the rebs, and it was an awfulsight. Later we were in line of battle

on the right. Today I saw a row of

graves where 20 of the boys belonging tothe 10th Me. are buried, and among themGeorge Fuller. At night we slept on ourarms with the dead lying thickly aroundus.

Sept. 19, 1862.—The rebels fell backacross the river during the night,

and our forces advanced to the river

this morning. As I am still veryweak, I got a pass from the Surgeon to

follow in the rear. The greater part of

the way was over the battlefield, and I

had a good opportunity to see the sad re-

sults.

Sept. 20, 1862.—I came up witTi the

regiment at 8 a. m. Heavy firing in theafternoon near the iriver. We took upour line of march at midnight and I againgot a pass to fall in the rear. I onlywent about a mile and turned in for the

night. The regiment marched about 11miles, thru Sharpsburg, and camped sev-

eral miles from Williamsport.Sept. 21, 1862.—I marched all_ day—

about 10 miles—and came up with theregiment at dark. On the way I passedover the Williamsburg turnpike wliere the

rebels had their line of battle drawn up


last Wednesday, and soldiers and citizens

Avere burying the dead. They first gath-ered them together in rows, and in onerow I counted 90 bodies.

Sept. 22, 18G2.—-Went to the Surgeonand got some quinine. I am some bettertoday, and if I could lie still a day or twoI would be all right, but it is hard workto gain much strength while on the marcliall the time. Sent letter home.

Sept. 23, 1862.—At 2 p. m. the regimentmarched back five miles toward the bat-tleground. Camped within a couple ofmiles of the river to keep the rebs back.I came along in the ambulance and didnot get in till morning. Have been sickand vomiting all day.

Sept. 24, 1862.—Rainy nearly all day.I got into camp at 7 a. m. Am a litr.le

better today. We are near a flour milland the boys are buying flour at threecents a pound. Sent a letter home.

Sept. 25, 1862.—Heavy frost last night.Not very well and had to lie flat on myback all day. We hear that President Lin-coln has issued a proclamation to theSouth saying that they can come backinto the Union any time before the year1863, and their property shall be re-

stored, each side to pay their part of thecosts of war ; otherwise he will liberatetheir slaves and turn their property overto the Government.

Sept. 27, 1862.—Cloudy. It is gettingquite dry. I find myself better. I re-

ceived word from the Adams Express Co.at Boston that there is a box in theJroffice for me. It was sent to me fromhome over two months ago.

Sept. 29. 1862.—Pleasant. Yesterdaywe went on picket. We marched a coupleof miles and halted in a little village call-

ed Bakersville. We got back to camp to-

day.Oct. 1, 1862.—Bought a dollar's worth

of cakes and cheese. We hear that peacecommissioners are on th.eir way to Wash-ington from Richmond. Our regimentstruck tents, policed the ground, and thenpitched tents again.

Oct. 2, 1862.—On guard today. Wehear occasional firing of heavy guns in

the direction of Harper's Perry. I re-

ceived a letter from Serg't Bailey. He is

sick in hospital.Oct. 8, 1862.—A warm night and day.

We were relieved from guard in the fore-

noon. Our division was reviewed in theafternoon by President Lincoln, alsoother divisions of the corps in this vicin-ity. McClellan and Franklin were present.

Oct. 4, 1862.—Rain, with a severe galeof wind. On police duty in the forenoon.Regimental inspection in the afternoon.

Oct. 5, 1862.—Religious services in theforenoon. Last night Stevens and I

started olf to find some apples, and suc-ceeded ; we also got a bundle of straw tosleep on. I am getting corns on my hipsfrom sleeping on the hard ground. Twelveof the boys went in another direction, butwere not as fortunate as we were. Theywere fired on three times by the guard.Of course no one was hit, but two of theboys were injured by clubs and stonesthrown at them by citizens ; they got noapples, but on the way back they killed a'possum, which they cooked for dinner to-

day.Oct. 6, 1862.—White Verrill came over

and took dinner with me. His regimentleaves for Portland soon, and I gave him apackage to take home.

Oct. 7, 1862.^—Warm and pleasant.Daniel Perry came over to see me. Bat-talion drill. Cleaned my gun and pre-pared for inspection tomorrow. Receivedletters and papers from home.

EVERY MAN HIS OWN TAILOR.

Oct. 8, 1862.—Very pleasant. Did myAvashing, mended my pants, and patchedthe heels of my stockings. The 7th Me.started for Portland today. Inspectionunder Gen. Bartlett. I w^as three-quar-ters of a minute late at roll call thismorning, and expected to be sentenced to

pick stones or some other disagreeablejob, but have heard nothing from it.

Oct. 10, 1862.—Cold and rainy. Yes-terday the batteries of our brigade left

for Hagerstown. I drew a pair of stock-ings. Our company now numbers 30 men.Last spring when we left Camp Franklinwe had over 70 men. Smith's Divisionleft for Hagerstown tonight.

Oct. 12, 1862.—Cold night, and thecoldest day we have had this fall. In-spection in the morning, religious servicesin the forenoon and dress parade in theafternoon. Lieut. Lament got back fromMaine todav.

Oct. 14, 1862.—^Cold and cloudy yester-day and today. About 10 a. m. we startedon picket, went down the river and postedourselves in a pleasant valley about 3miles from camp. We have a good vieAv

of the rebel pickets on the other side ofthe river.

Oct. 15, 1862.—Cloudy and cool. To-day I went out on an island In the river,

and met a reb half way and exchangedpapers with him—gave him a PhiladelphiaEnquirer for a Richmond Examiner. Re-ceived papers and letters from home.

Oct. 16, 1862.—Cool and pleasant. The32d N, Y. received us about noon. Anumber of boxes came for the boys to-

day, having been on the road 5 or 6weeks ; all the eatables were spoiled.Heavy firing w^as heard in the morning.

Oct. 18, 1862.—Cold night with a


heavy frost, but a pleasant day ; went tothe doctor for some medicine. At noonwe were ordered to strike tents andmarch. We went about a mile towardthe river and camped in a field withneither wood nor water.

Oct. 19, 18G2.—On guard today.Rained a little in the afternoon. In-spection and religious services in the fore-noon. Our old adjutant, Geo. W. Graf-fan, was discharged from the service to-

day for cowardice shown at the battle of

Antietam, We received our knapsackstoday, which had been sent to Washing-ton at the beginning of hot weather.

Oct. 20, 1862.—About noon we werecalled out under heavy marching orders.We went a round-about way to our oldcamp ground, and then went up in thewoods and camped just back of wherethe 7th Maine had been.

Oct. 21, 1862.—Cool and pleasant. Wehad a tedious job policing our new cami)ground, which has a heavy growth of oakand walnut on it. Some of our forceswent across the river scouting today. Wedrew a ration of flour today, which is

quite a rarity ; we stir it up with waterand fry it in a tin plate.

Oct. 22, 1862.—Very cold and windy,consequently we had no dress parade.Sent letteirs home. I am not very well,

so I have remained in camp and done mywashing. I drew a shirt, and then boughtanother, and put them both on and can'tkeep warm now.

Oct. 23, 1862.—Cool and pleasant.Company drill in the forenoon. I was soweak that I found it all I could do to

go through the drill.

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.

Oct. 24, 1862.—Serg't Roberts andCorp. Berry reduced to the ranks todayfor taking or allowing others to takeCapt. Millett's beans from the oven whilethey were on guard night before last.

Two privates Avere concerned in the mat-ter, but thev were not punished.

Oct. 2.5, 1862.—This afternoon our di-

vision was reviewed by Gen. Brooks, whonow commands it. Today all who wishhave a chance to join the Regular cavalry,artillery, or infantry, and quite a numberhave put their names on the list.

Oct. 27, 1862.—Yesterday was a cold,

disagreeable day, and we rolled ourselvesin our blankets and kept as quiet as pos-

sible. Very windy and rained last night.

Cleared off cold this morning. Receivedorders to be ready to move at 6 hoursnotice.

Oct. 28, 1862.—Pleasant and warmer.Our company changed cooks today. I wasdetailed with two others to do police

duty.

Oct. 29, 1862.—This forenoon an alarmwas given that the rebs wei'e crossingthe river near dam No. 4, and a forcewas called out to meet them ; but neitherparty attempted to cross the river. Inthe afternoon our regiment went onpicket, crossing dam No. 4. About a mileabove we went by a lock through whichcanal boats pass up and down the river.We expected to stay on picket 2 days,but were relieved at 7 p. m. and marchedback to camp.

Oct. 31, 1862.—Cool and pleasant. Thisis a valley of fine farms ad houses.There are but few Door people in thevalley. We commenced our march at 7a. m. Went through Crampton Gap,over the battleground of Bucketsville, andwithin two miles of Harper's Ferry Oap.We marched about six miles and pitched ourtents at noon. Franklin's, Couch's andSmith's Divisions are advancing on this

wing. The 10th Maine is encamped nearhere, and Daniel Verrill called on me to-

night. I am slightly ill and my feet areblistered.

Nov.'

2, 1862.—Warm today. Com-menced our march at daylig-'ht, went eightmiles, and camped at noon about threemiles from the river. We passed thru Lov-ettsville wliere Ed. K. Verrill, of the 10thMaine, was doing guard duty, and had achat Avith him. Cannonading some 10miles away commenced about 10 a. m.and continued till sunset. Divine ser-

vices in the afternoon and at the sametime 3,000 head of cattle and any amountof artillery were passing by. Wonderwhich attracted the most attention? Mc-Clellan and Burnside passed thru camptoday.

Nov. 3, 1862.—Cold and cloudy. Agood day for marching. We started at

7 a. m. and went 7 miles and pitchedtents at noon. This afternoon five boyswere "drummed out" of the Jerseybrigade for cowardice. They had their

heads half shaved, and buttons cut fromtheir coats, and were then marched bare-headed through the brigade between twofiles of bayonets. We hear cannonadingT found some ripe persimmons today.

Nov. 4, 1862.—Cold. We started at

9 :30 a. m., marched 6 or 7 miles thrufields, as the road was filled with teams.Went into camp at 3 :30 p. m.

Nov. 5, 1862.—Cold and cloudy. Wolay in camp all the forenoon waiting foi

orders to march, which came at noon.We marched through fields all the way at

a quick pace, halting several times. Wemarched about 8 miles, passing throughBloomfield. Persimmon trees were hang-ing full of fruit.

Nov. 6, 1862.—Last night was windyand ice froze a half inch thick. Looks


and feels like snow. We marched at Sa. m., going 14 or 15 miles, and campedat White Plains, where we crossed the

Manassas Gap & Winchester Ry. A verytedious march.

Nov. 9, 1862.—Cloudy, cold, and blus-

tering. We have been lying here for twodays trying to keep warm, thru a snowstorm, expecting orders to march, whichdid not come till today. We heard last

night that McClellan is superseded byBurnside, Avhich caused considerable ex-

citement in camp. We struck tents andmarched at 8 a. m., halted an hour in anopen field where we nearly froze, and thenstarted on, forming the rear guard of thedivision. We marched about 6 miles overhorrid roads, and camped in the woodsabout 4 p. m. On the way we passedthru Ashby's Gap. There is no snowhere but the mountains are white.

Nov. 10, 1862.—Warm and pleasant.

McClellan and Burnside visited us this

morning and were greeted with cheers.

Several exchanged prisoners came into

camp today. There appears to be a

smart battle some miles from here, fromthe noise.

Nov. 13, 1862.—Cool and pleasant.

Everything quiet around camp for severaldays. Nearly all of our field officers arepromoted. Received letters from homesaying the children have the whoopingcough.

Nov. 14, 1862.—Warm and bright.

This afternoon we moved onto a high

wooded hill and camped.Nov. 15, 1862.—Rather cold. We

marched at 7 a. m. at a quick pace all theway, about 13 or 14 miles. En route v;e

passed thru New Baltimore, Greenwich,and Oatlett Station, and camped about twomiles from the latter place. Some rain

at night.MORE MARCHING.

Nov. 18, 1862.—Rainy. Commenced ourmarch at 7 a. m. and reached StratfordC. H. at 4 p. m., having marched 15miles. We then went out a mile or so onpicket. The 18th N. Y. are on picket

near us. We found a good thatched cot

filled with husks, where we took up oarlodging. We aire within eight miles of

Aquia Creek L/anding and 10 miles of

Fredericksburg. I was about used up andwhen nearly into camp I fell out.

Nov. 19, 1862.—Misty and warm. Wewere relieved from picket at 9 a. m. andmarched back to camp in a miserablebrush wood. I had a sleepless night.

Rations are short, and I got no letters

from home.Nov. 23, 1862.—Clear and cold. In-

spection in the morning. Religious ser-

vices in the afternoon, also in the evening

;

while I was at worship some one stole aclean shirt out of my knapsack.

Nov. 24, 1862.—Cold and clear. Brigadeinspection in the forenoon. We com-menced drilling according to Hardee'sTactics.

Nov. 25, 1862.—Rainy. I was detailedas a Corporal of the guard.

Nov. 26, 1862.—Cleared off in the fore-noon. Not much of interest in this vicin-

ity today. We find ourselves in the habitof sitting up late nights hovering over thefire and tellin2: long yarns, and those whouse it, mourning for tobacco.

THANKSGIVING DAY.

Nov. 27, 1862.—Clear and pleasant.

There are few who do not express a wishto be at home today. Last year the com-pany had a Thanksgiving box sent them

;

but this year, being liable to move at anytime, they had to do without anythingof the kind, so we content ourselves withhardtack. It so happens that we areshorter of rations than usual. I sent a

letter home.Nov. 28, 1862.—Cold, blustering day. At

9 a. m. all but two companies of our regi-

ment were called out under light march-ing orders to guard the telegraph line,

which has been cut twice by the citizens.

The roads are very bad, and two sutlers'

teams got stuck in the mud. The drivers

offered our boys tobacco to help them out.

then refused to give it to tliem. Theboys then jumped upon the wheels and set-

tled them back into the mud and cleanedout both wagons and demolished one of

them.Nov. 30, 1862.~Heavy frost last nigh'.

Inspection and religious services. Text

:

"Lead us not into temptation, but delivei

us from evil."

Dec. 1, 1862.—Rainy. Commenced get-

ting out timber for the basement of out

tent, and carrying stone for a fireplace

and chimney. Six of us are to occupy it

together.Dec. 3, 1862.—Cold and cloudy. Re-

ceived letter from home. We finished thechimney to our tent and moved in. It

would have furnished us v^ith nice, com-foi'table lodgings, but on dress parade wereceived orders to march at daylia^ht to-

morrow, heavy marching orders. Such is

a soldier's life.

Dec. 4, 1862.—Veiry cold. We startedat daylight and marched about 12 miles,

passing Brooks' Station about noon, andwent into camp at 4 p. m. I was prettywell tired out, and w^as detailed on campguard before I had time to get my supperMy relief went on at 11 p. m. and 1 a. m.

:a The National Tribune Scrap Booh.

TRYING TO TATRIOTISM.

Dec. 5, 1862.—Rainy, Guard was re-

lieved at 9 a. m. Orders to pack up andchange camp ground ; moved about 25 rodsand pitched tents again, hoping to remainquiet a week or so. In about an houi'

came a command to pack up under heavymarching orders. It was raining haril.

We marched six or seven miles over anawful road, and about sunset came to a

halt at Belle Plains Landing. It wasnow snowing fast. Mud any depth. TheColonel ordered us to get wood if wecould find any and make ourselves as com-fortable as possible. We looked aroundand it was a dreary prospect. AnotherCatlett Station, and in some respectsworse, for there was no wood here. Wewere wet to the skin, and stood on aflat plain in mud and water. Patriotismsank to 42 degrees below zero. A miledistant we saw hills covered with woodand started for them. An hour after darkwe were among the pine trees boilingcoffee and drying clothes.

Dec. 6, 1862.—Cold but pleasant. Snowtwo inches deep. We passed a comforta-ble night. We turned out about sunriseand went back to the brigade. The mudfrozen solid. We pitched our tents ner.r

Belle Plain Landing. As all the men left

the regiment last night, we hear that theregimental officers slung knapsacks andstood guard over regiment porperty.

Dec. 7, 1862.—Cold wind. It is almostimpossible to find sticks enough to boil adipper of coffee. Drew rations again to-

day. Received letters from home. I wasdetailed to go on guard at the landing,in charge of the first relief.

Dec. 8, 1862.—Cold. Guard Avas re-

lieved at 11 a. m. We cut holes in the ice

and took out a few nice fish today. Thehai-bor is so frozen that boats get in andout with difficulty. Teams are haulingus wood now. Horses and negroes em-ployed at the landing are dying from ex-

pasure.Dec. 10, 1862.—INIoderating. Struck

tents and marched at 10 a. m. We wentthree miles on a back track and went inro

camp, but pitched no tents. We scrapedaway the snow, built good fires, and passeda comfortable nisrht. Sent letters home.

Dec. 11, 1862.—Bright and pleasant.We got our breakfast at 2 a. m. Therewas cannonading on the Rappahannock be-

fore daylight. We marched at deyligbt,

went five or six miles, and halted at noonnear the river and took our dinner. Acontinual roar of cannon. Our forces areputting three bridges across the riveir.

About sunset we marched at double timedown to the river, where we halted, the

bridge being already crowded with cav-alry.

Dec. 12, 1862.—The sun rose bloodred, A very smoky morning. We crossedthe river at 8 a. m. without opposition,and lay near the bank all forenoon. Can-nonading and musketry in front and onour right. About noon we marched for-ward about a mile to a ravine, when bothsides began shelling, and continued anhour. None killed or wounded in our regi-ment. Part of our regiment out on picket.Freezing weather, and we lay on theground with wet feet all night and wereallov^ed no fires.

BATTLE OF FREDEEICKSBURG.

Dec. 13, 1862.—The ball opened about8 :30 a. m. by our infantry advancing,when the rebs commenced shelling us.

Hooker's troops are engaged on our left,

and there is heavy firing on our right.There is little doing here in the center,altho we have been smartly shelled all dayand some have been wounded. We findpieces of railroad iron and spikes whichthe rebs fire among us. This is the thirdday of the battle and we have as yet es-caped active engagement, but tomorrow is

Sunday and that has always been ourhard day. The battle continued till 8 or9 at night.

Dec. 14, 1862.—Mild. Snow all gone.At 8 we fell in and marched forward,one company at a time, to relieve theouter picket reserve, and lay down withthe rest of the regiment behind a ridgeof straw which served as a screen io

hide us from the rebel sharpshooters andbatteries. Cannonading right and left anda steady popping of musketry from thepickets in front till about noon, whenall was quiet. We were not allowed toeven raise our heads, and when an offi-

cer showed himself a rebel shell wouldwarn him to lie cloise. There are twodays' rations cooked and in the rear, butwe can't get them till after dark. In thenight the rebs made a rush on our rightand musketry was fierce for a short time.During the night our regiment was busy,one company at a time, throwing upbreastworks.

Dec. 15, 1862.—Pleasant, with a light

wind. Daylight showed that the rebs hadbeen even more busy than ourselves dur-ing the night, a number of earthworkshaving sprung into existence during thetime, and they have a very strong holdhere. Our folks are planting heavy siege

guns on the opposite side of the river.

The Jersey brigade charged on a rebel

battery yesterday, and took it in fine

shape ; but they had no reserves to sup-

The National Tribune Bcraf Book.

port them and were obliged to fall back,being overpowered by the rebel reserves.

Our soldiers do well, but ithe generalshipis—well, jusit what it is. Our forces

have gained very little ground on the left.

I don't know how it is on the rig'ht.

Fighting on the right and left has beensevere, but not so much so here in the

center. Word has just come that Bankshas taken Ft. Darling and Petersburg.At the time of the battle of Gaines' Hill,

they told us our left wing was in Rich-mond. There is an occasional firing to-

day, but both sides appear to be layingplans. Our line is composed of three di-

visions. Hooker on the left, Sumner onthe right, and Franklin in the center.

Dec. 17, 1862.—Snowed some today.

We have come back to the iroad and lie

where we did last Saturday. Sent mydiary and letters home.

WHEN THOSE OLD BOOTS WERE NEW.

Dec. 18, 1862.—Cold and the groundfrozen hard. Cliff Jones and I now tent

companions again. I spent most of the

day mending my boots, the same pair I

wore from home nearly a year ago. Theyare now troubled with a general debility

and fail so fast that I shall have to give

them their discharge soon. Sad will be

the hour when we must part.

Dec. 19, 1862.—Rather windy. Strucktents and stairted on our march at sun-rise in search of a camp ground. Wewent three miles on our back track, halted

an hour, and then turned about and cameback a half a mile and camped.

Dec. 21, 1862.—Quite cold yesterdayand last night, but warmer this morning.Yesterday the boys were busy building

basements to their tents, and today wehear that we will move tomorrow. I havebeen in the U. S. service one year today.

I have been in six or seven battles, havebeen sihelled repeatedly and under fire

days in succession, besides being fired at

while on picket, but have come thru 't

without a scratch. I find myself able to

endure much greater fatigue and ex-

posure than when I enlisted.

Dec. 22, 1862.—Warm. Much like aJune morning in Maine. At 8 :30 a. m.

we 'had orders to pack all but tents andgo on picket. We marched three or four

miles in a circuit and found ourselves

within a mile of camp. This is a tele-

graph picket extending from our extremeleft to headquarters in the center. Thereis a similar one on the right.

Dec. 23, 1862.—A warm, sunshinymorning. We were relieved about 10, butinstead of going back to camp, we weremarched to the right of our regiment andstacked arms in line as a reserve picket.

Dec. 24, 1862.—Warm and cloudy withsome rain. We were relieved at 9 a. m.and marched into camp. We are not hav"ing dress parade or roll call. When westarted on picket our company numbered18 enlisted men. When we left CampFranklin last spring our company num-bered 70 enlisted men.

CHRISTMAS AND A LITTLE WHISKY.

Warm and pleasant. At 9 :30 a. ju.

we fell in, with everything but tents, andmarched out on the brigade grounds forinspection. For some reason it could notbe attended to and we went back. Paidoff to-day. 1 received $52, four months'pay. In consideration of this being aholiday, each man in the brigade was fur-

nished with a gill of whisky. It was soldfrom one to another for from 20c to 50c.

Dec. 26, 1862.—Warm and cloudy.

Was detailed on home guard, ten to a

relief.

Dec. 27, 1862.—Warm. This is the

most pleasant winter I ever saw, so far.

Cliff Jones went over to the 17th Mainetoday, and says thev are a most melan-choly set of men, and have the worstkind of blues. Our regiment was called

out for battle drill, but found they coulddo nothing among the stumps and brush,so returned to camp.

Dec. 29, 1862.^Cooler. We received

orders to liave three days' rations cookedand be ready to march, with 60 rounds of

cartridges at 12 hours' notice.

Dec. 31, 1862.—Cold and cloudy. Sentletters home. Today came New Year'spresents from home, gloves, cap, tea, andnutmegs. I made myself a present of aknife, fork, and spoon combined, to replacethe one I lost in Maryland.

CELEBRATING NEW YEAR'S DAY.

Jan. 1, 1863.—Cold, pleasant moTning,and signs of a storm have disappeared.To all appearances the "clerk of the

weather" has policed the 'heavens and goteverything ready to commence the yearin apple pie order. Our company wasvery quiet last night, but another com-pany used up nine canteens of whisky at

$6 per. Cliff and I bought a pound of

cheese and a can of condensed milk andcelebrated.

Jan. 2, 1863.—Pleasant. I spent theday digging a fireplace and building achimney to out tent.

Jan. 4, 1863.—Cloudy, with a warmsouth wind. Some rain in the forenoon.On guard in charge of the third relief.

Gleason, of the first relief, being theworse for whiisky, fell into the Oolonel'stent in the midst of divine services. The

5G The National Tribune Scrap Book,

Colonel ordered him tied to a tree. Re-ceived letters from home and with thema package of flour, and as luck would haveit, flour was served out to us from theQuartermaster's for the second time sinceI joined the army. I will now send homefor some baking powder, and see if thearmj^ will draw saleratus the day it getshere. I bought three apples today for 25c.

Jan. 5, 18G3.—The boys are mixingup their flour with water and frying it in

tanned hog oil, and selling the "dough-nuts (?)," small ones, five for 25c;smaller ones, seven for 25c. They haveneither baking powder nor sweetening in

them. Cliff is hard at work making upour batch which we calculate will be a

little extra, as we 'have nutmeg and sugar.Cliff says they will be a little heavy, andI hope they will ; I wish they wôuld weigha ton. I have been cleaning and boilingtripe. We received new knapsacks to-

day.Jan. 7, 1863.—Ground frozen hard.

Battalion drill in the forenoon. Ou/Colonel took leave of us today, saying heresigned on account of family affairs. •

Sent letter home. I heard today thatStub Chase, Avho was wounded by my side

at Crampton Gap, Sept. 14, died twowêeks ago.

Jan. 8, 1863.—Cold and still. Potatoeswere served out to us today, four or five

to each man. At dress parade an orderwas read that hereafter all should be takencare of at the Chaplain's tent.

Jan. 9, 1863.—No storm yet. Today webuilt our chimney higher and narrowed thethroat of it to get a better draught. Theexperiment worked completely, but weknow have to keep things in the back partof the room or they might go up the chim-ney. We hear that Serg't Bailey is dead.

Jan. 10, 1863.—It rained, pouring, last

ndght and todav. We picked up all theclothing we could get along without for afew hours and did our washing. The waterfinds its way into our basement, which is

sunk two feet below the surface, but I

think Ave can manage to keep a fire bybailing out. We received more flour today,and Cliff' is working it up into doughnuts.We are living high these days.

Jan. 11, 1863.—Pleasant most of theday. On police duty with seven men dur-ing the forenoon. Regimental inspection.Divine services in the afternoon and Col.

Scammond's fajrewell address was readto the regiment. The mail miscarried to-

day.Jan. 12, 1863.—Mild and pleasant. I

T^'as detailed with four men to set a barrelin the ground for a well.

Jan. 15, 1863.—Cloudy. Our company,with four others, went out three miles onpicket. We were the reserve. Windy

night. We lay by our fires and slept till

3 a. m., when we awoke with the raincoming down in torrents, drenching us tothe skin ; our fires were out and it waspitch dark.

Jan. 16, 1863.—Daylight came at last,rainy and drizzling. We succeeded inboiling our coffee and eating our rain-soaked hardtack. We then wrung out ourblankets and hung them up to dry. Fora. few days past details have been buildingcorduroy roads toward the river on whichto advance, we suppose. We received or-ders to be ready to move tomorrow.

Jan. 17, 1863.—Cold and clear. We ex-pected to be relieved from picket today,but learn that we must stay here till to-morrow. Received letters from home.

Jan. 18, 1863.—Cold. We were relievedand went to camp at 10 a. m. In the even-ing we had dress parade without prayer,at which time was read the trial and sen-tence of two fellows who ran away fromthe battle of Fredericksburg and remainedaay five days. They are to have $10 permonth dedacted from their pay for fourmonths and stand on a barrel every alter-nate hour for six days, with the word"Cowardice" on their backs. I boughtsome milk, cheese, and soft biscuit.

ORDERS AND ORDERS xVND ORDERS.

Jan. 20, 1863.—For the past few days'we have had orders to be ready to move(.heavy marching orders) at 12 hours' no-tice, with three days' cooked rations inour haversacks. When we move we sup-pose we shall have to cross the river ; and if

successful then we shall have to charge theenemy, and if possible drive them fromtheir stronghold. We have but little faithin the movement, and less faith in theleading Generals than we once had. Wehave dreaded to receive the order tomarch, but unwelcome as it was we re-ceived it this morning at daylight, to beready to march at noon. We spent mostof

_the forenoon in writing and bidding

adieu to our camp ground, w^hich withmuch patient labor and skill we had con-verted into comfortable Winter quarters.Although the morning was somewhat mild,the day was very cold. We marched eig>ht

miles, crossing the railroad a short dis-

tance from Falmouth, and on up the river.

We pitched our tents at dark on goodground, where wood was plentiful ; and -con-

trary to our expectations, were allowed afire, which was a great comfort, as thenight was black and cold, and a soldier is

partial to hi,is hot coffee after lugging hisload all day. We had just finished sup-per and pitched tents, wlhen it began torain and the wind blew harder and harderwith unmistakable evîdences of a furious

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storm at haud. ^ Aftei- warming ourselvesthoroughly, and examining our tenrt polesand pins, Cliff and 1 turned in for thenight, which proved a most uncomfortableone for those who had to turn out severaltimes and reerect their tents. Altlho it

rained torrents all night, Cliff and I passeda comfortable night (soldier's comfort).Orders came at daylight to niarcih imme-diately, as the river was rising. We turnedout comparatively dry. We hear today thatseveral fellows left Co, K and have notbeen heard of since. Yesterday HarryWhittenham suddenly disappeared fromour company and we have not seen himsince. He deserted from the Englisharmy and came to this country whenquite young. I have no intention of de-serting yet, but don't know how soon 1

may. I think before I do so I will try myskill once more in dodging Dutch ovens,howling teakettles, and flying railroad iron,

though to tell the truth I don't ihankerafter such things. I wish this show wasout, so we poor, miserable wretches couldgo home. 1 am spoiling for peace muclimore than for a fight.

RAIlSr AKD SOME MORE EAIN,

Jan. 21, 1863.—Rained all day. Com-menced our march at 8 a. m. and wentabout three miles and camped within amile of the iriver. It was found impossibleto get the artillery along and we wentno farther. On our march we passed abattery of 10-pound Parrott guns, everypiece of which was stuck in the mud,altho there were from 18 to 22 horses hitch-ed to each gun and men heaving at thewheels. These guns are usually drawn bysix horses. Every time we passed one ofthese guns the boys would yell. ''Why don'tthe army move?" and the artillerymenwould answer back, "Yes, Northern Abo-litionists, why don't the army move?" Thearmy is the best place in the world to playout abolitionism. In the Army of the Po-tomac the Abolitionists are few and scat-tering. This morning we 'heard the re-

ports of rebel guns on the other side ofthe river. Our side did not reply. Aration of whisky served out to each man,about three tablespoonfuls. I sold minefor 50 cents. Our three days' rations will

be gone tonight, and if the teams do notget here by morning we shall have to goback and help them along or wait till theycome. As the team loaded with whiskygot in some hours ago it appears thatwhisky can move more expeditiously thanpork and hardtack.

Jan. 22, 1863.—Rained hard all nightand today. The regiments are going backto help the artillerv out of the mud andget them back where we started from.

Details go ahead and build corduroy roacki^ the batteries and pontoons can move.

Jan. 23, 1863.—^Cloudy. i was detailedwith others to go back to the wagons forrations. The division is moving back Co

the old camp ground, but our brigade, withtwo or three others, was ordered up theriver a mile farther and camped for thenight. We came to get some pontoon boatsback. Some of them are in sight of therebs, or would be but for the bushes stuckup around them. Our fatigue party areworking in full sight of the rebs. It is

singular that they do not fire on us.

Jan, 24, 1863.—Cloudy. Mud verydeep. We got the pontoons, and at 4 p.

m, started back to camp near where wesarted from yesterday morning. If wesucceed in getting them back to Falmouth,where they started from, we shall dowell. Burnside left orders to burn thepontoons if they could not be gotten awayin two days. Someone stole Cliff's haver-sack with two days' rations and all ourcooking utensils.

January 25, 1863.—^Cleared off in the

morning. A ration of whisky was servedto us again. We marched back eight

miles over most horrible roads. Our tents

being soaked with rain made a very heavyload to carry thru the mud. I saw onefellow hodding it along in his stockingfeet, boots in his hand. They were a lit-

tle too large, and the tenacious mud act-

ing as a wholesale bootjack was persist-

ently claiming the boots for its own ; but

the owner very obstinately determined to

take them into camp with him. We reach-

ed our old camp a little after dark, andfound our basements nearly full of water,our chimneys torn down, and the sticks

burned up. Toward night we were hur-

ried along at an unreasonable rate, so that

our clothes were wet thru with perspira-

tion when we got here. I had a severeheadache, and with a few other boys wentbeyond the camp ground, built a fire, andlay down on our rubber blankets in the

mud for the night without tents. I think

I never had a better night's sleep in mylife.

Jan. 26, 1863.—Cloudy day. Workedhard all day bailing the water out of our

old basement, erecting our tent, building a

fireplace and chimney, and we now haveit better than it was before v/e left. Thishotel is composed of three pieces of tent

about five and one-half feet square. Twoof the iDieces form the roof and the other

piece is buttoned on the end. The other

end is stopped principally by a rubberblanket whidh serves as a door. Part of

the basement is dug two feet deep andthe rest about 14 inches ; upon the latter

we make our bed of pine boughs, overwhich we spread a rubber blanket. In one


corner of the basement on a level with thefloor and extending bej'^ond the tent is tihff

firervlace, and above it the chimney madeof sticks about a foot long, laid up cob-house fashion and plastered with "sacredsoil." The chimney is about four feethigh. In another corner are some shelveswhere we keep our cooking utensils andrations—eggs, butter, cheese, milk, cakes,pies, etc.,—in your mind. Here we will

remain till in the oirder comes "i^ all in

;

heavy marching orders." This afternoonwe -were reviewed by Gen. Slocum, ourold commander. Mr. Dwinal, of Me-chanics Falls, Me., is here on a visit tothe boys. Received a new diary fromhome.

Jan. 27, 1863.—Rainy. On dress pa-rade was read ifhe resignation of Burn-side, Franklin and Sumner ! Gen. Hookertakes command of the Army of the Po-tomac.

Jan. 28, 1863.—Snowing. Potatoes, on-ions and fres'h meat served today.

Jan. 29, 1863.—Snowing steadily all

night and today. The heaviest fall ofsnow we have seen in this State. Wehave to keep bailing the water out of ourbasement to prevent the fire from goingout. Sent letter home. The mail for ourcompany was delivered to some unknownperson and our company did not receive it.

Jan. 31, 1863.—Snow fast leaving. Com-pany inspection and dress parade. Silas

Crooker called to see me today ; he saysWhite Verrill is still at home, having hadhis furlough extended. Today I saw a10-cent piece (hard money), coin silver;many of the boys profess to have a remem-brance of seeing similar "things" in theiryounger days.

Feb. 2, 1863.—Cloudy, snow nearly gone.Inspection today, by order of Gen. Hook-er, and every man had to be accountedfor. Also inspection of tents. I was de-

tailed on guard.Feb. 3, 1863.—Snowstorm. Coldest day

this year. My relief was on guard fourhours this omorning. The brigade com-menced to build ovens in which to bakesoft biread. This, of course, means that wewill soon move.

A SICK SPELL.

Feb. 5, 1863.—Snow in the morning,which turned to rain in the afternoon. I

am very sick with the headache, and hada spell of the .shakes.

Feb. 6, 1863.—Was sick all night andtoday. The doctor gave me some powdersand ordered me to stay in my quarters, soI nm excused from duty.

Feb. 7, 1863.—Pleasant. I am still sick

and excused from duty. Capt. Daggettgot back from Maine today. I have lost

my pocketbook containing all my stamps,some pictures and letters.

Feb. 8, 1863.—A warm, springlike day.I am still off duty, but improving. Didmy mending today.

Feb. 9, 1863.—Beautiful day. I am feel-

ing better this morning, so did not get ex-cused from duty ; I repented of it beforenight, as it was all I could do to get outon dress parade and back.

Feb. 10, 1863.—Warm south wind.Sent letters home. The doctor excusedme from duty and gave me some quinine.Frank Goss left the company today andwent to act as waiter to the Chaplain.

Feb. 12, 1863.—Cloudy with rain atnight. Silas Crooker and White Verrillcalled. White brought me a package fromhome. I went out on picket. Strict or-

ders from Gen. Hooker to let no one passwithout the countersign.

Feb. 13, 1863.—Beautiful weather. I

cut up a half cord of white oak and hick-

ory iand 'had a glorious fire all night. I

had charge of the guard fro'm 9 to 11 and5 to 7.

Feb. 15, 1863.—Rainy. We were re-

lieved from picket at 10 a. m. by the Jer-sey brigade. We came into camp andfound three days' rations of soft breadwaiting for us. Our brigade bakery hasbegun work. Received my watch fromhome.

Feb. 16, 1863.—Pleasant. A large

amount of cooking utensils, tents, axes,

and clothing was brought into our brigadetoday.

Feb. 19, 1863.—Raining and snowing.The other end of the regiment is prettywell flooded, and this morning the waterin many of the tents was from 3 to 16inches deep. The water came into ourtent and across our bunk, but we piled

up some wood and spread our rubber blan-kets and wet overcoats on it and managedto keep above water. By bailing out oc-

casionally we manage to keep our fire go-

ing and our tent in running order. Onguard again today.

Feb. 26, 1863.—It has been stormingmost of the time for the past week. To-day the water runs into our tent about as

fast as one hand can bail it out. We re-

ceived Col. Scammond's printed address.

Letters from home. Today I was detailed

to the color guard.March 1, 1863.—^Cold with snow. I am

on guard ; have charge of the third relief.

We had a sing at the Captain's tent in the

evening.Mardi 4, 1863.—Very cold. I ihave the

neuralgia in my head, and had a toothpulled this afternoon to see if that wouldhelp it. A lot of boxes for the boys cametoday : they have been on the way eversince last iFall, and most of the eatables

The National Tribune Scraj) Book. 59

are spoiled, of course. No dress parade,too cold, and many of the boys out nenrlyall day repairing roads.March 5, 1863.—Cold and clear. On po-

lice duty in the forenoon. Visited WiiiteVerrill and Silas Crooker andhad a pleas-ant time. I received a package fromhome. On dress parade was read the sen-tence of James Dodfirey for cowardice ^n

the battle of Fredericksburg. He forfeits

$32 and has to carry a stick of woodweighing 20 pounds from sunrise to sunsetfor 10 days, except one hour at noon.

March, 8, 1863.—Cloudy. Regimentalinspection and religious services. I re-

ceived a package from home and Cliff

got a book. My face still pains me badlyand I am about sick.

March 10, 1863.—Snow and rain. 1

was detailed to work on corduroy roads all

forenoon.

EASY PENALTY FOR DESERTION.

March 11, 1863.—Cleared oif in themoirning. On dress parade was read thesentence of Cobb and Libby, of our regi-

ment, for desertion. Libby forfeits ail

pay now due him and $10 per month dur-ing his service, which time he is to putfn at hard labor at the Rip Raps, anlhave the letter "B" branded on his ieft

hip. Cobb is only to serve a year at theRip Raps, is then to join his regiment andnot be branded.March 14, 1863.—Very cold and cloudy.

The Captain furnished us with blackingto black our equipments, so we would looka little nicer on dress parade, where he is

to act as Major. Lieut.-Col. Edwards be-comes Colonel, and Maj. Millett is nowLieutenant-Colonel. Sent letters home.March 16, 1863.—Warm. I reported to

the Sergeant of the color guard, Tubbs, of

Co. K, and went out with the colors ondress parade. I am now free from othormilitary duty except inspection. I will

have no company drill, fatigue duty, roll

calls, guard duty, policing, building cordu-roy roads, and will seldom have to go onpicket. Quite an easy chance except in

battle—then comes the rub.March 22, 1863.—It 'has been raining

and snowing for several days, but clearedoff this moirning. The boys have been po-licing, going on guard, etc., but being onthe color guard I have escaped it all. Good-win goes home on a furlough today. Wehad a s'hort exhortation by the Chaplain.March 25, 1863.—Sent a package hom?.

I killed a blacksnake near onr tent thatmeasured five feet long.

March 30, 1863.—Cold, clear and windy.The color guard drilled under the direc-

tion of the Co'loT Sergeant. The brigadewas called out in the "afternoon with side

arms and colors, and marched to head-

quarters. An officer told us that thePresident had relieved Gen. Bartlett ofhis command, but later thought better to

reinistate him. Gen. Bartlett then said.

"In my hand I hold the telegram spokenof and will read it : 'Tell Gen. Bartlettto put on his clothes again.'—Signed offi-

cially, etc. He then addressed us a fewmoments, after which we gave him ninehearty cheers and returned to our quar-ters.

March 31, 1863.—The balloon is on thewatch whenever the wind and weather will

permit. We hear the irebs are gettingtheir pontoons down the river. Rebel ra-

tions are one-half a yound of flour andone-fourth of a pound of meat per day.I am feeling much better than for sometime.

April 1, 1863.—Cold and windy. Schoolorganized for commissioned officers, Lieut,cially," etc. He then addressed us a few7th Me. in the evening and found SilasCrooker sick. He told me of Daniel Per-ry's death. Tom Roberts, Daniel's tent-

mate, a stout, hardy fellow, is sick in thehospital.

April 3, 1863.—Warm and bright. W.Haskell is reduced to the ranks, and CliTf

Jones becomes drummer. Today we had ageneral review of the Army of the Po-tomac by Gen. Hooker (Fig'hting Joe*,Gens. Sedgwick, Slocum, Brooks, Bartlett,and others present.

April 5, 1863.—Snow storm. No dre.ss

parade or divine services. Just beforedark three companies turned out and hada game of snowball. Spent most of theday writing. Cliff is sick with a cohl.

Received letters from home.April 6, 1863.—Cloudy with rain in the

evening. Did my washing. Sent letters

home. We heard a salute of 21 guns this

forenoon, viîich we suppose means thatPresident Lincoln is at Falmouth.

ARMY REVIEWED BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

April 8, 1863.—Cloudy and still. Theregiment formed at 8 o'clock in the morn-ing, and started on a grand review byPresident Lincoln, who was to review theArmy of the Potomac neair Falmouth, [t

pa.ssed off pretty well, and our "UncleAbraham" looked better than when I sawhim last at Bakerstown. His little boywas with him and rode around with therest. Received papers from home.

April 10, 1863.—Warm and pleasant.We were mustered by comnanies in the

forenoon to find out how many conscripfâre wanted. Received a package fromhome.

April 13, 1863.—Cold but pleasant.There is a movement in a part of theArmy of the Potomac. Wê hear that 30.000cavalry have started on a raid, backed up

60 The National Tribune Scraj) Booh.

by infantry and flying artillery. If theydon't come skedaddling back soon, why,of course, we shall have to follow them.Today I again mended what the boys call

my "immortal, eternal, and everlastingboots."

April 16, 1863.-~Clondy, with a little

rain. We received orders Tuesday to beready to march with ei^ht irays' rations,but have not gone yet. Turned over ourovercoats, surplus under clothes, etc., tothe Quartermaster. A part of the cavalrythat went out Monday returned, bringins:

a few prisoners. Our forces supposed theywere moving up the iriver secretly, butfound tliat the rebels were moving parallelwith them on the other side. Receivedletters from home.

April 17, 1863.—^Pleasant. We hearthat 600 of our cavaliry and a battery havebeen captured.

April 18, 1863.—Pleasant and cool. Thismorning the sick of our hospitals were sentin ambulances to Washington. A numberof pontoons have been made in our regi-

ment. Capt. Daggett, of o'ur company, be-comes Majoir, but Lieut. Lfamont is not y^tCaptain.

April 19, 1863.—Warm. Peach trees in

blossom. The color guard and drum corpswere inspected by the Adjutant. Religiousservices in the forenoon. We hear thatGen. Hooker fell from his horse and is

severely injured. President Lincoln andGen. Halleck are still at Falmouth. Rf3-

ceived letters from home.April 20, 1863.—Rainy day. We hear

that Gen. Hooker 'has resigned. As ourhospital is now empty, meetings are heldthere every evening. Received some driedapples and thread from home.

April 22, 1863.—'Cool. Our officers re-

ceived orders to have their wall tents turn-ed over to the Quarteirmaster. We still

keep our eight days' rations on hand, butdo not move. About dark the officers ofseveral regiments ran a foot race foir apurse of $5.

April 25, 1863.—Windy. I had my pic-

ture taken in the forenoon in heavy march-ing order. Visited the 7th Me. in theevening.

April 28. 1863.—It commenced rainingjust as AYe went on picket. We carriedeverythincT with us, for, after so many "beready" ordeirs the army is at last on themove. At 1 p. m. we saw our divisionmarching toward the river, and at 4 o'clock

we had orders to draw in our pickets andjoin our brigade. At 8 o'clock we haltedand unsluna- knansiacks, but were allowedno fires. We rolled our.selvos in our blan-kets and were soon fast a-thinking of

home. At 11 p. m. we were routed outand marched toward the river, altho it

was only a mile away we did not reach it

till daylight.April 29, 1863.—On account of some

delay in getting the pontoons to the iriver

we did not begin to cross till after day-light. The river here is about 300 yardswide. The 23d N. Y. was the first regi-

ment to cross. The morning was quitefoggy and our regiment was upon thebank of the river looking at those whowere crossing. The boats had got but alittle distance from the shore when theywere greeted by a volley of musketry fromthe rebel pickets, which was immediatelyresponded to. Just as the boats landedthe rebs poured in another volley and the

lead whistled about our ears in suc'h amanner that we did not have to be or-

dered to lie down a second time. Severalof the 23d N. Y. fell dead, and others werewounded. As soon as they landed theydeployed and advanced up the bank andthe rebs, about 50 in number, fled to their

reserves a half mile beyond. As the fogcleared away we had the satisfaction of

seeing our men take possession of the rebel

rifle pits. There were by this time moreboats afloat and more were being put into

the water. In an incredibly short timewe had quite an army across the river.

We surprised them this time surely. OurGeneral (Brooks) had ordeirs to take the

first line of rifle pits and hold them. Thiswe have done, but are momentarily ex-

pecting an attack. As soon as we hadsufficient men across to hold the enemy in

c^heck, if they should try to repel us, ourboats were placed in position and three

bridges were quickly formed upon which a

battery and a portion of the army crossed

Some six or eight miles to our right Gen.Hooker, with the main part of our army,was to cross at the same time and flank

the enemy,April 30,' 1863.—We anxiously listened

all yesterday afternoon and this morningto hear cannonading from Hooker, butheard none. We hear that he crossed the

rived and gained the hights at the point

of the payonet, and we can now see his

balloon floating in the distance. Lastnight was cold and rainy. We moved a

few rods in front of the breastworks at

sunset and pitched our tents. This wasmerely to deceive the enemy, for we^ ex-

nected them to shell us during the night.

As soon as it was dark, we struck tents

and moved a short distance to our right

:

and as it had stopped raining, we spreaddown our rubber blankets and rolled our-

selves in our woolen ones, with the com-forting expectation of being shelled out

before morning. We had a drenching rain

instead, which was not very comfortable,

but much moire acceptable than a shower

Tlie National Tribune Scrap Booh. 61

of iron would have been. This morniiii?

our pickets advanced a quarter of a mileand tlie rebel pickets fell back. No firing

on either side. During the morning wediried our clothes, cleaned and reloadedour muskets. In the afternoon our Chap-lain read us the proclamation of "fast,"

gave us a sliort address, ending withprayer. At sunset our regiment startedout to relieve the pickets, and about thesame time several rebel batteries on oui.'

left opened on the pontoon bridges andsucceeded in destroying one of them.

SPAPvEING FOR POSITION.

May 1, 1863.—We have expected an at-

tack all day. About sunset the light bri-

gade came out o relieve us, but we werenot allowed to leave till after dark. Ourtroops on the other side of the river madea great show of marching and counter-marching till dark. Toward evening weheard the rebels cheering and our boys onthe left took it up and cheered also. Afterdark we camped under the bank of theriver, and took off our cartridge boxes for

the first time for four days and threenights.May 2, 1863.—Warm. A few shells were

sent us in the morning, and our brigadeimmediately took position at the top ofthe bank. Our picket comimenced firing'

and kept it up for half an hour. Theyshot a rebel officer and we had foutr menwounded. About sunset our pickets ad-vanced and the rebs ran. At night wecamped under the bank again.May 3, 1863.-—^Very warm and pleas-

ant. We were called up at 2 a. m. andmoved forward a short distance and laydown in the rear of some batteries thathad moved forward during the nig'ht, towhere our picket line was yesterday. Atsunrise we moved into a ravine, where westayed about an hour, and then went to

support a battery again. Later we wentinto the ravine farther down, intending to

flank the enemy and charge on one of theirbatteries, but the lay of the land wouldnot allow it. Here we lost four killed andtwo wounded. George French, of Co. K,and John Ward, of our company, amongthe killed.

May 4. 1863.—^Very warm. At 7 a. m.we stacked arms and found that many ofour regiment weire missing. When webroke camp and started on picket last

Tuesday our regiment numbered 320 en-listed men. Now we have less than 212.We had an artillery engagement duringthe forenoon, then it was comparativelyquiet until shortlv before sunset, when therebel infantrv advanced and our batteries

opened on them and sent them hastilv

back. We came very near having an in-

fantry fight in a most unfavorable placefor us, while supporting a battery near apiece of woods. The rebels advanced sonear we could hear them swearing. Whenwe were ordered to retreat silently andnot speak above a whisper.May 5, 1863.—Cold and stormy. At 2

a. m. our brigade was oirdered on picket.

We w^ent back nearly a mile and formedin line of battle, concealing ourselves in

the edge of some woods. Here we laytill daylight, when we were ordered backto the river, which we immediately cross-

ed, being the last over. The rebels werethrowing shot and shell at us all the time.We crossed on a pontoon bridge at theford, where we intended to cross v^hen wegot stuck in the mud. We marched amile from the river and stacked arms.May 8, 1863.—Cold with a little rain.

I received letters firom home containingphotos, and was so glad to see them. Wehave been resting after the battle, and did

not start to camp till today. Arrived at

our old camp ground at 2 p. m. and foundthings pretty much as we left them, eventhe woodwork of our tents. The base-ments of our tents were full of water, bat

we soon bailed them out.

May 9, 1863.—Pleasant. One of myboots wholly gave out and I drew a pairof s'hoes. I went to some of the _old

camp grounds, where I saw about 500Testaments that had been thrown away.May 10, 1863.—Very hot day. Being

short of rations, I went over to some of

the recently abandoned camp grounds andpicked up some potatoes and beans, andour cupboard again shows off to advantage.We received orders to have three days'

rations cooked and be ready to march. Re-ligious services and prayer meeting today.

May 13, 1863.—Hot day. I have ?

trouble unde.r my ribs that w'.ll hardlyallow me to move or breathe. Some of

the boys who pretend to. know say it is

pleurisy, but I don't feel like going to

the doctor to find out. It is reported that

"Stonewall" Jackson is dead. If sc, it

will make quite a hole in the Virgicia

fence.May 14. 1863.—Veiry warm. Two thua-

der-s'howers today. John Harvey wenthome on a furloug'h, and I sent some of

George French's things home.

SOME OF THE BOYS GO HOME.

May 15. 1863.—Warm. The 27th N.Y. .started home today, and the 16th N. Y.went INfonday. Their time is out. Happybovs. I saw Capt. Curtis, who was shotthru the right lung May 7, 1862, on dutywith his regiment today. We struck tents,

nnd moved to a new camp ground. Thedrum corps was ordered to pitch tents to-

G2 The National Tribune Scrap Book.

gether, so I have lost Cliff Jones and nowtent ^Yitll Stevens and Larrabee as be-

fore. We are making too many prepai'a-tions for comfort to remain here long. Myplearisy has gone to my back.May 16, 1S63.—Cold and windy. Nearly

all hands ont policing the grounds. I wentover to the 7th Me. to see if I conld learnanything of White Yerriil, but they hadnot heard from him. Since the New Yorkregiments were .discharged, our brigade is

composed of the 95th Pa. (Zouaves), the32d N. Y., and the 5th Me.May 17, 18G3.-—Warm and pleasant.

This has been a general washday for theregiment. Sent letters home.May 20, 1863.—Pleasant.

_I visited each

regiment in the brigade this morning. I

made a lamp out of a tin can, to burn fat,

as candles are scarce. Details were sentout to cover the dead mules in this vicin-ity, and I hope we shall have better air

now.May 22,_ 1863.—Hot day. I took a erui.ê

around this morning, and when I returnedI found Elisha Hall at my tent. He stop-ped with me all day. On dress parade anorder was read stating that the 20th N, Y.had mutinied while before the enemy, andthey were consequently to forfeit all paynow due them, and be put to hard laborduring the war. They supposed their timewas out, but it lacked a few days of it.

ISIay 24. 1863.—Warm. We had a veryspirited address from the Chaplain today,in which he severely reprimanded bothofficers and men for swearing. Text, Gen.17:23-3-3. The papers bring the official re-

port that Grant has taken Vicksburg. Ourcorps is now commanded by Sedgwick, ourdivision by Wrig'ht, and our brigade byBartlett.May 30, 1863.—We wêre paid off to-

day. 'Strawberries are ripe.

June 3, 1863.—Coo'l and comfortable.Our regiment started out on picket at 6a. m. We went about two and a halfmiles to our left. The colors were takenout, so I had to go alons:.

June 5, 1863.—Cool. Neairly all of thecolor guard went out on a slight foragingexpedition and got a lot of nice strawber-ries. Pleavy cannonading commencedabout 5 p. m. and continued till dark. It

was up near wiiere we crossed the river.

June 6, 1863.—Warm, with a heavyshower toward night, which we were gladto get. We went into camp at 10 a. m.and found they were packing up. We im-mpdintelv drew rations foir eight days, andprepared to join our division, v^hich hadgone before us. We got to the river about3 a. m., after a quick, hot march, andfound that our forces hnd crossed the riverjust where they did before, and we campedat the same place as we did before. We

hear that White Verrill was taken pris-

oner in our last battle.June 7, 1863.—Very beautiful day.

Prayer meeting in the morning, and relig-

ious services toward night. Struck tentsand marched across the river after dark to

relieve those who had been supporting thepickets. Our foirces were very busy all

night throwing up breastworks and dig-ging intrenchments.June 8, 1863.—Cool day. We are in-

closed in a semicircle formed by an In-

trenchment, the ends of which rest on theriver. Our pickets are outside. Our menare digging the intrenchment wider. We•are making as great a show of front aspossible in order to keep the ribs from go-

ing to reinforce those opposed to Grant.Only one corps here. At 5 p. m. our guQsshelled the city a short time to cover someof our troops which were crossing the river

at that point.June 9, 1863.—^Cool and pleasant. I

made a visit to the Bernard house. It wasa splendid structure, but now in ruins.

During the nig'ht our troops threw up an-other breastwork parallel with the first,

out by our line of picketsi. Our four 32-

pound siege guns, whic'h were on the hill

opposite the city, are taken down to ourleft. Our regiment on picket, but thecoloir guard was not taken.June 10, 1863.—Warm and pleasant.

There was firing on the right all day. Ourregiment was relieved from picket in themorning and lay all day where they did

yesterday. Our folks at work on in-

trenchments nig-'ht and day. At sunset wepacked up and crossed the river. We filed

into a ravine, where we lay all night. Gen.Hooker rode around the lines toward nightand was very polite, but there was nodheering.June 11, 1863.—Cloudy, with a little

rain. We hear today that Gen. Hook-er did not approve of our breastworks,which were built under the direction of

Gen, Sedgwick, We received orders to beready to march at any time with five days'rations. Rebel sharpshooters fired on ourpickets todav.June 12, 1863.—Cool and pleasant.

Î

went up on the bluff opposite the city

where I could have a good view of it.

Then I went to see the 100-pound gun v-ê

are going to mount tonight. T did mywashing and swam across the Rappahan-nock. Two companies of our regiment onguard with the 96th. Considerable firing.

June 13, 1863.—Warm, with a thunder-shower towaird night. We swam across

the river and the rebs fired at us, severalbullets striking near. We learn that the

rebs are 90,000 strong in front of us. Ourforces are preparing to retreat. The rebs

shelled us some today, but our batteries

The National Tribune Scimp Book. G3

replied, silencing them. Tlie big gun thatwas mounted last night was fired twice,and the second time recoiled so as to

throw it out of gear. At 9 p. m, we pack-ed up and commenced our retreat. Wemarched all night, and reached PotomacCreek bridge early in the morning, andturned in for an hour's sleep.

June 14, 1863.—Cloudy, but very hot.

After an hour's sleep in the morning weturned out to march, but did not start till

2 p. m., when we only crossed the creekand stacked arms. The balloon reportedrebs on our track and two companies weresent back over the creek to picket on thehills. All sorts of supplies, with carbines,revolvers, overcoats, and blankets aire be-

ing burned. Religious services towardnight. At dark we took up our line of

march and reached Stafford Courthouse,w^ere we stacked arms.June 15, 1863.—Very hot and dusty. We

started on our march at 4 a. m. and march-ed till 7 a. m. before we had anything to

eat. The roads were blocked with teamsin the forenoon, but in the afternoon theywere clear, and we marched very fast.

Many of the ofiicers and men dropped in-

sensible by the way. We reached Dum-fries at 7 p. m. and drew three days' ra-

tions. I got mv knapsack carried a coupleof miles, and was then obliged to fall out

a while, but caugh^t up again before theregiment stopped. Thirty privates wei'e

drummed out of the Jersey brigade for re-

fusing to cross the river lately, becausetheir time was out.

June 16, 1863.—Very hot. We werecalled out at 3 a. m. and commenced ourmarch an hour later, but made slow prog-ress on account of the teams. We haltedat Wolf Run,10 miles from Dumfries, andate our dinner. Davis Merrill took myknapsack on his horse, which was quitea help to me. Many blankets have beenthrown away. We left Wolf Run at 4 p.

m. and had a clear road and an easy marchof five miles to Fairfax Junction, wherewe encamped.June 17. 1863.—Very hot. We received

our first mail for a long time and I hadseveral letters from liome. The papersvsay the rebs are in Pennsylvania. We layhere quiet all day.June 18, 1863.—A ihot day, with a

heavy shower and hail. We started at 4o'clock in the morning, and marched aboutthree miles and encamped in a piece of

wood. It appears that we are in the vicin-

ity of the rebs and have got about as far

as we can go. Our regiment had orders to

go on picket. Sent some letter.^ and mydiary home.June 21, 1863.—We have heard a heavy

cannonading most all day. Sent letters

home.

June 22, 1863.—Pleasant. In the morn-ing a baggage and ammunition train pass-ed on its way to Centerville. Later weheard that the train was taken by rebel

cavalry and our cavalry retook it, butthree of the wagons were destroyed.June 25, 1863.—Rainy. We hear that

the rebs are fortifying Hagerstown, Md.Our brigade teams have moved toward theriver. The 25th and 27th Me. startedhome this morning. It is reported thacthe rebs have taken up five miles of tele-

graph wire near us. We heard a briskcannonading toward night.

June 26, 1863.—Rainy. We were calledup at 3 a. m. and marched at daylight.

The roads very muddy. We marched 15miles at a very quick pace most of the way,passing thru Dranesville. The farmers arecutting their hay. The farms do not bearthe marks of war like those we have beenseeing. Blackberries and cherries are ripeand very large and nice, but the boys in

Tielping themselves leave the trees badlybroken.June 27, 1863.—Cloudy. We commenc-

ed our march at 5 a. m., going slowly, andreached the river at 10 a. m., where we laytill 6 p. m., waiting for troops to crosson pontoon bridges. We were the lasr

over. A large stream empties into theriver here, and the canal has a lock atthis place. The scenery in this valley is

beautiful.June 28, 1863.—Cool and cloudy. We

commenced our march at 4 a. m., passedthru Poolesville, and a few miles fartherwe went thru Thurston and halted fordinner at 11 a. m. Our march is mostlythru fields of wheat and is very fatiguing.June 29, 1863.—Cloudy. It was report-

ed that the rebs had burned a bridge just

ahead of us, so we lay quiet all day. Inthe afternoon I went out and looked at

some of the farms around here. We strucktents at 9 p. m. and marched back towardWestminster. We readied the Baltimore& Ohio Turnpike and passing thru Mt.Pleasant and Fairview, we left Pennsyl-vania and entered Maryland. Our feet areblistered and bleeding.

MARCHING AND SKIRMISHING.

July 2, 1863.—Fair day. We had ourcoffee and meat about half cooked forbreakfast, when we were ordered to march.We got here at 4 p. m., having marched35 miles since last night at 9 o'clock. Thisafternoon was very hot, and some of th?men dropped senseless by the way. I wasobliged to drop out for a while, but man-aged to catch up again. When we arriv-

ed Tiere we hoped to get a few hours' rest;

but an engagement had commenced be-

tween Slocum's Corps and the rebs. We

(U The, National Tribune Scrwp Booh.

had just got our supper well started whonwe were ordered to fall in ; so away wencour supper, the same as our breakfast did,

and we marched to the front, where themattle was raging. Our regiment was putin position to support a battery, or if

necessary, to advance. For a few momentsthe lead flew pretty thick, but fortunatelyfor us the most of it went over our heads.In a few minutes the rebs made a chargeupon some of the Regulars on our right,

and broke thru the line ; but some of thePennsj'lvania regiments charged them in

turn and at the same time poured in somurderous a fire that it drove the rebsback and nearly a whole regiment of

"Cobb's Legion" was taken prisoners.About this time skirmishers from our regi-

ment went forw^ard. Soon after one ofour boys from Co. E came back with threejolly, laughing rebel prisoners. By darkit had become comparatively quiet, and wewere allowed to lie down in the busheswhere we were : here we lay quiet till

morning and were blessed with a goodnight's sleep.

July 3, 1863.—We turned out at day-light, at which time the pickets of bothsides had commenced firing and soon aftercannonading commenced, i^bout 9 a. 3a.

our regiment advanced a few rods to thefront and right to get a better position to

support our batteries ; at the same time it

was repored that the rebs were advancing,and we immediately began throwing upbreastworks. In a verv few minutes wehad built a stone wall about as high as

our shoulders the whole length of ourregiment. Stones were plenty, and manyof them were covered with blood and hair,

for here was the most severe strus-fle of

yesterday's battle. The advance of therebs was checked befo,re tbey got near us.,

and all was comparatively quiet for awhile in our immediate vicinity. Most all

day a fierce cannonading was lieard on ourright, by Slocum, and it is reported thatthe rebs have been driven back. Dujring

the afternoon cannonading and musketrywere very brisk down on the left, where wegained considerable ground and took a lot

of prisoners and some colors. All daylong the batteries in our immediate vicin-

ity would frequently engage the rebel bat-

teries, and rebel shells shrieked over ourheads and pieces would strike among us.

but fortunately none of our regiment werekilled. ^Nlany times during the day rebel

sharpshooters fired on us and their minleballs would whistle in close proximity to

our heads. While I am writing this the

shells are bursting all around us. Justbefore dark we had a splendid chance to

see one of ouir brigades charge upon the

rebs. They captured quite a number of

prisoners and a couple of stands of colors.

We had a shower in the evening and somerain during the night.

July 4, 1863.—Rainy moirning. Wewere early ordered to pack up and be

ready to go on picket ; but instead ourbrigade went out on a reconnoissance. Ouriregiment was Sr\ the third line of battle,

and had just reached a piece of woodswhen the rebel batteries opened on us,

and it happened that our regiment was in

direct range. I came near swallowing a12-pound shell by way of celebrating the

4th. The shells came in quick successionright over the color guard, and I got upand moved about six feet to the right andsat down behind a tree, saying, "I wouldtake refuge behind a straw." I had hardlysat down when a shell passed directly in

range, and struck a few feet in the rearof where I had been sitting. The ColorSergeant dropped his head as he heard the

shell coming and it just grazed his head.If I had remained in my position it wouldhave struck we directly in the stomach, and10 pounds of iron crashing thru my frail

body would have caused some disturbancewitii my digestive apparatus. As it was I

felt as if some protecting power had, just

as the match was applied to the gun,picked me up and put me aside out of dan-

ger. I felt very gratefnl and immediatelytook my former position, as that was nowthe safest. We drew three days' rations.

Ambulances are busy bringing in thewounded : some of them have lain on the

field since last Thursday.July 5, 1863.—Turned out at daylight,

struck tents and started to march, the

rebs having left in the night. Our corps

moved very cautiously. We passed over

the battlefield, where we saw many deadrebs, but our dead were mostly buried.

One of our ofiicers counted 557 dead rebels

as we passed over the field. Hospital tents

are filled with wounded, and almost every

bnirn has a hospital flag on it. We marcherfabout eight miles.

July 6, 1863.—-Cloudy day. Pitched onrtents, and I did my washing. A few pris-

oners are occasionally brought in. To-

ward night it was reported that the rebs

were leaving. We were ordered to fall in

and marched rapidly after them. Theroads were very bad. After going several

miles we halted in the village of Fairfield

till 11 and then marched all night. Wepassed thru Emmitsburg at daylight.

July 7, 1863.—Misty. We went into

camp near the college at Emmitsburg.Md. The Pennsylvania State line is

about a half mile from this town. Westarted again about 10 o'clock, passing

thru Franklinville and Mechanicstowu,and entered a poor country up the moun-tains, resting a short time at Catoctin

Furnace ; at dark we climbed to the top


of Catoctin ]Mountain, five and a halfmiles, over an awful rocky road. As dark-ness came on it began to rain and soonpoured down in torrents, and all so blackwe could see nothing. It was the worstmarch we ever took. Three whole corpsof tired men passed over this mountain.

July 8, 18(33.—Rainy. At sunrise wemarched half a mile and halted to makecoffee. Very few crumbs of any kind canbe found among us. As high as a dollarAvas freely offered for a piece of hardtack,hut it was almost impossible to find any.At .10 a. m. we started down ihe moun-tain, a trip of three miles in a circuitousdirection and went into camj) a few milesfrom its foot. Received a ten from home.

July 9, 1863.—Cool and pleasant. Start-ed on our march in the morning. Ourregiment leads the corps today. We passeuthiru Middletown and over South Moun-tain, thru the gap where Buruside foughthis way when the army passed over toAntietam. The rebels ffell back five mileslast night.

July 10, 1863—Hot, with a slight breeze,for which we aire very thankful. Drew mythird pair of shoes. We co'mmenced ourmarch at 5 a. m., passing over the Balti-moire and Hagerstown turnpike. We hearcannonading and musketry near Hagers-town. The rebels hold the place. Themilitia of Baltimore have been called oatto defend the city. Our regiment sent onpicket.

July 11, 1863.—Warm but cloudy. W'^were relieved from' picket and marchedback to camp. We hear that the rebs fell

back two miles last night.July 12, 1863.—Cloudy. W^e moved at

5 a. m. toward Hagerstown. We passedthru Funkstown and came to a halt andthrew out skirmishers. Our forces weresoon in the city and our flag soon flev^

over the seminary. About 3 p. m. our bri-

gade moved back to the left and formed adouble line of battle. Just befoiie dark wemade a charge on the rebs. Our regimentlost one man killed and two wounded. Wehave two lines of battle here and our regi-ment is in the second line.

July 13, 1863.—Rainy day. We werecalled out at daybreak and stood underarms for a w'hile. There is considerablefiring by the pickets. We drew two days'rations. This forenoon the irebs opened OJi

one of our regiments while they were get-ting rails to make breastworks with. Wehear there was a draft riot in New YorivCity.

July 14, 1863.—The skirmishers broughtin word this morning that the rebs hadleft, and we moved on after them passingover their trail. We found they had left

a strongly fortified position, much strongerthan ours. We marched four miles and

went into camp near Williamsport at 1

p. m. The rebs crossed the river at this

place. I am about sick with a head-ache.

SOME IMORE HARD MARCHING.

July 15, 1863.—A sultry day. At 7a. m. we started back over the same routewe came yesterday. I never saw as manymen drop out of the ranks as did today.Even mules fell out. We passed thruBoonsborough, and went into camp at 2p. m., near South Mountain Pass, havingma.rched 16 miles.

July 16, 1863.—Cool. I am pretty ef-

fectually used up, as, sick and exhausted.I got a pass to ride in an ambulance for

the second time since I have been in theairmy. We were called out at 3 a. m., butdid not start till sunrise. The roads arebadly blocked with teams. We went thruSouth ]Mountain Pass, the same way wecame, then thru Middletown, and wentinto camp near Harper's Feirry Gap, with-in two miles of Berlin. Our forces wentout to lay pontoon bridges during thenight

July 17, 1863.—Rained most all day.

We lay quiet and were very glad to get aday's rest. Several corps are here andsome of the troops are crossing the iriver

(Potomac). We hear that Port Hudsonhas been captured.

July 18, 1863.—Pleasant. Troops havebeen cro.ssing the Potomac all day. Ourdivision was ordered forward at 5 p. m.We marched a mile and a half and pitchedtents for the night near Berlin, w'here wecrossed the river last Fall. There aire twopontoon bridges here. We are waiting for

other troops to cross.

July 19, 1863.—Clear, hot day, but thenight "was cool. We waited under armsseveral hours in the forenoon for thaEleventh Corps to pass us befoTe we couldcross the river. We marched about 9a. m. in a very 'hot sun, passing thru Lov-ettsville. and encamped at 2 p. m.

July 20, 1863.—Clear, hot day. Wemarched at 10 a. m., passing thru Percy-villf. We had an easy march of 10 mileswith frequent rests.

July 21, 1863.—Rainy. This is a kindof geuGral "Thanksgiving day" for us,

after the short rations we have had. Wohave had ram, lamb, sheep, meat, mutton,big pig, little pig, hog, geese, turkej^s andchickens, and other supplies coming Into

camp all day. Beirries are nlentiful. Lastyear when we passed thru this city, aguard was posted at every fence, haystackand cornfield, and all property, secesh andUnion, was sacred, but now the Govern-ment does not hold itself iresponsible for

anything. Gen. Bartlett has left our bri-

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gade and Col. Uptou is acting in his place.July 22, 1863.—Hot day. We inarched

at 4 a. m., passing thru Rectorville, andcamped about noon at White Plains.Blackberries are very thick. We heardcannonading at sunset toward the moun-tains.

July 24, 1863.—Hot day. We pitchedtents in regular order this morning. I

went blackberrying twice today and gotmore than I knew what to do with. About7 p. m. we received orders to march. WeAvent back over our old track eight miles,and at midnight lay down on our blanketsa little beyond New Baltimore Woodticks are plentiful.

July 25, 1863.—Hot day. We startedat sunrise, marched six miles, and wentinto camp at Warrenton, a pretty city in

a sightly place. The white women hereappear sad, and many of them are dressedin black, but the negroes are glad to seeus. I went out to a little creek to do mywashing, and came very near being cap-tured by guerrillas. We appeair to be car-rying out the plan McClellan had wlien re-

lieved of his command.July 26, 1863.—Pleasant. The FifU)

Corps got in this morning and passed onto the front. About the middle of theforenoon we moved a mile for a better lo-

cation and camped on a hill.

July 29, 1863.—Pleasant. I went outand got some blackberries, apples andpears. I fried the apples and boiled thepears and we had quite a treat. Receivedletters from home.

July 31, 1863.—Pleasant. A division ofcavalry came in from the front today.ToAvard night our cooks had just got theirkettles of beans ready for the ovens, tobake during the nig'ht—inttoding to 'havea rarity for breakfast—'When we had or-

ders to march. We went back to NewBaltimore, where we arrived at 10 p. ra.

The .right wing went into camp and theleft on picket,Aug. 1, 1863.—I went blackberrying In

the morning. This is the ihottest day ofthe Summer and luckily we lay quiet. Abattery of six guns has been placed so it

commands the road and mountain near ourpicket line.

Aug. 2, 1863.—^Clear and liot. Thur-low and I went out and found a good-sized pig, AA'hich we caught and dressed, it

made a heavy lend for us, but we broughtit into camp and divided it among theboys. Fresh pork goes pretty good. It is

now flies hy dnv and mosquitoes by night.Aug. 3, 3863.—Thunder showers. 1

went up on the mountain and found anabundance of boirries and had a fine viewof the country. I could see long columnsof dust a few miles off toward Predei'-icksburg, which were caused by moving

troops. Two guerrillas were just broughtin.

Aug. 5, 1863.—Pleasant. We strucktents and marched back a short distanceto the hill and went into camp in regularordeir. We are living well, having softbread and plenty of berries.

Aug. 9, 1863.—Pleasant, Our regimentwas paid off this forenoon. I received $26for May and June. Religious servicesand dress parade. Tom Jewett, of Co. H,is sentenced to be shot next Friday fordesertion. He is an Englis'hman and it is

said that he deserted from the Englisharmy before he joined ours.

Aug. 10, 1863.—Very hot. Sent lettershome. Quite a number of citizens werebrought into camp with their horses andsome of them were armed

Aug, 12, 1863.—Heavy thundersliowersin the night and we were completely flood-

ed. I am about sick, but the generalhealth of the brigade was never better.

A MILITARY EXECUTION.

Aug. 14, 1863.—A very 'hot day. A partof our signal corps was captured today.At noon, our brigade marched two milesout toward Warrenton and met the restof our division at the place where TomJewett was to be executed. We weredrawn up in a three-sided hollow square,and the deserter, Tom Jewett, was takenaround the square, sitting on his coffin,

with our Chaplain Adams beside him. Ashe passed us (the 5th Me.) he lookedaround upon us ;and smiled. When he washelped from the wagon the coffin was placedon the ground, and he got upon it on his

knees, but was told to sit down, which hedid, facing the guard drawn up a few yardsin front of him. The Chaplain offered pray-er and the Provost-Marshal tied a handker-chief over his eyes and stepped back to-

ward the guard, who were ordered to fire.

It was p'romptly done, and poor Tom fell

back over liis coffin lifeless, pierced by six

bullets, and we all felt much relievedAvhen the murder was accomplished. Thedivision then marched around the square,passing close to the body, which had beenturned face downwairds.

Aug. 17, 1863.—Cool and pleasant. Wewent out on picket day before yes-

terday and returned today. We AA^ere sta-

tioned at a church in a beautiful oakgrove. Yesterday I welg'hed 134 pounds,the most I ever weighed. We are buyingand cooking flour these days.

Aug. 20, 1863.—Cavalry having troubleAvith the rebel pickets, whom they havedr'ven back. The rebs are camped threemiles from ns.

Aug. 22, 1863.—Very liot day. In the

forenoon our brigade was instpected by


Gen. Wright and afterwards oui* regimentwas inspected by Gens. Wright and Bart-lett. We hear that Moseby is captured.We are living high. I picked two quartsof blackberries and two quarts of ripegrapes, and then bought potatoes, toma-toes and sugar for our mess, 25 little pota-toes for 25 cents.

Aug. 25, 1863.—Warm. Considerablesport among the boys—foot races, races to

pick up stones, hurdle iaces, sack races,

etc. Today we had potatoes and onionsissued to us.

Aug. 26,'

1863.—Windy. The paperssay that Fort Sumter has surrendered andthat eight-inch shells are being throwninto the city of Charleston.Aug. 27, 1863.—Cool. Our regiment

went on picket this morning, but the col-

ors were left behind this time. I am aboutsick with a cold.

Aug. 28, 1963.—Cool day. I find myselfbetter. We have worked hard all day,built basements to our tents, some nicebunks, and covered them with cedarboughs. We have pretty good Winter quar-ters, so I suppose we will soon mairch.Saurkraut and chow-chow served out to-

day.Aug. 29, 1863.—^Cold wind. Yesterday

Carpenter, of our company, and threeothers were taken prisoners by rebel guer-rillas.

Aug. 30, 1863.-^Cool. Our regimentcame in from picket and began fixing uptheir tents. I have discovered the rootsof all evil in a full ration of toothache.

Sept. ], 1863.—Wairmer. We are or-

dered to have roll call three times a day.My face is badly swollen. Our troopshave had a fight at White Sulphur Springsand another at Bottom's Bridge.

Sept. 3, 1863.—Pleasant. Brigade drill

in the afternoon. A very modest little

girl and her brother come to our tent dailywith milk to exchange for bacon, sugar, or

coffee. They have a brother in the irebel

army.Sept. 5, 1863.—Beautiful day. Last

night about midnight we were alarmed byfiring on the pickets and at Bartletr.'s

headquarteirs, nearby. Each regiment im-mediately fell in with loaded muskets, butthe dasli had been made, the brigade flag

captured, and the rebels gone. Several of

the boys being on picket were wounded andone taken prisoner. A scoiiting party wassent out ear'ly this morning, and cameback tonight, saying that they had beenout eight miles, but saw only a few cav-

alry some distance off. The citizens told

them that several men rode by who wereheld uT)on their horses bv comrades riding

on each side of them. They also found apart of the staff from which the brigadeflag had been torn. Had a tooth pulled.

Sept. 6, 1863.—Pleasant. A citizen senta couple of negroes to Gen. Bartlett, say-ing that a lairge force of rebs was withintwo miles of his house. Tonight thepicket-guard is strengthened and also thelines to communication between them andcamp.

Sept. 7, 1863.—Very warm. Our regi-

ment went out at 2 a. m. on a scoutingexpedition, and the 95th and 96th N. Y.soon after. A fight is expected today.Received letters from home.

Sept. 8, 1863.—Pleasant. At 9 a. m.our regiments had all come in, one com-pany at a time. We heard rapid mus-ketry, volley after volley, which seemedto be near Warrenton. Soon after weheard artillery farther off. We had or-

ders to pack up. We learned that a rebel

force had crossed the river, driven in pick-

ets and also the reserve, but coming uponour force, which was waiting for them be-

hind a stonewall, they received a terrible

punishment and retreated across the river.

ALL SORTS OF HAPPENINGS.

Sept. 10, 1863.—Cloudy. Fine rain in

the evening. The three companies of ourregiment that have been out scouting since

day before yesterday came in today. Theyhave been secreted in different places,

watching for guerrillas. Frank Rickeir, of

Company B, carelessly discharged a loadedmusket at James Curtis today just as thelatter was going out on guard-mount. Theball passed thru his arm in two placesand also his side, following a rib aroundtill it lodged near the backbone. It wascut out by Dr. Warren, but tonight Curtisis failing fast. He served several yearsin the Regular Army.

Sept. 11, 1863.—Cool. Our regimentwent on picket this morning. Squads of

mounted rebs are scouting around outpicket line and an attack is expected to-

night. The battery horses are kept har-nessed and the men will sleep on their

arms tonight. We received overcoats to-

dav.Sept. 13. 1863.—Rainy. We heard can-

nonading this forenoon in the direction ofCulpeper Courthouse. The two regimentsthat went to New York to enforce the con-script law passed us this afternoon outheir way to Warrenton.

Sept. 14, 1863.—Clear. Our regimentcame in from picket this morning. Wehave orders to be ready to march at shortnotice.

Sept. 15, 1863.—Clear. Regimental in-

spection in the morning. Some of theboys are washing their overcoats. We re-

ceived orders at 3 p. m. to pack up andbe ready to march immediately. The citi-

zens flock into camp and take what weleave and fare pretty well, but our com-

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pany piled up ite surplus and buirned it.

to show its patriotism. We started on ourmarch at p. m. and went into camp atWarrenton about an hour after d«irk. Oarmarch, altho but five miles, Avas hard onus. I had on new shoes and my feet arebadly blistered. Many of the boys areswead-ing about their overcoats, and it wasfoolish to send for them so early. It ap-peal's that a part of Lee's army has gonetoward Richmond.

Sept. 10, 1803.—Rainy. We started onour march at sunrise, but only went ashort distance when we were ordered backto where we spent the night and pitchedtents. Part of our regiment went intothe city on guard, and the rest were or-

dered elsewhere. The 121st N. Y. re-

mained here during the day, but the rest

of the brigade went toward Culpeper.Our regiment and tlie 121st N. Y. startedat G p. m., marched 7 miles and haltedabout 10 at Sulphur Springs. There wereonce large buildings here, but most ofthem have been burned. On our way weheard that the guerrillas weire followingus. and two companies Avere sent out asadvance and rear guard. It was a darknight but an easv march.

Sept. IT, 1863.—Cloudy. We com-menced onr march at sunrise. The 121stN. Y. is in advance. Edwards was in

command, and he told the drunken Lieu-teant-Colonel of the 121st to marcb themen as he liked, and we had few rests.

We got into camp at 3 p. m.. havingmarched 20 miles. We here joined theSixth Corps. I was quite exhausted be-fore noon and lay down by the side of theroad and when the ambulance came alongthey took me and my things on board.The doctoir came and examined me andsent me something to take. It was CharlesMcKenny, from INIinot, Me., who pickedme up.

Sept. 18. 1863.—Rainy and warm. Welay quiet all day. We have at last founda place that is not swarming with flies.

Elisba Hall came to see me.Sept. 19. 1863.—Clear. We are within

five miles of Cedar Mountain. Some ofthe boys call it Slaughter Mountain. I

should like very much to go there and seeif T could find where brothef EdwarlVerrill was buried, but the rcb.*^; hold tlie

7>lnce and our picket lines aire .'jome dis-

tance this side. The sweat I took Thurs-(lav in marchin'!,- snoiled nearly everythingI harl about me. I would rntlier lie undertwo liours' smnrt shelling than go thrathat again.

Sept. 20. 1863.—Cold. Frost last night.

T signed the pay rolls and received twomonflis' pay. .\ large number of irecruits

make their appearance hut none for this

regiment.

Sept. 21, 1863.—Frost again last night.

There is a rumor that we are to movesoon, and that stops the m' st of ''.j

house-building, but our tent crew keepsright on in defiance of the alarm.

Sept. 22, 1863.—Thurlow and I wentoff about a mile to a mill and lugged backtwo boards to fix our tent with.

Sept. 23, 1863.—Another cold night. Inthe morning Elisba Hall and I went to

visit McKenny. Did my washing, throeshirts and a pair of stockings. Other reg-iments have dress parade and brigade drill,

but Ave remain quiet. Adj't Dicknell got.

back to our regiment today. He waswounded May 3. Col. Millett has comeback, too.

Sept. 24, 1863.—Milder. I took a walkthis morning. Found some Chinquepins, a

kind of acorn in a chestnut bur. I saw a

contraband who told me that "all roundheah is called Gum Spring's." At 4 p. m.we were ordered to pitch our tents again,

and we were glad to stay another nightin our comfortable quarters. We are nowsupposed to be eady to march with eight

days' rations.Sept. 25, 1863.—Fine day. I went over

to the 7th Me., could hear nothing of

Whitefield Verrill, but heard that Silas

Crooker is sick in a hospital.

Sept. 27, 1863.—Compan3> inspection

and religious services in the forenoon.The Chaplain gave the officers some .se-

vere talk for drinking and the privatesfor sweairing. Drill and dress parade in

the afternoon, at Which the brigade bandplayed. A number of deserters werebroug'ht in. One of them, Sewall Pratt,

left our iregiment just before the battle

of Fredericksburg. I broke off one of myfront teeth eating a piece of hardtack.

Sept. 30. 1863.—Pleasant. Warm breadserved today. Bought a pound of butter

for 60 cents. Whisky is selling $6 perquart bottle.

Oct. 2, 1863.—Rained hard last night

and today. Awakened about midoiight

by the Third Division marching off towardCulpeper. We liear that they are going

to Catlett's Station to guard the railroad

and do picket duty. During this stormour tent boys are glad to find themselves

in a warm and dry tent and not deco-

rated with whisky bottles, which of late

are very common, and it seems a mostnoisv kmd of whisky, too.

Oct. 3, 1863.—Pleasant. Our regimentmoved back about a mile and now have anice camp ground w'here we should like

to Winter. Deserted camps nearby fur-

nished plenty of lumber for basements andwe worked hard all the afternoon. To-night we find ourselves in the best tents

or houses we have had yet.

Oct. 4, 1863.—Fine, warm day. While

The National Tilhune Saap Boole. G9

out in a coTnfield today picking beans 1

was shot at by the rebs. The boys arevery busy making improvements on theirtents and have done things in fine shape.Good water plenty and heavy hardwoodnearby. Persimmons are abundant andbeginning to ripen. On dress parade or-ders were read that were not very grate-fully received, viz : "Pack up and beready to move tomorrow at four in themorning." There is talk about our regi-ment enlisting in the Yeteran Corps, andso go home awhile, but I shall not enlLûtonight.

Oct. 5, 1863.—Clear, ba-ight day, witha cold breeze from the mountains. Weturned out at 2 a. m. and marched at 4a. m. Our division moved to the front.We passed thru Culpeper, a nice place,crossed the railroad, and marched about 14miles to Raccoon Ford. We took a zigzagcourse thru the wôods to keep the reb.s

from making a dash on our supply an^l

ambulance train. Got into camp about 4p. m. We are about a mile or so fromthe Rapidan River. Wood plenty, butthe water is dreadfully bad. Part of theregiment went on picket.

Oct. 6, 1863.-^Cool and pleasont. TheSecond Corps left this morning, and wetook the remains of their tents and builtup ours. By the middle of the forenoonwe had a tent almost equal to the one u'e

left at Culpeper, and it!hen we heard thatwe are to move tomorrow. The wholearmy is to fall back. The papers of to-

night say that the rebel force in front ofus is 90,000 strong.

Oct. 7, 1863.-—Rainy. I went out tothe reserve picket line this afternoon andwas very much surprised to see what astrong position the rebs have and what adecidedly poor outlook there is for u.s.

The Rapidan separates the two lines ofpickets, and it is so narrow that the pick-ets talk to each other across it. The rebshave a high range of hills and are verybusy building fortifications and breast-works. We have a great pulain extendingalong the river and back a couple of miles,and affords scarcely a knoll on which to

plant a battery.Oct. 8, 1863.—Fair day. I went up the

ri\'er a couple of miles, but found a belt of

woods extended as fair as the eye couldsee, apparently without an opening. Therebs have a picket line above here onthis side of the river, and we intend to

advance our line in that direction tonight.Cartridges served out to us today.

ANOTHER BOY EXECUTED.

Cool and pleasant. More murder : Ourdivision was called out to witness the exe-cution of a substitute who deserted and

was taken again. His name is JosephConley, aged 22, and belonged to a Jerseyregiment. There was to be another shot,but he was pardoned. On dress paradeorders were read to the effect that anyof the old regiments that will reenlist cango home to their State to reorganizi-\

About half of the boys agree to do so,

provided they can have 90 days' furlough.Oct. 10, 1863.—^Cloudy. In the morn-

ing we were ordered to strike tents andbe ready to march immediately. We wail-ed all day on one foot and at dark startedon our back track. The night was verydark. At 9 we halted for an hour andwere glad to put on our overcoats. At 2p. m. when within a mile or so of Cul-peper we. stacked arms and lay down for

an hour. We hear that the rebs have beenmoving around on our right for the last

two days, and today Kilpatrick has beenskirmishing with them near Culpeper.The whole army is moving back.

Oct. 11, 1863.—Plea.sant. We sarted at

3 a. m., mairched thru Culpeper, andhalted a mile beyond for breakfast. Westopped an hour and then marched on at

a quick pace. We stopped half an hourat Brandy Station for dinner. Kilpatrick'scavalry was near where' we stopped last

night. During the day he was surroundedby the rebs and had to cut his way outwith considerable loss. We reached theRappahannock about 3 p. m. and haltedfor an hotir near a fort. We then crossedthe river, marched a short distance andwent into camp. About sunset the can-nonading was quite brisk. Several car-

loads of negroes passed us on their wayto Alexandria. There are breastworksand several forts here. I have not suf-

fered so much with the cold any nightsince I have been in the army as I didlast night, altho I slept with my blanketdouble and my overcoat under me. We ex-

pected to march at midnight, but werenot disturbed.

Oct. 12, 1863.—Pleasant., At daylightwe moved a short distance and stackedarms. All was quiet till noon, when wecrossed the river and advanced npon therebs, driving them back to Culpeper. AHthe troops in our column were displayedto the best advantage. About 3 p. m.cannonading and musketry commenced. Atdark we camped in a piece of woods nearBrandy Station. Our brigade was in the

(rear and we did not take an active partin the fight, as we were several miles fronthe river. About midnight we were or-

dered to fall in and commenced movingback to Rappahannock Station, five or six

miles distant.

Oct. 13, 1863.—Cool. We got back to

the river, which wê crossed just beforedaylight. Most of our troops were ahead

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of us. When we crossed the railroadbridge our boys were cutting up the irails

and about sunrise the bridge was blownup. Rested a couple of hours and thenstarted on, burning bridges and depots.Reached Warrenton Junction at noon andstopped two hours. We passed CatlettStation at five p. m. and marched a fewmiles further and went into camp at Ket-tle Run.

Oct. 34, 18G3.—Cool. We started onour way at daylight and came in sight of

the rear of our division just as they weremoving off. We reached Manassas Junc-tion at noon. In the afternoon there wasa smart battle in our rear; I could hearthe musketry and whistling of the shells.

When we came within two miles of Cen-terville Hill I could see the smoke of thebattle, and away to the right I could see aheavy column of cavalry, but whetherUnion or Confederate I could not tell.

Our regiment reached Centerville at sun-set and then our division went out onChantilly Road. I followed slowly andcame up with them just after they camp-ed in line of battle. It was now 9 p. m.and I lay down on my blanket very much

Oct. 15^ 1863.—Cloudy day. We moveda few rods in order to change front andcommenced throwing up breastworks,digging rifle pits and cutting down trees.

Cannonading commenced at 2 p. m. andcontinued till dark, intermixed with vol-

leys of musketry. We hear that our boyshave taken 450 prisoners, five or six pieces

of artillery, and two stands of colors.

Our corps is lying neair Chantilly, wherethe roads cross, and where Gens. Kearneyand Stevens were killed. We have raised

a fine line of breastworks in the last fewhours.

Oct. 16, 1863.—Warm. Struck tents be-

fore daylight and stood under arms, ex-

pecting that the rebs would attack us this

morning; but all being quiet an houir after

sunrise, we pitched tents again, as it rain-

ed slightly. Beef tongues and hardtackserved out. We had a heavy shower withcyiite a gale in the evening and most of

our tents were flooded.

Oct. 17, 1863.—Warm and pleasant. AHquiet thru the day till about sunset, wheasome guerrillas made their way inside of

our lines and captured a Lieutenant. Atthe same time shells were thrown amongour pickets and we were ordered to fall

in. We soon broke ranks, struck tents

and packed up, but by dark all was quiet

and we were ordered to pitch tents again.

Oct. 18, 1863.—Very warm. Companyinspection and religious services in theforenoon. A heavy force went out this

morninc: on a reconnoitering expedition.

Ort. 10. 1863.—Heavy thunder showev

in the morning. Started at daylight, butonly went a few rods before we had to

stop, and waited an hour or more in therain, but it made no difference to me, for

I had got drenched thru going for waterbefore we started. We took the Bull Runroad and crossed the battlefield about 1

p. m. We marched two and a half hourswithout a rest, and I think some of theboys would have given more fo-r a shot atthe leader of the column than at old Leehimself. We reached Dranesville aboutsunset and went into camp. We hear can-nonading just ahead of us at the Gap.Find plenty of ripe persimmons.

Oct. 20, 1863.—Cool and pleasant. 1

had a severe headache all last night, andthis morning I am sick with the diarrhea.I have marched all I am able to at pres-

ent and would applv for a pass in the am-balance, only there is a prospect of a fight

ahead, and I suppose I should be lookedon with suspicion. We started at 7 a. m.and reached New Baltimore at 4 p. m.and went into camp, as we were told weshould lie here till morning, but about sun-

set we w^ere oTdered to pack up and fall

in, and we marched to Warrenton andcamped at 9 p. m. Our wagon train wentby Thoroughfare Gap. All along the roadbefore we got to New Baltimore there

were dead horses and some dead Unionsoldiers, which the folks were burying.Many of the soldiers had been stripped of

their clothing. Our cavalry fought hereyesterday and this morning.

Oct. 21, 1863.—We expected to moveonward this morning, but only went afew rods to get a better place to camp,and now expect to remain here till the

railroad is repaired and th©n I suppose weshall advance upon Lee's array. It is

said that Lee has made a stand at Cul-peper. Five days' rations served out.

Oct. 22, 1863.--Cloudy. Quite a lot of

paroled prisoners passing here on their

way to their respective regiments. Ross,

who was taken at Salem Church, cameback to our (fOmpany.

Oct. 23, 1863.—Clondy, with some rain

We changed camp ground this morningand now have a good position within a

stone's throw of Warrenton. Water is

plenty and our wood is hauled to 11=^.

Cliff Jones and I got a pass and went into

the city and bought a dinner of bread,milk and tomatoes.

MARCHIlSrG AND COUNTERMARCHING.

Oct 24, 1863.—Cold, steady rain all

day. About 5 p. m. we received orders to

pack up and be ready to move at once.

.Tust before dark we were ordered to pitch

tents again. Our cavalry had a biusb withthe enemy and say they are crossing the

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Rappahannock. This accounts for the or-

der to move. Whisky is plenty and manyof the officers were drunk today.

Oct. 25, 1863.—Cold, windy day. About4 p. m. we were ordered to strike tents

and fall in. We marched two miles in a

circuitous direction and camped a mile

from where we started, and near the rail-

road, where our division stretched out so

as to foirm a line of battle.

Oct. 26, 1863.—Cold. Mr. Dingley, of

Lewiston, Me,, is here this morning. To-ward nigiit Mosby's cavalry cleared the

road from New Baltimore to Warrentou,and we received orders to be ready to

march at 4 a. m. We heard cannonadingin the afternoon toward the Rappahan-nock.

Oct. 28, 1863.—^Somewhat warmer, butice formed last night. The order to

march this morning has been counter-manded, Clothing came today, and I dreva pair of pants, a shirt, and a pair of

stockings. On dress parade, an order wasread to the effect that all those who wish-

ed to could join batteries.

Oct. 30, 1863.—Our regiment moved a

short distance into a piece of pine woodsand we have worked all day building base-

ments and fireplaces to our tents. We ex-

pected to be called out to witness the exe-

cution of another desert-er, but he attempt-ed to. escape last night and I have notlearned whether he succeeded or was shotdown on the spot.

Oct. 31, 1863.—We were mustered for

payment in the afternoon and Gen. Bart-lett was present. Ten from our companyand many from other companies sent_ in

their names to be transferred to batteries.

The regimental officers do not like it.

Nov. 2, 1863.—Today we built ourbasement two logs higher, making it fourand a half feet high, and have built twobunks, one over the other, and now havethe best Winter quarters in the regiment.

Nov. 4, 1863.—Fine weather. We hadsoft bread, potatoes and beans served outtoday. From the effects of the wind, rain,

bullets, and brush, our battle flag is in a

very dilapidated condition. The fringe is

entirely off and as the Color Sergeant will

not bother with it any longer, I have sent

it home.Nov. 5, 1863.—Warm ad pleasant. T

never saw so many orows in my life.

They fill the air from the middle of the

afternoon till sunset.Nov. 6, 1863.—Ten men from each com-

pany have been detailed to go on fatigue

duty at Warrenton depot. We received

orders to be readv to move in the morning.

A CHARGE OVER BREASTWORKS.

Nov. 7, 1863.—Pleasant. We wereturned out an hour before daylight. Thedivision commenced to move about sun-rise. Our regiment had to wait till sevena. m. for those who were out on fatigue

duty to get in. We moved toward Rap-pahannock Station, where we overtookour brigade with those of the rebs. Abou'c2 p. m. a line of battle was formed. The6th Me. and 5th Wis. were engaged, andtwo of outr batteries were opened on therebs. Toward night our brigade wasmoved forward, the rebs shelling us all the

way, and came to a halt near the enemy'searthworks. After dark we were orderedto charge upon their rifle-pits. Col. Up-ton, who was in charge of our regimentand the 121st N. Y., told us that if wewould rush unon them without firing a gunwe could take two stands of colors andalso capture nearly all the rebs that theworks contained. We made the charge andtook five stands of colors, and with somehelp afterwards we captured about 2,000prisoners. A bayonet thrust thru the coatis all the injury I received. Our loss,

considering the circumstances, was veryslight. When we mounted the breast-

works there was a halt for a few seconds,when two rebs discharged their muskets,sending a streak of fire up on each side of

me. Bumpus, who was next to me, grab-bed one of the rebs by the hair and pulledhim out over the breastworks and kepthim till after the row was over, when I

saw Bumpus begging tobacco for him.Nov. 8. 1863.—Dark, rainy day. I have

been looking around among the rebel

earthworks. I saw about 30 dead rebs andabout 50 dead Union men, but did not see

them all. They have been burying themtoday. The rebs left during the nightand we now have a force across the river.

As I write this Col. Upton sits upon adead horse a few rods from me and busilyw^riting,

SIGNS OF WINTER.

Nov. 9, 1863.—Snowing. The first snowof the season. The mountains are quite

white. About an hour before sunset ourcorps moved off to our right and campedin line of battle; our right [resting onHazle River. Some of the boys killed anice bullock and brought it into camp, andwe found it very tender eating.

Nov. 10, 1863.—Cold and windy. Thewater in our canteens froze last night.

We are camped on a bleak hill and no

72 The National Trihmie Scrap Bool'.

wood near. At 1 p. m. an escort wasformed of 40 privates and some officers

from each of the regiments, which weceengaged in the late battle, to convey thecaptured flags to Gen. Meade's headquar-ter, three miles distant. There wereseven colors and one staff from Avhich thecolor had been torn. The 119th Pa., 49thand 121st N. Y., 5th Wis., and 5th andGth. Me., were the regiments engaged.Gen. Meade gave us a short talk and wereturned to camp about sunset

Nov. 11, 1863.—Cold. About 9 a. m.we struck tents, packed up and movedhalf a mile and camped in a white oaktimber grove on the south bank of HazleRiver, at Beverly Ford, not far from theRappahannock. Wood and water goodand plentv of both.

Nov. 32, 1863.—Pleasant. About adozen of us, with Lieut. Hutchins, crossedHazle River on a raft and went a fewmiles on a foraging expedition. We vis-

ited the Major plantation, a fine place.

We also called on Mr. Mack, whose folks

treated us very kindly and gave us hotcorn cakes and boiled pumpkin. We call-

ed at two other places, but could getnothing of them. We then killed a heiferand took it into camp with us. Findplenty of persimmons.

Nov. 15, 1863.—Heavy thunder showerin the morning, after which it clearedoff cold and windy. At 7 a. m. we wereordered to pack up all but our tents andsoon after heard brisk cannonading notfar off, between irebel infantry and ourcavalry. Wê heair that our cavalry cap-tured a rebel brigade.

Nov. 16, 1863.—Cold. Our regimentreceived a new banner ; it is not letteredand cost $40. New tactics were introducedthis afternoon. It is evident that Uptoncan teach our officers something in thatline.

Nov. 17, 1863.—Warm. A detail of 23men from our iregiment started at day-break this morning to build corduroy road.Since the railroad is completed- our sup-plies come to Brandv Station.

Nov. 23, 1863.—Heavy frost last night.

Col. Upton says we shall probably havfa general engagement within a few days.

Nov. 24, ]863.—We were ordered outat 2 a. m. and expected to march in anhour, but it commenced raining and at

daylisrht we received orders that the movehad been postponed.

Nov. 25, 1863.—I went into Lieut.Lvon's tent in the evening and had a

good sing. Thurlow left the color guardand went back to his company to tenr.

They built a nice brick chimney and wehave Oirders to move tomorrow. At sun-down Mosbv, wi<^h about 60 men, Avas seenby some of our boys on picket.

ANOTHER THANKSGIVING DAY.

Nov. 26, 1863.—Coldest night this Fall.

The ground is frozen hard. We were or-

dered out about 3 a. m. and started onour mairch at 6 a. m. Col. Upton read as

an official telegram giving cheering newsfrom Burnside. Our brigade is rear guardand we go with the wagon train. We madeslow progress, as the teams frequently stuckin the mud and we had to lift at thewheels to get them over the bad places. Atnight the rebel guerrillas made a dashupon our teams and captured two of themand took a few prisoners. A Corporal in

mv companv was sho't dead.Nov. 27, 1863.—Fine day. We started

on onr wây about daylight, rharched a miJeor so at a quick pace, and crossed theRapidan at 5 a. m. About 10 a. m. weheard cannonading on our right and soonafter we heard cannonading and musketryin front of us. We ci'ossed the river atJacob's Ford, and the pontoon bridge wastaken up as soon as we got across and putdown about two miles belo«w, at GermaniaFord. We had quite a sharp battle this

afternoon at Locust Grove. We aire ex-

pecting the rebs to charge on us duringthe night, and also expect a general bat-

tle tomorrow.Nov. 28, 1863.—Rained steadily most

all da<^ The rebs retreated during thenight and we turned out at midnight andfollowed them. We marched thru thewoods four miles^—it was more a wilder-ness—and reached a large field about day-light, where the greater portion of ourairmy were gathered. At 7 we started onagain and passed a few dead rebs. Theyhad nothing in their haversacks to eat butshelled corn. We marched three miles andfound the enemy stronp"ly located on theopposite side of Mine Run. During thelast mile our skirmishers were engjagedwith those of the enemy, and we marchedthat distance thru a low pine woods in therain. We formed our line of battle on a

ridge about a mile from that of the rebs.

Nov. 30, 1863.—Freezing cold. Wetuirned out at midnight under heavymarching orders and moved silently by theright flank about a mile to onr picket line,

expecting we were going to make a nightcharge We formed in three lines of bat-tle and masked ourselves in the edge of

the woods, other troops closing up aroundus. About 4 a. m. we were ordered to

spread down onr blankets and get whaLsleep we could before daylight. Soon afterlight cannonading began, to wl ich theenemy briskly replied We were now or-

dered to pile up our knapsacks, and the

nioneei's were to remain and guard them.The 121st N. Y. wâs in advance, the 5thMe. formed the second line, and the 95th

The National Tribune Scr'ap Book. 73

and 9Gth Pa. foi-med the third line of

battle. The order "Attention ; fix bayo-nets," was given and we momentarily ex-

pected the "Forward." About this timesome scouts returned with the informationthat the stream between us and the rebshad been dammed and the meadow on bothsides partially flooded. The banks hadbeen dug square down and sharpened sticks

driven in to make it impassable, and athick piece of pine beyond had been felled,

over which we should have to pass beforereaching the enemy's breastworks. Beforereaching the stream we should have to

pass over an open field nearly halt a milewide, which the enemy could sweep witha cross fire from their batteries. Wethanked God to hear about 9 a. m. that

the move had been postponed. We lay herequiet all day.

SOME OF THE HORRORS OF WAR.

Dec. 1, 1863.—Very cold. We have re-

mained here all day without fires and avery poor quality of diluted mud to drink.

The supply and ambulance trains aremoving back. At 7 p. m. we slung knap-sacks and started back, but made slowprogress. The first six hours, T think, wedid not make as many miles. We passedburning houses, and scared women andchildren were running about in the cold

without shelter. We marched all night,

crossing the Rapidan just before daylighr,

and halted about a mile from the iriyer at

7 a. m., having marched 12 hours withouta single halt.

Dec. 2, 1863.—Cool. We halted. at sun-rise and stacked arms, made coffee andlay down and slept till 10 a. m., when wemarched several miles and camped in the

woods by the side of a plank road, andremained all day and night as a guard to

the wagon train. Rations scarioo.

Dec. 3, 1863.—Warm and pleasant. Westarted on our march at sunrise. Passedthru Stevensville and crossed MountainRun. W"e marched eight or nine miles andgot back to our old camp ground about 2

p. m. I find nine blisters on one foot andfive on the other and I can hardly walk.Inuring the day we passed a number of

dead horses and a pile of ashes and wagonirons, the effect of a late guerrilla raid.

Dec. 4. 1863.—We received our backmail today and I had several letters fromhome. John Stevens is acting Adjutant.

Dec. 5, 1863.—Pleasant. About the

middle of the afternoon we received orders

to be ready to move at any time. Wehear that the Third Corps is moving backacross the Rappahannock, perhaps into

Winter quarters.Dec. 6. 1863.— Cold anrl windy. We

had a great gale last night. The boysare hard at work fixing up their tents.

Dress parade and an address by the Chap-lain,

Dec. 7, 1863.—Cold and clear. We arenow in camp near Beverly Ford, tiazleRiver, Virginia. The color guard wassent back to their companies to tent and 1

will go in with Larrabee and Taylor. Wewent with a team and got some boardsfrom over the river .and put up a largedouble tent. We worked like dogs all dayand got the roof on before night.

Dec. 8, 1863.—Very cold. All handshard at work finishing up their tents andthen we received orders to pack up and beready to move across the river immediate-ly. Our brigade crossed during the after-

noon and we carried over most of ourboards and now have a nice locaiiuu i>»

the edge of a large wood, where we havelong been v/ishing to be.

Dec. 9, 1863.—Pleasant. All handsbusy building our tents again for Win-ter quarters. They are all required to 1*e

double, of the same hight and chimneyson the front. We worked hard all dayand got our tent up, when the Captain or-

dered us to take it down and build it overagain, as it was four inches too high andthree inches too wide.

Dec. 10, 1863.—Pleasant. I started off

early in the morning in search of nails

—

and brought back several pounds. We tookdown our tent and built it according to

orders and had it up again and bunks built

in it before night. Our Colonel came to

see how we were building our chimneysand some of the boys had to take theirs

down and build them over again andsome of the ofiicers were in the same pre-dicament.

Dec. 12, 1863.—Rainy. I worked all

day on our chimney. Taylor and Larra-bee brought the stone from a wall abouta half mile distant. The wall is built of

sandstone, resembling unlettered gravestones, and the boys h.ave carried off abonta quarter of a mile of it. The plantationwhich it enclosed is owned bv one Mr.Caines, of Washington. A man namedHoi croft lives on it, and his negro is haul-ing stone from the same wall with carr

and oxen for the bovs of this regiment, for

$1 a load.

Dec. 13. 1863—It rained in torrents last

night, but cleared off this morning. Mostof the boys off on details, some on picket,

some on fatigue duty and some on campguard. T finished topping out our chimneyand we now claim to have the best chim-ney and fireplace in the regiment. It is

built entirely of stone, is nine feet highand draws well.

Dec. 14, 1863.—Rained again last night.

74 The National Tribune ScrojJ Book.

This morniug Lieut. John Stevens, witheight men, went out with some of ourbrigade teams to guard them while theygot brick, and just outside of the picketline a party of guerrillas concealed in the

woods rushed upon them and captured the

Lieutenant and all but two of his men, andthey escaped by running. None of themhad their muskets loaded. The regimentturned out in pursuit, but only caughtsight of them a couple of miles away. Inthe afternoon I laid a floor of poles to ourtent.

Dec J5, 1863.—Pleasant. I went overthe river in the morning after some morenails. I returned about 3 p. m. and foundthe regiment just falling in to cross theriver for corps review. Gens. Meade andSedgwick were present and also the notedbatch of Russians. We got back to campabout dark.

Dec. 18, 1863.—Rainy. The boys havebeen policing the ground today, and I

made some improvements on our tent andplastered up the cracks. We hear that theguerrillas burned two bridges near OatlettStation. Today the regiment was formedby company and an order from the Warliepartment read to us offeiring at least 30days' furlough and $300 beside the bountyoffered by the town and State, to all thosewho have not more than a year longer to

serve, if they will enlist for another threeyears.

Dec. 19, 1863.—Cold. I put up someshelves in our tent today. Maj. Daggettis under arrest for letting the teams gooutside the picket line the day the guer-rillas captured them.

Dec. 20, 1863.—Freezing weather. In-

spection in the morning, on which occa-

sion our new "Stars and Stripes" madetheir appearance. Our regiment has thebest accommodations in the brigade. I

fitted and hung a door to our tent so thatI could have rubber blanket to cover menights. Larrabee bad two barrels of ap-

ples come today.Dec. 21, 1863.—^Ground frozen hard.

Whitefield Yerrill called on me tonight.

He says he has enlisted for another three

years. He is gong home on a furlough andI sent my diary home with him. We see

by the papers that Lieut. John Stevens andthe boys who were taken prisoners withhim arrived in Richmond.

Dec. 22, 1863.—Cold and clear. Notrees are to be cut within 100 yards of the

regimental lines under penalty of a court-

martial. Larj-abee has sold the last of his

apples. They cost him .$14, and he bas re-

ceived $53.Dec. 23, 1863.—Snow fell last night.

Details are at work laying corduroy side-

walks in the camp.

EEENLISTED AGAIN TO SEE IT OUT.

Dec. 24, 1863.—Cold and clear. Thisafternoon I reenlisted, was examined andsworn into the U. S. service for a term ofthree years, unless sooner discharged.

Dec. 25, 1863.—Mild and pleasant. Ourbrigade presented Gen. Bartlett with agold watch and chain last Wednesday andtoday he gave a barrel of beer to eachregiment in the brigade. Some of the of-

ficers and privates present a very disor-

derly appearance.Dec. 27, 1863.—Rainy day. The Cap-

tain's tent caught fire today and burnedup the pay rolls, which he had nearlyfinished. I worked all evening helpinghim make out new ones, as they m^ust beready by 10 a. m. tomorrow. My tent's

crew propose to do the policing, get thewood and water and draw the rations if I

will do the cooking and chamber work.Dec. 28, 1863.—Rained all day. In the

afternoon the "veterans" of the 5th Me.were mustered and sworn in by Capt. Tay-lor, of Gen. Wright's staff. I think therewere about 87 of us who reenlisted. Ra-tions begin to irun short.

Dec. 29, 1863.—Warm. This morningthe boys made considerable noise about the

camp, yelling "hardtack," "pickled pork,"etc. Rations were served out during theforenoon. They had been delayed by the

storm.Dec. 30, 1863.—Warm and pleasant.

Worked all the forenoon making out payrolls at the Captain's tent and had verygood success. Did my washing in theafternoon. The fatigue details are still at

work laying corduroy about cur ca'P. )-

ground.Dec. 31, 1863.—Warm, rainy day. Mus-

tered for payment. Ordergly-Serg't Ste-vens and Larrabee were arrested for dis-

charging their guns without orders while outafter guerrillas. • They were tried by regi-

mental court-martial, Capt. Daggett pre-

siding, and were sentenced to forfeit onecent from their monthl-y pay. A generalcourt-martial would have said "Onemonth's pay" at least. About 10 p. m. anorder came for the 5th Me. to be ready to

take cars at a moment's notice. All wasquiet at the time, but immiediately the

camp was in a commotion. The cry was,"We're going bome." "Where are the vet-

erans now?" But it was some disturbanceon the picket line. I received a new diary

from home.

ANOTHER NEW YEAR'S DAY.

Jan. 1, 1864.—Clear, but cold. Duringthe evening we bad quite a gale and chim-neys were blown down and barrels werei ^ ; li


blown about the camp, but our monumentstood fast.

Jan. 2, 18G4.—Very cold and windy. The"Veterans" signed the pay roll this after-

noon and we were paid off. I received$202.31.One month and 21 days' paj $ 24.34Due for clothing allowance 2.97One month's pay in advance 13.00Premium 2.00Old bounty 100.00New bounty oo.OO

Jan. 3, 1864.—Cold. The ground is fro-

zen hard. Our furloughs came tonight andwe are making preparations to Ksiart hometomorrow.

Jan. 4, IBiM.—Very cold. Left camp at

daylight, took the train and reached Wash-ington about 2 p. m.

Jan. 7, 1864.—I arrived in Auburn at 3

p. m. and walked up to Minot, and foundmy family and all the folks well, and wewere very happy.

Jan. 12, 1864.—Pleasant. I went to

Augusta today and received the Statebounty, $100.00. I saw Henry Murphy, of

my company, who was wooin'ded at SalemChurch, Va. He was shot thru the head,

the ball entering under_the left ear and

coming out under the right eye. I also

saw Serg't Dunlap, who was wounded at

the battle of Antietam. Stayed all night

at the Arnold House, as every other hotel

was full.

Jan. 13, 1863.—Went to the State House,and Adj't-Gen. Hodge gave me a certificate

to get my town bounty of the selectmenof my town.

Jan. 15, 1864.—Received my town boun-ty of the town treasurer, $305.00.

Feb. 8, 1864.—Started back to the airmy

about daylight I went to Auburn andwhen I entered the cars I found my tent-

mates Larrabee and Taylor there, and bythe time we got a little past Portland therewere 10 of us on board.

Feb. 10, 1864.—We arrived in camp at

5 p. m. and found the boys glad to seeus. Our tents were standing and two re-

cruits were occupying mine foir the pres-

ent, so I spent the night with Cliff Jones.I gave him the pie his mother sent him,

and he said he had not eaten anything so

good since 1861.Feb. 11, 1864.—Cold. I went five

miles to visit the 17th Me. Spent a coupleof hours with Elisha Hall. Gave himthe butter, cheese, apples and shavingtools. I found him roasting a beef "sper-

rib" for his tenmates, who were comingin from picket. Was surprised to find

him so well—as I looked for him in the

hospital. Could not call on Ed. Jones, as

his regiment was too far off and I wasobliged to be back to the river before

dark. >

Feb. 12, 1864.—Warm and pleasant.Inspection by Gen. Pleasonton. Oapt.Lemont returned today.

Feb. 13, 1864.—The boys are aroundcamp in their shirt sleeves. Arms andequipments were served out to the return-ed veterans, and I was fortunate enoughto get the same gun that was given to

me at Camp Franklin over two years ago.March 3, 1864.—Warm and pleasant.

We find ourselves lame, stiff and footsoretoday.March 4, 1864.—Warm and pleasant.

Worked from 10 a. m. to 9 p. m. on thepayrolls for Capt. Lemont.March 5, 1864.—^Finished the pay rolls

during the forenoon. Took dinner withLieut. Lions. In the evening we had asing at the major's tent.

March 7, 1864.—Pleasant. I cut downtwo of my shirts and made them smaller.One of the boys of the 17th Me. who hasjust returned from home brought me apair of boots and I found a generousquantity of salt fish in them.March 8, 1864.—I went down to Capt.

Small's Tent and had a good sing. Therewere eig'ht of us, with the Major. Smallhas a violin, and plays and sings well. I

have been playing chess a good deal o£late.

March 10, 1864.—Rainy. There is anorder from headquarters that all ladiesleave the Army of the Potomac. Wehear that our corps is under marchingorders preparatory to a raid. Gen. Meadeappears to be inclined to keep up a sys-tem of raids. The Major, Dr. Manson,Capt. Small, Lieut. Lions and myself hada glorious sing at Capt. Small's tent to-

night.March 11, 1864.—Rainy. We had an-

other sing at Capt. Small's tent. Somewhisky stirring in camp during the night.

March 12, 1864.—^Cburch work. Warmand pleasant. The pioneers finisbed thechurc'h today. It is a very neat, conveni-ent building, 18 x 30 feet. It will seatabout 150 persons. They bad a prayermeeting and a sort of a dedication to-

night. Quite a number present from otherregiments. A dozen or more persons of-

fered prayer.INIaircb 13, 1864.—Windy. The chaplain

gave us a dedication sermon in our newchurch. Our singing club furnished music.March 18, 1864. We had a temperance

convention in the c'bapel this evening. Thechaplain gave a lecture, and officers andmen spoke, many of them signed thepledge ; our singing club did well.

March 10, 1864.—Some of our corpsare out making a reconnoisance, and wehear cannonading. Prayer meeting in theevening, and after it we had a good sing.

Papered our tent, and Larrabee put up an-other shelf. We now have a good quar-

The Xiitlonal Tiihime Scrap lioolx

toi-s ; clear, nice, com-enient and well fur-nished for our means and circumstances.March 20, ISCU.—Brig^it day but windy.

Brig'ade inspection under Ool. Edwards.We marched in review, after which theheld officers and staff rode through ourcamp accompanied by two ladies.

March 21. 1864.—Cold and cloudy. Oapr.Lamont organized a schoU for non-com-missioned officers. The batteries of ourdivision are drawn up in line of battledown bv Walker's Bridge,March 22, 1864.—A freezing night. I

spent most the day learning my militarylesson, Avhich I recited about supper time.March 23, 1864.—The snow is six inches

deep, I signed the pay roll and received|64.30. Temperance meeting in the even-ing. Our choir sang a number of pieces.

Mairch 24, 1864.—Snow melting fast.

Ordei-s for inspection by Gen. Grant. Wehad a spelling school in the Ohapel in

the afternoon.March 25, 1864.—Rained hard last

night. Our three or four sick soldierswere sent to Washington today. Everyone of our company's last five recruits areon a drunk.March 28, 1864.—Pleasant. I found

some flowers in bloom today, and the frogsare beginning to grit their teeth.

March 29, 1864.—Rained hard most all

day. AVe had a spelling school at theChapel again today and a very pleasanttime,March 30, 1864.-^01eared off mild and

bright this morning. We have a gireat

freshet, the rivers are over their banksand the meadows flooded. The EngineerCorps diad an uncoimfortable time last

night. They were up most all last nightsecuring bridges. During the night abridge at Mud Run was cairrled downstream, and coming in contact with ourpontoon bridge broke it so that each partswung around against the banks. The En-gineers secured the boats and most of thetimber. Walker's bridge below was sweptaway.

April 4, 1864.—It has been snowing andraining all day. We organized a MasonicLodge in the Chapel today. All the Ma-sons in our regiment w^ho were in camp

—

about 25—were present.April 7, 1864.—A most beautiful morn-

ing, and the crows are very noisy. Sometime last night a pack of hounds passedthrough the woods near our camp, and, to

n fugitive slave in the canebrake, their

deep-toned baying would be anything butmusical.

April 8, 1864.—Beautiful day. Wehave orders for all surplus baggage to besent to the rear. Brigade drill, hut the

color guard did not have to go out, so T

went witli D. N. Merrill to the Rappa-hannock River, and was surj^rised to find

it so nealr. The^re w^re earth woirksthrown up for a long distance on thesouth side. We found the remains of twomen whose bones were bleaching in thevrind, rain and sun. The skulls had beentaken away. It appeared by the bluepants and blouse nearby that they wereFederal soldiers, and they probably fell

at the time Pope was falling back afterthe battle of Cedar Mountain. Merrillsays he is going to take a shovel, overthere and bury the bones some day, butaccording to what tllie boys say he wouldfind more of that kind of work a little

fartheir up than he would likely accom-plish alone.

April 9, 1864.—Rained hard all day.We had a jNIasonic meeting and a sing in

the afternoon. Sent diary home. Mytent creAv had the worst ot' it today, forthey have been out getting Avood and waterancl have been drenched through, while I

have been getting the meals. Our tentsare so much better than they were last

AVinter. We aire neither drowned out norsmoked out. The poor citizens up in

IMaine, how -I pity them ; they cannotthink what a nice house we have here.They have lots and lots of buildings, to])e sure, but they don't know how to enjoythem ; while we. poor, miserable v^Tetches.are tickled half to death if we find our-selves a little ha'ppv,

April 12, 1864.—Pleasant. We packedup our overcoats and sent them in today.The last of the officers' wives left camptoday.

April 14, 1864.^—The company went ouctarget shooting this morning. Our am-munition has been in the cartridge boxesso long that it has beco'me poor, and woAvere ordered to use it in this way. Inthe afternpon I went to a plantation nearhere and looked it over.

April 17, 1864.—Pleasant. In the fore-

noon Cliff Jones and I went over to theRappahannock River and back acroiss thebattle ground. We found the remains ofmany dead that had never been buried.

The skulls had all been carried away. Inthe evening Rev. Dyenra preached a

very interesting di.scourse in our Chapel.

A REVIEW EY GEN. GRANT.

April 18, 1864.—Warm day. Our Corr.i

(6th) was reviewed by Gen. Grant. Ourbrigade had to go four miles to reachthe review ground. Our Corps is now quite

large, but we fear it is not of so goodmaterial a^s it was before a division of

the 3d Coirps ioined it.

April 20, 1864.—Cold. I was pick, andexcused from duty yesterday. Early in

tlie morninc: we received orders to preparefor inspection of quarters. We policed'

the grounds wn'th extra care, put ouir tents.

The National Trlhune Scrap Hook'. i i

in fine order and waited all day, but noinspector came near.

April 22, 18G4.—Pleasant. Skirmishdrill in the forenoon, but the colors did

not go out. Sergt. Bracket was struck onthe head bv a horseshoe, which crackedhis skull, and relieves him froim threemonths of duty.

April 24, 1864.—Warm. I went withRobinson, Taylor and Harmon over to the

battlefield. Some of the skeletons "werelying in the midst of a (beautiful bed of

wild fiowers. On the way back we cameacross a negro boy about three years ola

that was the woi-st specimen of a humanbeing I ever saw. In the evening we haddivine services in the Chapel. K. Rev.Prentiss, of New York, p-reached, andseemed very much affected in his discourse.

He reminded us of the thousands of pray-ers that would be offered up in our belhalf

when we go forth to battle. I wonderwhat will become of an equal numberthat will be offered against us.

i

BURYING THE UNKNOWN DEAD.

April 26, 1864.^Pleasant. The cauva.s

was taken from the roof of the 'Chapel

tonight. Robinson and I went down to

the ,river and buried the human boneslying around there. We buried nine hu-man skeltous, and knew by the blue

clothes lying around that they were ourmen. There was part of a German Tes-tament near one of them. We buriedthem near the foot of a large white oaktree, and put a stone at the end of thegrave and on it put a large fa-agment of

a shell which we picked up near one of

them—i:)ossibly the same shell that fur-

nished a tenant for the grave. Even While

we were burying them among the whiteflowers, we could hear theroll of a drumand the cracking of muskets, as guardmount and rifle practice was going onsomewhere near. We felt sad, and won-dered who would toe burying our bonesin a little while longer.

April 27, 1864.—I did my washing andgot everything in readiness for mardhing.We had brigade drill in the afternoon. Wecharged on imaginary rifle pit«, movingover a distance of 900 yairds in 7 1-2 min-utes, the last 300 yards up a rise and at

a run. It was the liardest drill I havetaken part in for some time.

April 29, 1864.—Pleasant day. Inspec-

tion by Gen. Wright, and we were compli-

mented for keeping our tent in such goodorder.May 1, 1864.—Rained last m^\\t. The

3d Coirps moved out today. A long list

of orders were read, to take effect whenwe move.May 2, 1864.—We had a hurricane,

with heavy rain, thunder and lightning

toward night. We moved at 7 a. m. justacross Hazle River, and went into camp.As the other corns moved yesterday, I

suppose it was not considered safe for usto iremain on that side of the river.

May 3, 1864.—Very cold day. Themountains were covered with snow thismorning. An order was read that all sol-

diers refusing to do duty on account oftheir term of enlistment having expiredshall be shot without trial. We receivedorders to move tomoirrow at 4 a. m. by wayof Brandy Station and Stevensburg.May 4, 1864.—^Pleasant. We started

on our march at 4 a. m., and crossed thf,

Rapidan at Germania Ford, about 2 p. m.After halting an hour we moved on twomiles and went into camp. I could havegone but a short distance further as myfeet are blistered and my head feels badly.

IN A FIGHTING COUNTRY.

May 5, 1864.—Clear and warm. Wemoved at 6 a. m., keeping between thelebel line and the plank road, on whichwere our teams. Our skirmishers foundthe rebel line of pickets soon after westarted, and have been busy with themall day. About 1 p. m. we came to a haltand lay in the third line of battle for atime, and then in the second line, in theedge of some woods. There was lieavyskirmishing till after dark, and the Colo-nel of the 121st N. Y. and two privateswere, killed. There are a few dead rebslying around here. At dusk was the heav-iest volley of musketry I ever heard. Ourwounded were calling for help all night,but we could not get them, and severalwere wounded in trying to doi so. Thireeof our company were wounded, amongthem Lieut. Hutchins, w4io was lyingclose to me at the time.May 6, 1864.—Hot day. We turned

out at daylight. The rebs co'mmenced theattack on our rig*ht. We moved a fewrods to relieve the front line of battle.We threw off our knapsacks, expectingevery moment to go forward on a chairge.There was heavv fighting on our right,

and our boys drove the rebs back. Therebs shelled our hospitals today. At 9a. m. it was a little more quiet, but thebattle had been raging furiously all themorning, and during the^ day the s'hairp-

shooters have been practicing on us withtheir rifles. Between sunset and darkthere was a heavy volley of musketiy ac-companied by an unearthly yell. At Sp. m. we Avere ordered to move by theleft flank. We marched two or threemiles and camped in a vory thick pieceof scrub oak.May 7, 1864.—Wann. We were aroused

early by flrinp- between our picket lineand the rebs. The rebs were drawn within


range of our batteries, wliic"!! gave thema double dose of grape and cauister. Aithis alarm we immediately formed in liu-

of battle, and moved to a strong pofsitionwith batteries well posted.May 8, 1804.—We passed through Ohan-

cellorsville about 7 a. m., where we founuour wagon trains. We passed part ofBurnside's Corps, and saw two of hisnegro regiments. The ambulance trainis full of badly wounded, and many whohave severe wounds have to walk.May 9, 18(34.—We turned out at day-

light. The sharpshooters are busy when-ever an officer shows himself in an ex-posed position. Gen. Sedgwick was killed

this morning, and Gen, Wright now com-mands our Corps (6th). One of our boyswas shot through the head just in front ofme. Our pickets could not get in withoutbeing picked off by the rebel sharpshoot-ers. About 8 a. m. we fell in and startedback. We moved down to the extremeleft and began to throw up breastworks.About noon the rebs made an attack onour rig'ht.

SOMETHING EARNEST IN THE FIGHTINGLINE.

May 10, 1864.—About 4 p. m. we wertordered to fall in without knapsacks orhaversacks, and moved to the left andfront, to charp-e enemy's line of breast-works with abattis in front. We werein the edge of a wood of scattered pinesand an open field in front of us. We layclose to the ground waiting for orders\Vhile the rebs were sending in scatteringshots, but an unusual proportion of themtook effect. Col, Upton who commandedthe brigade, now addressed us, showingus how the works lay, giving us particularsand endeavored to encourage us by sayingthat a division was to dharge the rebel

flank and that we were to have a heavysupport at our rear. His remarks endedwith "Forward, 5th Maine, and God helpyou." The last sentence had an ominousring in my ears. On we went at a double-quick, receiving terrible punishment fromthe rebels on our left, to the works wewere charging on. I had tihe flag, andwas slightly in advance of the line theleft of which was crowding hard on thecenter, for reason of the flanking fire.

The rebs behind the breastworks at the

left, having nothing to trouble them, couldrake us at their pleasure. We forced ourway through the line of abattis, and bythe time we reached the breastworks ourregiment had obliqued more than half its

lengtli to the right. Just to the d^ht of

where the colors passed through the rebel

line there Avas a batterv of two pieces.

Here was a depression in the v.^orks, andthe rifle pits did not extend along, but

were continued beyond the battery. AsI passed through here with the flag, I

saw a full line of rebels lying behind theworks. I quickly thought "The Flag is

surely gone now, and I will soon see Rich-mond." At the same time our boys beganfiring into them and yelling "Get to therear, you ! Get to therear!" It was an anxious moment to meto know which "rear" they would go to

—

theirown or ours. Their rifles wereempty and they knew ours were loaded,and that makes a vast difference when it

comes to a pinch. They most beautifullyleaped their works, and went to our irear,

where they were taken care of. The rebelline on the flank not being able to readilydistinguish much through the smokethought It was. the Yanks being drivenback, so poured lead into their own menas fast as they could load and fire.

During the conflict at the battery, Corp.Thu,rlow shot one gunner and ran his bay-onet through another, when the Oaptainof the battery shot him through the headwith his pistol. A part of the rebelflanking line had gradually withdrawninto the woods, and it appeared that afterthey got out of sight they double quickedaround to our front, where they concen-trated with those who had falkn back,charged, and retook their battery anddrove our line back at that point. Aboutthis time an order came from Col. Ed-wards for the colors to report to him atthe battery, but before I could get therethe rebs had retaken it and the Coloneland a portion of the line were skedaddlingto the rear, where I soon after joinedthem. I was the only man left in the 5thMaine Color Guard who went into thebattle, not wounded. Morris Bumpus, thecolor sergeant, w^as shot through bothankles and in the side, and died of hiswounds. As the rebs were on both flanksof our regiment, of course the rest o£them soon bad to fall back, and it wasbut a small portion of our regiment thatreturned uuwounded to our brenstworks,w*here we had left our knapsacks, etc. I

do not know how the rest of our brigadefared, as the lay of the land was sucli

that I could see but a short distance to

our right. This charge cost our regiment75 per cent of its men in killed, woundedand missing. Three men out of evervfour went down. Most of them who fell

were wounded in the left side. A sborttime before we made the charge a youngforeigner who spoke Englisih well, cameto our regiment and explained w^hy he wasabsent from his command. He said hehad just returned to the line, and hadnot yet been able to find his regiment,and as an engagement was coming on hedesired to remaiin and go into^ action withns, and on his departure receive a certifi-

The National T'l'ihune Scra]> Book. TO

catc to show his officers, so they wouldknow he had not been shirking liis duty.The Colonel told him that if he went intoaction and did his duty as a good soldierhe should receive a certificate to that ef-

fect. After we had made the charge—

•

and while lying at the breastworks in thethick of tihe fight, I found this little fellowat my elbow praying to the "Good Lord"with great earnestness, and begging fora word af encouragement from the men oneither side of him ; with tears runningdown his cheeks and fighting with thegreatest energy. He would brush awaythe tears, cover his man and bang o^with his gun with a "Dear, good Lord, dobe on our side," chuck in another cart-ridge, begging someone to assure him thatthe "Dear Lord" would not let any bullethit him. On receiving orders to reportto the Golonel with the flag, I left thelittle fellow praying and chucking in thebullets. He may have been too fright-ened to run, but he was not too frightenedto fig'ht. As he never after reported to

our regiment, I suppose a rebel bulletfound him. If there is any virtue in do-ing one's duty under trying circumstancesit seems to me he ought to have escaped.May 12, 1864.—Both the artillery and

infantry had everything packed up lastnight ready to move at short notice. It

looked as if we were to leave during thenight, and the query was whether wewere going to fall back to Alexandria orgo up on our right, mass our forces andtry the rebs again in that place, for in thebattle of Tuesday we had been hard pressedall along the lines. The night was some-what rainy. We were turned out beforedaylight and marched about a mile to thGright and soon marched back again. Can-nonading on both sides. We were in-

formed that the 2nd Corps had made ii

successful charge on our left, and wereto follow it up. This charge was to theleft of the place where we charged last

Tuesday. An assault was made all alongthe lines. We started at a quick pace,and went about a half a mile to wherewe found the 2nd Corps, hotly engagedwith the enemy at a strong line of breast-works. Our side held a portion of

_the

works, but had been pushed to the right,

A portion of our corps were ordered to

charge. We moved forward at a double-quick through brush and bushes under ashower of bullets. In passing throughthe brush Sergt. Croswell had furled the"Stars and Stripes," and had not yet un-furled it, when Col. Edwards, who wason foot, called to him to unfurl the flag

and let him have it. The Colonel wavedit and carried it a few rods, when Ste-

vens said, "Colonel, you better let some-one else take that flag, or they will surelydrop you." This remark seemed to bring

the Colonel to a realizing sense of hisdanger, and he called for the color ser-geant, but as I was nearer to him thanany other member of the color guard, I

took the flag and carried both unfurledflags nearly to the breastworks beforethe color sergeant came up with us. Wegained the works and planted our colorson them, and a bullet zipped through minejust as I had it firmly erected. We weresoon flanked on the right, and a portionof our regiment, which was on the rightof the charging line, was swun^ aroundnearly at right angles with the rebelbreastworks and lay in the mud, for it

had been raining an hour or more. Wowere lying low, and yet much exposed tothe rebel bullets, but I was not thenaware of how many men we were losing.

We stuck our flags in the ground, but themud was so soft and it was raining sohard that I could not make mine standwithout holding it by the staff. Whilehere *I was talking to Shedd, who way ly-

ing between the flags, when he was struckin the face by a spent bail, which prob-ably first struck a stone or tree ; it onlymade a slight wound, but bled freely. Hepicked the bullet up and showed it to me.Now artillerymen brought a couple of

brass howitzers and placed them at theright, and a little in front of our colors.

The brigade commander ordered them to

double shot the guns with grape and can-ister or to use one-second shell. I sawthe captain of the battery shot in thebreast while sighting one of the guns.Some of our men, including Col. Edwards,carried ammunition for them. For a fewminutes the rebel fire slackened, for ahalf peck of bullets to each double shot-ted gun made it uncomfortable for them.Once the order was given to depress theguns and fire low. The gun nearest mowas swung around a little, when a poorfellow in front sang out "Don't point thatgun this way, I can look rig^ht into themuzzle of it." He was asked if he couldnot crawl inside of the lines, but he said"No, my legs are broken, and I can'tmove." Some of the boys immediatelystepped forward and took him in. I sawa color bearer at the left fall and craw^loff to the rear. The rebs were now par-tially under cover and hidden by brush,and their fire grew hotter, which of course,had the opposite effect on ours. "Ping"came the bullets, and "Zip" they torethrough the colors. The staff of the battleflag was splintered, and I dreaded thc^

time when I should have to rise up andtake my flag off the field, for I expectedthe rebs would be watching for that moveand be ready for it, but when the ordercame we got the colors off safely. Wehalted a few rods to the rear behind a.

slight elevation whidi offered some pro-

8C The National Tiihune Scrap Booh.

lection from the rebel bullets. A fewminutes after a battery passed us withthe horses ou the run and one of themdragging in the harness. In about a halfhour we went back to the breastworksagain with our right resting nearly whereour left did before we fell back. Wepassed near the ground where we hadbeen fighting, and I was surprised to

see so many dead lying there. Little didI think what we s'hould see before night.

Sights not suitable to relate, sights thatsome times start tears even on the battleground. • We found that the rebs had re-

gained the breastworks, and now the twocontending lines lay close up under oneline of breastworks, and for a time noone could show his head on either side,

but would reach up and point the muzzleof his musket down on the opposite side

and fire. Hour after hour passed, a con-tinual fire being kept up except on twooccasioiL^, when the rebs hoisted a whit'*

handkerchief or paper, and tlien we. whowere directly in front ceased firing to lei

them come in, and perhaps all directly in

front of us would have tlirown down theiv

arms and come in had not our men onthe right and left concentrated their fire

on them, thinking the rebs were chargingon us, and so stopped them. By this timeit had ceased raining and the mud wasthree or four inches deep anywhere withinas many rods of the works. At one timeI counted 24 stands of colors at this

point of contention. Battle, Division, Bri-

gade, Regimental and State flags were all

mixed promiscuously. Although the bul-

lets showed that there were plenty of reb-

els, we saw very few of their flags. _Atthis point we seemed much of the timeto have no organization. Not only werecompanies mixed together, but regimentsand brigades. We would sometimes lose

ground little by little : we were up to theworks several times during tlie day. burwl-eu the rebs would concentrate their

fire on us we would gTadv.ally lose groundtill we would be, perhaps three or fourrods from the works, then we would press

forward and gain them again. When ourregiment was relieved it was about fourrods from the works, but all were in theline of battle and every man seemed to

be doing his best. Tlie men were w^et andcovered with mud, and the hours werelong, but the fighting was stubborn. Some-times we feared our ammunition wouldrun .short, but before it was gone wewould receive a new supply. Directly in

front of the hea\nest part of our line anda little to the left of the "Bloody Angle"stood an oak tree, about a foot in diam-eter, and several rods from the breasr-

v.'orks, which was so nearly cut off bvFederal bullets during the dav that it fell

over. About the middle of the afternoon

our brigade was relieved by other troopsand we fell back about 25 rods and layas a reserve till dark, dui'ing which timethree of our boys were wounded. The bul-lets whistled all night, as the fighting atthat contested point was kept up till .3

a. m., when the rebs at this point fell

back and moved to their right. Afterdark we moved back a little farther andlay down among the dead bodies of rebswho had fallen in the fight of last Tues-daj^ and still lay vmburied. We were norallowed fire or light, and it was too darkto clearly see the condition of things till

morning, but the air was impure to saythe least.

AFTER THE SLAUGUTEIi.

May 13, 1864.—About 4 a. m. woturned out, made fires, boiled coffee anddried our clothes. The rebs have fallenback. Some of the boys of our companywent out to the deserted breastworks, andfound the body of our Captain, Lemont,and buried it. The body was riddled withbullets, and his watch had been smashedby a musket ball. As we had orders to

be ready to march immediately. I couMnot get leave to go and look at the slaugh-ter. There is a detail out burying ourdead. The boys report that in someplaces there were many bodies piled oneon another. We lay here till about 10p. m., when we fell back a little and laydown for the night after drawing threedays' rations.May 14. 1864.—x\t daylight we^ marched

to the left, and had some skirmishing bythe way. Our brigade took position on ahill separated from the rest of our divi-

sion by a creek. The rebs threw up somebreastworks and we had a skirmish withthem in the afternoon.May 15, 1864.—We marched back about

a mile to a hill that the 3d Division of

our Corps captured last night. Here wethrew up some breastworks. Towardnight our regiment went out on the skir-

mish line. This makes 11 consecutivedays that we have been under fire. Senta letter home to my wife to let her knowthat she is not a widow.May 16. 1864.—All was quiet till about

4 p. m., when our side b.egan shelling therebs, and we could see them striking tents

and hustling tlieir wagon train to a placeof safety. We are Iving near a little

stream which we suppose to be the NorthAnna. Our regiment was relieved aboutnoon. Col. Upton makes bis appearancewith a star on his .shoulders. He has hadcommand of the brigade for some time,

but now he is a sure enough BrigadierGeneral. He complimented us highly for

our behavior in this campaign, saying.

"No brigade has done better—and perhaps

The National Tribune Scraj) Book. 81

none so well." It is the truth, for wehave been pushed to the front continually,both day and night. Our color guardhave all been killed or wounded, but Cros-well and me, and Croswell was not in thebattle of May 10.

May 17, 1864.—'Warm and pleasant.We are now about east of SpottsylvaniaC. H. At dark we filled our canteensand prepared for a night's sleep, and aboutsunrise we found ourselves in the sameplace we were in two or three daj's ago.It was a tedioas march for only six orseven miles.May 18. 1864.—About sunrise vas we

came up to our old rifle pits the rebsopened a couple of batteries on us, withno damage. It appears that our generalsintended to draw Lee's force out, but heknew better. He has a good position,

and if we wish to fight we must go to

him. There was some skirmishing, but noregular engagement. The air is very badhere on account of the dead bodies that re-

main unburied. About 1 p. m. we startedback by a shorter route, and at 4 wereached the place we left last night, androok position in the rifle pits, with a

chance to make coffee. I am very muchused up.May 19, 1864.—We turned out before

dajiight. I received papers and letters

from home. We marched a mile or mareand threw up breastworks, the best wehave had, in a clean place. In the fore-

noon I had a chance to send my diaryhome by a citizen who was visiting thearmy. It was Warren T. Webster, Prin-cipal of the Auburn Academy. We arenow lying on the pike leading to Spott-sylvania C. H., about a mile away. Weheard cannonading toward night, and wewere ordered to pack up : then all wasquiet, and we were ordered to pitch tents

again. Late in the evening we heard vol-

leys of musketry, and we were ordered to

fall in immediately. At 11 p. m. we movedback to the scene of conflict, but whenwe reached there the enemy had been re-

pulsed, and about 400 prisoners weremarched past us.

:May 20. 1864.—Pleasant day. but lasc

night was cold. We marched last night

till about 1 o'clock, and then lay down till

daylight, when we moved forward to th;.'

extreme right flank and began to intrench

ourselves. We had a quiet day, and weniearlv to bed.

:May 22, 1864.—Early in the morningwe heard a smart cannonading on our left.

We packed up and moved back to wherewe started from night before last. Wehalted about noon and made coffee. Ourtroops appear to be moving off to the

right, and I understand we are going

toward Bowling Green. Three batteries

of heavy artillery, 1,700 men. were added

to our brigade today. Our regiment novv-numbers 120 enlisted men. Just as wewere about to cross the river to relievethe 1st Division, we saw the rebs driv-ing in our skii-mish line on the right, andthought they were flanking our boys ingood shape, but a Maryland brigade, con-cealed on our right, came down on theirflank, and drove them back much fasterthan they came up.

NIGHT MARCHES A2>:D ANXIOUS DAYS.f

May 23, 1864.—We marched all nightA little after sunrise we halted on thetop of a high ridge and made our coffee.The rebs do not molest, but only followand watch us. The 5th Maine and the95th N. Y. are the rear guard. I neve^stood hard marches as well as now. Menfall out of the ranks and die of exhaus-tion or sunstroke. While I peg right along.May 24, 1864.—A very hot day. We

started early in the morning, marchedthree miles, crossed the North Anna Riverand stacked arms. The bluffs are verysteep. About 2 p. m. our regiment wentout on picket. This is a nice country.This plantation belongs to Charles Pon-tain, who left yesterday. There are manybooks lying about the yard, mostly Latin.He had a valuable library. We can hearcannonading on our right, with musketryand the whistling of shells, and we expectan engagement tonight, but this is toostrong a position to be inviting. The colorguard had a good night's sleep last night.The heavy artillerymen are lying in therifle pits here today. During the daythey have had several men killed andwounded. It is amusing to hear themtalk, and we can now see how much weused to make of what we now considersmall affairs.

May 25, 1864.—About 8 a. m. our Di-vision moved out to the right and tore upseveral miles of the Va. Cent. R. R Ourregiment went on picket. The boys ransackdwellings here regardless of occupants,and bring off poultry, wine, clothing, jew-elry, etc. It is surprising how quick amile of railroad can be turned over, ties

and rails all go together. The ties

culverts are usually burned and thebent. About .3 p. m. we marcheda couple of miles, with orders for

Corps to cross the South Anna.May 26, 1864.—Showers. Strawberries

are ripe and plentiful. Our Divisionmoved back five miles, crossed the NorthAnna and halted near Chesterville, orChester Station, about noon. In the aft-

ernoon we dried our tents and blankets.

We started at darkgood road at a quickered by flankers andalrv. We saw dead

andrails

backour

and marched on apace, our right cov-a vanguard of cav-hoi*ses all along the


\x3iy. We had orders to move siler.tly audquickly, as we were near a portion ofLee's main army. At sunset we heard abattle raging in the direction we camefrom this morning.May 27, 1864.—Hot day. We 'halted

two hours for breakfast at 5 a. m., hav-ing marched 20 miles during the nig'ht.

About noon we crossed the Pamunky Riv-er, at Patterson's Fork, and found our-

selves upon the Peninsula. Here we haltedWater is good and handy. Last nightwhile on the march we suffered some for

water, as we did not cross a stream or rill

for about 25 miles. The boys are ransack-ing the houses around here without mercy,leaving the women and children in tears.

I lost my rubber (blanket last nig-iht; it

was the one I picked up the day we wereshelled away from our knapsacks, nearGaines' Hill, and I have carried it nearly

two years. Cherries are ripe and_ clover

in blossom. Corn is eight inc'hes 'high.

May 28, 1864.—Went down to Patter-

son's Ford and had a good swim andwashed my clothes. In the afternoon womarched a few miles and went into camp.The boys find plentv of strawberries.

May '29, 1864.—Cool day. We started

about 9 a. m., and marched toward Han-over C. H., but made slow progress, as wehad to skirmisih our way the whole dis-

tance. There were none of our regimenr,

wounded. We reacTied Hanover C. H.about 4 p. m., halted till dark, and then

fooled around till a late hour to get into

line of battle. We are destroying the Va.

Cent. R. R. Our rations are all gone,

and all we get is what we can find at the

houses we pass, and we take everything

May 30. 1864.—Pleasant. About 1^ p.

m. we moved forward on the Mechanics-ville road, skirmishing by the way. Wecame to a very disagreeable swamp at the

edge of Which we formed in line of battle,

the 5th Maine being deployed as skirmish-

ers. We went through the swamp andcamped on the other side. No fires al-

lowed. We are now aboj^it 15 miles fromRichmond, and five from Mechanicsville.

RICHMOND SO NEAR AND YET SO FAR.

May 31, 1864.—Pleassnt. Skirmishing

on the picket line and occasional shelling

on both sides during the day. Towardnight T went out after water and stopped

to pick c-lierries, but was driven off by

sliarpshooters firing at me. A miserable

swamp lies between us and the rebs, ana

another in our rear, which we crossed

last night.. , ^ -,

.Tune 1, 1864.—^Very hot day. About 1

o'clock last night, while Ave were working

on the breastworks, we received orders

to pack up and move. We marched back

across the swamp and took the road lead-ing to Cold Harbor, which we reachedafter a forced mardh of eight or 10 miles.AVe had continual skirmishing on the way.June 2, 1864.—Warm day. We fell in

last night about 1 a. m., moved silently ashort distance and spent the remainder ofthe night throwing up breastworks. Atdaylight the skirmishing became brisk. Welay behind the breastwoirks all day thebullets flying over us pretty freely. Thesharpshooters have a good range of thelittle ridge on our left.

June 3, 1864.—Rained all night and to-

day. At daylight the rebs opened an at-

tack, and we were ordered forward. Welay in front of the swamp, while at ourright a number of lines went forward, butwe don't appear to gain much ground.About 10 a. m. the rebs pressed us hardin front of our positions, hut afterwardretired and we moved up to some rifle pits

which they had fallen back from. TheColonel here ordered me back with onestand of colors, to the works where we lay

last night. Lieut. Parody and two pri-

vates were wounded, and one privatekilled in our regiment today.June 4, 1864.—Pleasant. Our regiment

was relieved from the front line of battleafter dark, and we took a position in therear line. The Jersey regiment went hometoday. Received a letter from home.June 5, 1864.—Very warm. A contin-

ual popping of musketry, with an occa-sional big gun all day. Rebel bullets domore execution in the rear line than in

front. A good many of our brigade havebeen hurt today. A single bullet hit fourof the boys in our regiment, sending twoto the hospital. One of the "Heavies" hadhis hand shot to pieces. The night was verydark, all was quiet, and not a shot washeard. Fires were put out and most of

the boys had turned in, thinking therewould i)e no alarm tonight, but suddenly.-

about 10 o'clock, the rebs opened directly

in front with a heavy volley of musketry,which rolled off down to our left. Ourboys replied, pouring in a steady showerof lead, the artillery opened on both sides,

and for a half hour or more the roar wasdeafening, with shot and shell flying overand among us. All quieted at last andremained so during the rest of the night.

June 6, 1864.—^Very hot day. Orderedout at daybreak and stood under arm<^

waiting an" attack. Today just as one of

the "Heavies" came out of his tent withcanteens to go for water, a ball struckand instantly killed him. Late in the aft-

ernoon our commander sent a flag of truce

which was met bv one from the rebs. TWohours spent in burving the dead and get-

tin<r the wounded off the field. T went upto one of our forts to get a view of the

country and w^as surprised to see so many


earth works. The rebs have two or threelines of strong earthworks with abattis

in front.June 7, 1864.—No firing till 8 a. m.

The rebs and our boyes were moving aboutwitTiin a few rods of each other at workon the fortifications, and exchaging pa-pers and other civilities. There was noflag of truce, but only a voluntary goodwill. Suddenly a rebel battery threw sev-

eral shells, and both parties were quickly

under cover. Our boys are continuallymaking little "bomb-proofs" as they call

them, for protection from the minie balls

which are constantly zipping among us.

June 8, 1864.—No firing in front of

our brigade till noon, when a company of

sharpshooters went down on our left. Ourboys were walking about exposing them-selves and the rebs were doing the samewhen one of the Joihnnies shouted "Lie

low, Yanks, we iiave orders to lire!" Bothparties made themselves invisble and the

bullets began to whiz. Our regiment wasrelieved just after dark by the 121st N. Y.,

and we took our place at the rear line of

breastworks. The rebs kept throwingsolid shot or shell every half hour all nig;ht

to worrk our pioneers and fatigue parties

while at work on forts and breastworks.

During the day our sharpshooters havecommand of that gun. Received letters

from home.June 10, 1864.—The artillery had a

skirmish in the afternoon. Yesterdaywhile I was sitting in my tent I wasstruck on my arm by a spent ball whichglanced from a tree, and today while sit-

ting under a tree reading a list of ourkilled and wounded a shell burst nearbyand one of the pieces struck the groundwithin a foot of me. One of our boysbad just come out of his tent to light his

pipe, when a ball struck him in the headkilling him instantly. Received letter

from home.June 11, 1864.—Picket firing right ana

left, but in front in was mostly quiet till

one of our boys, J. Ham, went down to

the front, and while tbere saw a "Johnnie"standing on their breastworks looking at

him. Ham raised his rifle and s'hot him.

After that everybody kept out of sight._

I

am about used up with a nervous sick

June 12, 1864.-The rebel mortars at

wo,rk on us this morning. By 10 o'clock

they had dropped five or six 12-pound mor-

tar shells rigbt in among us on a piece

of ground about five rods square, but only

two of them exploded. "We don't wani;

them all, Joihnnie Gray : please distribute

them along the line a little more evenly,"

was called out. Tlie dead bodies aroundhere in some places are sticking their

skulls and feet out of their graves. About9 p. m. we fell in and marched toward

Oharles City C. H. ; tramped all night,but only went about five or six miles.June 13, 1864.—Our Corps crossed the

Cbickahominy six miles from Charles City,about

_sunset, and went into camp. Aii

very tired. We crossed the river at Jones'sFord, which is bridged by only four or fivii

pontoons. This is a very pretty place. It

is reported that- Whitefield Verrill andCharlie Davis have been killed.

June 14, 1864.—Slept pretty well lastnight, but my clothes were so wet fromperspiration that it made me lay rathercold. Received some daily paper's today,and according to them the South is trem-bling, and the North are all fools. March-ed four or five miles in the morning andwent into camp two miles from the JamesRiver, near Charles City C. H. We areunder cover of our gunboats now.June 15, 1864.—Moved down the river

about a mile, in the morning, and ordereato stack arms and intrench ourselves. 1

visited a negro hut, where I found an old

man, a smart looking woman and a gaywench about 16, all as black as midnight.The old man was quite infirm, one of his

legs was much swollen from a snake biting

his toe. I asked if they had any milk oreggs to sell for a good price in Federalmoney, but they had nothing. Theybrought me a dish of bacon soup, which i

looked at, tasted, and left, after payingthem. Soon after, some of our boys camefrom there with their canteens full of

milk, w^hich they found under the bed.

So the nigs lost their milk and got no pay.We are now about 10 miles below Har-Tison's Landing.

June 16, 1864.—Cool day. Soon after

daylig'ht we marched toward the river,

about a mile, formed in line of battle,^ andentrenched ourselves. We are within a

half mile of the river, and can see mastsof transorts moving past. At 5 p. m. wefell in and marched several miles up the

river to wbere our forces were going onboard transports. We lay down till a

little past midnight, when we were or-

dered to fall in. We left Burnside's negrotroops in the breastworks. We passer!

close to a piece of wood enclosed by a

brick wall, inside of which was a verylarge, russet-looking log, which I am told

was tlie tree under which Pocahontas savedCant. John Smith.

.Tune 17, 1864.—I am a thousand years

old today. No knowing bow old I shall

be one year from this time. About 12last night we fell in and an hour later

were snugly stowed in one of the trans-

ports and steaming up the river. At sun-rise we landed at Bermuda Hundred,calling on our w^ay at City Point to take

on an officer. We came about 24 miles upthe river, halted a short time after land-

ing, marched about five miles and then

81 The Xaf'toncd Tribune Scrap Book.

rested till 1 p. m. We 'here find strong^yorks, with sand^bags on top, forming loopholes. There is a very high look-ont, in

which our telegraph flags are at work.There are six corps here. At 1 p. m. wemoved farther np the river, and now lie

between the James and Appomattox, aboursix or seven miles from Petersburg, whereour army had a fight yelsterday, and tookthe rebels' outer line of works. We metambulances full of wounded.June 18, 1864.—At 1 o'clock last nigît

we were ordered out under light marchingorders, and soon found ourselves facing

the enemy's works. After a while we wereordered back in the rear of our earthworksWhere we lay under arms till sunrise,

when we returned to camp.June 19, 1864.—^We were called up at

3 a. m. and marched about sunrise ; crossed

the Appomattox on pontoon bridges andmardhed through a wide swamp, over

which our boys had built a good corduroyroad. We found a strong fort, the best

one I have seen, one of Burnside's engi-

neering. I think we marched about sevenmiles, in a round about way, and halted

at 10 a. m. within two miles of Peters-

burg. We can plainly see its church spires.

We hear that our forces have destroyed

the railroad from Petersburg to Richmond.Our army took three forts here yesterday

and captured 21 guns. Our negroes took

them by charging and found the rebs aboutout of ammunition. We had divine serv-

ices at sunset the first since we crossed

the Rapidan.June 20, 1864.—Plot day. Our regi-

ment worked all last night, digging riflo

pits. For want of tools some of the boysworked with their bayonets and tin plates.

Today the rebs opened some batteries onus and there is a continual popping onthe picket line. We could see the puffs

of smoke, and would drop down out oi

sight before the bullets could readh us.

Peter Duffie, one of the sharpshooters of

our regiment, had both ankles smasliea

by a shell while on picket today. I hear

that Elisha PTall is in Philadelphia, ver\

badly wounded, having lost a portion of

his lower jaw.June 21, 1864.—Very warm. The reb-

els have been sending us shells all day.

As I was cooking my dinner a shell cameclose to my head, and turning to see it

strike I saw a cloud of dust and a mangoing up in the air, and four others ly-

ing injured, two of them fatally. Theywere playing cards at the time. Moral

—

Don't play cards. Received letter fromhome. At dnrk we commenced our night's

march to the left.

MORE NIGHT MARCHING.

June 22. 1864.—Very hot and dry. Wemarched all night, 'had a good moon, but

the road was very dusty. We seldom sei^

clear water now, and often drink ttiaiwhich is swarming with life, but boil it

first if we have a chance. We halted atdaybreak near a railroad, and lay downfor a little sleep. One of the men blownup by the shell that whispered to me yes-terday died last night. AVhat remains ofthe original 5th Maine will go home to-morrow, and we w^ho did not enlist in thefirst place will be formed into two com-panies, A and B, commanded by Oapts.Parodie and Goldthwait, and we are tobe assigned to the 6th Maine, 3d Brigade.I am in company B. The Sergeants arereduced to Corporals and the Corporalsto the ranks. I took off my chevrons.June 23, 1864.—A very hot day and no

rain yet. It is so dry that for .<ome timethere has been no dew at night. Afterbreakfast we marched five or six milestoward City Point. We stayed by ourwagon train till after dark, whien wê" cameback about two miles and lay down forthe night. About 5 p. m. the regiment wasformed and a circular was iread to usfrom" Gen. Upton. The Chaplain addressedus and offered prayer and our Colonelspoke a few words. We then shook handsand took leave of those who vvere goinghome. It was a sad parting, and someshed tears for the first time since comingto the war. We were glad to see themgo, but we returned to the front withheavy hearts. They marched about a mileto the river where they expect to takea transport before midnight.June 24, 1864.—A very 'hot day. lu

the morning we "w4io remained marchedtoward the front, and about 2 p, m. re-

ported to the 6th Maine, 3d Brigade, Weheard cannonading and were told that it

wâs our forts shelling Petersburg. Weworked on the entrenchments till mid-night, constructing a> heavy line of con-nected works, similar to those we had atHarrison's Landing. We also dug wells,

and froin apr>ea,rances shall stop heresome days if Lee is willing.

June 25, 1864.—Still warm and no signs

of rain. Worked on the entrenchmentsall the forenoon. We heard cannonadingand musketry at intervals all night, butin front of us it was quiet.

June 26, 1864.—Last night was the hot-

test one we have had yet. There is aprospect of rain next Fall. We drew soft

bread today. We hear musketry and can-onading up on our right. There are negroregiments up that way, and the rebs don'tappear to like them very mudh.June 27, 1864.—At 8 a. m. I went with

three others about three miles out onpicket. This is the first time I have been,

on nicket for a year and a half.

June 29. 1864.—About 3 n. m. we wereordered out on a raid. We we«t down


on our left about eight miles to ReemsStation. Arrived there about 10 p. m.,and immediately threw up breastworks. Aheavy detail was sent out last night, andthey are still at work tearing up a rail-

road track. I think this is the best roadI ever saw. The rails are of foreignmanufacture, heavy and but little worn, 1

am with the colors again, having been de-tailed to the color guard of the 6th Mainetodav.

Jiine 30, 18G4.—Pleasant. ^Y9 spentmost of the day on the entrenchments andin tearing up railroad track. I think v/e

have demolished about four miles of tracktoday, burning the ties and bending therails. Iveems Station has about 20 housesand a church.

July 1, 1S64.—Cool and pleasant, '^^'e

heard a brisk cannonading and musketryduring the nig'ht, in the direction of Pe-tersburg. The bo^s are* digging wells in

the swamp. They find v/aier in the lowplaces down from 3 to 6 feel.

July 2, 1864.—At 5 a. m. we marchedback to our old breastworks, but not to

the same place we left. There we hadeverything nice ; a great number of wells

dug, grounds policed, streets laid out,

sinks dug, bunks built, and had left ourtent poles ready to stretch our tents on,

but we must give this all up to the Thi]-d

Division, and instead of a iheavy, shadywood, Ave take a barren field full of hoidust.

July 3, 1864. Hot and dry us usual.

I worked hard all the a. m, building a

bunk and improving my tent. We re-

ceived some of the sanitary rations for

the fiirst time today ; each man got apickle, a lemon, a spoonful of condensedmilk, and some sauerkraut. Details are

out digging wells. Som.e one stole mymusket today.

July 4, 1864.—Pleasant. This seemsmore like Sunday than yesterday did. I

have not worked so hard, and the gunsup toward the city are more quiet. Twoof the boys in the next tent liave beencelebrating today. They now lie corner-

wise in the tent dead drunk. T received

some letters from home, and now I will

celebrate.July 5, 1864.—We are lying in line of

battle, be'hind strong entrenchments, ou)-

division is on the extreme left of the \hy\

some five miles from Petersburg, at Avhicli

place the line approaches within less thana mile. All the railroads leading into

Richmond have been out. but I supposethe rebs now have the Lynchburg roadin running order.

July 6, 1864.—The Second and Thirddivisions of our corps left this morningfor Maryland. It appears that we are to

remain here. Received papers fmm homo

giving a very interesting account of tiie

arrival home of the 5th Maine.July 9, 1864.—At 10 p. m. the bugle

sounded for us to pack up. Ai 11 wemoved toward City Point, following ourline of battle till we had passed Peters-burg, in front of which was musketry andcannonading from midnight till morning.

A CITY OF WOUNDED.

July 10, 1864.—A very hot day. ^A'e

reached City Point about 10 a. m. after atedioii«s and agigravating march of 18miles. We found a canvas ciiy at this

place ; a city of the wounded. We gotgood water to drink, and I had a swim in

the Appomattox. We went on board thetransports about sunset, and took the "raroarican" deck.

July 11, 1864.—^Clear and hot. In theafternoon the Captain said "iGood breezeI'ight ahead, but can't make more tha)i

four knots an hour, because the boysAvon't keep the boat trimmed!" We wereAvell suited, hoAvever. We got into thePotomac about 3 p. m., and hove to aftersunset, not far from Aquia Creek. Seveutransports in our fleet.

HELPED TO SAVE WASHINGTON CITY.

-July 12. 1864.—-Had a shower towardnight. A splendid run up the river, andreached Washington about noon. Wefound the people terribly frightened.Stayed in Washington till 3 p. m., andthen marched a few miles to Fort Stevens,AA^here our men were holding off the rebs.

We were going through GeorgetoAvn whenthe shoAver struck, and it drenched usthrough in short order, but Ave AA'ere aboutas wet before with perspiration. A partof our brigade AA^as out skirmishing atsunset, and drove the rebs a piece. Theskirmishing continued till . midnig'ht. Wehear that the Lieutenant Colonel of the7th Maine is killed.

July 13, 1864.—Cool morning. Therebs fell back some distance last night. Afew rebs Avere brought in from EAvell's

Corps. They express surprise to find ushere. They say "No matter where aa^c g')

Ave find the Sixth Corps." President Lin-coln was out to the front last night, andhad a chance to see the skirmish begin.

Before we reached here the rebs had gotalmost to the forts, but the citizens andnegroes held them till we came up. Atnoon we moved up the river about ninemiles and camned.

July 14, 1864.^Pleasant. AVe weretold to hurry up our breakfasts. a.s AA-e

should move in a half hour. We thenAvaited till 3 p. m. before Ave left theground. Our brigade Avas detailed as rear

86 The National Ti^hwie Scrap Book.

guard for the teams. The miiles wereunbroken and they moved slowly. Wecamped at night in a hilly country, wherethe water was good.

July 15, 1864.—Pleasant. We startedon our march about noon. Reached Pools-ville about 6 p. m., where we found therest of our division aud the Second Di-vision. Here w^e saw a gallows on whic'hwas hanging one of our men who hadbeen "jumping bounties," 'had deserted tothe rebs and been retaken. We find someof Banks' army ovens in this vicinity.

July 16, 1864.—In the morning wemarched up the river five miles to White'sfo,rt, where there is a mill and a canallock. Aifter shelling some rebs away fromthe other side of the river we wadedacross. The river here is quite wide, twoor three feet deep, the bottom co'arse

gravel and quite level, wnfch high bluffs oneach side. We found the trail of the en-emy, which showed that a large force hadpassed. We went close to Bali's Bluff,

rested near a very large spring, where therebs had stopped, and reached Leesburgat 4 p. m. This is a beautiful place, witli

some fine mansions. Passing over a highridge, and looking back, 1 had a splendidview of the scenery toward the Potomac.We encamped at dark v.'ith the rebs justahead of us. Been all day marching 13miles.July 17, 18G4.—Beautiful day. We lay

quiet all day in a nice, shady place, and I

was very glad, being about sick. TheThird Division came up with us towardnig'*ht. They had been to Baltimore, andhave lost 707 men. killed, wounded andmissing, so I am told. It is very strangeto us why we lie liere and rest instead of

following the rebs.

Juiy 17, 1864.—Moved about sunri-^e,

but did not appear, to rash thinss mncli.

We passf^d dead horses and mules v/hichwere killed yesterday or tiie day before,when our boys made a dash on the rebs.

At 4 p. m. we wont through Snicker'sGap—a bad. stony pass. At the lowerend of the valley is a little village calledSnickersville. Soon nfter we passed therewe found the rebs were on the other sideof the Shenandoah River. Some of ourforces immediately crossed the river, butthe rebs drove them back. On?* regimentlaj' on high ground in the rear as a sui)-port" to thp batteries, Ever /thing wasquit and the row seemed over for the day.

when one of the rebel batteries, that hadchangd position, opened on us, throwingshells in rapid succession, wTiich instead of

bursting near our battery, went over andfell in the midst of some of our troops,

who were closely massed in the bottomland, preparatory to camping. EacTi shell

cleared a snace as it burst, killing andand wounding in all a good many men.

Had the rebs known what they were doing,and kept it up for a few more rounds, theywould 'have caused a panic in that portionof our troops. One shell killed five menand wounded a dozen or more.

July 19, 1864.—We lay quiet all day.We pick blackberries, fry appl^, and man-age to fare pretty well. Some skirmishingon the picket line, and also cannonadingup the valley.

MARCHING MARCHING, MARCHING.

July 20, 1864.—About noon we crossedthe river. The water is about two feetdeep, and the bottom good. Dead bodieswere lying on each side of the river, andthey 'had all been stripped of theirpants. We marched a few miles downthe valley and stacked arms. Our cavalryengaged the enemy a couple miles furtherdown. Hunter's army is fighting at Win-chester, and driving the rebs. Sheep andcattle are plenty, and we take what wewish. Scouts came in, saying that twoheavy columns of rebel infantry were ad-vancing into Maryland. About 10 p. m.we started back, crossing the river at mid-night. Guerillas fired on us as we wentthru the gap, wounding several. We aretold to make our rations hold out as longas possible. Had a heavy shower thatdrenched us through.

July 21, 1864.--Oool and clcudy. Agood day for marching. At a. m. wehalted an hour for breakfast. Tlio gueril-

las are hanging on our flank, and killedone man. We passed through Hamptonwith colors flying and bands playing, andthey showed the Stars and Stripes, th^same as they did when we passed thrnbefore. We went thru Leesburg the sam'»way. We crossed Goose Creek andcamped at 4 p. m. A numiber of our boysmissing ; suppose they have been takenby guerrillas. One of our boys was left

asleep when we left, but an old negrowoman woke him up and sent him onafter us My feet are 'blistered. We hadgood marching till we came to Leesburg.The .shower did not reach ther^, and all

wns drv and dusty.July 22, 1864.—We moved at 8 a. m..

'marching along the noirth side of thecreek. At noon we halted two hours fordinner, and then marched till dark. Wewere obliged to make our coffee of living

mud or go without.July 2.3. 1864.—We were called up at

2 a., m,, but our brigade did not move till

sunrise. We passed through Drainsvillenbont 7 a. m. Next we came to GampGriflin, where the 6th Maine camped dur-ing the Winter of '61 and '62. A milefarther broug'ht us to our outer picketnovsts. wTiich nre sustained by a portion of

the Invalid Corps. Next we came to Ft.

The National Tribune Scra^p Book, 87

Smith, where Mê passed through a stronggateway, crossed the Potomac "chainbridge" at 10 a. m.—a long and strongbridge, but I did not see the chain—wentup the river a short distance, up over thebluff, and went into camp on GeorgetownIleig'hts at 11 a. m.

July 26, 1864.—Cool day. iWe startedat 1 p. m,, and had an unreasonably hardmarch of 15 miles, and camped at 9 p. m.

July 27, 1864.—Very hot day. Wemoved at 5 a. m., and were rushed alongat the same unreasonable rate as yester-

day. About 10 a. m. I was oibliged to fall

out, having first obtained a pass to do so.

I never saw so many stragglers on amarch as there are today. I passed thruthe little town of Charlottesville, andabout three miles farther on [ came^ upwith the regiment, which 'had gone into

camp three hours before. Our whole corpsis here.

July 28, 1864.—Pleasant. The boyscall Hyattstown the "up-hill town." Wemarched at 7 a. m., reached Monocacybridge at 11, w^here we lay till 3 p. m.,

when wê waded the river, moved on to

Jackson and went into camp at midnight,

after a hard march of 16 miles. We foundplenty of good water along the march to-

day.July 29, 1864.—Very hot day, but it was

made endurable by a light breeze. Westarted at 6 a. m., passing thru several

little villages on our way down MiddleValley. We reached Harper's Ferry about1 p, m. Harper's Ferry Oap is one of the

most romantic places I ever saw. On the

Maryland side there are high, toweringcliffs, w^hich overhang to a great extent.

The railroad bridge is a splendid structure

of iron. In times of peace this must be

a beautiful and thriving place. We passed

thru the village, up over the Heights, andwent into camp a few miles beyond. In

front of us the rebs liave a line of battle

extending four miles, and said to be

50,000 strong. We marched 16 miles, our

feet very sore and lame, and we are very

much exhausted. The Shenandoah River

empties into the Potomac here.

July 80, 1864.—Veiry hot day. I amsick enough to keep more quiet. Wemoved a mile or more in the afternoon

and then waited till 10 p. m., and march^^^d

till 3 a. m. and camped. During the mile

march in the afternoon the men fell from

sunstroke about as fast as they fall under

a heavy skirmish fire. Many of them died

in a short time. We hear that the irebs

have crossed into Maryland again. Thecars started from Harper's Fery for

Washington, but were interrupted by the

rebs, and returned.July 31. 1864.—Very hot and dr.sty. We

marched 12 or 14 miles in the afternoon,

and camped near Frederick City. It i-^

reported that during our march yesterdayand today about l,O00 of our corps weresunstruck and a tenth of them died. TheLieutenant of the Provost Guard took amusket and pricked one of the boys, whowas overcome with the heat, with the bay-onet, to urge him along. The half-crazedfellow immediately shot the Lieutenantdead.

Aug. 1, 1864.—Very hot day. We layquiet all day. I felt sick thi.s morning,but am much better for the rest we had.I had to go a mile or so to find water_ to

fill my canteen. There is mu(ih drinkingand fighting among the boys today,

Aug. 2, 1864.—Very warm. We arecampel in a beautiful, shady Vv'ooa, buLwater is scarce. Quiet all day. The boysare drinking less, but gambling more. Or-ders to move at 5 a. m.

Aug, 3, 1864.—Hot and dry as ever.

Marched a short distance towârd Freder-ick City, and then went "column right"toward Washington. We expected a hardmarch, but only went five miles, thruBuckeystown, across the Monocacy anucamped. The whole corps is here and theriver is swarming with soldiers swimming.I took a swim and then washed my shirt,

pants, .stockings, cap, handkerc^^ ef,_ susponders and boots then did my mending.

Aug. 4 1864.—I washed by blouse_ thi-s

morning, and then went up a mountain to

write. Some of the brigades notice this

morning as a thanksgiving day, but ourbrigade went out to a funeral or fast day,

I don't know which they made of it. Acertain Captain died today very rûddenly.

In our late marches he has caused manyof the boys who fell out to carry rails as

a. puni.shment, and some of them had swornrevenge. There is a suspicion that he waspoisoned.

Aug. 5, 1864.—Some drunkenness andfighting today. At 6 p. m. our companywâs ordered to report to the 7th Maine,a short distance away. At 10 p. m wemoved to Monocacy Junction, stackedarms about 2 a. m. and lay down to sleep.

It soon began to rain.

Aug. 6, 1864.—Heavy rain in the morn-ing, but cleared off warm. We went onboard the cars at 6 a. m., and reachedHarper's Ferry at 8 ; passed through the

citv, went up on the Heights, and rested

till noon, w^hen we moved about a milefrom the city and camped near where wedid when here a week ago. We find apples,

and the boys are beginning to eat greencorn.

Aug. 7, 1864.—Some of the boys are

busv day and night, gambling. We haddivine services in the foirenoon and even-ing. The N. Y. Herald gives' rather a

gloomy account of the late mine explosion

nt Petersburg. It cost us 5.740 men. If

White Verrill were only here today, how

88 T%e National Tribu7ie /Soap Book.

we should enjoy it. Silas Crooker is, andI am glad, but he leaves for home in twoweeks.

Aug. 8, 18()4.—Warm. We hear thei-e

are two corps on their way here fromWashington, and that Sherman has com-mand of this department.

MEN DyI^"G FROM OVER-MARCHING IN THEHEAT.

Aug. 10, 1864.—Extremely hot. At sun-rise we marched two miles up tlie valley,

passing thru Chairlestown ;quite a little

city, but its buildings are badly shot to

pieces. The citizens say that the rebswere here yesterday. Many of the boysfell from sunstroke during the raarcTi, andsome of them died. It required all mystrength and courage to keep up, but I

managed to get into camp with the regi-

ment. I ate no supper and slept but little

by reason of a severe sick headache.Aug. 11, 1864.—^Cool breeze. The boys

complain much of the heat, and many fall

from sunstroke, and some die, but I call

it a good day for marching, and w^onderthat any who lived thru yesterday shouldfall out today. We halted at jvoon nearWinchester, and then struck off to tholeft almost at rigiit argles, and went into

camp just before dark near a stream of

good water. The farms around here arein tolerable condition, considering howmany times the armies have been up anddown the valley. Our boys are treatingthe fruit orchards and corn tields worsethan the rebs did.

Aug. 12, 1864.—Very hot day. Aftermarching five or six miles we passed thruthe town of Newton. Some of the boysdied from heat today. Some die in astupor and others die in great agony. Twomiles from Newton we halted for thenigiht, and I could have gone i>ut little

farther. We had some skirmishing to-

day.Al!g. 13. 1864.—Very hot day. We

crossed the Shenandoah Ri^-er, andmarched two hours in the forenoon. Wa-ter is very scarce. At 9 p. m. we wer'^

ordered back, and about midnight wentinto camp on the ground we left in themorning.

Aug. 14, 1864.—^For a wonder, we hadno reveile this morning. Rain during the

day. I went down to a stream and liad a

swim. This is called Cedar Creek, butT think it was the S'henandoah River. TheNineteenth Corps went back to Winches-ter today. Poultry, sheep, pi.gs, honey,apples and corn are plentiful.

Aug. 16, 1864.—Fair day. The boy-enjoy themselves fi^reatly in the creek. I

was in swimming twice today. Soon aftor

we went to bed we received orders to

move immediately, but did not get under

way till about midnight. We passed thruMiddleton and Newton in the night. Wehad dress paradeModay for the lirst timesince leaving Winter quarters. Rationsare scarce.

Aug. 17, 1864.—Marched all night. Wereached Winchester in the middle of theafternoon. We went on a few miles,crossed a stream and camped just beforedark. We can hear shai"p musketry to-

ward Winchester, where we left the Jer-sey brigade and some cavalry as rearguard.

Aug. 18, 1864.—Rainy morning-, but agood day for marching. We moved about6 a. m. We expected an attack on ourflank by the rebel cavalry, and so marcheda part of the way "left in front." Wehalted at noon after passing through Per-ryville. In the afternoon we moved onvery fast, and went into camx) at darknear Charlestown.

Aug. 19, 1864.—Rainy day. The 7thMaine started for home this morn'ng, andonly about a dozen of them to go. Theytook their colors with them, and the boysthat are left growl and say that if theygo .into a fight and "break," there will beno colors to rally on.

Aug. 20, 1864.—Still 'raining. Ourfolks are building a railroad from <Jharles-

town to Harper's Ferry, and it appearsthey intend to hold this position. Thereis a general policing of the ground, tentsbuilt in regular order, and we have soni'»

hopes of a rest, for we understand thereare forces stationed to guTard the "»Gaps,"and thus keep the rebs out of Maryland.A\e have been in the service long enough to

knoAV that these things are very uncertain.It seems to me the rebels can "trot us*'

whenever they please.

SUNDAY BUT NO REST FOJJ TltE WEARY.

Aug. 21, 1864.—Fair day. We thoughtwe .should have this day to onrselves. I

wanted to do some reading and writing,but at 9 a. m. came a popping of mus-ketry on the picket line, and in a fewminutes the whole corps packed up, andskirmi.shing began. We were in the rear,

and had a fine chance to see both lines

work. Our pickets moved forward, drivingthe rebs about a mile, and gained the

crest of a knoll with a stone wall, but thesupport failing to come up on the left,

the rebs flanked and obliged them to fall

back a little. The two lines moved backand forth over the same ground severaltimes. Just before noon the rebs oneneda battery, throwing percnssion shells

^at

short range, causing much commotionamong our boys in the rear. One piece

of shell struck the foot of a tree againstwhich I was leaning. I went out on the

picket line in the afternoon and found my

The National Tribune Scraj^ Book. 89

tent-mate wounded and two others of mycompany. There was sharp skirmishingall along the lines. There were no heavylines of battle, but the heaviest skirmish-ing we have ever seen. Night put an endto the game. We lost about 150 woundedand some killed. We hear fighting atSnicker's Gap.Aug. 22, 186J:.—Toward night we had

an awful tempest for an 'hour. Tentswere blown down and the rain poured adeluge. The boys made the most of it

and while some were holding on to theirtents, others were soaping and washingtheir sliirts and pants right in public. It

was handy to have the water poured onfrom above. Others were busy filling can-teens and pails with water, for which wehave to go a long distance. It was alively time, and in the midst of it the Jer-sey brigade was packing up and moving.Midnight found me on a videt picket post,the rebs a few rods in front. An hourlater we were on the pike moving in col-

umn. We went through Charlestown justat daybreak, reaching our old camp groundat Bolivar Heights, Harper's Ferry, anhour after sunrise, and went to workbuilding breastworks.

Aug. 23, 1864.—Cool and pleasant. Re-ceived a variety of orders today, and thenthey were countermanded when half exe-cuted. We moved a short d.istance andcamped in line of battle, and built morebreastworks.Aug. 24, 1864.—Fell in at daybreak and

stood under arms an Tiour. I was or-

dered to report to the 7th Maine ColorGuard.

Aug. 25. 1864.—Ôur cavalry had a fig^ht

on our right today, and got whipped. Lieut.Mitchell had me doing writing for himmost all day. Orders were read on dressparade that those who re-enlisted from the5th, 6th and 7th Maine regiments shall beput in one regiment to be known as the7th Maine Veteran Volunteers. So now I

am in the 7th Maine V. V.Aug. 26, 1864.—Rainy. I worked for

Lieut. Mitchell most of the day, makingout napers and posting books. One of our'brigades captured 110 rebs today, amongwhom were a Lieutenant Colonel and a

Major.Aug. 28, 1864.—We received orders last

night to be ready to move at daylight. Weturned out at 3 a. m., packing up everythingbut our tents. At 9 we marched abouttwo miles and halted, then mas.'êd in a

piece of Môod for three hours. Cannon-ading ahead. About 3 p. m. we moved on,

passing through Oharlestown, and at sun-set went into camp two miles from thecity on the same ground we left last Sun-day when the battle comanenced.

BLUE AND (JKAY BURIED SIDE BY SIDE.

Aug. 29, 1864.—This morning some of

the boys went out to the ground wherethe battle was last week, to see if theycould find anything of Henry Hatchings,who has been missing since that time.They found his musket, which he 'had

marked, on the skirmish line. It is sup-posed he was wounded and taken prisoner.

The citizen whose house was so badlyshelled buried five of our boys in his yard.In one place 27 rebs were buried side byside.

Aug. 31, 1864.—^Cool. I worked all dayen the books for Lieut .Mitchei]. TheFirst Division drummed out a man ande.eni; anotheir to Drv Tortugns.

Sept. t, ]864.—Cool. Writing againnearly all day. I was excused from dress

parade, and had a chance to se3 the 18t]i

Ind. drill. They go beyond anything I

liave seen yet. They are mostly veterans,

and have seen but little fighting. Theyveil powerfully. We learned that inany of

them have been in the rebel service anddeserted to us, enlisting under the heavybounty.

Sept. 3, ] 864.—Rainy. We got ourbreakfast before daylig-'ht, and at 5 :30

moved up the valley. At 10 a. m. we halt-

ed a few miles from Berryville, havingmarched eight miles at a quick pace. To-ward night we heard heavy volleys of mus-ketry in front and to the right, causingus to "pack up and be ready." The First

Division had quite a scrap with the enemy,and came out victorious.

Sept 4, 1864.—Warm. Our cavalry havebeen out to Strasburg, and find the enemyare all on our flank. If a citizen shouldvisit us today he would never guess it wasthe Sabbath. Some are playing cards,

while others are bringing in apples, corn

and fresh meat. I plead guilty to apples

and corn. Soon after we turned in for

the night an order came for the First Bri-

gade to fall in and go out to build breast-

works. Thev had a wet night of it.

Sept. 5, 1864.—Rained all last night

and today. At 7 a. m. our brigade movedout to tile rijfht. but our regiment being

on a three days' picket, we remained in

camp till night, when the brigade cam<'

l3ack and we all camped in a field along

the "pike," near where we had been lying.

I got a couple of sheaves of wheat for a

bed, and those who did not take tnar

precaution had to lie and soak in the rain.

At the best, we had a 'hard night of it.

Sept. 6, 1864.—Rainy. Toward night

I started with Charlev Harris to carry

rations out to the picket line, and metSergt. Joirdan, Avho had an order detailing

me to cro with teams, as Corporal of the

90 The National Tribune Scra'p Booh.

Guard, back to Harper's Ferry, and getthe pay-rolls and finish them wiien I getback.

Sept. 11, 1SG4.—Have been sick for thepast few days. We iiad two very lieavythunder showei-s last night, each of Whichdrowned us out completely, for the rainfell in a deluge. We took the precautionto ditch our tents, yet everything wasoverflowed.

Sept. 1:3, 1864.—Cold and clear. A goodday for marching. We turned out about8 a. m., and at 5 started to guard thesupply wagons down to Charlestown. The40th N. Y. went with us. AVe were inheavy marching oirders, but put our thingson the wagons going down. We reachedCharlestown before noon and stacked armsnear a good stream of vvâter, where weremained till 3 p. m., and then came iDack,

reaching camp about sunset, and found ourdivision had gone out on a reconnoisauce.

Sept. 14, 1864.—Rainy; 156 roDei prjs-oners were marched by our camp on theway to Harper's Ferry. They vêre takenby our division yetserday.

Sept. 16, 1864.—Yesterday our cavalrystarted on a raid to Warrington, wherethe oL'ebs are said to have large supplies.At 9 p. m. 17 of us from Co. R got theLieutenant to agree to know nothing aboutus till roll call in the morning, and startedout well armed on a raid. We went aboutfive miles toward the mountains, and gotapples and garden stuff. An Indian wasassigned to our company today, and thereare now five red men in our regiment.

SOME MORE FIGHTING.

Sept. 19, 1864.—It rained in the nig^ht,

so we had wet tents to cairry. We turnedout at midnight and moved a lew rods,

and after waiting for two hours, moved upthe valley. We crossed a creek at sun-rise and heard fig-liting alaead. Passing cav-alry that had been engaged, and amongthem were dying men and horses. Marchedabout two miles and formed on the left

of the line of battle. The rebs gave us agenerous supply of shell and canister, andseveral of our boys were wounded. Weimmediately threw up breastworks of rails

and lay here in the second line of battlefor two hours or more, and then movedforward into a ravine, where we lay undera heavy fire. Our skirmishers sooncharged on the rebel skirmisih line, anddrove them back and both our lines of

battle rushed forward at a double-quick,driving the rebel lines nearly a mile to aridge at the edge of a narrow belt of wood,where we threw up breastworks of rails

and lay some three hours watching thebattle. We saw our cavalry make a fine

charge and captured 60 rebels. We were

now in the first line of battle. Gen. Jor-dan came riding down wîth news of oursuccess. We cheered him and dashed for-ward through canister and shell. We hadto pass a bad place—a ravine, which wid-ened into a plain—and the rebs had bat-tery on our left throwing grape and can-ister, and farther up the ravine they hadbatteries throwing shell lengthwise ofour column. The 121st N. Y., on ourright, broke under the shower of canister,but our regiment being partially covered bythe ridge stood fast. The 121st N. Y.soon formed again, and we moved on ata double-quick under a terrible fire. Manyof our boys were wounded, among them,Syrenus Stevens, who bad a ball thru thearm. Gen. Russell, of the First Division,was killed by a shell and Gen. Upton waswounded. The rebs fell back in great con-fusion the whole length of their lines, in

a general retreat. At dark we formed ourlines on the Hights, near Winchester.We have had fair "open field fight," beat-en the enemv. and taken many prisoners.

Sept. 20, 1864.—We turned out at day-light and moved up the valley. It wa:-cool, and we made good time. ReachedMiddletown at 10 a. m., passed thru Newton, and crossed Cedar Run at 3 p. m. ona good bridge built by the rebels since wewere here before. We marched a milefarther and halted en masse for the night.We hear the pickets shooting towardStrasburg.

Sept. 21, 1864.—We lay quiet till about1 p. m. and then moved part way acrossthe valley. Skirmisihing commenced andwe formed a line in tire woods, where welay till dark. Our skirmishers chargedand drove the rebs from their breastworks.During the night we were in the first line

of battle with only videt in front. Verydark and rainy, but we worked on ourbreastworks most of the night.

Sept. 22, 1864.—In the morning severalof our boys were shot while out huntingfor water. One of our regiment waswounded, one taken prisoner, one killed

and another wounded on the skirmish line

in the afternoon. We were ordered to ad-

vance and soon saw the rebel fortifications

on the top of Fisher's Hill. We here_ meta brisk musketry with .shell and canister.

The ground was very uneven, and as westopped to rectify the lines the ColorGuard were much exposed to the fire of

the rebs in a stone building nearby. Someof us stepped in front and abated thatnuisance, however. Half an hour after wecharged without fixing bayonets. The rebs

fled, leaving their guns, but setting nreto some shells. We took 1,.^00 prisoners,

2.3 guns and some horses. Rut few killed

on either side. We pursued the rebs all

night.


OFFICIAL CRUELTY.

Sept. 23, 1864.—We passed thru AVood-stock at 7 a. m., a village built on onestreet ; then through Edmburg—^built inlike manner. We heard artillery ana mus-ketry ahead. Capt. McGinly boriowed tn»doctor's horse to go back and find one ofthe boys of his company who always fallsout when he hears cannonading. He foundand tied him to a tree and whipped him.

Sept. 24, 1864.—Co. B boys have troublewith Capt. McGinly, who strikes TomWard with his sword. Our boys club theirmuskets and take Tom's part. The Colo-nel of the 77th N. Y. had Capt. McGiQlyarrested for whipping the boy yesterday.We turned out at daybreak land advancedin five columns ; four of infantry and oneof teams. During the day we passed thrusome pretty little villages, and crossed theShenandoah River several times. Therebs made a stand at Mt. Jackson, and weformed lines of battle, our brigade in thefront line. After some skirmishing wefound that the rebs were retreating, andwe started after them again. A runningfight ensued which lasted till dark, we'driving them as fast as we could marchand our flying artillery at work on themall the time. Camped about 8 p. m., nearNew Market, having marched about 15miles without stopping for anything toeat from daylight till after dark, but thesport and excitement kept the boys ingood spirits.

Sept. 25, 1864.—Marched at 7 a. m.,advancing in five columns of infantry andtwo of wagons and pack horses. The rebsmade good use of their time during thenight, for we saw nothing of them till

5 p. m., and I am not sure we did then.We passed thru several little villages,

halted at noon and found much difiiculty

in getting enough water to make coffee.

While resting some of the boys burned aman's barn filled with wheat. In Edin-burg the citizens would furnish us a mealfor $5 in Confederate money or 50 centsin ours. Camped at 5 p. m. near Harrison-burg. My feet are blistered and painful.

Sept. 27, 1864.—Pleasant I have beenabout sick with a cold for the past fewdays This morning about 20 of the boyswent out five miles to a little village

"foraging." They brought in apple butter,

clieese, soft bread, honey, lambs, turkeys,ducks, hens, pigs, and horses, and somesilver spoons. At 2 p. m. we were marchedout at a quick pace till we reached Kizor-ville, when we halted. We found we hadbeen sent to support some cavalry. Wegot 'back to camp after dark.

"spoiling the enemy."

Sept. 29, 1864.—We turned out at 3a. m., and marched at 6. The three corpsmarched abreast in about 15 columns. We

marched some miles to the little villageof Mt. Crawford. Our brigade campedclose to a little brick church, where therewas a meeting in the evening. DavidSmall and I went off on a raid, and gotsome peaches, apples and milk, and wegot the largest sheep I ever atteinpted t^)

handle. We took the two hind quartersback to camp wwith us, arriving about the9 p. m. The boys had given us up, andmy tent-mate had begun to plan for thedisposal of my effects. We did see someguerrillas, but they didn't see us. Thecavalry have orders to burn all the barnsin this vicinity and all between here andHarper's Ferry. They have burned 40today, and thensky is illuminated with fires

tonight.Sept. 30, 1864.—^More cavalry concen-

trated here at the present time than 1

have seen before. During the forenoonthey drove in a large number of cattle,

horses and sheep. At 1 p. m. we movedback to the ground we left at Harris-onburg.

Oct. S, 1864.—Tonight an order wasread on dress parade to the effect that the7th Maine be henceforth known as the1st Maine Vet. Vols. It was received withmuch satisfaction by the boys of the 5thand 6th Maine.

Oct. 4, 1864.—Warm and pleasant. Wehear that a Colonel and a Captain, withtheir orderlies, belonging to Sheridan'sstaff, Vk^ere killed today by guerrillas. Allthe buildings of the little village beyondHarrisonburg, where the deed was done,were burned in retaliation. We saw thefire as we went out to dress parade. Thir-teen guerrillas have been taken andbrouglit in. We have to go along way for

water, and then it is only diluted mud.Oct. 6, 1864.—In the morning we com-

menced retreating down the valley, burn-ing barns, mills, stacks of wheat, hay andstraw the whole width of the valley. Weleave a heavy column of smoke in ourrear. We camped near Mt. Jackson at;

4 p. m., having marched 22 miles withoutstopping for dinner.

Oct. 7, 1864.—We passed through Mt.Jackson in the morning. New Market at2 p. m., and went into camp near Wood-stock at 4 p. m. We marched about 18miles, making no stop for dinner. Weleave sad havoc behind us.

Oct. 8, 1864.—Very cold and windy. Weturned out at daylight, but as our brigadewas in tlie rear of everything, \ye did notmarch till 7. We reached Fisher's H^Ilabout 10, and kept on to Strasburg, wherewe camped in the afternoon. I was sur-prised to see what a strong position therebs had at Fisher's Hill. Dense columnsof smoke mark our course, and T shouldthink by the smoke that the cavalry wereburning Woodstock.

92 The National THhune Scra'p Book.

Oct. 9, 1SG4.—Heavy frost last night. I

got but little, sleep last night, and amabout sick this moa-ning. We moved at Ta. m., marching at a very quick pace,turned to the right at Nevv^ton and madeour way toward the mountains and up thevalley. We camped near Front Royal at2 p. m.

Oct. 10, 1864.—Cold. We passed thruStras'burg, ci'ossed Cedar Run, went toMiddletown and then turned to the righcand moved off toward the mountains Wecamped near Front Royal, ihaving marchetZnS miles. We are near the junction of 'the

3iorth and south branches of the Shenan-doah River.

Oct. 11, 1861.—At daylight we crossed alittle stream and halted on the flat doseto the banks of the Shenandoah. About3 p. m. we crossed the river on la hastilyconstructed bridge—all the bridges in thisvicinity were burned some time ago—ând

camped about a mile farther on. We havea good view of Front Royal a mile dis-

tant. It looks pretty from 'here, sittingin a plain surrounded by mountains, andjust beyond the city, to the right, we lookthrough Manassas Gap. I went out withmy tent-mate and shot a hog and broughtit into camp.

Oct. 12. 1864.—Ôur regiment is policingthe grounds and pitching tents in regulai'

order. I worked hard 'ibringing boards .froma barn to build our tent of. The boysbring in great quantities of honey, flour,

butter, clothes and books.Oct. 13, 1864.—Cold and windy. We

expected to stop here a while, as the line

officers were having good quarters built,

but at 4 a. m. we moved across the river,

where we found our corps packed up. Weexpected to stay here long enough to get

some breakfast, 'but after getting it onthe fire we had to fall in and start. Ourboys were loaded with honey and left greatquantities of it in camp. Wo marchedat a quick pace with few rests. Our regi-

ment leads the corps today, and as theright wing is detailed as flankers, theColor Guard is at the 'head of the column. 1

like this, where the road is good, butbreaking a track through fields and black-berry bushes is hard work. We reachedAshby's Gap at 3 n. m. and camped.

Oct. 14, 1864.—Good day for marching.We marched at 4 a. m, our regiment guard-ing the train and acting as flankers Wemarched in the road in column. Wereached Newton at 10, passed thru Mid-dletown, and camped about 3 p. m., hav-ing marched 18 miles. We find the rebs

have been reenfoirced, and driving theXineteenth Corps from Fisher's Hill, haveregained that position. Now, I suppose,the Sixth Corps has got that job to doover again.

THE DISTRESS NOT ALL ON ONE SIDE.

Oct. 16, 1864.—Pleasant. I made out\

reports for Lieut. Mitchell, and was ex-cused from dress paii'ade. We have notbeen, so destitute for clothing and shoessince I have been in the service as we arenow. Two of tlie Color Guard march in

their stocking feet, and the color sergeanthas been without shoes for some time, andrefuses to do duty unless they furnis'h himwith shoes. We were distressing the enemyand in distress ourselves.

Oct, 19, 1864,—We were routed out be-

fore daylight by cannonading and musketryon our left. We soon heard that the rebshad flanked the Nineteenth Corps anddriven them from the breastworks. Wefell in and stai'ted at a double quick to

their support. The Eighth and part of

the Nineteenth Corps had fallen back in

confusion, and the Sixth took the front.

After desperate fighting we v^êre forcea

back from time to time, sometimes rally-

ing, driving the rebs and retaking lost

ground. Just befoaê we received the first

fire our brigade had commenced to buihl

breastworks on top of a 'hill, and right

thru a - burying-ground belonging to the

city of Middletown. The rebs here ad-vanced in line of battle to within a fewyards of us, and we fell back, but rallied

and drove the irebs. Wê then received ;i

terrible shelling for 15 or 20 minutes,and fell back again. Our Brig. Gen. Bid-well was carried off the field mortallywounded. Our corps lost six pieces of

artillery. Wê built temporairy breastworks,and lay here till 3 p. m., when the wholeline charged, our brigade leading. Wewere driven back in confusion, but the

rebs did not leave their stone wall. Sher-

idan asked us rather profanely where wewere going. We soon saw the right of

our line driving the rebs befoire them, andwe ag-ain went forward, and our division

cut the enemy's line in two and drove a

large portion of it to the left, our cavalry

pursuing them to Front Roval. Duringthe row today I felt a smart tap on the

side of my neck which, at the time, I sup-

posed to be a spent ball that had glancedand struck me without doing any damiage,

but toniglit when I unrolled my blanket,

that had been strapned on the top of myknapsack all day, I found that a bullet hadpassed entirely through the roll close to

my neck, and punched my blanket full of

holes. Our of curiosity I counted them,and found there were just 40 holes, but I

would rather have them in my blanketthan in my skin.

Oct, 20, 1864.—Water froze in the openair last night. Last Fall it had frozen

in our canteens in our tents before this

time. We got our breakfast before day-

The National Tribune Sciap Book. 93

light, struck tents and backed up, butabout sunrise we were ordered to pitclitents and go out and bury tlie dead, ilielped bury Horace Chadborn, of ouircompany. George Converse, one of tlie

coiiDorals of the Color Guard, was founddead. Many of our boys were terribly tornto pieces by shell. The dead had beenstripped of their pants and blouse, andsome had not a rag left.

IN THE GKEx\.T VALLEY OF VIKOINIA.

Oct. 21, 1SG4.—Mild day. About 9 a.

m. our division moved across the creekand camped a mile from Strasburg. Rebelambulances, portions of gun carriages,dead horses and mules, etc., etc., line theroad from Cedar Creek to Strasburg, andI know not how much farther. We passedtwo rebel amputating tables, around whichwere clothing, shoes, stocking-s, etc., andthe human gore showed there had beenmuch work done. Charles Harris and I

went over to see the captured artillery,prisoners, etc. We saw 45 pieces of ar-tillery, and was told that some had beensent away. We saw about 1,500 prison-ers, and among them 30 or more rebel of-

ficers.

Oct. 22. 1864.—Cold land windy. Ouvregiment is busy building breastworks. 1

went out with David Small and examinedsome caves near here. We went into oneabout 200 feet.

Oct. 24. 18G4.—Cloudy, with some rain.

The boys are policing, buildino- breast-works, and fixing up their tents. SamuelTaylor went out and found a sheep andsome apples, which he brought into camp.Chaplain Adams made us a call. Wesigned the pay-roll and expected to be paidoff, but thev tell us that the paymaster is

considerable etc., etc., and could not at-

tend to business.Nov. 1, 1864.—-Our division was re-

viewed by Gen. Getty. It appears thatthe high mountain on our left, over whichthe rebels marched single file on th^

nisiht of the 18th of October,_is called

Massanuttea Mountain. Our division havecon.structed a strong abattis in front ot

our breastworks. Everythings is quiet

and camn life drags on as usual.

Nov. 6. 1864.—Rainy. I worked mostall day for Capt. Swan, Co. H. makingout the annual (returns for the AdjutantGenernl of Maine. We hear tonight that

Gen. Shei-idan is very sick, having^ beenpoisoned by eating a piece of pie or

cheese.

THE SOLDTEES VOTIIS^G FOR PRESIDENT.

Nov. 8, 1864.—Yesterday and today wehave felt almost sure of an attack fromthe rebs, and have consequently toeen onour guard on our flanks and in the rear.

Today was the National Election. It was

conducted by the three senior officers ofthe regiment. Whole number of votescast in our regiment, 189. Lincoln re-ceived 154, and McClellan, 35.

Nov. 9, 1864.-—Rainy most of the day.At daylight we moved across the creek.We marched through Middletown, New-ton, and camped in line of battle aboutfour miles south of Winchester. A largobody of cavalry went back to try and dra^vthe rebs into an engagement with us. Wounderstand that if they don't Sg'ht, weshall go into Winter quarters on BunkerHill, between W^inchcster and Martins-burg. We marched about 15 miles today.Wood and ^^ater scarce.

Nov. 10, 1864.—Warm and windy. Or-ders from bi'igade headquarters to makeourselves comfortable and build up goodtents if we wished to.

Nov. 11, 1864.—Cold and windy. Ourcompany with some others, made a raidon a woolen mill last night, and broughtoff nearly all the inside wood, doors,shelves, partitions, etc.. before the ownercould get a guard on it. Charlie Harrisand I have worked nearly all day bring-ing stuff from a fence to build our tentwith. Skirmishing in front most of theday. Our cavalry pickets were driven

—

but we took our turn at driving and therebs skedaddled back. Our brigade wasdetailed to build a fort. One of ihe boysin the 143d N. Y. received a letter con-taining information he did not like andhe told his tent-mate that he intended to

shoot himself that night while on guard.He was as good as his word. The ball

passed through his body below the right

breast. I saw him this morning lying onthe ground by the doctor's tent. He wasnot then dead, but was breathing veryshoirt.

Nov. 12, 1864.—^We .stood under arms anhour before daylight expecting a row. Weformed in line 15 or 20 rods in front of

camp, and brought rails to build a breast-

work. There is heavy skirmishing in

firont all day. but the boys keen right onbuilding their Winter quarters.

Nov. 13. 1864.—We stood under armsagain before daylight. I was detailed to

help finish Adjutant Grenier's tent, andworked there most of the day. Thismorning the Nineteenth Corps drove the

rebs back to Front Royal, from Avhencethey came, capturing 150 prisoners, twopieces of artillery and many wagons.

Nov. 15, 1864.—Rain. The trees are

covered Avith ice. I was aibout sick yes-

terday and did very little work. Thismorning we put on the roof and movedinto our new tent. In the p. m. I wasdetailed to build a chimney for the Colo-

nel's cook. In the evening Ricker andHarris went off and found an old door andsome boards to use in our tent.

94 The National Tmhune Scrap Book.

ANOTHER THANKSGIVING DAY.

Nov. 24, 18G4.—Pleasant. For the pastveeek we have been improving our tentswhich we have developed into tine Winterquarters. We have also completed ourbreastworks. About noon oua- regiment re-ceived a lot of turkeys, enough for theofficers, but only two for 35 or 40 pri-vates.

Nov. 29, 1864.—I 'have been sick forseveral days. David Jones, who desertedthe other day, was brought back. He for-feits all pay due him up to his trial—$10peir month for three months—^and is tomake up lost time. He gets oat of thescrape cheap at that.

Dec. 3, 1864.—Pleasant. The Third Di-vision of our corps moved before daylightin the direction of Washington. In theevening our regiment moved a mile or soto the right to support a battery at Ft.Rickett, which had been left iby the ThirdDivision.

Dec. 8, 1864.—Very cold and v,'indy. Wehave been having all kinds of drills foj*

days past. The drills with inspections anddress parade have taken the most of ourtime. Tonight we have orders to be readyto move at daylight. We hear that weare going to Petersburg, and that theFirst and Third divisions of our corx)s arealready at City Point. The Eighth andNineteenth Corps, which never fight, areto remain here and occupy our comfortableWinter quarters.

Dec. 9, 1864.—Cold and cloudy withsome snow. We turned out at 3 a. m.,and moved at sunrise. The Eig'hth Corpsmoved in and took possession of our camp-ground as soon as we left it, but theywere not quick enoug'h, for some of theboys had given away much of their lumberto the Nineteenth Corps boys, and some •

had set fire to theirs. We passed thruWinchester at 10 a. m., and instead ofturning to the right as usual kept straighton. We went four oir five miles fartherand halted at Stevens Station, where wetook cars about 3 p. m., and after waitingtill sunset started on. It was snowing andmany of the boys 'had to ride on top of thebox-cars all night, and suffered much. I

was fortunate in getting into a box-car,where we had a stove, and kept comfort-able. We made slow progress, standingstill a great pairt of the time. In themorning we found four inc'hes of snow onthe ground.

Dec. 10, 1864.—At daylight we foundourselves moving over a decidedly crookedroad. We passed Elba Furnace, wentthru a long tunnel, passed Relay House,and reached Washington about dark. Wfhalted and stacked arms in the street anddrew rations. The Sanitary Commissionfurnished us with hot coffee and boiled

pork, wliich was a great benefit, as wewere cold, tired and hungry. We stopped

,

about two hours and then went onboard transports. Many of the boys arebeastly diunk, and two or three have fail-

en overboard.Dec. 11, 1864.—Very cold. I slept very

well last night, though there was muchfighting and disgraceful yelling among thedrunks. I slept on deck, and in themorning found myself wet thru as it ihad

framed duriilg the night. It is very roughthis p. m., and many of us are seasick.

Dec. 12, 1864.—Cold. We landed atCity Point at 2 p. m. We went up to tn«depot, and waited till evening for a trainto take us to the front We took plat-form cars, went 8 or 10 miles, and onlanding found the remainder of our corpsin camp. We camped in the edge of apine woods. There is considerable build-ing going on here in the shape of govern-ment barracks.

Dec. 13, 1864.—^Cold. About noon wepacked up and moved to the front threemiles land camped where the SecondCorps were, behind strong breastworks.This is where Hancock drove back therebs Oct. 18, and gained the Weldon R. R.Wood plenty, water good and nearby.

Dec. 14, 1864.—All hands out stakingthe streets and getting stuff foir buildingtents. Our picket line is about 400 yardsfrom the rebel picket line, and they wishto exchange papers with our boys, but arenot allowed to do so. In the evening bothlines on our right commenced tiring oneach other and kept it up all night.

Dec. 15, 1864.—The Lieut. Col. let mehave a team to get up some timber for

my tent. I find it very haa*d to get outthe timber, as we have only a little axe to

work with, and nothing but hard pine logs

to build with.

ANOTHER MILITARY EXECUTION,

Dec. 16, 1864.—Pleasant. I started off

in the moirning to borrow a pail to boil

our potatoes in, but as I could not find

one, I split the difference and went to seethree men hanged. They belonged to theFirst Division of the Second Corps whichlies at our left. These men were taken,dressed in rebels' clothes, in the Shenan-doah Valley ; were brought here, tried andfound guilty of desertion to the enemy,and sentenced to be hanged. If they haddeserted to go home I shoud have felt

some pity foT them.Dec. 18, 1864.—I am without tent-mates

today. Arthur Brown^ is on picket, Rickerpolicing, and Harris is away on bis ownbusiness, having been mustered out today,

and is now a citizen. He gets his dis-

charge as a supernumerary non-commis-sioned officer rendered so by the consoli-


dation of the 5th, Gth and 7th Maine regi-ments. This moirning- there were 100guns fired in honor of the taking of Sa-vannah by Sherman,

Dec. 19, 1864.—The rebs made a dashon oiir picket line and captured a few vi-dets la.st night. Harris started tor homethis morning. A long string of orderswere read on dress parade, but we cannotbe expected to hear all that Adj't GusGrenier mumbles or whispers about outof doors. I caught one item, which wasthat officers might wear the privates over-coats to protect themselves from the rebelsharpshooters. They ou^ht to have um-brellas to protect themselves from shells.

Dec. 20 1864.—It commenced raining inthe night, and w'hen we awoke at day-light we found our tent flooded, our blan-kets wet, our hardtack soaked into soft-tack, sngar dissolved and salt missing.The water was running under the tent in

streams. Ricker came in from picket andfound a sorry looking home. It rained all

dav.Dec. 21, 1864.—Very cold. Water

freezes in our canteens all day. We havebeen at work on our fireplace and chim-ney today. W> stockade it outside andmud it inside. While rolling a log up lothe tent tonight after dark Rickeir fell

into the well, which is about six feet deepand full of water. Fortunately, he had achange of clothes, which he drew yester-day.

Dec. 23, 1864.—Cold and windy. Webuilt our chimney higher and it drawswell. We learn that 200 of the rebs camein and gave themselves up today. Threemoire deserters were hanged todav.

Dec. 24. 1864.—Warmer. I had to makeand hang a door to the Adjutant's tent.

They are said to be short of rations in

Richmond. So are we here. Yesterdaythe boys were yelling "Hardtack." andtoday they are yellina: louder than ever.

We drew no irations till evening, and thenthere was nothing but whisky.

Dec. 27, 1864.—I split out some slabsfor a floor. The poor citizens at homecannot imagine how much we enjoy oui'

little 'houses. But we are short of rationsand 'had no dinner today. Our men arebuilding breastwoaks in the rear and also

on ouir left, which looks as if Ave mightexpect company by and by.

Dec. 31, 1864."—Ground covered withsnow. I have been doing writing on themuster-rolls and fixing up our tent for the

past few days. There was sharp musketrythis morning, and we fell in expecting anattack, and stood under arms longer thanwe liked in the cold storm. AVe soonhea;rd that 150 rebs had come in and giventhemselves up. They were fired on bytheir own men and our pickets.

REVIEWING THE PAST YEAR.

Jan. 1, 1865.—Very cold. The groundis frozen. I received a diary and lettersfrom home. In reviewing the past year I

can see much to be thankful for. I havepassed thru many desperate encounterswith the enemy, and witnessed such scenesas I hope never again to behold. A cruelyear ; made up of horrors, suffering andmourning. During the year there havefallen by my side in the Color Guard aiou^three killed and four wounded. In oneinstance (May 10th) every man of theColor Guard but myself, that was in thebattle, was killed or wounded, and thoughI planted the flag on the enemy's breast-works, and afteirward brought it safelyoff the field, I received not even a scratch.Once, in the battle of May 12th, whilerallying in the 'hottest of the fi,ght, I hadboth the State and National flags in myhands at the same time, and came off un-harmed. The boys say, "You are in a dan-gerous place ; I would not be there." TheChaplain says to the Color Guard : "Youare the ones they fire at, and by and bythey will pick you off." But the GreatGeneral of events lias favored me thusfair, and may He continue to do so. 1

'have worked pretty busily for the first

Sabbath of the year ; have put stopsaround our tent door, fixed up a mantlepiece, and fitted up our tent in many ways.

Jan, 2, 1865.—Warmer. We built ourchimney four fefet higher. Edwairds hasdug an oven in the fireplace, in which to

bake beans. eW are going to christen it

tonight.Jan. 3. 1865.—Snow. I went up to see

the new Fort, on an elevation at ourright. They put in a battery of 12-poundParrots today. Brown and Ricker are at

work on the abattis. Our baked beanscame out beautifully. We are rather shortof rations just now.

Jan. 5, 1865.—Yesterday the rebs ad-vanced their pickets a few roads, but noshots w^ere fired. This morning our boyswent out with a flag of truce and ambu-lances, to get the dead bodies that havebeen lying unburied since the Fifth Corpsmade their charge Oct. 1, and gained the

railroad.Jan, 8, 1865.—I went out on the picket

line to carry Edwards a letter, and look

about, I had never been out there since

we came to this ground.^Our boys and

the rebs are walking their posts in full

view of each otheir, and no shots are ex-

chan^'ed.Jan. 0, 1865.—Pleasant. About 5 a. m,

we were aroused by a volley of musketryon the picket line directly in front of us.

A few random shots followed,^ and then all

was quiet. At noon we received mforma-

96 ilie National Tribune Scrap Booh.

tion that about 75 rebs, under cover ofthe nig'ht and secreted by their old breast-works, which Tuii at right angles with, andacross the t^Yo picket lines, crawled up towithin a few yards of our videts, arose,gave a volley and charged on our line. Themost of our pickets fled panic-sticken leav-ing g-uns, blankets, haversacks and all,which the rebs hastily gathered up andhurried back to their own lines, takingwith thei-r plunder 20 or more prisoners.Our regiment lost eight men in the deal.Toward night the rebs and our boys had ajolly time joking each other atoout'it, but i

think the Johnnies ha dthe best of it. Th(!Color Guard was detailed to build theChaplain a tent.

Jan. 13, 18(55.—Our Color Guard is nowto consist of 11 Corporals and a Sergeant.I have given my spare time for severaldays to the study of tactics. Last night acouple of rebs came into our lines. Theysay their works are much stronger thanours, their breastworks heavier, and thej/have three lines of abattis, while we onlyhave two but they say we have a greatmany moire men than they have. Theystate that their rations yesterady consistedof half a pint of cornmeal. Corp. Mor-gan one of our pickets taken prisoner theother day sent a watch he had borrowedof Sergt. Plummer in by one of these de-serters who delivered it to headquarters.Corp. Morgan gave them instructions howto get into our lines as they told him theywere going to desert.

"cleanliness is next to godliness.

Jan. 15, 1865.—Pleasant. Regimentalinspectin i nthe morning, and two menfrom each company were sent to the Colo-nel's tent for rigid inspection. The Colo-nel unbottoned their collars and strippedup their sleeves, to see if all was clean.Those who "passed muster" were excusedfrom all fatigue, picket, and guard dutyfor two weeks,—but do not get a furlough,as they expected. David Small and I wereput under arrest for going out on thepicket lines. A sin of ignorance, and wewere not committed to the guard house.

Jan. 17, 1865.—Pleasant. Last nightwe received a new National flag foir ourregiment. We now have an entire newset of colors, guidons and all. Orders areout that we must wash out feet twice aweek, and our bodies once. I think I shallwash as often as I please.

Jan. 22. 1865.—Rainy day. We have anew recruit in our company named Holler-ant. I am again notified that I am in

charge of these two tents, and responsiblefor those who occupy them, and am to haveroll call three time a day. I have nottended roll-call wihle on the Color Guardfor the last two vears.

Jan. 24, 1865.—^There w^as cannonadingin the direction of Dtch iGap all lastnight, and continued till 9 a. m. today. Weunderstand that our fleet of gunboatsstarted yesterad morning to make a pass-age through the canal while the watQr is

high.Jan, 27, 1865,—The rebs are very anx-

ious to tared papers with us, so they canhear about the late affai rat Dutch Gap.Our baked beans this morning were a fail-

ure. Have been working foir iLeut. Phin-ney for a few days doing writing.

Jan. 28, 1865.—Cannonading in the di-

rection of the river, and we hear that theFifth Corps are 'having a fight.

Jan. 29, 1865.—Cold. The orderly hasdifficulty in finding a "best looking man"to send to regimental headquarters. Forty-six new recruits came into the regimenttoday. Ten of them came to our company,and two of them came to our tent to stoptill they can get up a tent of their own.One of them is a Portuguese, and can un-derstand very little English. The most of

them are foreigners. About 100 stairted,

but only 46 got here without deserting.Feb. 1, 1865.—Warm. The recruits were

assigned to their companies. We get 1(>

of them, and now have 83 names on therolls. Brother Samuel Verrill called this

p. m. We went over to the ProvostGuard to Sergt. Libby's tent, and had a

good time. There were seven lodgers in

our tent tonight. Received orders to beready to move, and the ambulances aretaking the sick to the hospitals.

Feb, 2, I860.—Warm and pleasant I

Avent out to our picket line with Samue'to see the rebel pickets relieved, Ther<^

didn't seem to be as many as usual, andour pickets said the rebel cars had beenuncommonly busy all night. Samul hadbut 24 hours' furlough, and started backat noon. His regiment is near City Point.

It is detached, and at work with the En-gineer Corps, building fortifications anddoing picket duty.

Feb. 5, 1865.—Pleasant. The camp wasaroused at 3 a. m. with orders to be readyfor marching. We hear that the FifthCorps moved last night on a raid. Therewas brisk cannonading at 5 p. m. In theevening some of the Fifth Corps amibu-'

lances came in with wounded and report

that there had been fighting ever since

dfivlight, and had driven the rebs twomiles and were intending to make a grandchairge at 5p. m. Nearly all the SecondCorps has moved.

Feb. 6, 1865.^Cold. The First Divi-

sion of our corps moved last night. Thefighting yesterday was about three miles

on our left. We make a great display of

drilling today, to let the rebs know thereis still a force here.

Feb. 7, 1865.—We had snow, hail, sleet


and rain alternately all the forenoon.Everything is covered with ice. We v^^ereturned out at 4 a. m. and stood underarms, as we expected an attack from thenenemy. We broke ranks at daylight, anaall was quiet till 2 p. m., when we hearda battery smartly at work far a short time,accompanied by musketry, and it seemedbut a short distance from us. At 5 p. m.the same was repeated, and it looks as if

we had lost ground. We understand thatthe result of the late movement of ourtroops was to straighten and shorten thelines.

Feb. 9, 1865.—Oold. On dress paradean order was read that I should enter im-mediately on the duties of regimental mailcarrier.

Feb. 11, 1865.—Pleasant. Helped Sergt.Maj. Robinson on the description lists ofrecruits, yesterday and today. Two days'mail came this evening.

Feb. 13, 1865.—Cold. I collected themail and carried it out to the brigade post-master and had to wait till nearly mid-night for the incoming mail. Fourteenrebs have come into the picket line infront of our corps within tTie last 24 hours.They say their boys wanted them to haveour pickets stick up some white paper if

they got in safely, and their whole regi-ment would come in next Friday, as theywould be on picket again then.

Feb. 14, 1865.^Cold. Today T am givena new musket and equipments and told logo on parades and inspections when it will

not interfere with my other duties. Thisis not so agreeable, but I can afford to doit as long as I escape picket and fatigueduty. No mail tonight.

REBEL DESERTERS COMING TO US.

Feb. 16. 1865.—Received the mail about1 a, m. The poem "Enoch Arden" camefrom home, and sat up till I had read it

thru. The rebs desert to our lines eveiry

day. I spent most of the day sewingstripes onto my pants and mending myclothes.

Feb. 17, 1865.—Rainy. The mail ar-

rived about noon. A heavy detail wentout to work on the fort this morning. Sev-enteen rebs came in to our pickets this

evening and 19 to the pickets of the NinthCorps. They say that 15 or 20 of their

regiment deserted tlie other night, but in-

stead of coming to our lines they started

for Kentucky.Feb. 18, 1865.—Warm and pleasant.

Have been doing writing for Capt. Mer-rill of Co. B and Lieut. Phinney of Co. F.

No mail tonight. Seven rebs came into

our lines in front of our brigade. Theysay the rebs are moving their camps 'back,

and intend to be meddling with us soon.Our "look-out" in the observatory saysthe same.

Feb. 21, 1865.—The frogs are singingmerrily this evening, and it seems quitespring-like. Our regiment received 45 re-cruits this p. m., and we now numbar about400 muskets.

Feb. 22, 1865.—There was various drillstoday at which I was present. We re-ceived orders to be ready to move at arnoment's notice. I brought in the mail alittle past midnig^ht.

Feb. 24, 1865.—Rainy night. Consid-erable firing on the picket line last nig'ht,

and this morning we had the pleasure ofseeing 54 Johnnies marcTi thru our camp.They had come in during the night. Theofficers are practicing the ^

bayonet drill

in the church. No mail tonight.Feb. 25, 1865.—Rainy all day. The de-

serters say their folks are evacuating Pe-tersburg and Richmond. There was shell-

ing on our right in the afternoon. Hadtwo mails today.

Feb. 28, 1865.—Rainy. Have beendoing writing for different officers for thepast few days. There is great cheering onthe rebel picket line, and our boys areyelling, "Come in, Johnny ; come in." Adeserter has since come in and says theyhad a ration of whisky served out to them,which accounts for the cheering.March 1, 1865.—I have been helping

Maj. Sumner on the muster rolls. 1

brought in the mail at 8 p. m. I havebeen lying in my tent tonight, listening to

the bullets whistle over it. It appearsthat the Johnnies are deserting to ourlines and their boys are firing at them,but they are careful to fire high and nothit them.March 3, 1865.—I put in my spare

time writing for the officers. Last night22 Johnnies came into our lines. Therewas smart shooting on their side at_ thetime, but no one was hurt, and they didn't

intend there should be. We are alwaysglad to hear firing on the picket line now,for we know what it means and our pick-

ets do not return the fire.

March 8, 1865.—Warm. Have beendoing writing at regimental headquarters.I am now informed that in future I amto keep the "great book" posted. I com-menced on it today. They keep addingto my work every day. I brought in themail at 9 p. m.March 9, 1865.—There was an unusual

amount of picket firing last night, andthis morning five more rebs passedthrough our camp, bringing their arms andequipments with them. They say we arewhipping them faster now, while lying

quietly in front of them, than ever before.

March 11, 1865.—There was one manshot and another hung for desertion to-

day. Am having trouble with my eye. I

received the mail about midnight.March 14, 1865.—Warm. I have been

98 The National Tribune Bcraf Booh.

sick and excused from duty for the lastthree days. Have been in bed all day.We received orders to be ready to moveat short notice with four days' rations.March 15, 1865.—^Very windy. In the

morning we received orders to appear im-mediately on division review, heavy march-ing order. The boys came back coveredwith dust. The sutlers are moving off

and everything is being packed up for ageneral move.March 16, 1865.—'Very windy. Chim-

neys are tumbling over, and the air is

full of dust. Our boys are tearing up thetrack and taking down the water tank atthis place. We hear that Sheridan'scavalry are this side of the James Riverin this vicinity.

March 18, 1865.—Pleasant. Todaywhile our sharpshooters were out drilling

they shot one of our men here in campand he has since died.

March 21, 1865.—^^Heavy rain storm.Our boys have built a dam here, and wenow have quite a pond. It is getting verymuch like Summer.March 25, 1865.—Pleasant, with some

rain in the afternoon. At 4 a. m, the rebsattacked Fort Hell and took it, but ourfolks immediately retook it, and capturedall the rebs who had muskets in thatdirection ; it was near Meade's Stationand about seven miles from where ourregiment lies. About 8 a. m. we hadorders to strike tents and be ready tomove at once. Soon after cannonadingand musketry commenced near by on ourleft. About noon our regiment moved outthere and were soon engaged with therebel picket line. During the afternoon ourbrigade made two charges under a heavycross fire of artillery and in the face

_of

musketrv. and took the rebel rifle pits.

Another time the rebs charged on them,and by reason of a flank fire drove themback. Between 4 and 5 p. m. we hearda heavy conflict of musketry a couple ofmiles down on our left, and cannonadingall along the line. At night our forceshad gained nearly a mile of ground, andheld their position, but I can't see that it

amounts to much. I was left in campand felt sadly out of place, for never be-fore has my regiment been in battle and I

not been with them. I received the mailand had it all ready to deliver when theregiment came in at 9 p. m. Our iregi-

ment lost five killed and 56 wounded.March 27, 1865.—I am not very well,

and have been in bed most of the day.The rebs attacked our lines down on theright, but it did not amount to rnuch.At the same time they charged our picketline directly in front of us. They gaineda little ground and we expected a battle,

but it amounted to little more thanpicket firing. We hear ttiat Sheridan has

come up here with infantry and 22,000cavalry.March 29, 1865.—Rainy. We hear that

Lieut. Hunter is dead. The General helda council of war at City Point yesterday.In the morning our brigade was orderedto pack up for marchinf^^ but after waitingall day, we spent the night here. TheSecond and Fifth Corps have gone withSheridan to the left. The other brigadesof our corps have not struck tents, but areout drilling.

March 30, 1865.—Warm, rainy day. Wehear cannonading down on our right.

About noon we hear firing off to the left,

which we suppose to be on account of

Sheridan's advance. It is reported thatSheridan has taken the rebel line of

works.April 1, 1865.—Pleasant. At 4 a. m.

we fell in under arms and hardly got in

line when a rapid cannonading was heardabout two miles away.

April 2, 1865.—Our regiment had threekilled and 25 or 30 wounded in the rowtoday.

April 3, 1865.—Pleasant. I left campabout 8 a. m. and joined the regiment atnoon. We matrched till 4 p. m., and wentinto camp.

April 4, 1865.—We moved at 7 a. m.,passing squads of prisoners and capturedguns. We encamped about 10 p. m., hav-ing marched about 12 miles.

April 5, 1865.—Pleasant. We marchedat a quick pace from 5 to 9 a. m. andhalted. When we started again I threwaway my rubber and woolen blankets.We marched two hours without stoppingthrough a miserably muddy country, halteda short time in the afternoon and thenmarched till 7 p. m. and camped. Wehear that a brigade of rebs gave them-selves up to our cavalry, and that Sheri-dan has captured and burned a large por-tion of their wagon trains.

April 6, 1865.—Cool. We marched at7 a. m., circling around till we halted" atnoon, just where we started from in themorning. The pack mules move in the rear,and today I led one of them for the firsttime, so as to get my load along a little

easier, but I didn't make much by it, asI was obliged to wade in the mud up tomy knees. In the afternoon we passed a vil-lage where there had been a fight. Therewere two lines of breastworks. About 5p. m. we came up with the First and ThirdDivisions engaged with the rebs. Wedrove them on, but the First Division wasbadly cut up. We pursued them three orfour miles, and captured a long line ofsupply wagons loaded with potatoes, mo-lasses, bacon, etc., which was very accep-table. We encamned at 8 p. m. wMth therebs just ahead of us.

April 7, 1865.—Cold and rainy. We,


started at 9 a. m. and marched till 3p. m. and halted. We passed the scene ofan encounter and saw some of our menlying dead. We crossed the railroad atRice's Station and came in sight of a longbridge on fire, but it was soon put out.We passed many burning wagons. Soonafter we halted the cavalry had a fight.

We hear that Gen. Thomas has takenLynchburg, and that Gen. Lee proposedto surrender when we came upon him sounexpectedly. We moved across the riverafter dark anvl camped.

April 8, 1865.—Pleasant. All was quietand we did not turn out till after sunrise.Vve marched at noon and appear to betrain-guard. Gen. Lee sent in a flag of trucetoday, to know on what condition he couldsurrender. He was answered "Uncondi-tionally." It did not suit him, so he trav-eled. We are after him. We passedabout 100 wagons and a great amount ofstores on fire. We camped at 4 p. m.,having marched about 12 miles. We cap-tured eight cannon and some wagons this

afternoon that were stuck in the mud.April 9, 1865.—We marched from 5 a.

m. till 2 p. m., when we came up withLee's army. The Second Corps was in ad-vance of us, and had an engagement whilomoving. About 3 p. m. came a flag of

truce, and soon after it was rumored thatLee had surrendered. About 5 we wereofficially informed that Lee had surren-dered his army. There were five corps ofus and the air was immediately filled

with hats ; the cheering was tremendous,the batteries fired salutes and there was ageneral high time of rejoicing.

April 10, 1865.—Rainy. I am quitesick and obliged to keep quiet all day. Atnight I found myself so weak that it wasall I could do to collect and carry themail. Sent letter home.

April 11, 1865.—Rained most all day.It is with much difficulty that I can walkthis morning. The doctor came to see meand gave me a pass to ride in the ambu-lance. Someone carried my things to theroad for me. We commenced movingback at 7 a. m. and went 20 miles overa miserable road, and encamped about .5

p. m. I have eaten nothing all day, butfind myself much better and stronger to-

night.April 12. 1865.—Cloudy. I felt pretty

well this morning. I got my knapsackcarried on a mule and managed to keep\\r\ with the regiment. It was an easymarch, but hard for me.

April 13, 1865.—Rainy. At 7 a. m. wemoved about a mile, and then waited aboutthree hours for bridges to be built, andafter all waded knee deep in water tocross the river. We marched rapidly in

the afternoon and reached the Junctionabout 4, where I saw N. P. Downing. A

couple of miles farther on we camped. At8 p. m. I received nine days' mail, and it

took till past midnight to assort and dis-tribute it.

April 20, 1865.—Warm, with showers.Toward night we received news officially

that Johnston had surrendered his army.The First Brigade of the First Division ofour Corps had an illumination. They hadcandles burning on each end of their tentsand on the pine trees.

April 23, 1865.—This was a cool, windyday for marching. I threw away myblanket in the morning, and came intocamp without any. We marched on therailroad most of the day, and made about20 miles. We camped about 6 p. m.near Burkesville.

April 24, 1865.—Quite cold. We marchedabout 20 miles today and passed many fine

residences. This part of the country is

much better than that we passed throughyesterday. We marched on the railroadpart of the way, some along where ourcavalry tore up the track. We camped at5 p. m. near a river, and laid a pontoonbridge the first part of the night.

April 25, 1865.—Cold. We moved at7 a. m., but made little progress thefirst few hours. We crossed the river,

and five miles farther on came to a vil-

lage called Mt. Laurel. We are now in

Halifax Co. We marched 16 miles andthe hardest march since we started.

April 26, 1865.—Warm. We starteda.bout 7 a. m., crossed the river to a little

village called Boston, and soon after passeda courthouse, from which our colors wereflying. We marched about 25 miles andcamped.

April 27, 1865.—We marched beforedaylight, our brigade leading. We crossedthe Dan River at 11 a. m., and foundourselves in Danville, having marched 17miles in five hours. We have had goodmarching weather for the last five 'Jays,

and have come about 110 miles. On en-tering the city three regiments were imme-diately posted as guard along the streets.Lieut.-Col. Fletcher is Provost Marshalof the place. The Color Guard, Serg't-Maj. Sturdy and myself, occupy the city

hall and rooms attached. Our colors arehoisted over the hall. The citizens areglad to see us, as they had been badlytreated by their own soldiers. A fewhours after we reached here a little papercalled "The Sixth Corps" was issued. It

only had one pa""'^ but sold readily for

25 cents a copy.April 28, 1865.—Pleasant. I went

down to the river and had a good swim,and washed my clothes. I visited one of

the to^bacco warehouses that had beenused for a prison. Danville must havebeen a thriving place once.

May 9, ^b.,o.—Have been busy for the

100 The National Tribune Scrap Book,

past ten days doing writing for the officers.

The Colonel wanted me to work in theProvost Marshal's office, but I have beenengaged by the sutler. Jay Harmon andI now mess together. We have a negrocook and live high.May 16, 1865.—It has been rather dull

in camp for the past week. The Third Di-vision of our Corps moved this morning.They took cars for Alexandria. We ex-pect to move in a few days.May 18, 1865.—We had a small tor-

nado today. I took down the sutler's

tent this A. M., and moved the goodsdown town. I have orders to take nomore mail. In the evening I went to seeMr. Broom, the sutler, who paid me liber-

ally for the ten days I have worked forhim.

iviay 20, I860.—Heavy showers. I paidmy negro for the time he has 'been withme, gave him some old clothes and dishes,

and dismissed him. We broke camp at 2p. m., took the cars at Danville, but madeslow progress.May 21, 1865.—We reacher Burkesville

Junction at 7 a. m. One of the boysslipped under the cars and had his leg

smashed. We reached Manchester at 1

p. m., moved a mile back from the river

and camped. I had a good view of Rich-mond today for the first time, though I

have seen the church spires before, underother conditions.May 23, 1865.—Yesterday I went to

Richmond. I visited the Capitol, Jefif

Davis's house, now Gen. Halleck's head-quarters, Libby Prison, and examined theunderground tunnel through which some ofthe prisoners escaped. Castle Thunder,and other places of less note. I did notfind Richmond such a mean and sunkenplace as I have heard it called. It is apretty city, and much larger than I ex-pected to find it. It is situated on a rangeof hills, or rather on a highland, thougha portion of the business part of the city

is on a flat by the river. It does not lookas if it had suffered much from the war,except by the fire the rebs set before theyleft, and which consumed a greater partof the business portion of the city.

May 24, 1865.^Cool. We marched at

6 a. m. but did not cross the river till

nearly noon. We passed through Rich-mond and camped near Hanover C. H. at

9 p. m., having marched 20 miles. Theearthworks here are not as strong as I

expected there were, and not so many of

them.May 25, 1865.—Warm. We started at

6 a. m., and at 8 crassed the PamunkeyRiver on pontoons. Soon after we gotoff the road and went some four or five

miles out of our way, which didn't pleaseus very much. We encamped about 2

p. m. Some of the boys were overcomewith the heat today.

i»lay 26, 1865.—It rained in torrents to-

day. We moved about 9 a. m. and ourregiment led the corps ; marched 10 milesand camped. The first thing was to pitch .

tents; the next was to strip off shirts,pants, drawers and everything and wi'ingout the water, after which we could getabout more easily to cook our dinner.May 28, 1865.—It has cleared off and

is a good day to march. Our brigademoved at 10 a. m., crossed the Mat River,the Ta River, and halted for dinner. Wecrossed Po River at 3 p. m., and a milefarther crossed the Ny River ; fourbranches that unite and form tfie Matta-pony River. We camped three miles fromFredericksburg.May 29, 1865.—A beautiful day. We

moved at 6 a. m. and camped on Cem-etery Hill, where the 7th Maine oncemade a charge. I got a pass and wentinto town for information about mail.May 30, 1865.—Hot day. We marched

at 5 a. m., passed through Fredericksburgand crossed the Rappahannock on pon-toons. We crossed Potomac Creek and en-camped at 3 p. m. on the south edge ofPrince William Co., having marched 15miles.May 31, 1865.—Hot ^ay. Our brigade

leads the corps today. We found goodroads and they were shady most of theway. We marched 15 miles, and encampednear Fairfax Station. I am very tiredand almost sick.

June 1, 1865.—Hot day. Our briirade

is in the rear today. We started about7, but made slow progress. Passed Wo-'fShoals, Bull Run, halted an hour, thenmarched seven miles and went into camp.I received and distributed five days' maii.June 2, 1865.—Very hot day. We

moved at 6 a. m., passed by Fairfaxabout a mile from where we had en-camped, and reached Bailey's Crossroadsat 11 a. m., but as other corps had takenup the ground in that vicinity we went ontwo miles farther and camped near astream where the Fifth Corps were lying.

This is a beautiful farming country. I

received another five days' mail, which is

all that is due. Two Captains were dis-

honorably dischairsred and their swordsbroken in the presence of their brigadetoday.June 3, 1865.—Ho<c day. We are near

Bailey's Crossroads, and have been verybusy making tents and policing thegrounds. We have to go some distance fortent poles. The Fifth Corps had not med-dled with the fences here, but we had notbeen in camp 15 minutes till they had all

been confiscated.June 8, 1865.—Very warm and oppres-


sive. The Sixth Corps was reviewed atWashington, but the unarmed men did nothave to go ; they had a hard day's workof it. The Maine State Agency furnisheda collation for the 1st Maine Regiment.

June 11, 1865.—Pleasant. Ouir Chap-lain, Colimore Purington, of Aroostook,Me., preached his fairewell sermon today.June 19, 1865.—The "two year men" of

our regiment have been mustered out, andstarted for home today.

June 21, 1865.—A pair of boxing gloveswere brought into the regiment and theboys are having a good deal of sport wiiuthem. Some of the Third Division were cele-brating their "muster out" till midnight.There were about 100 of them with can-dles stuck in their muskets for torches,marching with drum corps music. Atmidnight the drummers beat the ireveille

to turn out the "happy ones" to getready to march to Washington and takethe cars for home.June 25, 1865.—Warm. Our brigade

was in for an illumination last night, andhad their tents decorated with candles.There was a torch-light Drocession andmuch cheering. We moved about twomiles this morning, and I pitched my tentin a good location, but the flies were fierce

June 27, 1865.—Have been working at

brigade headquarters helping make mus-ter rolls and discharge papers.

June 28, 1865.—Very warm day. Ourregiment was mustered out of the U. S.service at division headquarters at 3 p.m. Thank God. I am once more a citizen.June 29, 1865.—Very warm. We turned

out at 3 a. m. and our brigade moved at5. We took breakfast at the Soldiers' Re-treat, and afterwards received a fewcrackers and some cheese from the StateAid Society. We took the cars and leftWashington at noon.June 30, 1865.—Pleasant. We reached

Philadelphia at 3 a. m. Marched acrossthe city and took a good breakfast atCooper Shop Refreshment Saloon. Weleft the city at 7 a. m. and reached NewYork at 4 p. m. and went on board thesteamer Galatea.

July 2, 1865.—Rainy day. We had agood breakfast in Portland and reachedCamp Preble a little after daybreak.

July 3, 1865.—Beautiful day. I startedearly in the morning, went to the city, andgot transportation to Lewiston, where I

arrived in the afternoon. Walked outhome to Minot. Thank God, the war is

over and I am at home again.July 6, 1865.—I went back to Camp

Preble, where our regiment was paid off,

and received my discharge. I served theUnited States four years, six months andnine days, and received for that service$1,465.75 and my board and clothes.

No Snail Pace for Sherman.

By J. D. Calehan, Staff Lieutenant Commanding Provost Guard, First Division, SixthArmy Corps, Dubuque, Iowa.

Father Sherman, a Catholic priest and ason of Gen. W. T. Sherman, in an inter-

view printed in the Chicago Record-Herald,among other things about Gen. Sheridan'sstarting for the front at Winchester, said

:

"The poem, 'Sheridan's Ride,' gives afalse impression concerning the details of

the historic feat accomplished by the greatcivil war leader. The facts are that Gen,Sheridan had returned from Washingtonjust prior to the battle and found his mentwo or three miles away. He reached thetown at 10 o'clock at night and slept late

the next morning. He awoke at the soundof artillery fire, and, after starting towardthe front, rode his horse at a snail's pace."

It seems strange that a man of FatherSherman's standing would utter such anabsurditv. The idea that Gen. Sheridanwould go at a "snail's pace" when there

was excitement in the air, and that he"found his men two or three miles away!"As I made the same ride the same day, butan hour or two behind the General, I can

say that he found his men (Sixth Corps)in line of battle, over 13 miles away. Somesix or eight miles from Winchester therewere a great many stragglers going to therear, but they were not the men meant bythe author of "Sheridan's Ride." In myopinion, and I have expressed it on all ap-propriate occasions, our gallant Generalwas equivalent to a reinforcement of 5,000men that day. I was at that time on dutyat headquarters. First Division, SixthCorps. I rode to Winchester the day be-

fore to visit a friend and comrade and wasback at my post by 11 o'clock on the 19th,

and had the honor of carrying a messageto Gen. Frank Wheaton, commanding the

First Division, Sixth Corps, from Gen.Sheridan, who passed in rear of our di-

vision on his return from the right, wherehe directed Gen. Crook to "Sail in andpush Early up the Valley." The order to

Gen. Wheaton was to advance his division

at once, as Crook was around on the right

and we must push them, and we did.

The Early Days of the War; a Retrospect.

By J. C. M. Hamilton, 110th Pa.. Beaver Falls, Pa.

I have often thought that the old sol-

diers of the Northern army had beforethem a duty quite in keeping with thegreat task which they completed at Ap-pomattox. That is, in so presenting tothe rising generations the conditions mthe country at the outbreak of the civil

war and the real motives of those whocomposed that wonderful army that foughtthe battles for the Nation's existence.And no better method exists than for thesoldiers themselves to speak.

I have been amazed at the greed withwhich our young listen to the interest-ing stories of the trials the men of thosedays endured. Of course, I know TheNational Tribune has been and is still

doing a noble work, and may the Lordbless it, but it fails to reach many whoought to know. There is a something thatneeds to be built into the fabric of theyouth of this Republic that can only bedone by the newspaper press, and that is

a reverence for our institutions ; somethingthat ennobles the character, making it

strong, heroic and steadfast ; somethingthat will make our youth look at andimitate the virtues and strength displayedby our ancestry.We of the Northern States have been

very remiss in an important duty. Wehave allowed cranks to creep into thebody politic with various theories andpanaceas. Nearly the whole people havebeen turned 'into a huge machine. Theyhave become so wedded to the capitalis-tic idea of progress, that the older peoplehave forgotten what the younger classnever knew, and what the most of themhave scarcely ever heard of, because it is

not printed where they can read it;

namely, the daily papers or monthly orweekly magazines, which educated peopleare pleased to class asi higher literature.These publications, or some of them,when they come to treat of the men in theranks, wilfully traduce in some form ormanner the motives of those who gavetheir all to save the country, making It

appear as if the soldier who was killedwas the only good soldier, and worthy of

their tears, and those who escaped withtheir lives are simply sharks, living to

bleed the Treasury.

This sort of stuff is daily thrust intothe hands of our youth to read, and evenour school histories are tinctured with thesame ideas. The writers of the presentday know nothing about the darkest daysin our Nation's life, nor of the genuineprinciple of self-sacrifice to save it thatenthused the young men and maidens dur-ing civil war days. They judge the mo-tives of the patriots of those days by theself-seeking lust that controls today, acondition due largely to two causes, viz,

the desire for great wealth and firm ideasabsorbed in foreign lands by those whotravel and ape the principles of thosecountries in which are submerged thepoorest peoples that they may exploit theirown wealth. They forget that they wouldhave been no wealthy country to kill timein had it not been for the sincerity ofthose principles that were the life of thegreat majority—^then—that enabled themto unite into a cohesive, compact, irresist-

able body throughout the North to savethe Nation's life.

A short time ago I had a conversationwith several young people regarding themotives which carried so many of ouryouth into the army. I was perfectly as-tonished at the lack of knowledge andgross ignorance of almost all, and it wasa fairly representative body of whatmight be termed the better educated ofthat community. They had no comprehen-sion of the services rendered by the sol-

diers during the civil war period. Scarce-ly one of the number, and they werenearly all college educated, and had stud-ied the historical facts as taught in theirvarious schools, but tinged or colored tosuit the whim of the teacher who in-

structed them.Some of them believed that the stories

which have been written or those whichthey have listened to relative to those try-ing days as to what the soldiers did orendured were in part imaginary. Ofcourse, they admitted a little truth hadbeen mixed in the romances. I wascharged with coloring the facts and statedincidents of personal knowledge whichwere even mild, in comparison witji oth.ors

which we endured in those perilous days,without a murmur. One of the parties, a

102

The National Tribune Sciap Book. 103

prominent minister, less than 40 years of

age, and of foreign birth, and had neverstudied the history of those times, norpartaking of the spirit of patriotism thatgrows from good seed if properly sownon youthful minds.

Most of my young friends had been led

to believe it was a picnic for most of us,

to which men rushed hustling and jostling

each other to get there, just like a crowdof boys will knock one another down toget ahead to see the champion prize

fighter or a leading baseball player. Oneactually had the idea that the soldiers of'61-'65 went to obtain the bounties of-

fered, which he believed were giventhroughout the entire period ; or else to

get on the prospective pension roll to en-

joy the munificent stipend doled out bythe iGovernment. I examined carefullythe cause of such gross ignorance, andfound it to be largely the result of wantof knowledge and of the inroads whichforeign immigration was making, as well

as the results of so much foreign travelthat has helped to destroy the reverencefor our institutions in those who travel,

and also in their descendants, as well asthe thousands whom they influence, sup-planting patriotism with the selfish andunhealthy pride of Europe, that seeksself gratification, regardless of those whosuffer.

The continual onslaught on the lit-

tle dribs of pensions that the men re-

ceive who yet survive has much of its in-

spiration from the same source. Thismoney idea falls on willing ears, especial-

ly the young editors who have traveledSouth and seem to know it all, and onwhose shoulders they think the destiny of

this Republic rests.

Another thing, the teaching in respectto bottom facts relating to the causes of

the civil war, as well as to the valor of

those engaged, have been colored to favorthe sentiment of the enemies of the coun-try in those days. Writers and lecturers

of the South and those of the North, andtheir followers, who have been tincturedby that element are incapable of seeingwhat they owe the men who saved theNation's life. It is all right to die for

one's country or be maimed for life, orconstitutionally weakened, and then as

long as life lasts find that even our neigh-

bor has been taught to look upon us asliving off the charity of the Nation wehelped to make. Some who charge uswith such baseness have places to live in

comfort and peace, while we lost our op-

portunity to start with them on the roadto success at the very time in life^ whenthe foundation of temporal success is laid.

After the above conversation, I askedseveral of our daily papers to open their

columns for articles that would give the

actual incidents, as observed by the menin the ranks, as well as picture the na-ture of our service and what we werecompelled to endure ; but all declaredthey had no room for such matter.

True, articles such as I speak of maynot be written so acutely, or with thatliterary cleverness that some of the edi-

torial writers of the present day employ.But, unfortunately for the people, suchwriters know nothing about what thepeople ought to know in respect to whatI speak of. People can read the historyof battles whether written correctly ornot, but personal and important incidentsare only known to the men. It is a goodthing we have The National Tribune, thathas done such noble work and stands everready to do more. What we need is thestories of the men themselves, and fromthem the motives and actions of life canbe measured. Now, I will give some in-

cidents.

During the latter part of 1861 and theearly part of 1862, Gen. T. W. Landerhad charge of operations on the upper Po-tomac. With the exception of wanderingbands, which now and then invaded thatsection, frequently doing much damageduring their raids. The Confederatearmy never occupied that portion of west-ern Virginia long at any one time after-ward. On Jan. 1, 1862, the rebel Gen.Jackson, in command at Winchester, leftthat place, marching a body of troops,about 18,000 men to near Bath, strikinga small force of Union troops that occu-pied the place. This command consistedof the 13th Ind.—whose Colonel, NathanKimball, was in command of post—the39th 111. and two companies of the8th 111. Cav. The 84th Pa., a regi-ment that had been organized atthe same time and camp in which myown regiment was, and was armed thatsame day, joined Kimball's forces at aboutthe time Jackson's column struck his out-posts. The Union forces, after consider-able skirmishing, in which they lost 20 ormore men, were driven back across tlie

Potomac to Hancock, Md.The 110th Pa., my own regiment, had

been organized at Camp Grossman, nearthe town of Huntingdon, Pa., duringAugust and September, 1861 ; but, theGovernment being unable to secure arms,we had remained unarmed. The 84th andour regiment left camp on Nov. 29, goingto Camp Curtin, at Harrisburg, where weremained, drilling, until the last day ofDecember. On that day we received ourflag, which was presented to us in front ofthe State House in a patriotic speech byGov. Curtin. The next day we boarded atrain of box ears that had brought cattle

and hogs from the West. They did nottake the care those times to keep the sol-

104 The National Tribune Scraf Booh,

diers' sleeping cars in as perfect order asnowadays. Much of the offal of the cat-tle and hogs was left in the cars, a factwe did not know, for we crowded aboardin the dark, and the cars were not sweetsmelling.

Next morning, at Hagerstown, Md., welaid over one day. Prom thence wemarched 36 miles, to Hancock, arrivingabout midnight, just after fighting hadceased. Gen. Lander arrived at near thesame time we did, coming from the West,accompanied by his staff and a small es-

cort of cavalry. The guns for arming ourregiment had been shipped from Wash-ington a short time before, coming in acanalboat. They were issued to us full

of tallow, having been packed and ship-

ped across the ocean from Belgium in thatcondition.

Imagine our plig-ht. Coming, as it were,from home, there having been little fight-

ing done by any of the soldiers that hadI)receded us and were well armed, whilewe were now approaching, in the night of

our first day's march, a battlefield, thelast 11 miles in the darkness ; the roarof cannon could be distinctly heard andthe flash of light from each dischargeplainly seen on the sky above. Snowthat had fallen the night before covered '

that mountain region several inches in

depth, and the weather was becoming cold,

the constant blasts cutting thru our cloth-ing, causing much suffering. Then, again,we were loaded down with little trinkets,

the presents of dear ones before leavinghome.When we came within a couple of miles

of Hancock we met men, women andchildren—^^the citizens of the town—strag-gling along the road in the snow, havingbeen driven from their homes by the shells

of the enemy. I don't believe they werea whit more scared than were we. Itwas for us a very sudden and unexpectedbaptism of war, and possibly as uniquean experience as any troops on enteringthe army during the war. Next morningGen, Ashby brought over a flag of truce,demanding our surrender, while we werereceiving and cleaning our guns. Thiswork we had to do by building fires in

the streets and melting the tallow out of

them. At this time, across the river,_in

plain view we could see the enemy placingcannon in position to open on us. Ashbywas blindfolded at the river's edge andmarched to and from Lander's headquar-ters through our midst. He was a fine-

looking man.My company, being detached from the

regiment, followed him to the river's

edge, where we entered a large brick ware-house that stood on the bank of -the canal,at the fording of the river. In the build-ing we found 35 barrels of whisky, which

the Captain had placed on an elevatorand ordered hoisted to the floor above. '

With picks and crowbars we dug loop-holes through the brick walls, to guardthe fording. I met a comrade recentlywho told me the same holes remained inthe old warehouse today that we dug ageneration ago,

Jackson, thru Ashby, had warned Lan-der that if he would not surrender thetown, he should order the women andchildren out before 2 o'clock, for at thathour he would open on us. About a halfhour before 2 a couple of young menof our company, who had been studyingfor the ministry before the war brokeout, persuaded the captain to call the com-pany together in line along the corridorand spend the time in holding a prayermeeting. I was detailed as one of thelookouts to watch the enemy. Promptlyat 2—a puff of blue smoke from the mid-dle gun of a battery arose above it. I

cried out "They have opened !'* Thenext moment a shell exploded about 15feet above the building over our head, I

venture that no one ever saw a prayermeeting break up quicker than that onedid,

Jackson's men failed to get their JDridgecompleted, that his men were building,about a mile or so above the town, so hecould not cross that night. During thenight we were largely reinforced, so Jack-son thought it would not be safe to try thenext day. He then set his army in motionfor Romney. As a consequence we startedin the night for Cumberland, about 50miles west, and entered the next eveningat 5 o'clock. Many of our men had fallen,

exhausted, along the way, as we hadseven mountains and high places to crossand rough roads. Most of the night themarch was in the midst of a cold, drench-ing rain.

We were in a bad fix. Of our Belgianrifles not one out of 10 could be fired at

all. The pivot hole was too small to ad-mit the large grains of the Ameirican-made cartridge. In order to correct thedefect we were left a couple of weeks in

camp at Cumberland, while a gunsmithwent over the guns, enlarging the hole.

In the midst of a deep snow we left Cum-berland, the last week of January. Mycompany and Co. G went ahead on ascouting expedition. Our course led us

along the top of one of the highest andmost bleak mountain ranges in all that re-

gion, and was one of the most trying or-

deals we endured during the four longyears of war. Perhaps it was so felt,

being early in our experience. The snowwas deep and unbroken, and the weatherwas bitterly cold. We dare not stop or

build a fire, because our business was to

find out the location of Jackson's army and


its numbers by noting the extent of thecamp fires.

In the first week of February, 18G2,Lander began the movement that droveJackson out of that part of West Vir-ginia and permitted the reopening of theBaltimore & Ohio Railroad that had beenclosed since the Spring of 1861. Myregiment w^as run dovrn to the SouthBranch bridge on a train of cars, and mycompany crossed over on a narrow plankcovered with ice. At about midnight wepicketed the opposite side while the rearof the regiment carried planks for the en-gineers to cover the bridges, so that thearmy that marched down that night couldcross over next morning. The army movedout toward Romney, Springfield andMerrifield, and my regiment was left atthe bridge and French's store, as guardsfor bridge and stores.

While this movement was taking placeLander's scouts discovered a body of theenemy encamped in Bloomington Gap, alarge wagon train being parked near, andwhich was being stored with provisionsforaged from the surrounding country.Lander determined to capture that train,

and ordered us to join him by rapidmarch, designating the time and place.We were compelled to march by anotherroute than the one by which the Generaland staff had gone. He was unacquaint-ed with the difficulties that lay before us.

About a week before this a warm ra'nfell, melting the snow off rapidly, followedby extremely warm weather for the timeof year, taking the frost from the groundand leaving the surface a perfect quagmire.It happened that as we approached themountain range there lay before us awide, low flat that we had to cross. It

seemed as if the bottom had fallen oat•of it as soon as our feet touched it. Forthree hours we toiled and struggled in ourefforts to get through. We waded, floun-

•dered, men falling again and again in

that terrible mire. Some of the men hadtheir shoes pulled off their feet and werecompelled to dive into the mud with their

"hands and arms in search of their foot-

wear. Even when found it was a diffi-

cult matter to withdraw them from thesticky stuff. Officers on horseback wereeven worse off than the men on foot, be-

ing compelled to dismount^from their

stranded steeds and wade with the rest

of us. One or two of the horses had to

be abandoned and shot. It was not until

near sundown that our feet touched higherand more solid ground at the foot of the

mountain.Nearly all the time we were toiling and

struggling to get thru that awful quag-mire Gen. Lander was fretting and fum-ing, almost wild with rage, because we did

not appear when and where we had been

ordered. He finally lost his patience andwith his staff, escort and one man be-longing to a regiment of cavalry that re-fused to make the charge with him, at-tacked the rebel camp, capturing 160wagons, 900 mules, 16 commissioned offi-cers, and 65 enlisted men, including alarge quantity of provisions and forage,totally destroying and scattering the ene-my's command.For the bravery of the young man who

loft his comrades who had refused tocharge—Lander promoted him to a FirstLieutenancy on the field. I have forgottenthe young man's name. I do not mentionthe regiment's number because it was notthe men's fault as much as their officer's.The regiment as a whole was as brave asany in the army.

Gen. Lander proved himself to be oneof the bravest and most intrepid of men,none were more so, and had he lived thegalaxy of the Nation's immortals wouldhave held fewer names higher on the scrollof fame than that of Frederick W. Lan-der. In less than three weeks followingthe above event the entire division bow-ed with grief, followed his funeral trainwith reversed arms, marching to the muf*fled drumbeat, as his body was sent awayto its last resting place. The UnionArmy lost a great man, the Nationburied a hero, cut down at the very timethe country needed him. In after daysthe death of a great or a brave man wasonly an incident.When our muddy march ended it was

growing dark. We arrived then at themountain top where we bivouacked forthe night in some fields. A more woe-begone lot of men than we that eveningwould be hard to find. After our sol-dier's supper of hardtack and coffee, wesought places to sleep. Such things asshelter tents or gun blankets were thenunknown among us, and we had not seenour Sibly tents since we left Cumberlandin January. It was now the middle ofFebruary. We sought such shelter as wecould find, and this was to lie down onthe snow or wet, frozen earth, as best wecould. We drew the capes of our blueovercoats over our heads, and with ourknapsacks for pillows we wrapped ourwoolen blankets around us and lay downon the cold earth. During the eveningthe wind had turned cutting cold, crust-ing the ground hard and in many casesfreezing our clothes fast to it.

I awakened shortly—so I thought

—

after lying down. I was very tired andstiff, and slept much longer and moresoundly than I had any idea of; for whenI awakened I felt warm and comforta-ble. Everything was quiet, but my blan-ket was heavy. I stretched myself outfull length, when an avalanche of snow


come tumbling into my face and aroundmy neck. On jumping to my feet i

found it was breaking day and that dur-ing the night over a foot of snow hadfallen. It was a strange, yet beautifulsight that met the gaze of those who first

awoke. For covering the ground in all di-

rections lay little hillocks of snow, eachone containing one or more sleeping men.At the head of each could be seen an air

hole melted through the snowy mantleby the breath of the sleeper beneath.

The wind arose with the coming day-light—a perfect blizzard sweeping acrossthe mountain top, uncovering the menand awaking all who were the least ex-posed to its blasts. As soon as possibleevery ax carried by the regiment was in

use felling the pine trees which composedthe surrounding forest, with which webuilt big fires to keep from freezing, asthe wind was strong and the cold severe.A mound of snow lay yet undisturbed nearheadquarters of my company. Some ofthe boys aroused it. When the occupantjumped to his feet, pulling the snowfrom his eyes, ears and neck, there stoodbefore us a scared darkey, as black ascoal. We gathered about him, trying to

find out who he was and where he camefrom. But the only thing we worriedout of him was his name, "Presley.Don't got no udder ; my Massa say datam a nuff fer a nigger."

It was now getting so fearfully coldthat we soon forgot all about our darkey.We had to keep close to the fire. Whilethe side next to it would nearly burn, theother would freeze. We had to keep con-stantly piling on fresh wood and turningaround. The logs being green jade-pine, the smoke cut and smarted our lungsand eyes like lye. If the day had beenbad the night came on tenfold worse.The sweep of the wind came in such fierce

blasts that it was impossible to lie downor think of sleeping. It must have beenfully an hour after midnight, with thewind howling, shrieking, drifting thesnow, piling every little recess full, andmaking desperate efforts to uproot theforest, when, from out of the midst of thestorm came every now and then faintsounds of music, but so indistinct that wecould not tell the direction whence it

came. With every lull in the wind therecame faint, soft, mellow tones, a kind ofweird melody. It so affected the men thatthe faint-hearted began to get uneasy,thinking it superhuman, while all wereamazed at it, wondering where it camefrom and what it was, coming as it didseemingly with the storm. How long it

was after we first heard it I cannot tell,

but finally a lull in the wind brought to

us direct the strains from behind a large

stump that stood at the edge of the woods.The boys made a dash for that stump,

pulling out from behind it and from be-neath the drifting snow Presley and hisbanjo. We forgot all about the cold aswe led the half-frozen black-skinned mu-sician to the fire, where we thawed himout. On questioning him we learned hehad not come to the fire lest we informon him, thus betraying him to his

"massa," for whom he had a peculiardread. "Where do you live?" some oneasked him."On de Souf Branch.""What made you go to the woods and

stay there playing the banjo?""I was feerd I'd freeze and had to do

somefin'."After he had thawed out the soldiers

asked him to play for them, but he wouldnot do so. Finally the Captain said tohim

:

"Do you want to become my cook, andcarry my luggage?"

His eyes almost jumped out of his headas he cried

:

"Ob cose I does, Massa ; hit am gis watI comes fo'—de good ob de cause. But,,

den, if I goes, yo' wan't let ole Massakutch me, will ye? No? Den I'se a-gwyne, shuah."

"Play some for us, now," said theCaptain.

Thr-r-r-um went bis fingers on thestrings. At this writing it is over 44years since then. I have heard manyfine banjoists since that time, but I neverhave heard the banjo played with a moredelicate touch or with a sweeter melodythan Presley played it that cold night, upin the mountains. The first touch of thestrings, as he ran his fingers across themwas a plaintive wail. Then by someinstinct natural to him he caught thesound of the storm, until every sweepof his fingers was a blast of the wiud^with an intermede of fearful shrieks -orlow sighing murmur, like its moan as it

cuts through the pine leaves—that pecu-liar wail so agonizing when the windsweeps through a pine forest during win-try weather. Step by step he ran upto the highest of the octaves—;-then his

tones died down as the storm dies. Thestrings of his banjo told the story ofthe storm over again. Then followingthe storm with a sweet pure tenor voicewith a pathos all his own, he sang onesong after another until we forgot ourmisery and the cold. I shall never forgetthe effect the first one he sang had onthe men. How they shouted and clappec?their hands. Only two lines of the re •

fraln remain dimly in my mind now:"When I go-es a sailin' into glory.On dem ole" banjo strings."


The whole song was quite touchingfrom the slave's point of view. Poetry,such as it was, among the slaves of theSouth seemed natural to him. He caughtmelody and rung in almost every objectof sight. I can only recall a line hereand there of songs he often sung for us.

"Don' yo' hea de rain am a fallin'?Don' yo' hea' de patta on de roof?Dinah mad.Mose, git up dar, yo' lazy nigger,Don' yo' hea' me a callin' yo?Don't yo' hear de wata a-drappin'A-drappin', drappin' on de flo',

Ober dar by de cella do'?A-drappin', drappin' on de flo'?

Ya-as, rite dar, yo' lazy nigger

;

Now hit's drappin' on de pickaninny,Dar by de cella do'.

Chorus—"At de cella do' a-drappin'A-drappin', drappin' on de flo."—etc.

Another he sang, the boys used to say,was enough to turn vinegar sweet.

"Do-es yo' see dat lump of kalikerDancin' ober dar, on de flo.

Don't I lub it? She's a skrumpsion,Dat lump of kaliker nea' de do."

Chorus—"Don't I lub it?"—etc.

This was followed by the imitation ofa kiss so perfect you could imagine it

real. He closed with one, I wish I couldrecall the whole of it. It was so touch-ing and tender. This one verse is all I

can remember

:

^'My heart went out when Melissa died.In my ear, eber sin' dat day I hea,"Soft an low, a-singin', singin' bery nea,'De angels, day's a-callin' dea' honey, don't

fea,

Melissa am a-waitin' for yo' ober hea."

Refrain—^^Soft and low, etc.He explained that he "made dat song

hisself." It was composed in memory ofhis early and only love that had been lost

to him by the cruel selling of Melissato a master, whose brutal treatment droveher to suicide by drowning in a river.

He never sang that song that he did notend in tears, and that morning was noexception—even with his audience.

Presley remained with us the rest ofthe winter. When we broke camp atPaupau and started on the early Springcampaign, March 1, 1862, under commandof Gen. James Shields, we did possiblyas much hard campaigning as was done"by any troops during the war. Duringthe times of our long, weary marches wefought two battles, winning the first

great victory in the East, that of Win-

chester, fought on 'March 23, 1862, andtwo brigades of us being almost annihi-lated at the battle of Port Republic onJune 9, following, and fighting manyminer engagements in the meantime.Through them all, and during all our longmarches, Presley was always on hand, andif there was but one happy, jolly soul, it

was he. In camp he was the same merry,joyous boy. Many times when in bivouacafter a long, muddy march, he eitherplayed or sung some of us to sleep. Itseemed no difference how tired he was,it would disappear providing he could gettuning up his old banjo. He must havebeen about 30 years of age. He wasnever absent a day from the time hejoined us.

The morning after the battle of CedarMountain we had been during the nighttoo far in advance of the line of battle,and were withdrawn nearly half a mileand reformed to correspond with the regu-lar line, taking position in a field undercover of a slight elevation. Presleybrought the oflScers' breakfast to them.As soon as he came up it was noted bysome that there wos something wrongwith him. Not that he showed any morefear than formerly, but it was easilyseen he was not the same Presley. Hewas silent, and had a peculiar look abouthis eyes. It was in the motions of his

body, an indefinable something one feelsrather than sees. I cannot describe howor what it is, or why it shows itself in

some persons and not in others, on whomdeath has set its mark. Should I beasked in what it consists, I would haveto say it is a something fugitive, yet it ap-pears sometimes as a far-off look, backof which one can discern the tremblingsoul, one about to take its flight to otherlands—a shadow—a cloud—occasionally apallor over the face if a white man—butin the colored a blueish clay. In all anintense look, a smile, or sadness, a doubleperson. One abnormally bright, the othersilent—a something that hides the real

person you know. Such on different oc-

casions I have observed. I could namea number of my comrades in which it wasplainly manifest, even weeks before, andevery one of them were either killed ordied of their wounds.

In the largest class of persons who arekilled there are no tokens whatever mani-fest. Presentment is of a different char-acter. A case in point : Clark Wood-cock, a member of my company, came to

me in the midst of the battle of Sailor's

Creek, (I being in command of the com-pany), and asked that I allow him to go

to the rear, saying that he felt sure that

should he go farther into the battle hewould be killed. Scarcely had he turned

108 The National Tribune Scra'p Book,

from me when a shell struck him in theshoulder, blowing his body to pieces.

This mark is only in persons in whomothers observe and feel it. While this

subject remains to all outward appear-ances at least unconscious of its manifes-tation.

This was the case with Presley thatmorning after the battle of Cedar Moun-tain, w^hen he came to our line of battle.

The peculiar look constituted his wholebeing. After the flag of truce that day,when we buried our dead, Jackson re-

treated back across the Rapidan Riverduring the night. We followed close

after. When our column drew near to

the river there were no evidence of thenearness of the enemy. Presley, as wiis

his habit, when it were possible, marchedclose by the side of the column, with his

large pack on his shoulders. When wedrew near to the river the column filed

to the right, our regiment going into line

of battle in a cornfield just in front of awood, into which Presley moved with his

pack. Scarcely had we finished our for-mation, when a sharpshooter, posted in atree top on the opposite side of the river»

fired at the forming troops, the ball pass-ing over our heads, striking Presley onthe back, passing through his pack andclear through his bodv and out of his left

breast above the heart. When the poorfellow answered the call

:

"De angels, deys a-callin' dea' honey,don't fea',

Melissa am a-waitin' fer yo' obe* hea'."

He fell and no doubt died instantly.Duty forbade us any but a parting glanceat our dead minstrel's body. He hadbeen a great delight and comfort to us onso many occasions. His jollity and merrydisposition oftentimes giving strength andcourage to the men who were brokendown or dispairing while on the march.He was as much a martyr to the causeas if he had been killed within the ranksfighting.

Suey and Mother Fight.

By Alfred Spence, Red Springs, Mo.

It was the closing days of 1863, we wereat Little Rock, Ark. Our company (E, 3dIowa Cav.) was detailed to picket. I thinkit was as stormy a time as I ever saw

—

raining and sleeting till the ground was asheet of ice. A number of the boys playedsick. The storm was so severe that wehad to remain on post 12 hours overtimebefore they could get out the relief. Thenext morning at breakfast Harvy Monrissaid some one beside Gandy and him hadto get wood, or there would be no morecooking done there. I said : "Harve, youand Gandy ought to be able to get wood,since you are fit for nothing else !" Harvesaid : "The Captain never said about methat I would die if I was not too lazy to

draw the last breath !" I said : "Whodid he say that about, Harve?" He replied

:

"About you!" I said : "You know that's

a lie, Harve !" He said : "Don't call mea liar again!" I repeated and he started

round the table at me. I met him at the

end of the table, and he began to strike at

me. The ground was covered with ice, andhe slipped and fell. I took him by theshoulders and iraised him up, and he thrusthis right hand at my face and two of his

fingers went into my mouth. I shut downon them and held his left hand in my owngrasp and mumbled to him that if he w^ouldbehave I would let him loose, 'as I didn't

want to hurt him. He said : "Hurt, hurt,

and be d d !" I let him loose, and wewent back to breakfast. Before night wewere as good friends as ever. Harvelaughed and said he and "Mother" had a

draw fight ! "Mother opened her mouthand I drawed my fingers out of it." If

Harve Morris is still alive "Mother" wouldlike to hear from him.

Harvy Morris was called "Suey" andI was called "Mother." I am now 71 andbadly afflicted in both my legs and haveheart trouble. I would like, to hear fromall my old comrades who are living, I hopethey all read The National Tribune,

Some Cavalry Service in Northern Mississippi.

By Brig.-Gen. J. Kemp, Mizner, U. S. V.; Colonel, 20th U. P. Cav.

During the siege of Vicksburg the line

of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad wasguarded by a division of cavalry, a fewregiments of infantry and several batteriesof artillery.

Besides holding this important line, thecavalry was almost constantly employed in

operating against the enemy in northernMississippi ; frequent and extended excur-sions being made against the enemy's cav-alry, which was under the leadership of

Forrest, Roddy, Chalmers, Richardson andother rebels of more or less distinction.

Our troops from White's Station, nearMemphis, to Grand Junction were so dis-

posed that the cavalry could be massedagainst the enemy south of the road, whilethe infantry and artillery remained to se-

cure the safety of the several stations,

many of which were given increasedstrength for defensive purposes by block-

houses or simple intrenchments, while the

movements of the cavalry to the south also

covered the positions held by the other

troops.The activity of the enemy gave the

Union cavalry much to do and had annoyedthem to such an extent that it was judgedexpedient to make a clean sweep of the

entire front with the full force available

for his purpose, and orders were accord-ingly issued early in June, 1863, whichbrought together near Waterfard three

brigades of Mizner's Division of cavalry

for an extended excursion well to the southand finally around to the west toward' Pa-nola.

In executing the work assigned them the

troops actually reached a point which brotthem in sight of the Mississippi River.They traversed five Counties of the State,

driving everything before them. DefeatedChalmers at Panola and pursued his flee-

ing rebels for miles beyond ; laid the coun-

try waste by the destruction of corncribs

and every kind of supplies that an enemycould subsist upon, and left in their trail

a line of fires which extended for manymiles.

This military exploit, or raid, as it maymore correctly be called, for the reasonthat the enemy was able to offer but feeble

resistance, is a matter of history possiblystill well remembered by the people of thatsection, and it is therefore unnecessary to

give either the details of the march or ofthe results.

Gen. Hurlbut wrote to Gen. Grant onJune 28:"The damage done by the recent cavalry

movement of Mizner has been very serious,

and deprived Johnston of supplies, whichare limited enough."

It is simDly my purpose to refer to afew humorous incidents of the march andone that is sadly pathetic as illustrative of

the lamentable horrors of a cruel war.When Grant moved south from La

Grange in his first effort against Vicksburgin November, 1862, Sherman commandedhis right wing, and at the TallahatcheeRiver he constructed a bridge over that

stream for the use of his troops, which healso destroyed when his troops withdrew.When our cavalry Division arrived at

the Tallahatchee it found no means ofcrossing this rather narrow but deepstream, and being without pontoons orbridge material, some expedient by whicha crossing could be effected in the shortestpossible time become a pressing necessity.

Just at this moment, and while the bestmeans of crossing was under debate. Col.

Edward Hatch, a gallant ofiicer, who com-manded the Second brigade, attempted to

wade into the stream to test the depth of

the water, when suddenly both horse andrider disappeared from sight. Upon re-

gaining the surface from his unexpectedbath, he took the cheers and laughter of

the spectators in good part and swam to

the opposite shore, where, good soldier that

he was, he rendered valuable serivce in

placing outposts and pickets afterwa^rds

furnished from the southern bank.A battalion of the 3d Mich. Cav., which

regiment was largely made up from practi-

cal woodsmen from the lumbering districts

of that State, was called for, and they lost

no time in taking the large hewn timbersfrom an adjacent cotton-gin and layingthem up stream from the point of cross-

ing, lashing them securely together withwire taken from what had been a ferry in

earlier days, and a compact, strong andheavy boom was quickly formed. Thisboom was swung around wath the current

both bank« of the stream, a safe and se-

cure foot-bridge was in place, upon whichto the opposite shore, and being secured at

109

:o The National Tribune Scrap Book,

men could pass rapidly over to the fur-ther bank.During the progress of this heavy work

other men had constructed a light raft suf-ficiently large to ferry over our ambulancesand a few pieces of artillery. The woi-kof crossing at once began, each troopertaking off his saddle, and giving his horse'stail a twist, started him into the stream,and following on the boom with his isaddle,

caught his horse as he ,reached the othershore, quickly saddled up and hurried on.

The crossing was rapid considering themethod adopted and the size of the com-mand, but it was quite dark by the timeall but one regiment had crossed. Thisregiment was ordered to guard all ap-proaches during the night, and at daylightto make its crossing and follow the mainbody.The value of time and importance of all

possible speed induced the Division Com-mander to personally superintend thecrossing ; but as nightfall approached he

sent his staff to secure a place foir head-quarters, and out of consideration for his

jaded horse, as all had been taxed by ^a

hard day's march, he sent him also, andwith a single Orderly remained, dismount-•ed, to witness the completion of the day's

undertaking. By the time it was possible

rto leave it was quite dark, yet the work-•iwent steadily and bravely on.

Tired from a hard day's work, the wearyleader took his way towards camp, andonly discovered after passing the bridge

that he still had quite a long distance to

travel and that his path lay thru dense

underbrush and willows, where the troops

had made a great swaie, which gave himreason to .regret his well-intended but per-

haps too sudden compassion for his horse.

He heard the plunging of horses in the

stream behind him, and every moment a

hurrying and belated trooper, eager to rech

the end of Tiis long day's journey, camerushing past, and seeing a single forlorn

individual plodding on foot and struggling

thru the thicket in the dark .river bottom,

involuntarily checked his horse's speed, andapparently surprised and amazed at the

situation of the wanderers, exclaimed with

evident feelings of compassion and solici-

tude,

"Hello, boys. What regiment?Hello; lost your horse?"

And thus the commander of the entire

force, glad to preserve his incognito, in

view of his awkward dilemma, was greet-

ed by each hardy trooper as he passed on

to camp. The only consolation left him as

he journeyed to a place of rest was the

contemplation of a good day's work well

done.

The division camp was found on thegently-sloping grounds of a fine estate, andheadquarters established within the hos-pitable walls of a wealthy planter's house,where all belongings gave evidence of aconsiderable degree of refinement and rea-sonable prosperity. Among the articles of

furniture was found a grand piano of ap-proved type, which aroused hopes of a fewoperatic airs during the evening, for uponthe staff there was a performer of no meanacquirements, who upon many former occa-

sions had favored the officers with artistic

music.The planter's larder yielded bountiful

supplies of its best products to appeasethe eager yearnings of the weary officers

and men, and after a good and substantial

supper all care and fatigue was soon for-

gotten.When at a later hour a number of offi-

cers had assembled to discuss the passingevents and to receive their orders for the

morrow, the number being probably increas-

ed by the prospect of hearing the cheering

strains of good music, there suddenly ap-

peared an additional group, escorting the

staff pianist who had easily been prevailed

upon to appear for the evening's enter-

tainment. Enthusiasm and eager expecta-

tion ran high with the growing prospect

of a musical treat.

The gifted and obliging friend movedwith the usual deliberation and manlygrace so common to all artists and took

his seat at the piano. With a satisfied andvery complacent air he gently raised the

lid of the instrument, and to liis utter as-

tonishment found but an empty case, with

a wellworn hoop skirt substituted for the

strings which had produced all its formercharms.The joke perpetrated on the Captain by

his fellow-officers and thus disclosed proved

to be the work of his gallant escort, andinquiry developed the fact that but a short

time before Morgan L. Smith's Missouri

bummers had passed that way and hadstabled their horses in the house and used

the selfsame piano as a feed trough.

Continuing our march the next day, the

column moved west and on the second

morning encountered some of Chalmers's

scouts, who were driven back upon his out-

posts, and from prisoners captur(>d it waslearned that Chalmers's main force occu-

pied Panola.The command pushed vigorously forward,

and as much of the enemy's force as could

be overtaken was dealt with so severely

that Chalmers very wisely put a chain of

lakes between his troops and their pur-

suers.

The flight of the rebels was so hasty

and precipitate that only a few prisoners

The National Tribune tScrap Book. Ill

from the reair of his command were cap-tured, but with them was securted the ferryused by the enemy in effecting their es-

cape. This check to further progress andthe time gained by the enemy while the di-

vision was crossing put Chalmers at a safedistance and actually beyond reach.The fight near Panola was a victory for

the division, but did not entail any veryheavy loss upon the enemy,

"He who turns and runs away,May live to fight another day."

Chalmers's retreat had been so rapidthat only the leading brigade could keeppace with his movements or get any figjit

out of him. He made no effort to hold the

town, but made all speed in reaching aplace of safety.A halt was called at Panola to allow the

troops to close up. During a short stay to

refit the captured ferry and to dispose of

the redundant and surplus stock of supplies

held in store for rebel use, the literarily in-

clined took possession of the printing of-

fices and presses, and issued war bulletins

and placards. One poster, printed in ex-

tra large capitals, read

:

"The Yankees have come.The Rebels have run!"

Before the division departed the townhad quite perceptibly shrunk from its for-

mer stately proportions, and the men hadhad a great deal of merriment at the ex-

pense of the rebel community. A. stay-at-

home Secessionist, but not an active rebel,

or at least not one manly enough to be a

soldier, and who owned the house whereheadquarters had been temporarily located,

was arrested for firing upon the men frombehind a fence, and was held a prisoner.

The wife of this wretch heard of his being

under guard just as the troops were movingand came running out to find the officer

in command, moaning most piteously,

"Good Lord, where is the Colonel ! O

I

Lord, where is the good Colonel !"

These forcible ejaculations convinced the

officer that he had better vacate that vi-

cinity if he wanted to escape the furtherimportunities of this unhappy woman, forif she was to remain a grass widow it wasquite evident that he must not stand uponthe order of his going, but go at once,which he promptly did.

The destruction of corncribs and otherrebel supplies, contraband of war, contin-ued all the next day, and so extended wasthe line of fire that when the commandreached the Mississippi River, a little af-

ter dark, the sky was lurid with conflagra-tions.

In riding up to a group of houses belong-ing to the plantation where the commandwas to camp for the night, two womenwere seen, one of them holding a lighted

candle about her head, the better to peerinto the surrounding darkness, while theother held in her arms an infant. Uponapproaching and accosting them the first

woman tremblingly asked if she might take-

her child into the yard and be permitted to

place a single trunk with some clothing

out under a tree. Surprised at her timid-

ity, apparent alarm and strange request,-

she was asked the cause of her anxiety.

She said she knew that Chalmers had fired'

upon Federal transports loaded with sick:

and dying men, and supposed her home-would be destroyed with the rest. Her sim-ple mind recognized the dastardly act of

turning artillery upon defenseless boats

and expected a natural retribution. Herfears were allayed by assurances that

neither she, her family, nor property wouldbe molested. She was informed that the

protection of the guard and sentries wouldbe extended, and was advised to take her

child out of the night air and to .return

with it to her house, where she and her

child could be comfortable and safe fromintrusion, and io take in her trunk and to

free herself frm furher anxiety.

Little wonder that these poor womenwere alarmed at what they judged to be

but a just punishment for the cowardly act

of one of their own people trusted with

high authority.

Saved By the Southern Confederacy.

By Theo. F. Allen.

In the Gate City of the South theConfederate veterans were reuning, andI stood to see them march, beneath thetangled flags of the great conflict, tothe hall of their oratory and commem-oration.While the irregular and halting line

was passing I made onslaught upon it

and dragged forth from the ranks myfriend, Barnard O'Keefe, who had noright to be there. For he was a North-erner born and bred, and what shouldhe be doing halloing for the Stars andBars among those gray and scarred vet-erans ?

I say I dragged him forth, and heldhim until the last hickory leg and wav-ing goatee had stumbled past."Now what deviltry are you up to?"

I asked."I am assisting at the wake," said

he, "of the only Nation on earth thatever did me a good turn. As one gen-tleman to another, I am ratifying andcelebrating the foreign policy of the lateJefterson Davis, as fine a statesman asevei settled the financial question of acountry. Equal ratio—that was hisplatform—a barrel of money for a bar-rel of flour—a pair of 20-dollar bills

for a pair of boots—a hatful of cur-rency for a new hat—say, ain't thatsimple compared with W. J. B.'s little

old oxidized plank?""What talk is this?" I asked. "Your

financial digression is mere a subter-fuge. Why were you marching in theranks of the Confederate Veterans?"

"Because, my lad," answered O'Keefe,"the Confederate Government in its

might and power interposed to protectBarnard O'Keefe against immediate anddangerous assassination at the hands ofa bloodthirsty foreign countrj'' after theUnited States of America had over-ruled his appeal for protection."

I must have looked bewildered. "Thewar was over," I said, vacantly, "in

—

O'Keefe laughs loudly, scattering mythoughts,—"Isn't there a story in this,

Barney?" I asked."No," said O'Keefe; "but I'll give you

the facts. You know I went down toI'anama when this agitation about thecanal began. I thought I'd get in on

the ground floor. I did, and had tosleep on it, and drink waier with lit-

tle 'zoos' in it; so, of course, I got theChagres fever. That was in a littletown called San Juan, on the coast.

"After I got the fever hard enoughto kill a Portugee nigger, I had a re-lapse in the shape of Doc JVHllikin.

"Well, this old medical outragefloated down to my shack when I sentfor him. He was built like a shad, andhis eyebrow was black, and his whitewhiskers trickled down from his chinlike milk coming out from a sprink-lijig-pot. He had a nigger boy alongcarrying an old tomato can full of cal-omel, and a saw.

"Doc felt my pulse, and then he be-gan to mess up some calomel with anagricultural implement that had be-longed in the trowel class.

" 'I don't want any death mask yet,Doc,' says I, 'nor my liver put in aplaster cast. I'm sick, and its medi-cine I need, not frescoing.'

" 'You're a blamed Yankee, ain'tyou?' asks Doc, going on inixing up hisPortland cement.

" 'I'm from the North,' says I, 'butI'nri a plain man and don't care formural decoration. When you get theLsthmus all asphalted over with theboll-weevil prescription, would youmind giving me a little dose of pain-killer, or a little strychnine on toast, toease up this feeling of unhealthinessthat I have got?'

" 'They was all sassy, just like you,'says old Doc, 'but we lowered their tem-perature considerable. Yes, sir, Ireckon we sent a good many of ye overto old mortuis nisi bonum. Look atAntietam and Bull Run, and SevenPines and Chickamauga! There neverwas a battle where we didn't lick ye un-less ye was ten to our one. I knew youwas a blame Yankee the minute I laideyes on you.'

" 'Don't reopen the chasm, Doc,' saysI. 'Any Yankeeness I rnay have is

geographical; and as far as I am con-cerned a Southerner is as good as aFilipino any day. I'm feeling too badto argue.'"By this time Doc Millikin had thrown

112

The National Tribune Scra'p Book, 113

up a line of fortifications on squarepieces of paper, and lie says to me,•Yank, take one of these powders everytv/o hours. They won't kill you. I'll

be round again about sundown to see if

you are alive.'"Old Doc's powders knocked the

Ohagres. I stayed in San Juan, and gotto knowing him better. He was fromMississippi and the red-hottest South-erner that ever smelled mint. He madeStonewall Jackson and R. E. Lee looklike Abolitionists. He had a familysomewhere near Yazoo City, but hestayed away from the States on ac-count of an uncontrollable liking forthe absence of the Yankee Government.Him and me got thick personally as theEmperor of Russia and the dove ofpeace, but sectionally we didn't amal-gamate.

"Besides his other liabilities. Doccould play a flute for a minute or two.He was guilty of two tunes—'Dixie' andanother one that was mighty close tothe 'Suawnee River'—you might say one•of its tributaries.

"You know that was about the timetiiey staged them property revolutionsdown there, that wound up in the fifthact with the thrilling canal act scenewhere Uncle Sam has nine curtain callsholding Miss Panama by the hand,v.bile the bloodhounds kept SenatorMorgan treed up in a cocoanut palm.

"I played the straw hat crowd towin and they gave me a Colonel's com-mission over a brigade of 2 7 men inthe left wing and second joint of theInsurgent army.

"The Colombia troops were awfullyTude to us. One day when I had mybrigade in a sandy spot, with its shoesoff, doing a battalion drill by squads,the Government army rushed from be-bind a bush, acting as noisy and dis-agreeable as they could."My troops enfiladed, left-faced—and

lefi the spot. After enticing the enemyfor three miles or so we struck a briarpatch, and had to sit down. When wev^ere ordered to throw up our toes andsurrender, we obeyed. Five of my beststaff officers fell, suffering extremelywith stone bruised heels.

"Then and there those Colombianstook your friend Barney, sir, strippedhim of his rank, consisting of a pair ofbrass knuckles and a canteen of rum,and dragged him before a militarycourt. The presiding General wentthrough the legal formalities that some-times cause a case to hang on the cal-endar of South American militarycourts as long as 10 minutes. He askedme my age, and then sentenced me to

be shot. They woke up the court in-

terpreter, an American named Jenks,who was in the rum business, and viceversa, and told him to translate theverdict.

"Jenks stretched himself and took amorphine tablet.

" 'You've got to back up against the'dobe wall, old man,' he says to me.'Three weeks, I believe, you get.Haven't got a chew of fine cut on you,have you?'

" 'Translate that again, with foot-notes and glossary,' says I. 'I don'tknow whether I am discharged, con-demned, or handed over to the GerrySociety.'

" 'Oh! says Jenks, don't you under-stand? You're to be stood up againsta 'dobe wall and be shot in two weeks.'

"They sent me over to the calabozawith a detachment of colored PostalTelegraph boys carrying Enfield rifles,

and I was locked up in a kind of a brickbakery. The temperature there wasjust about the kind mentioned in thecooking recipes that call for a 'quickoven.'

"Then I gives a silver dollar to oneof the guards to send for the UnitedStates Consul. He comes around i-Pajamas, with a pair of glasses on hisnose, and a dozen or two inside of him.

" 'I'm to be shot in two weeks,' saysI, 'and although I've made a memo-randum of it, I don't seem to be ableto get it off my mind. You want to call

up Uncle Sam on the cable as quickas you can and get him all worked upabout it. Have 'em send down theKentucky and the Kearsarge and theOregon right away. That'll be aboutenough battleships; but it wouldn't hurtto have a couple of cruisers and a tor-pedo boat, too; and, say, if AdmiralDewey isn't busy, have him come alongon the fastest one of the fleet.'

" 'Now, see here, O'Keefe,' says theConsul, getting the best of a hiccup,'what you want is not to get excited.I'll send you over some chewing to-bacco and some banana fritters whenI go back. The United States can't in-

terfere in this. You know you werecaught insurging against the Govern-ment, and you're subject to the lawsof the country. Tell the truth, I'vehad an intimation from the State De-partment—officially—of course, thatwhenever a soldier of fortune demandsa fleet of gunboats in a case of revolu-tionary katzenjammer I .should cut thecable, give him all the tobacco hewants, and after he's shot take hisclothes, if they flt me, for part paymentof my salary.'

" 'Be off with you, then,' says I, outof patience with him, 'and send me


Doc Millikin. Ask Doc to come andsee me.'

"Doc comes and looks through thebars at me, surrounded by dirty sol-diers, and even my shoes and canteenconfiscated, and he looks mightilypleased.

" 'Hello, Yank,' says he, 'getting a lit-

tle taste of Johnson's Island, now,ain't ye?'

" 'Doc,' says I, 'I've just had an in-terview with the United States Consul.I gather from his remarks that I mightjust as well have been caught sellingsuspenders in Kisheneff under the nameof Rosenstein as to be in my presentposition. Doc,' says I, 'can't you sus-pend hostilities on the slavery questionlong enough to do something for me?'

" 'It ain't been my habit,' Doc Milli-kin answers, 'to do any painless den-tistry when I find a Yank cutting aneye-tooth. So the Stars and Stripesain't landing any marines to shell thehuts of the Colombian cannibals, hey?Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn'searly light, the Star Spangled Bannerhas fluked in the fight? What's thematter with the War Department, hey?It's a great thing to be a citizen of agold-standard Nation, ain't it?'

" 'Rub it in. Doc, all you want,' saysI. 'I guess we're weak on foreignpolicy.'

" 'For a Yank,' says Doc, putting onhis specs and looking more mild, 'youain't so bad. If you had come frombelow the line I reckon I would haveliked you real smart. Now, since yourcountry has gone back on you, youhave come to the old Doctor whosecotton you burned, whose mules youstole and whose niggers you freed to

help you. Ain't that so, Yank?'" 'It is.' I says heartily, 'and lets have

a diagnosis of the case right away, for

in two weeks' time all you can do is to

hold an autopsy, and I don't want to

be amputated if I can help it.'

" 'Now,' says Doc, business like, 'It's

easy enough to get you out of this

scrape. Money will do it. You-ve got

to pay a long string of them, from Gen.Pamposo down to this anthropoid apeguarding your door. About $10,000will do the trick. Have you got the

money?'" 'Me?' I says, 'I've got one Chile dol-

lar, two real pieces, and a medio.'" 'Then if you've any last words, ut-

ter 'em,' say the old Reb. 'The roster

of your financial budget sounds quite

much to me like the noise of requiem.'" 'Change the treatment,' say I. 'I

admit that I'm short. Call a consulta-

tion, or use radium, or smuggle me in

some saws or something.'

" 'Yank,' says Doc Millikin, 'I've agood notion to help you. There's onlyone Government in the world that canget you out of this difficulty, and that'sthe Confederate States of America, thegrandest Nation that ever existed.'

" 'Just as you said to me, I said toDoc, 'Why, the Confederacy ain't aNation, it's been absolved 10 years ago.'

" 'That's a campaign lie,' says Doc.'She's running along as solid as theRoman Empire. She's the only hopeyou've got. Now you, being a Yank,have got to go through some prelimin-ary obsequies before you can get offi-

cial aid. You've got to take the oathof allegiance to the Confederate Gov-ernment. Then I'll guarantee she doesall she can for us. What do you say,Yank? It's your last chance.'

" 'If you're fooling with me. Doc,' Ianswers, 'you're no better than theUnited States. But, as you say, it's

the last chance, hurry up and swearme. Get brisk.'

"Doc Millikin thinks awhile, andthen he offers me this oath of alle-giance to take without any chaser:

" 'I, Barnard O'Keefe, Yank, being ofsound body, but of Republican mind,hereby swear to transfer my fealty, re-spect and allegiance to the ConfederateStates of America and the Governmentthereof, in consideration of the Gov-ernment through its official acts andpowers obtaining my freedom and re-lease from confinement and sentenceof death brought about by the exuber-ance of my Irish proclivities and mygeneral pisenness as a Yank.'

"I repeated these words after Doc,but they seemed to me a hocus-pocus;and I don't believe any life insurancecompany would have issued me a pol-icy on the strength of them.

"Doc went away, saying he wouldcommunicate with his Government im-mediately.

"Say, you can imagine how I felt

—

me to be shot in two weeks and myonly hope for help being in a Govern-ment that's been dead so long that it

isn't even remembered except on Dec-oration Day, But it was all there wasin sight, and somehow I thought DocMillikin had something up his old al-paca coat sleeve that wasn't all fool-ishness.

"Around to the jail again comes oldDoc in about a week. I was flea-bitten,a mite sarcastic, and fundamentallyhungry.

" 'Any Confederate ironclads in theoffing,' I asks. 'Do you notice anysounds resembling the approach of JebStuart's cavalry overland or Stone-

The National Tribune Scraj) Booh. 11;

wall Jackson sneaking- up in the rear?If you do, I wish you'd say so.'

" 'It's too soon yet for help to come,'says Doc.

" 'Don't forget,' says I, 'that there'sonly four days more. I don't know howyou propose to work this things. Doc,'I says to him, 'but it seems to me I'dsleep better if you had a Governmentthat Avas alive and on the map—likeAfghanistan, or Great Britain, or oldman Kruger's kingdom, to take thismatter up. I don't mean any disre-spect to your Confederate States, butI can't help feeling that my chancesof being pulled out of this scrape weredecidedly weakened when Lee surren-dered.'

" 'It's your only chance,' said Doc,'don't quarrel over it. What did yourown country do for you?'

"It was only two days before themorning I was to be shot, when DocMillikin comes around again.

" 'All right, Yank,' says he, 'help'scome. The Confederate States ofAmerica is going to apply for your re-lease. The representative of the Gov-ernment arrived last night on a fruitsteamer. 'Bully,' says I, 'bully for you,Doc. I'm going to love your countryall I can for this.'

" 'Negotiations,' said old Doc, 'will beopened between the two Governmentsat once. You will know later on todayif they are successful;'

"About 4 in the afternoon a soldier in

red trousers brings a paper around tothe jail, and they unlocks the door andI walks out. The guard at the doorbows and I bow, and I steps into thegrass and wades around to Doc Milli-

kin's shack."Doc was sitting in his hammock

playing Dixie soft and low, and out oftune, on his flute. I interrupted him at'look away, look away!' -and shook hishand for five minutes.

" 'I never thought,' says Doc fret-

fully, 'that I'd ever try to save any

Yank's life. But, Mr. O'Keefe, I don'tsee but what you are entitled to beconsidered part human, anyway. Butit ain't me you want to thank—its theConfederate States of America.'

" 'And I'm much obliged to you,' saysI. 'It's a poor man that wouldn't bepatriotic with a country that saved hislife. I'll drink to the Stars and Barswherever there's a flagstaff and a glassconvenient. But where,' says I, 'arethe rescuing troops? If there was agun fired or a shell burst, I didn'thear it.'

"Doc Millikin raises up and pointsout the window with his flute at thebanana steamer loading with fruit.

" 'Yank,' says he, 'there's a steamerthat's going to sail in the morning. If

I was you, I'd sail on it. The Confed-erate Government's done all it can foryou. There wasn't a gun fired. Thenegotiations was carried on secretly be-tween the two Nations by the purser ofthat steamer. I got him to do it be-cause I didn't want to appear in it.

Twelve thousand dollars was paid tothe officials in bribes to let you go.'

" 'Man?' says I, sitting down hard—

•

twelve thousand—how will I ever—^whocould have—where did the money comefrom?'

" 'Yazoo City,' says Doc Millikin.'I've got a little saved up there. Twobarrels full. It looks good to these Co-lombians. 'Twas Confederate money,every dollar of it. Now do you see whyyou'd better leave before they try to

pass some of it on an expert?'" 'I do,' says I.

" 'Now, let's hear you give the password,' says Doc Millikin.

" 'Hurrah for Jeff Dav's,' says I.

" 'Correct,' says Doc. 'And let metell you something. The next tune I

learn on my flute's going to be 'YankeeDoodle.' I reckon there's some Yanksthat are not so pizen. Or if you wasme, would vou try, 'The Red, White andBlue?'"

DIARY JOTTINGS OF MARCH

From Nashville to Eastport, Miss., Morning After the Battle,

Dec. 17, 1864.

By R. A. Spink, Co. A, 14th Wis. Vet. Vol. Inf.

After a very unpleasant night, it hav-ing rained the night thru, we preparedour coffee and bacon, and at an early-

hour were ready to move. Before pro-ceeding with this article, in speakingof our breakfast of hardtack, bacon andcoffee, you can all testify that we livedon army rations, and short ones at that,many times, and with very little com-plaint, which calls to mind the differ-ence between the civil war soldier andthe Spanish-American soldier.

It was not our good fortune to beconveyed in Pullman Palace coachesfrom place to place, freight cars an-swered the purpose many times, andsuch transportation was acceptable, andthe boys hailed with joy the privilegeof riding in a cattle-car without seats.The only exception was when we had toride in them from Chicago to Cairo.When wt. had tents, which was for ashort time only, they were not suppliedwith board floors. The ground wasgood enough for us, unless the menfurnished the flooring by confiscation,which was the case many times.

Then, the bill of fare at times wasoff-color. Note the contrast betweenthe bill of fare we had and the follow-ing, which was sent by one of the Span-ish-American soldiers to his parents,from Porto Rico:Bean soup, beef soup, baked beans,

roast beef, boiled meats of all kinds,onions, potatoes, hash, bacon, cannedfish, canned tomatoes, canned cornbeef,and hardtack; and still they grumbled.Think of what we endured in the civil

war compared to the Spanish-Americansoldier.

I left off by saying we were ready to

move, the morning being dark and cloudywith every indication of another wetday. We stood around for some time,waiting for the troops to pass whowere to take the advance of our di-

vision. The teamsters and artillery hada great time getting out of the fields

onto the pike. It was nearly 8 a. m.before the column was well under mo-tion. The road was in a terrible condi-tion. With pants rolled up and mudover our shoetops, we moved rapidlyalong for some distance, but were de-tained a short time by the cavalry, whowere passing to the front. The lineof march bore evidence of the victoryand the completeness of the rout. Theroad was strewn w^ith everything per-taining to the makeup of an army, al-tho not of the best.

Several .small squads of prisonerspassed us during the afternoon, underthe escort of cavalry. It rained duringthe greater portion of the day. Wepassed thru Franklin soon after dark,and went into camp just outside theearthworks our troops had made onthe south side of the town.

At Franklin.

In passing thru Franklia, we noticedthat all the churches and public build-ings were filled with wounded men, ofboth armies, who were engaged in thatterrible battle of Franklin.Our camp was located on the edge

of the battleground. During the nightit rained so hard that the men, whenthey awoke in the morning, found them-selves lying in several inches of waterand mud, soaking wet.The morning of Dec. 18 finds the

14th Wis. wet, cold and hungry. It

was a hard matter to kindle a fire,

everything being thoroly soaked; butwe succeeded in getting our usual meal.No tents, no tables, no chairs. Wehad to stand up and eat our frugalmeal, after which we looked over thebattlefield. The house in the rear ofthe works occupied by the Union troopsand the small grove in the rear of thehouse received our attention on ac-

count of the condition of the grove,

which was literally mowed down withminie-balls, grape and canister, and the

116


house was one mass of holes—that is,

the wooden part—while the brick por-tion was pitted from top to bottom.Our boys were buried in the trenchesthey occupied, and had to be recovered,which was done by a detail for thatpurpose. The heavy rains of the pre-vious week had washed and settled theloose earth to such an extent that por-tions of the bodies were close to thesurface and partially exposed. Therebels were buried in long trenches, andeach soldier had his name, companyand regiment marked on a board andplaced at his head. I remember count-ing 55 in one trench. They belongedto Gen, Pat Cleburn's Division. Wewere detained several hou/s on accountof the bridges being destroyed by theenemy. The rains had swollen theHarpeth River and other streams tosuch an extent that they were not ford-able. The engineers soon solved theproblem for us by laying a pontoonbridge over a very wide stream. Itseemed to me as tho it must have beenone-fourth of a mile long. We soonpassed over, thru mud and rain. Dur-ing the afternoon the rain fell in tor-rents. Word came back that the ad-vance was delayed trying to cross Ruth-erford Creek, which was impassablewithout being bridged. We moved for-ward again to within a short distanceof the creek. The enemy, on the op-posite bank, opened with musketry andartillery, which was responded to, andafter several efforts we succeeded indriving them back. The engineers laidthe pontoon in a short time, and the ad-vance commenced the forward move-ment. Still iraining hard. To say thatwe suffered is simply drawing it mild.The weather was just too awful to de-scribe. The men were, without excep-tion, soaked thru and thru. The weath-er was cold and dreary, yet the oldvets seemed to take it without a mur-mur. If the boys could have founda dry spot and had been possessedwith a little money, a game would havebeen in order; but no, they stood aroundwaiting for the order to move forward,which soon came, and we went intocamp after marching a short distance.During the night it rained without onelittle letup. You who stood picket andguard duty can recall how unpleasantit was, and the morning brought nochange.

A Bitter Night.

Moved forward and marched aboutfive miles, and went into camp on ac-count of the pontoon train being delayed.Word came back that the enemy haddestroyed the Duck Creek bridge and

that it would be impossible to proceeduntil a bridge of some kind was con-structed. The night of the 20th wasextremely cold, which caused a greatdeal of suffering. Without overcoats,and being only partially provided withpup tents in very poor condition, withbuttons off, the others having been wornout or lost, it was only a few that wasor could be used. It froze and snowedduring the night, and many of the boyswere unable to sleep, it being so bittercold. Large fires were built by thoseunable to sleep. In the morning a sightpresented itself that will never be efacedfrom the memory of those who partici-pated in that terrible march. Each ofthe thousands of mounds covered withseveral inches of snow represented aboy in blue covered only by his blanketand poncho. When Mascroft blew thereveille, from each mound of snow asoldier appeared, not undressed, butdressed and ready to answer to hisname at roll call. From the 15th themen had not taken off their clothes.During the 21st it was very cold; onthe 2 2d we moved a short distance be-yond Spring Hill and went into campon the opposite side of the road; 2 3d,moved down toward Columbia, andcamped on a sidehill which was welltimbered. During the day several smallparties, by mutual agreement, withoutconsulting their officers, started out on atour of inspection. Quite a number vis-

ited Gen. Pillow's plantation and madefriendly calls on others. Wellington,Abbey and myself formed the acquaint-ance of a fine-looking lady who had avery harsh tongue. Very unfortunately,we had to pass the rear of her housewith four turkeys in our possession, and,as luck would have it, she appeared at

the rear door. We passed the time ofday, and at the same time knew that wewere in for it; said we had secured theturkeys and were willing to pay forthem, but she declined to deal withYankee thieves, and ordered us to re-

turn the turkeys, as they were not forsale, but were being fattened for Christ-mas. You can just imagine the tongue-lashing she gave us. We bade her, in

our most gracious manner, a sweet good-bye, climbed the fence, and after a four-mile tramp reached camp just beforedark. The only thing that disturbedus was the two Johnnies we saw in thehouse just before we secured our tur-

keys, and, being alone, did not knowbut what they might attempt somethingno: down on the program. After re-

turning to camp, the boys had all kindsof stories to tell about Gen. Pillow's lay-

out of chickens, etc. Nothing short of

a turkev would do us.

118 The National Tribune Scrap B^ok,

started aboutto rain and it

Crossing Duck Kiver.

Dec. 24, remained in camp duringthe day. The enemy kept a desultoryfiring for some time where the cavalryefiected a crossing some distance belowwhere the bridge was being constructedover Duck River. It was reported thatthe enemy had for some cause aban-doned a battery of brass guns, whichwere discovered by the men building thebridge. They were dumped into theriver, possibly for want of transporta-tion.

Christmas day. Still in camp. En-joyed our dinner of stewed turkey andchicken.

Dec. 26. Army in motion once more.Crossed Duck River. Passed thru Co-lumbia, also thru a small town namedLynnville. Marched about 10 miles andcamped for the night. Weather verybad.Morning of Dec. 2 7

8 a. m. Commencedrained more or less during the day.Marched nine miles. Roads almost im-passable. Quite a number of prisonerspassed up on their way to Nashville un-der guard of cavalry. They were in adeplorable condition, many of themwithout shoes, ragged and dirty. Someseemed to be cheerful and joked withus as they passed. One remarked thatthey expected to take Nashville in a fewdays. To tell the truth, our personalappearance was little better. I don'tthink a man in the whole of the com-mand had taken a bath for at least twomonths, except thru their watersoakedclothes. Three days' rations issued,composed of hardtack, bacon and coffee,with orders that it must last five days.

Dec. 28. Remained in camp. Rainedall day. Several squads of prisonerspassed en route for Nashville. Theylooked wretched beyond description.

Dec. 29. Moved out of our mud camp,marched thru Pulaski on Dawrenceburgroad; went into camp in a large fieldon the edge of a fine piece of timber-land. It was quite late in the afternoonwhen we filed off the road, and so darkwe could distinguish an object but ashort distance. It had commenced rain-ing about the middle of the afternoonand was still pouring, not a dry thing insight. After a great deal of patience,succeeded in getting some fires started.By this time it was dark. Could notdistinguish a thing. We simply had tomake the best of it, spread our rubberson the wet ground, cover up and let ourwet clothes steam out.

Dec. 30. Morning cloudy. Afterbreakfast resumed march. Passed thruLawrenceburg. Country hilly and pic-

turesque, road winding over and aroundthe hills. Passed a large ironworks,also a factory of some kind. Encampedbetween Lawrenceburg and Waynes-boro.

Dec. 31. Marched nine miles on Clif-ton road.

New Year's Day.

Jan. 1, 186 5. Day clear and fine butquite cold, with two inches of snow onthe ground. Marched toward Clifton onClifton road. Marched 18 miles andcamped for the night.

Jan. 2. Pine morning; beautifulcountry and well wooded. Marched 18miles to Clifton, a small town situatedon the Tennessee River. One of ourregiment, while foraging, was killed bybushwhackers. As soon as reported byhis companions, the Colonel sent outa detail of men from his company.They returned with the body and re-ported that they had destroyed all thebuildings on the plantation where hewas killed. Marched 126 miles to date.

Jan. 3. Cloudy. Rained some duringthe day. In camp, trying to make our-selves comfortable as circumstanceswould permit. Remained in camp untilthe 8th, when brigade embarked onsteamers, and proceeded to Eastport,Miss. In passing Savannah the enemyfired on our boat, which created quite acommotion for a few minutes. The boys,not expecting anything of the kind, werenot prepared, but some secured theirmuskets and commenced firing. Theofficers came rushing from the cabinjust in time to see the finish. No dam-age was done on our bide, only a* fewwindows shattered.

Arrived at Eastport Jan. 10, distanceabout 100 iles. Disembarked in a ver-itable quagmire. Marched about twomiles over a flat, marshy piece of groundto some hills well timbered with pine,a place well situated high and dry, andjust the place for an ideal camp, whichwe appreciated after one of the hard-est and most painful marches, character-ized by the most severe suffering it hadever been our misfortune to endure.Stacked arms on the highest point ofthe ridge overlooking the TennesseeRiver, and went into Winter quarters,or camp, so we were told, for a shortrest, having been on the move continu-ously for 10 months. The 72d 111.

marched in on the same ground andstacked arms parallel with us, whichcaused a dispute as to who should re-main. It was finally decided that the7 2d vacate, which they did under pro-test.


"Winter Quarters?"

The 14th Wis. gave them the laugh.One of our boys remarked that we hadmiet before, and the reply came back,"And we may meet again." After layingout the camp, the boys proceeded toerect shanties out of pine logs, usingsmall logs for the sides and ends andshakes split out of pine logs for theroof. Some of the boys used their pup-tents for the top. The ground in mostcases answered for a floor. Our bunkswere made out of shakes; not havingstraw we used pine boughs, and cov-eved them with our poncho, which madea very comfortable bed, a luxury wehad not indulged in for many months.We soon discovered that in place of aWinter camp it was double duty we hadto perform. When not engaged in build-ing our shanties, the troops were throw-ing up works for defense. Hood's wholearmy being in our immediate vicinity, it

was deemed advisable to fortify againsta superioir force, having only threedivisions, A. J. Smith's detachment ofthe Army of the Tennessee, to-wit, twodivisions of the Sixteenth Corps, andone division of the Seventeenth Corps,in all about 14,000 men. In place of amuch-needed rest, as we had expected,when ordered into temporary quarters,our work was of the usual character,such as picket, fatigue guard, drill, pa-rade and refiting for campaign in pres-pect. The arduous duty imposed wasin a measure due to the close proxim-ity of the enemy.

Jan. 18. Marched with division fromEastport via luka and Barnsville. Wentinto camp near Barnsville. Nothing ofimportance occurred. Country strippedof most everything, forage being theprincipal thing wanted. Enemy re-ported to be at Corinth.

Jan. 19. Marched to Corinth, drivingout Ross'iS Brigade.

Jan. 20. Marched all day on our re-turn. Gathered some forage and lum-ber. Bivouacked near Barnsville.

Jan 21st. Marched to luka andcamped for the night.

Jan. 22. Returned to Eastport. Onshort rations, hardtack at a premium.

Jan. 24. Out of rations, shelled cornissued to men, horses and mules on anequal footing. If anything the muleshad the best of us, and for once thelaugh was on the boys. Hardtack attimes was bad enough, but shelled cornand water without salt was not to ourliking. Still, we performed our regularduty as usual. Remained in camp untilthe 31st, when we marched out as guardto wagon train after corn and forage;corn supply about exhausted and noprospects of getting anything better.Marched on Fulton road to Rutly'sMills and returned by luka road toluka, when brigade camped for thenight.

Feb. 1. Returned to Eastport withtrainload of corn.

Feb. 4. Several transports arrivedwith rations to the great joy of the corn-fed .soldiers. In conclusion, will say thatthe old vets who had lived on corn forabout two weeks came out in prime con-dition. Not so with drafted men andsubstitutes who came to us at Eastport.Shelled corn did not seem to agree withthem.Our brigade at this time was com-

posed of four regiments; namely, 14thWis., 72d 111., 40th Mo., and 33d Wis.,known as the Fist Brigade, Third Di-vision, Seventeenth Corps, detachmentArmy of the Tennessee, under commandof Gen. L. M. Ward, our Colonel.

With the 13th Ohio.

By Anthony Leonard, Co. A, 13tli Ohio, Massillon, Ohio.

Editor National Tribune: My familyreminded me, about two v/eeks ago,(Dec, 1907) that I had reached my 71stmile stone; so I thought I would givea little of my experience. I enlistedApril 19, 1861, with m.y brother, Joe,and in November, 1861, the only otherbrother, Peter, enlisted. He was wound-ed at Stone River; had an arm ampu-tated, and died. From Massillon, Ohio,where the whole company enlisted, wewent to Columbus, Ohio, where we werequartered at what was called the NewEngland Hotel; thence, to Camp Chase,where we became Co. A, 13th Ohio.From there we were sent to Camp Den-nison and drilled. Our three monthsenlistment being nearly up, and thatbreakfast job hardly started, nearly thewhole regiment re-enlisted for threeyears. Some w^ent home, but later en-tered this or other regiments. I claimthat those who went home and stayedat home should not be on equal footingin regard to pensions with the men whostayed in and did actual fighting andother services in the field. Why shoulda man be entitled to a pension, any way,who never left his State; who enduredno hardships whatever? From CampDennison we went to Marietta, wherewe crossed the Ohio River to Parkers-burg, W. Va. From there via B. & O.R. R., through Grafton, Clarksburg,on to near the Maryland line; fromwhere we were ordered to a 60-mileforced march to Greenland Gap to as-sist Gen. Patterson, who was expectedto watch the rebel, Johnston, and keephim from reinforcing Beauregard at BullRun. Before we reached our destina-tion we heard that Johnston got awayand that our army was defeated at BullRun. We got orders to retreat as fastas we had advanced. This was our first

serious work in soldiering. The boyshad gotten their uniforms lately andstill had their knapsacks filled with cit-

izens' clothes, and packed even morethan regulations called for. On that re-treat the boys learned a lesson thatstuck to them all through the war—tobe light-footed in advance or retreat,and carry nothing unless actually neces-

sary. From Clarksburg we marchedthrough Weston, Summerville and otherWest Virginia towns, towards the Ka-nawha River, at Carnifax Ferry. Gen.Floyd, President Buchanan's Secretary,was in command of the rebels, who hadfortified themselves there. The 10thOhio, being in the lead, came out of thewoods, not knowing what was ahead ofthem. The rebels opened on them withtheir long rifles stuck thru between thelogs of the breastworks. This was earlyin the afternoon we fought till dark,and after, so that some of our our menfired by mistake into each other. Nextmorning Mr. Floyd and his men had re-treated across the river and had burnedthe bridge behind them. They were insuch a hurry that they left most of theirarms behind. We picked up severalwagon-loads of guns of all descriptions—squirrel rifles nearly as long as fencerails. Floyd even left his own trunkbehind. Then we marched till we struckGualey Bridge, at the head of the Ka-nawha River, and went into camp.We soon started out again up New

River; over hills covered with woods andboulders. At Cotton Hill we struck therebels, who were behind trees and rocks,and fired on us. Here we lost our first

man, killed, in our company, John Rem-ley. The rebels fired at us from acrossthe river, where they were concealedbehind rocks and trees, and here an-other of the company was wounded,Daniel Miller, shot in the ankle. By-and-by we marched after them again,with a larger force, with five days'cooked rations in our haversacks. Therebels retreated before us in such hastethat they left wagons and corn mealscattered along the route. One morn-ing, early, Co. F, having the lead, meta rebel General named Cochran, orsomething like that, with his staff, com-ing around a bend of the road. Whenthey saw our men they turned to runaway; but one of Co. F fired, and hitthe General, who was then taken to ahouse near by, where our commander.Gen. Benham, went to see him andfound him to be a West Point classmate.The rebel General died, and the private

120


of Co. F received a commission as Sec-ond Lieutenant. I noticed an item inwhich some one of the 7th Ohio claimedhaving- shot that rebel General. It wasnot correct. Next morning-, early, wegot on to them again. They were camp-ing in a valley, getting breakfast ready.A couple of six-pound guns were runup and a shot was fired at them, whichnot going very close, and as they did- notlike to leave their kettles of meat boil-ing behind them, they tarried a little;

but another round got them on the run,leaving everything behind. Our boys gotthe meat, and many knapsacks theyleft contained big plugs of tobacco, alot of other good things, and some ugly-looking knives. We followed them to-ward Lynchburg. Not getting- any fightout of them, having gone farther thanorders justified us in going, and rationsbeing about exhausted, we started backto camp. On the way the soles of myshoes came off; a few inches of snowfell, mixed the mud and made badmarching. I tore part of my shirt off

and wrapped around my feet, a la ValleyForge. Col. Jarvis, at a Reunion, askedme if I remembered that incident?"Yes," I told him, "I remembered, too,getting some leavings of cabbage stumpsin a garden, that tasted awful good atthat time!" As we went farther thanordered, rations gave out and we hada hungry time till we got back. Thenwe went down the big Kanawha onboats, to Louisville, Ky., whence wemarched to meet Buckner, who was incommand of the rebels in our front.Grant having taken Fort Donelson. Ourgunboats coming up the CumberlandRiver made Buckner retreat, and wemoved on after him, taking Nashville,and on to Franklin, beyond, where weturned off for the Tennessee River, toShiloh, where Johnston and Beauregardhad a large army. While on the waywe heard that Grant's army there hadbeen attacked and driven back on thefirst day. We reached the field the sec-ond day, and the rebels were beatenand retreated to Corinth, Miss., about20 miles distant. Here is a junction ofrailroads; the locomotives were tootingday and night, and we supposed therebels were being reinforced, till earlyone morning, when there was an ex-plosion, and on examination we foundthe rebels had all left. While wethought they were getting reinforcedthey were sending their army away to

Richmond to help Gen. Lee drive backMcClellan, who was close to Richmond.We marched to Chattanooga. Brag hadcommand of a large army again andcrossed the Tennessee River, threatenedour rear and marched north, aiming for

Cincinnati, Ohio, or Louisville, Ky. Wemarched back, following, on nearly par-allel lines. Bragg capturing garrisonsand stockades, getting recruits and fill-

ing his wagons and taking the cattleand horses. He stopped before hereached the cities named. He undoubt-edly had learned that the squirrelhunters from the adjoining States werecoming to meet him.

In order to reach Louisville ahead ofBragg, we marched 32 miles in a blaz-ing sun; very little drinking-water wasfound, and about half the men werelaid out along the road. There we werepaid off and put in good shape forfuture action, and in a short timeturned our faces South again, over thesame ground we had come. While ly-ing at Louisville great numbers deserted.Whether they had lost faith in our Gen-erals, were tired of the service or thatthey could make more money miningcoal, at which they could earn from $6 to$8 a day, about six from my company de-serted. They were all coal miners andforeigners. Gen. Rosecrans took com-mand of the army and we moved onafter Bragg to Perryville, where he in-fiicted serious loss on part of our army;then retreated to Murfreesboro, wherehe gave battle and defeated our armyon the first day; but in the end wewere victorious. In the first day of thisbattle my regiment sustained its great-est loss during any action in the war.My own company lost 40 killed andwounded, out of 70 who went into ac-tion. My brother, Peter, lost an arm,from which wound he died. GallantMaj. Hawkins and half of the officerswere killed or wounded. After a little

rest. Gen. Rosecrans moved ahead andBragg retreated, and we reached thegoal of our expedition—Chattanooga

—

again. We started to march yet fartherto the interior of Dixie. Jeff Davis didnot want us to do that, and sent Long-street to help Bragg stop us, which theydid soon after at the battle of Chicka-mauga, which made us retreat to thathole-in-the-wall, Chattanooga. They be-sieged us there until we and the horsesand mules were nearly starved. ThenGrant and Sherman came from Vicks-burg, and Hooker with a corps from theEast, and drove the besiegers away andopened up our communications again.We expected to get plenty of rations andto recruit, instead, we received ordersto hasten on to relief of Burnside, whowas besieged by Longstreet. We startedin light marching order for Knoxville,110 miles away. The first day we made15 miles. Tony Miller and I got ayoung porker, and we cooked him, andwe ate him, without salt or other season-


ing. I can feel the effects of it yet!It tasted so sweet—but it got so sournext day! When we reached KnoxvilleLoongstreet was gone. We lay there inthe woods all Winter. While we onlystarved at Chattanooga, we froze andstarved at Knoxville all the Winter of'64. As we went there in light-march-ing order, we had only the suit we hadon; no soap, no salt; everybody foundgraybacks on him—officers and privates.An iron kettle that held some 20 gal-lons was in service all the time. Theboys would take off their shirts and boilthem; in the meantime wrap a blanketaround them till shirt was dry again.My regiment cut out several acres oftimber to build fires. In front one wouldnearly burn and in the rear would quitefreeze. There was a mill where ourboys ground corn. We received about aquart a day thru that Winter, and noth-ing else. Andersonville fare. Wm.Fashlong and I went over the HolstonRiver in a dugout, and we had all wecould do to get across, as it leaked so.

Tramping three or four miles, we foundcorn in a crib, shelled about a bushelapiece, and came back to the mill andexchanged for meal. In the pup-tentsin the 'morning the corn pone, if onehad one, would be frozen hard as astone; the water in the canteens chunksof ice. In the Spring the boys, or someof them, veteranized. I would haveliked to myself; but I was played out.In the Spring Sherman started to At-lanta, and near Marietta, Ga., my timeof service having expired, those of theregiment who did not veteranize, weresent back to Chattanooga to be mus-tered out. While waiting several weeksat Chattanooga I got diarrhea so badnothing would stop it, and it looked as

tho I would not be able to reach home.I laid around about two years beforeI could do much; been under medicaltreatment ever since, to this day.

In regard to politics, I guess the boyshave a right to express their opinions.If they had not been successful in re-uniting the country we would have be-come a lot of little Governments, likeEurope, or like Germany was before1870; each part or State would haveits standing army and boundary lines.

It would have been a set back to thewhole world, with untold misery to thecommon people. And yet they willproudly carry around that flag of trea-son that was aiming to bring thiscalamity about.

It seems to me if the Governmentwould send the millions of money topensioners in currency, instead ofchecks, in times of stringency, it wouldhelp a great deal. The amount so sentcould be used and, when people gotover their scare it would be returnedto the banks.The National Tribune is nourishment

to the old soldier who reads it. I havesaid my little speech; it is not long, butthere are thousands of miles marching,sweating, thirsting, hungering, freezing,

and some fighting in it. Of course, wegot a chicken once in a while, too; butI have given you only the serious part.

I am glad I have lived to see that oursacrifices were not in vain, and proudof the position our glorious countryholds among the Nations of the earth.

I take more interest in reading TheNational Tribune than any other paper,

because those months and years in the

war were the greatest events in mylife.

The Guntown Disaster.

By Wm. Guynn, Lexington, Ind.

Editor National Tribune: I was amember of Co. B, 93d Ind., Col. ClintThomas. After passing through theVicksburg Campaign, we were sent upto Memphis, Tenn., to guard the mili-tary post and Mississippi River at thatpoint. The regiment was engaged inkeeping up a picket line near the city,at the time Forest captured Fort Pil-low, where 4,000 negro troops were mur-dered. This aroused the military au-thorities at Memphis. Two or three ex-peditions were sent against the "oldmurderer," but there were no engage-ments. On June 10, 1864, a General andhis staff went to Memphis to take com-mand of the army. Gen. Sturges. Thearmy was on the march at once, fivedays' rations in haversacks, the armybeing well equipped, with 300 wagonsloaded with provisions and ammuni-tion. It was in possession of three bat-teries, 16 pieces of artillery, and in-cluded Gen. Grayson's Brigade of Cav-alry. We marched on two or threedays; two or three heavy Spring rainscame on, which made it difficult get-ting over the mud roads with heavytrain and artillery;, but we pulled andtrudged and pried up and finally reacheda small inland town, about 100 mileseast of Memphis. It being late in theevening, the army went into camp onthe north side of the town, being a highand dry location. Quite a number ofcitizens of the town came to the armywagons and drew rations. They re-ported that Forest was on the railroad,25 or 30 miles east, and that Forestsaid: "If the Yankees come over hereI will give them a fight." The armymoved out early next morning, passingthru town, marching In the directionof Guntown, until 10 or 11 o'clock, andwent into camp, and coffee was madeand dinner served. The General re-ceived a dispatch that the cavalry hadhad a hot skirmish during the morning.An order was sent to each companycommander, after dinner, to have themen clean up their guns and be readyfor instant action.On June 10 occurred the Guntown

battle. Reveille was sounded early andthe men were up and answered roll call;

haversacks were empty; nothing forbreakfast; there was a reasonableamount of supplies in the wagons, butno rations were issued. A few minuteslater the bugle sounded the march, andthe men were hastened to the road andaway. The 93d took the lead; wagontrains were left in the rear; the menskipped along lively with empty stom-achs; marched on until 12 or 1 o'clock,and heard the roar of the cannon infront. A dispatch bearer was met whoreported to the Colonel that the cavalrywas whipped, and the infantry waswanted forward in great haste. TheAdjutant ran up the line of the regi-ment and reported the order, and thenthe hustle began. The weather beingextremely warm, made it very difficultto hurry men over the roads. Some ofthe men fell to the side of the road,exhausted by the heat, while others suf-fered sunstroke. The i-egiment reachedthe creek, and there they saw the hor-rible sight of war. The cavalry wasdriven across the creek in a stampededcondition, with wounded men andwounded horses numerous among them.The regiment found there a deep, mud-dy creek, a horrible swamp above andbelow on opposite sides, and a little nar-row pole bridge to cross on, and theonly way of crossing at that point.Stray balls were flying thick there, too.The rear of the regiment was not all

across until one man was killed infront. The regiment hustled up thelong slope of the hill, passing a largechurch standing on the left, and camenear a skirt of timber in front, thicklyundergrown with shrubbery of all kinds.There was Forest's force, in ambush inthe bushes. The Colonel right-wheeledthe regiment into line. By this timethey ran up four pieces of artillery andthe Water House Battery of Illinois,

was at once put into action. No soonerdid the regiment open fire than therebels opened a deadly fire on us, oneheavy volley after another. Under all

the excitement I glanced down the line

and saw that the regiment was almostmassacred. Our lines were thinned andour fire was weakened. I saw theground covered with dead and wounded

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men. Some wounded men were climb-ing and holding to small shrubs, whileothers were wallowing on the groundin their blood. The rebels saw thatthey had weakened the fire from ourside and rushed out against us, 15 or 20to one. The Colonel saw that it wouldbe vain to try to stand against suchoverwhelming force, and ordered us tofall back, and to turn and fire as wellas we could as we went. Leaving ourdead and wounded on the ground. Afterfalling back about opposite the church,down the slope of the hill, we saw theGeneral and staff standing on the op-posite side of the road, huddled togetherlike a flock of ducks, bumping theirnoses together. There was such a roarof artillery. There was such a roarhear nothing. After being forced backtill we struck the swamp near the edgeof the creek, the Colonel said to themen: "Cross the creek in the best man-ner you can." I plunged into the swamp,sinking knee-deep, some places deeper,and finally reached the creek. I foundand old mossy log which had fallenacross the creek, mounted it and torethrough the rank overgrowth that cov-ered it, and finally reached the westside of the creek. I started down thecreek, thinking to make my way to theroad again. Proceeded but a short dis-

tance till I ran against the wagon trains.

By this time the rebels had the rangeon the wagon trains and were throwingshell into them, killing mules and men,and exploding ammunition. I turnedwestward, and near the road was thefirst sight that I had of the stampede.They were several thousand deep,pushing, jamming, infantry and cav-alry mixed together, pullin g wag-ons and betteries and ambulancesloaded with wounded; men beingknocked down and trampled un-der feet, crying and begging formercy. I saw it was no place for me,and kept far from the road, dodgingfrom tree to tree, t was two hours ormore before a man was safe on the road.The retreat lasted until about 12 o'cockthat night, when I reached the bigswamp, being about 12 miles from thebattlegrourd. The road had been cor-duroyed for the army to cross on. Thecavalry, rushing and jamming, brokethrough the road in several places.

Some were mired down. Everything onwheels was surrendered at that point.Whether to wade the swamp I was verydoubtful; but I plunged in. In someplaces I sank to my waste in a thinbatter of mud, but I attained the westside of the swamp, tired, hungry—nobreakfast, dinner or supper, wet andcold, past 12 o'clock in the night; then

I blundered on with the stampeded men,squashing the mud and water betweenmy toes. We reached the town of Rip-ley next morning about sunrise. Therethe stampeded men rounded in. Someefforts were made to reorganize thearmy, yet nothing had been done. Buta few minutes passed till the rebelscame in on almost all sides, screamingand shouting, keeping up a heavy fire,

and forced the stampeded men to re-treat in disorder. The roads at Ripleyforked, one to the right, one to the left,

leading to Memphis. The larger partof the force retreated by the left road.The General withdrew the cavalry, rodeaway and left the infantry to cover theretreat. The stampeded men were fol-lowed for the next 50 miles by a heavyforce of rebel cavalry. Retreat was cutoff in many places, the men killed orcaptured, and the dead were throwninto the roads, creeks and branches,their bodies left in the open air for thebeasts and fowls of the forest to pick,mangle and devour. As we retreatedthru the town the citizens fired out oftheir up-stairs windows and from thealleys. They wounded several soldiers,and killed the Colonel of the Illinois reg-iment. After we had retreated a mileand a half or two miles, excitement hadgone down a little, and we thought bestto size up ourselves a little. We foundthat we numbered about 200 men bear-ing arms. Col. Wilkinson, of the 9thMinn., one Lieutenant and four Ser-geants, 400 wounded men riding bare-back horses. The Colonel ordered themen to "fall in line," and he would pullthem through to Memphis if possible.The weather being extremely hot madeit hard to ride the bareback horses.Their bodies were covered with greenflies and the stench of the wounds couldbe smelt as we passed by. The retreatcontinued day and night—there could beno halt. June 14 the Colonel becamealarmed at the scarcity of ammunition.The Lieutenant was sent around, de-manding of each a round of ammuni-tion. I gave up two cartridges, all I

had, some gave up one, some had more.These were to be put in the hands of12 men. The men were put in the rearto cover the retreat. June 15 wereached White Station, six miles fromMemphis. Here we were reinforced bythe 8th Kan. Cav. Of our losses, 1,200men were captured, that many or morewere killed or wounded, 16 pieces of ar-tillery were lost, 312 wagons of six muleteams, and nine ambulances. The cap-tured men were sent to Andersonville,and there most of them perished. Thiswas Gen. Sturges's campaign down inMississippi in the Summer of 1864.

Cavalry in the Navy.

By F. W. Sedgwick, 10th 111. Cav., Parma, Mich.

Editor National Tribune: Somemonths ago Comrade Coleman, of Jack-son, gave the readers of The NationalTribune a sketch of his experience onthe Yazoo Pass expedition. It inter-ested me, from the fact that I hada small share in the same expedition.Feb. 24, 1863, the 1st battalion, 10th111. Cav. (Cos. A, D, G, K), were atHelena, Ark. A detail was called forfrom Co. A to report to Gen. L. F.Ross for duty as mounted escort andorderlies. It was my fortune to be oneof the 22 men detailed, and we foundGen. Ross on the steamer Volunteer, alight-draught, stern-wheel—the kindPresident Lincoln spoke of as "able torun on a heavy dew." We felt pleasedto be on the headquarters boat, for if

there were any soft snaps going, wemight get a share. We found the spacewell filled. In addition to the boat'screw, the General and staff, with theirhorses, and our 22 horses and men,there were also two companies of in-fantry from on Ohio regiment, of whichI do not recall the number. Therewas not much room to spare and wewere put to it when cooking and lodg-ing facilities had to be found or de-vised. There was a large box stovenear the stern, where we did some ofthe cooking—when we could secure alittle space around and on the stove.We could once in a while get a little

hot water from the boat's kitchen forcoffee or tea. As to sleeping, my diarytells that I "slept under cabin table"

—

**on a coil of rope;" "on hurricane deck,"etc. We soon learned to sleep in anyold place. The fleet consisted of thegunboat Chillicothe, plated with three-inch iron, having a square turret for-

ward, with two 11-inch guns; also,

a "turtle" gunboat, the Baron Dekalb,of a style similar to the Merrimac, car-rying nine-inch guns in front. Therewere several "tinclads." The rest ofthe fleet was made up of transports,river steamers of various kinds—most-ly small-sized. There were also twoor three ferryboats, used as dispatchand mail boats. The trip thru thePass from the Mississippi River to theheadwaters connecting with the Yazoo

was an event long to be remembered.In my diary and letters I referred toit as "steamboating thru the woods."The channel iwas very crooked andcurrent so strong it was very difficultnavigation. The boatmen had to putropes about trees to hold back the boatfrom being swept against trees andstumps with destructive force. Thelighter woodwork on boats suffered se-verely in the crush. We tied up atnight once or more within sight of po-sition left in the morning. It wastough sailing, for sure! Going upstream was much better than down.March 11 we arrived in the vicinity

of Fort Pemberton, and heard theboom of heavy artillery from fleet andfort. The mounted escort accompaniedGen. Ross on shore, and there I first

heard a shell from a Confederate can-non fly over us. My first impulse onhearing the "whish-sh-sh" was tododge a little. Next I looked up tosee the "singing bird," but only hearda "clip, clip," as the shell passed thruthe treetops in our rear. Later, I saw ashell in fiight from a 15-inch mortaras plainly as we can see a baseball inair. Strange as it may be, I never sawa ball that struck me! Soon after theopening of the action a shot from the fortentered the port of the turret on theChillicothe, exploding a shell just beingplaced in one of her 11-inch guns, kill-

ing four and wounding nine men andtemporarily disabling our gunboat,which had to fall back for repairs.March 12 I was among those chosenby Capt. Ryan, A, D, C, on Gen. Ross'sstaff, to take a skiff and make some re-connoisance in vicinity of the fort.

Two small boats with nine or 10 menmade the scouting force. Keepingwell under cover of timber and under-brush, we made our way as quietly aspossible, for we were more anxiousto see than to be seen. We got a fairview of the fort, and dropped to wherewe could see quite a camp, and thesteamer John Walsh, that lay a little

below the fort. Fortune so favoredus that we were able to do about all wecame for without discovery, and wereturned to our headquarters.

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Next day Capt. Ryan asked me if

I would go with him again. I said,"Yes; I'll go as far as you care to go."Soon after we started the artilleryopened up, making "music in the air,"discordant and not always rythmic. Weworked our way as quietly as possibletoward the position from which wewished to look on. When we got aboutas near as we could without discoveryour skiff came unexpectedly into a placewhere the view of the fort was good

—

in fact, too good, for they saw us, andturned a gun in our direction, makingit very wise in us to "hunt a hole." Wepromptly backed out, and looked forthick brush to screen us from the too-watchful eyes of the enemy. The sit-

uation was warm for a time. We wentwhere we could see the steamer JohnWalsh, thinking if we could slip upunobserved and set her on fire, it

would be a good joke on the enemy;but we saw that they were on guard,and we withdrew without indulging ourincendiary inclinations. When wecould think of no more jokes to play onthe rebs, we made our way back tothe fleet and found the gunboats andmortar busy in a warm argument withthe fort, and had time to see some ofthe working of a naval battle. Mynotes say: "Our side fired 377 shotsand the rebs 260. The Chillicothe wasstruck 34 times, and so battered upthat she was withdrawn for repairs."I saw the officer having charge of themortar get in a small boat and go outin full view of the fort to watch theeffect of his shells. While so engagedthe rebs took two shots at him, whichcame close enough to miss him. Aboutthat time I heard some strange soundsfollowing a shot from the fort, andwas told "they are firing shrapnel." I

did not want to stop any of those spite-ful insects. Their hum was too sug-gestive. It seemed to say: "Better looka little out; we're after you." Almostthe whole land was under water, sothere was no chance for land forces toplay at the game. Our side had builta two-gun fort on the only availablespot, and two 30-pound Parrotts weretalking with the fort; distance estimat-ed 1,200 yards. After Vicksburg sur-rendered I met a wounded Johnny who

said he was in Port Pemberton thatday, and they were badly knocked out—wondered why we did not come downand finish the job. He said they hadreinforcements that night, and nextday there were 20,000 ready to meetus.

March 16 there was some more artillerypractice, with but little harm on ourside. March 20 Gen, Ross started onhis return to Helena, and next day meta force under Gen. Quimby—comingto "help us to let go," I guess. Gen.Quimby, ranking Ross, took command,and we went back to look at the rebssome more. We got back to the formerposition, and some infantry were camp-ed on shore, when on the night ofMarch 24 a heavy storm came on anda tree fell on a tent, killing four andwounding two men of the 47th Ind.One of the wounded men died next day.April 1 I went with Capt. Ryan andsome others to visit the rebel outpost,under a flag of truce, to take some kindof communication from "We-all tothey-uns"—my first experience underflag of truce.

"April 2.—About 40 cannon shots to-day on both sides; no harm on ours.

"April 3.—A few shots from the rebs.Mounted men on scout toward McNutt,County seat of Sunflower County, Miss.We had some lively times chasing "theother fellows" and brought back eightor 10 prisoners and some arms andequipments.

"April 4.—A few shots exchanged to-day; one killed and two wounded onour side.

April 5. — The expedition startedagain for Helena, leaving the enemyrejoicing over a victory—having repuls-ed the Yankees."Thus ended my experience as a naval

cavalryman on the Yazoo Pass expedi-tion in the interior of Mississippi.What was it for? I don't know;

but the effect was to draw quite a forceaway from Vicksburg, and keep themguessing what we would do. Later wewent to Milliken's Bend and Young'sPoint, doing outpost duty during thesix weeks' siege, and after the surren-der we camped on river bank just be-low the city.—F. W. Sedgwick, 10th 111.

Cav., Parma, Mich.

Sad Tragedy at Columbia.

By John R. Palmer Co.'s A and H, 32cl 111.

Editor National Tribune: While thesubject of the burning of Columbia,Feb. 17, 1865, is one of much contro-versey, it is to be regretted that somecorrespondents who have offered con-tributions are prone to ignore the factsof some others entirely. I gave an ac-count of the part taken by my regi-ment in the capture of Columbia in aprevious article; but now, since therehas been so much interest aroused, Irecall much that I did not include inthat article.On the morning of Feb. 17, 1865,

Belknap's Brigade, Fourth Division,Seventeenth Corps, was marching inadvance, having brought up the rearthe day before. About 10 or 11 o'clocka. m. the 3 2d 111. debouched in ad-vance from the pine woods to the hills

opposite the city, in full view of WadeHamipton's troops, that infected theisland (as I took it to be), that wasskirted with timber of various hights;but we were enabled from our posi-tion to overlook all that intervened be-tween us and the city. The 3 2d form-ed on the guides, in plain view, whilethe sharpshooters sent over scatteringshots from the adjacent woods; some ofwhich took effect, wounding two men.While the regiment was forming onthe guides, it became a little ticklish.

I know, because I was Orderly-Ser-geant of Co. A, and was the rightguide of the regiment.

In the meantime, while this was go-ing on, we observed a line of skir-mishers up the river on the oppositeside, apparently one and a half milesfroim our position, whom we took to

be the Fifteenth Corps. It soon be-came a busy time for Gen. Belknap,who brought forward the 1st Minn. Bat-tery for the purpose of masking asmall detachment composed of onecompany from the 13th Iowa and onecompany of the 32d 111., under com-mand of Col. Kennedy, of the 13thIowa. As I understood then, Col. Ken-nedy obtained a couple of scows, in

which he crossed safely into the city.

With the aid of the 1st Minn, he hadlittle opposition; the Are from this

battery sent Hampton's Le<-ion going.

After we had stacked arms we wereinterested spectators.

I approached the scene where Gen.Belknap was, with his field glass, andheard his instructions to the Captainof the battery to throw a shot hereand one there. The vibrations fromthe cannon shots reverberated to ourside of the river as they wiped upthe buildings, ,not knowing who wouldbe the most intense sufferers—wheth-er a citizen was the victim, or Hamp-ton's men. It was the fate of war, andprivate hurts were not intended by Gen.Belknap. Col. Kennedy landed insafety and made straight for the StateHouse, where he placed the flag of the13th Iowa, and the flag of the 32d111. was hoisted over the City Hall.

Gen. Belknap saw this thru his glassand called for three cheers, at the sametime throwing up his cap. It is safeto say that this was before the Fif-teenth Corps entered the city. Wehave Gen. Sherman's words for this

also. In his Memoirs, in speaking ofthe Fifteenth Corps, to which he givescredit for the capture of the city ofColumbia, he says: "A small detach-ment from the Seventeenth Corps cross-ed the river and hoisted the flag overthe State House." However, he saidthis was irregular, knowing, as hesaid, that the Fifteenth Corps had theright of way^ on this occasion.

In the afternoon of the 17th therest of our brigade marched up theriver, crossing where other troops hadput down a pontoon, and by night wewere in Columbia, wihile it was inflames, started by the torch in theirown hands. Wade Hampton had thecredit, at the time, of firing the cot-ton stored there in immense quanti-ties for shipment or the use of theConfederate Government.

It seemed to be the irony of fate

for those poor, helpless people to haveto suffer this. I pitied them, and didall I could to help theim remove theireffects from place to place; but it wasof little use, because by the time theeffects were deposited on one corner, theflames would approach from another,and it became impossible to save much.

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A sad tragedy, one of many, doubt-less, of which I have heard since, andwhich I was very near, but did notknow of at the time, I will recall. Ithas been published, but I will repeatit, I quote:

"The marriage of Annie Pickens,daughter of Gov. Francis W. Pickens,to Lieut. Le Rochelle, and the deathof the bride, which followed immedi-ately after the ceremony.""On the 17th of February, 1865, the

Northern army commenced shelling Co-lumbia; but preparations for the wed-ding continued. Finally the guestswere all assembled and the mansionwas ablaze with light, fragrant withflowers and joyous with music, althothe occasional dull whirr of a cannonball kept the company aware thatdanger was not far off. The clergy-man stood beneath the chandelier in thewhite robe of his office, the groom inhis regimentals, and the bride, talland stately, fair and lovely, in hersnowy bridal gown, walked into thecrowded chamber and paused beforehim. The clergyman was proceedingwith the solemn ceremony, and hadjust joined the right hands of thehappy pair when there was an awfulcrash, and a shell from the enemy'scannon penetrated the mansion andburst in the middle of the marriage

chaimber, scattering its death-dealingmissiles in every direction. There werescreams and a heart-rending groan;mirrors crashed; the house shook; wom-en fainted, and walls rocked to andfro. When the first confusion was overit was discovered that in all the crowdonly one person was injured—the brideherself. She lay partly on the floorand partly in her lover's arms, crush-ed and bleeding; pale, but very beau-tiful; her bridal-gown drenched withthe warm blood from a great cut inher breast by a ragged fragment of theexploded shell. Laying her on alounge, the frantic bridegroom besoughther by every term of tenderness andendearment to allow the ceremony toproceed, to which she weakly gave herconsent, and lying like a crushed flow-er, no less white than the camelliesof her bridal bouquet, her breath coim-ing in short gasps, and the blood flow-ing from this angry wound, she mur-mured 'Yes' to the clergyman, and re-ceived her husband's flrst kiss. A mo-ment more and all was over. AnnaPickens-Le Rochelle was laid to restunder the magnolias, and the heart-broken bridegrooim, reckless with de-spair, returned to his regiment."

—

John R. Palmer, Cos. A and H, 3 2d111.

First Corps at Gettysburg.

By Chas. W. Cook, Sergeant, Co. G, 76th N. Y., Soldiers' Home, D. V. S., Milwaukee, Wis.

Editor National Tribune: I saw inThe National Tribune an article by B.H. Tripp, who seems to want to estab-lish, or to everlastingly set at rest inour minds, the route or road the FirstCorps marched over on July 1, 1863,and what regiment, brigade, division ofthe corps was in the lead or at the headof column on the march from Bmmits-burg, and first to arrive on the field andfirst on the right in line of battle.He claims that he knows whereof he

affirms, because he was there. Thatmay be so; but he is not the only oneliving who was there on that day. InOctober, 1907, I met in Reunion of theold 76th N. Y., at Cortland, N. Y., about50 comrades who were there. I willstate a few facts and see how they cor-respond with what he has written.On the morning of .July 1, we (the

76th N. Y.) broke camp near Emmits-burg and soon the First Corps was mov-

ing towards Gettysburg. The 76th N.Y. was placed in the right of SecondBrigade, which was the right of FirstDivision, occupying the right of FirstCorps. This brought the 76th in frontin marching column and on the extremeright in line of battle. The brigade atthis time was composed of the 76th N.Y., 14th N. Y. (Brooklyn), 95th N. Y.,174th N. Y., 7th Ind., and 56th Pa.

Before noon we reached a hill fromwhich a view was had of Gettysburg.A halt was ordered. In front of thecorps was gathered a group of Generals,Reynolds at the head, and their staffofl!icers, all anxiously scanning the hills

beyond and west of the town. If Com-rade Tripp was there he must have seenmembers of 76th N. Y., as we wereclose by. While the officers were view-ing the country about Gettysburg, therank and file were filling up with the oldfarmer's cherries. Of course, the old


man was wroth, and tried to stop us,and it did seem a little strange to us,that we were allowed by our officers toeat the cherries without the farmer'sconsent. The cause was explained tous afterwards. The old farmer, tholiving- in a free and loyal State, was aSecessionist, He lost his cherries, andbefore the three days' battle was donehis buildings were torn to pieces by shotand shell, and totally destroyed by fire.

He was ruined by his friends, the en-emy. The cherries were hardly dis-posed of when the order, "Fall in—for-ward," was given and off down the hill

at double-quick towards the enemyrushed the veterans. The 76th beingin advance, was obliged to removefences, as they led the army thru fields,

gardens and yards. On approaching andwhen within two miles of town Gen.Cutter, our commander, was ordered tomove obliquely to the left across thefield to the ridge near the Seminary,west of the town, where the enemy werealready engaging our cavalry.Now a little about that spring that

Comrade Tripp tells about seeing nearRound Top. Perhaps he was lookingfor springs, but I don't remember ofseeing or hearing about any spring onthat day near Round Top, as I don'tthink we passed over the route markedout on his map. We of the Second Bri-gade were looking for Johnny Rebs,and we found them, too, and when we

ran into them we stopped, and did notgo any farther in that direction justthen. We moved across the railroad, orgrade, as there was no ties or rails laidat that place. The Second Brigade im-mediately formed line-of-battle, extend-ing across a deep cut on the railroad,and were soon engaged with a vastly-superior force of the enemy advancingin two lines, at short range, in frontand on our right flank. And let meask Comrade Tripp, where was the FirstBrigade at that time? On the nextmorning, July 2, when going over thefield locking for wounded, we foundmen of the 76th N. Y., 147th N. Y. and14th N. Y. on the right of the railroadcut, and none of the First Brigadethere.On crossing the cut, and going far-

ther to the left, we found near the Sem-inary members of First Brigade. Don'twant to crow, and will not, but ComradeTripp must own up that he is mistaken.As often is said, there is glory enough

for all of us, but when a man ap-proaches my glory tree to pick andcarry aw^ay my fruit, I must object. I

think that I have fully established thefact that the Second Brigade, First Di-vision, First Corps, led the corps downfrom Emmitsburg on the morning ofJuly 1, 1863, the first on the field of bat-tle and the first to fire as infantry onthe enemy.

Boats, Battles and Beef.

By J. A. DeMuth, Co. D, 85th Pa., 819 So. 14th St., St. Joseph, Mo.

Editor National Tribune: The articleby John McElroy, "The Siege of Suf-folk," in your issue of March 12, bringsto my mind many of the incidents ofthat time.At the close of Gen. McClellan's Pen-

insular campaign my regiment, the 8 5thPa., along with others, was detailed asrear-guard, overland, down to PortressMonroe, with instructions, as we wereinformed, to rejoin the main ^ody ofthe Army of the Potomac. But whenwe arrived at destination we wereswitched over to Suffolk, owing to dem-onstrations being made by the enemythere with a view, as Mr. McElroystates, of finally taking Norfolk, withall its stores.

After being in camp at Suffolk, dem-onstrations were made in various di-rections, feeling for the enemy. Finallycamp was broken and the regiment,along with the other troops, startedacross the country in the direction ofthe Blackwater River, skirmishing by theway, and if all reports are true, captur-ing many a jug of apple-jack, to thedetriment of good order, before comingout on the coast in North Carolina.

I, however, was left at Suffolk to re-ceive the mail for the regiment, untilfurther orders. This order was receiv-ed in the course of time with instruc-tions to take transportation at Norfolk,Va., to New Berne, N. C, at which lat-

ter place the regiment was found.Shortly after leaving Norfolk we en-tered the Dismal Swamp Canal. If thestart had been made one day sooner,the boys would no doubt never havereceived the long-looked-for lettersfrom the dear ones, and likely notagain have seen their postmaster,either, as the boat making the trip theday before was captured by the enemy."We, however, passed thru without in-

cident.Our stay at New Berne was not pro-

longed. After some sharp skirmishes,resulting in tearing up some railroadtrack and damage of that nature, wewere placed on board a vessel boundfor somewhere, we know not. Heremention will be made of an event

most of the members will recall, pro-vided they have ever forgotten it,

that was calculated to test their hon-esty. The Captain of the vessel hadno previous experience with soldiers,as was indicated by his hanging somequarters of fine beef in the open bowof his boat until such time as neededfor his own and the crew's use. Thenext morning the boat's cook, an goingfor the day's supply of meat, was hor-rified to find some skeletons staringhim in the face, instead of the plumpquarters of the night before. This, ofcourse, the cook reported to his Cap-tain, who, after viewing the "remains,"reported to the Colonel (Howell), andnot being acquainted with the mannerof man he was, had the audacity tosay to him his soldiers made the "skele-tons." The Colonel, however, when thevaracity of his boys was called in ques-tion, was not a very mild-spoken man,telling the Captain his own ill-used andpoorly-fed crew had probably been theguilty ones—at least, none of the 8 5thwas. To prove their innocence he in-vited the Captain below to investigate.But, the shrewd old lawyer he was,"continued" the case long enough tosend his orderly ahead to inform theoflJicer in command what the accusa-tion was and to prepare for "inspec-tion." In the course of time theColonel, with the Captain trailing be-hind him, made his appearance, lookingvery stern. They found all of thehaversacks open, but not a mite of themissing beef, and the verdict was "notguilty" by the Colonel, and the Captainhad to accept or "appeal," and as wewere then well out to sea, and he nota good swimmer, made the best of it.

The next incident was on our arrivaloff Hilton Head, S. C, where we wereso long afloat that the boys becamerestive, and the why we were not land-ed for so long I never knew until read-ing Mr. McElroy's before-mentionedarticle. This trip was the means of en-larging our army experience, as wemoved up along the coast towardCharleston with a view of capturing

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Fort Sumter. Especially on MorrisIsland, in the siege of Fort Wagner,some stirring events occured never tobe forgotten while memory lasts.

Singular as it may seem, we wereagain returned to the Army of the Po-tomac, going up the James River andlanding at Burmuda Hundred, helpingto uncork Gen. Butler, who was, asGen. Grant said„ "bottled up" betweenthe James and York rivers.We were there when Gen. Grant ar-

rived to deliver us, and remained some-time, assisting in the attempt to cap-ture Petersburg, but our three years of

enlistment had expired, and the boysthought they had done their share ofsaving the country from disruption lobe permitted to go to the homes so longanxiously awaiting their safe return.Owing to a blunder at our muster-

in, we were compelled to remain threemonths longer, but were relieved fromduty at the front by being sent to therear for police duty at Norfolk, aftercamping a few days at Suffolk.Hoping members of the 85th will

write to me direct, assured of an an-swer—J. A. DeMuth, Co. D, 85th Pa.,819 S. 14th street, St. Jo, Mo.

Ohio Generals in the War.

By Prank H. Snow.

Editor National Tribune: Ohio fur-nished some of the most distinguishedofficers of the late war; viz, Gens.Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Hazen,Garfield, Custer, McPherson, the Mc-Cooks, Hayes, Gibson, Leggett, andscores of others of National reputation.Portage County is proud of her officersand soldiers. Gens. Wm. B. Hazen andGarfield, of Hiram.

It is of Gen. Hazen, one of the Na-tion's noblemen, that I wish to speak.He never shirked an obligation; neverw^avered in the hour of persecutionand sore tried; never turned his backon foe or friend; was always brave andmanly, and always as tender as themost gentle and most refined, and was asphysically handsome as he was cour-ageous in the hour of danger. In themidst of battle, during the dark dayswhen false friends, blatant and selfish,

crowded and pressed him, he neversought shelter behind falsehood or infight, but bravely faced them andflung defiance in their face. A gradu-ate of West Point at 25 he was ap-pointed Second Lfieutenant of the 4thU. S. Inf. He served thruout the In-dian war in southern Oregon in 1856.During the two following years he wasalmost constantly in actual serviceagainst the Indians in Texas and NewMexico, and was four times compli-mented in General Orders from head-quarters of the Army for bravery andgood conduct. During this campaignhe received a severe wound, the ball

passing thru the hand into his right

side, from which it was never extract-

ed. In February, 1861, he was assignedto duty as Professor of Infantry Tactics

at West Point. In September, 1861, acommittee of his friends from Cleve-land visited the President and appliedfor his services as Colonel of the 41stOhio, about to be organized at Cleve-land, with Jas. A. Garfield as Ideuten-ant-Colonel. Before Hazen receivedhis commission, Garfield had been madeColonel of the 42d Ohio. In January,1862, Hazen was appointed to com-mand the Nineteenth Brigade of theArmy of the Ohio. He movel withGen. Buell's army to Pittsburg Land-ing and took an active part in the bat-tle of Shiloh, after which he was order-ed to assume coTnmand of the post atMurfreesboro. Gen. Hazen's Brigade,in which was the 41st, was hotly engag-ed in the battle of Stone River. It washere that the General's horse was shotand the General twice struck. He wasordered by Gen. Palmer to fall back,Hazen's classic reply was: "I'd iike toknow where in I'll fall ba^k to."

A monument was erected at this pointby Hazen's Nineteenth Brigade, withthis inscription:

"To the memory of its soldiers whoFell at Stone River, Dec. 31, 1862,

Their faces toward heaven, their feettoward the foe."

In September, 1863, he took part in

the battle of Chickamauga, under Gen.Thomas, where he fought with greatgallantry, and when his brigade wasthe last organized command to leave

the field. In October, 1863, he em-barked at night with 1,300 men in 52

boats, floated down the Tennessee


River, past Lookout Mountain, alongseven miles of Confederate picket lines,

and seized a position which openedcommunication with Chattanooga. Inthe battle of Mission Ridge his bri-gade was among the first to reach thecrest, where it captured 11 pieces ofartillery and many prisoners. '

After that time the General was en-gaged in marching and skirmishing inEast Tennessee. In August, 1864, 'he

was placed in command of the SecondDivision of the Fifteenth Corps. Hisdivision took part in the Georgia Cam-paign and was engaged with the enemyat Statesboro, on the Oconee River. InDecember, after the arrival of Gen.Sherman before Savannah, it becamenecessary for him to open communica-tion with the sea in order to obtainsupplies. For the accomplishment ofthis purpose. Gen. Hazen's Division wassent on Dec. 13 to capture Fort McAllis-

ter, which commanded the river inletthru which Gen. Sherman hoped to getsupplies. Nine regiments, under Gen.Hazen's command, advanced to thecharge, stormed the fort and captured24 pieces of ordnance and the entiregarrison. The fight was watched byGen. Sherman from a rice-mill threemiles away. Gen. Hazen was appointedand confirmed Major-General, to datefrom the capture of Fort McAllister,and was appointed by the President tocommand the Fifteenth Corps, on ac-count of long continued service of thehighest character. After the war hewas stationed at Fort Buford. Duringthe Russo-Turkish war, in 1876-7, hewas United States Military Attache atVienna. On Dec. 15, 1880, he was ap-pointed Chief Signal OflSber, with therank of Brigadier-General, and that po-sition he continued to hold until hisdeath at Washington, Jan. 16, 1887.

Through Chances of War.

By Frank Holsinger, Co. F, 8th Pa. Reserves, Rosedale, Kan.

Editor National Tribune: I receivedseveral letters of inquiry growing outof my communication in your issue ofApril 9, which prompts me to try again.The Pastor to whose home I wentwith the tidings of the misfortune ofmy friend so sadly wounded in the bat-tle was David Long, who lived nearFair Play, about four miles from theMiller farm, where we had been en-gaged. As I approached the house MissFrances, a maid of 14, met me, invit-

ing me in. The family had loaded upmuch of their belongings, ready to de-part if the fighting came their way.Many soldiers had been to their homeand had been fed. The custom of theDunkers is never to refuse assistanceto the needy or hungry. Miss Francesseeing me approach said to her mother,"Here comes another hungry soldierwanting something to eat." (little

dreaming the part I was to play in herlife). Couch's Division was lying off

toward Williamsburg, and her brotherhad just hitched up to take her outto see the soldiers, and she confessedat something of a disappointment atseeing ime approach at that time—asshe did not wish to be hindered in hervisit. Her mother told her to go onand she would get the soldier a bit toeat. On entering the home our con-versation was of the battle. "What is

your regiment?" was asked. "The 8thPa. Reserves," I replied. The brothermentioned replied, "Why, father, thatis the regiment our Jim is in!" "Doyou speak of James Gates?" I asked.Jim was a correspondent of the oldestof Mr. Long's daughters. I had actedas a sort of amanuensis, reading andwriting letters for him, and wishing to

avoid any possible scene, was somewhatdiplomatic in my breaking the news.

"Yes," said the brother; "I fear it

is not well with him." A breathlessspell or pause—all were in anxiety."He fell by my side and requested meto come to you, that he might see thefamily once again." The news nowbroken, and locating him at the"Smoketown hospital," they rfesolved

to go to him in the morning. I nowessayed to retire. "Won't you havesomething to eat?" and next, "What is

your name?" I told them. Mrs. Longsaid, "Why, father, that is the nameof the man who married Aunt Eliza-

beth." "Yes," said I, "and she was mygrandmother." "Then you are acousin," said she. Surely, I had fallen

into pleasant places and was right roy-ally welcomed. I not only had some-thing to eat, but was prevailed on to

remain over night. On retiring I founda most luxurious bed—spotless linen.

I


Did I sleep in it? Not much! HereI had found relatives who welcomedme to their hearts. I knew full wellthat I had certain creatures hidden inmy vesture w^hich I did not care to partwith just then and there; so, taking apillow from the bed, wUh a spread, laydown upon the floor and slept the sleepof the just. The folks were much sur-prised that the bed was not tumbledand asked the reason. Did I tell them?Yes, years after, when I was one ofthe family. As we here camped forseveral weeks, I took many trips tothis kind family and was always kindlyreceived and loaded with the goodthings of life. When we broke campI corresponded with Miss Prances.Being commissioned at the close of thewar, I was sent to Texas, where I re-mained until '67, when I was orderedto Baltimore to be mustered out. Th6order, issued in Brownsville, Tex., is

dated Jan. 16, 1867. Ours was, I think,the last volunteer regiment in the serv-

ice. Am I right in this? During theFall of '67 Antietam Battle Cemeterywas to be dedicated. I received a let-ter from imy cousin telling me of theevent. "Won't you come and be ourguest?" Miss Prances, the girl of 14,was then a lovely woman of 19 years.I at once fell in love, wooed her, andon proposing was accepted, and wemarried—took Horace Greeley's adviceand went West—locating in Kansas.We have had our share of blessings,among which were seven children, sixof whom still live; and so rapidlyhave we grown as a family that wenow number 25, all of whim live with-in one and a half miles of our horne.All are enjoying the best of health.Antietam, the bloodiest battle of thewar! Do you wonder that I am proudthat I had a part in it? Was it notfor the suffering of others, I shouldsay "Thank God for Antietam!"—PrankHolsinger, Co. P, 8th Pa. Reserves,Rosedale, Kan.

Tupelo

!

By Gilford Hervey, Box 335, Huntington, Ind.

Editor National Tribune: Manythanks for your statement concerningthe battle of Tupelo and in Pontotoc,Miss., and on the Okalona road, in

July, 1864. This is the first accountI have seen in any paper. I was inall of these battles, being in the 59thU. S. C. T., Co. P. Our regiment wasbrigaded with the 60th U. S. (ColoredInf.), under Maj.-Gen. A. J. Smith.W^e marched out with him to fight theold rebel, Porrest, and we whipped himgrandly! When we charged into his

men with our bayonets we yelled to

them, "Remember Port Pillow!" andyou bet we mowed them down! Ourbrigade did love Maj.-Gen. A. J. Smith,because he commanded us to fight to

kill and never surrender—and we didit! I remember well when their cav-alry charged into our wagon train. It

was about 1 o'clock in the day, andwe charged them off, killing 500 or

600 of them and taking many of themprisoners. I remember well, too, thebattle of Tupelo. The fighting com-menced about 8 o'clock in the morn-ing. Our brigade was on the left of the

line, near the center, and was attack-

ed first, but we drove them back, andthey turned to the right and were metwith a bloody charge and driven backwith heavy loss and one General kill-

ed, Gen. Paulkner. Just at this time,Gen. Smith came riding down ourline waving his sword and saying,"Hurrah, boys! No one will be hurthere to-day!" and men were falling

like apples from the trees when shakenby a heavy wind! I looked to the rightand saw a cannon ball cut off the headof a Sergeant of Co. D, next to mycompany, and his body stood, I think,maybe a minute before it fell. Thenwe went into it. I can't remembermuch in detail until the battle wasover and we were upon a mountain,where we could see, and there musthave been 3,000 or 4,000 of Porrest'smen dead and wounded on the battle-

field. We did not lose many of ourmen—about 600 or 700 all together,white and colored. I have cut yourstatement out of the paper and will

keep it, that my grandchildren mayread it when I am dead.—Gilford Her-ney, Huntington, Ind.

Fifteen Months in Rebel Prison.

By James Greacen, Co. I, 22d Mich. Inf.

The battle of Chickamauga, where Iwas wounded and taken prisoner, wasfought Sept. 19 and 20, 1863. At thattime our regiment belonged to Steed-man's Division, Fourteenth Corps.Towards evening of the 20th Gen.Rosecrans withdrew the army, fallingback on Chattanooga, where he fortifiedduring the night, expecting an attackfrom Bragg the next day, and leavingSteedman's Division in line of battle tohold the Ridge, which had now beenthe center of conflict for two days; theobject apparently being to sacrifice thisdivision with a view of keeping up ashow of line of battle while the armyfell back on Chattanooga.

After holding Bragg's army in checkuntil sundown, during which time ourammunition became exhausted, afterusing all we could obtain from the car-tridge-boxes of the dead and wounded,we were ordered by Col. Le Faver, ofthe 22d Mich., commanding brigade, tofall back. After going some eightyrods to the rear, an Orderly approachedin great haste bearing a sealed letter,which he handed to Col. Le Favor,who halted us while he opened and readit, which proved to be an order to holdour position on the Ridge at all hazards,from which we had charged the enemyseveral times during the same day andrepulsed as many charges made bythem. Le Favor, reigning his horse to-wards us, said: "Men of Michigan, ourorders are to go back to the crest ofthe Ridge, and hold it with the coldsteel. We shall go, and may God gowith us! Right-about-face!" Andback we went to the top of the Ridge,where we again formed in line of battle,among the dead and dying, with heavyhearts, feeling that it was almost cer-tain death. No ammunition whateverand only our bayonets for defence, buta handful of us to face the seeminglyvictorious army of Gen. Bragg, we felt

the result was inevitable.There we remained and obeyed or-

ders, while our ranks were fast thin-ning out by the continued volleys ofthe rebel infantry, who were now ad-vancing on us, which we could not re-

turn. The sun had disappeared fromthat terrible field of carnage and death,and yet it was not quite dark. There,in the dusk of the evening, that nobleband repelled charge after charge withthe bayonet. It was then that the rebelinfantry closed up in our front,with their cavalry in the rear, withinbayonet reach of us, both from beforeand behind; here was the crowningstruggle of it all. At this point languagefails me to give an adequate description,all was frenzy and desperation for atime—it must have been short. Whatfew of us that were left found ourselvesin the hands of the enemy, our gunswere wrenched from our hands. Evenafter we had given up our guns, I sawsome of our boys bayoneted for usinginsulting language towards the rebels.We were now exhausted from fatigue,excitement, hunger and thirst; our facesblackened with powder; myself bleedingfrom two wounds. It w^as now quitedark, and they were marching us downthe slope. We had gone perhaps 40rods when a division of rebel infantry,arriving on fop of the Ridge ' in ourrear, and perhaps not realizing that wewere prisoners, fired into us a volley ofdeath. With a view of saving our-selves, we fell fiat on the ground, and,after some 10 minutes, which seemedto us an age, the troops in charge of ussucceeded in stopping that terrible anduseless sla,ughter in which we againsuffered heavily. When the firing com-menced we were in close column, and it

was my fortune to fall fiat on theground with a couple of other fellowson top of me. For this I was extremelyglad, as I thought it might be the meansof saving my life; yet, hope was lowwithin me, for I could not see how anyof us could long survive such a terriblefire. At the time we believed this de-struction to be intentional on the partof the rebels, and that it was the designof the Confederate army to take noprisoners alive; but time works changeson us all, and with it comes a desire tolook back on those scenes from a morehumane standpoint.The rebels also suffered equally with

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ourselves, and as we arose and re-form-•ed in line, how well do we rememberthe result of that terrible flre; for wewere at every step stumbling- over somepoor fellow who had fallen to rise nomore. We were now marching overthat portion of the field where we had"been repeatedly charging the rebels dur-ing the day, arriving at a small streamknown as Chickamauga Creek; and herefor the first time we were halted andallowed to drink from the creek, some-thing for which we were very thank-ful, as we had had no water or foodsince daylight that morning; and,strange as it may seem, it was not untilthen that it flashed to my mind thatI was a prisoner of war and was nowbeing marched to some Southern prison,there to suffer the sad fate of thosewho were in captivity before us andwhom we had heard so much about.My regiment had gone into action

with 495 men. and in two days hadlost 389. We were now compelled, in

our exhausted condition, to make aforced night's march, arriving at Ring-gold, Ga., a small town, at which wehad had an encounter with the enemyfour days previous. We often thinkof that night's march, many of us, like

myself, wounded, and staying in line

only for fear of a worse fate. At Ring-gold we halted, and they gave us baconand hardtack for breakfast, the first

that we had eaten for 24 hours. Herewe were allowed to wash at a creek,something we very much needed, owingto our complexion from burnt powder.We rested here for some three hours,again taking up our line of march forTunnel Hill, where we were corralledIn a slave-pen and our captors relieved,

and in their place conscripts wereplaced in charge of us—men whonever saw service and who presented astriking contrast to the brave men whohad thus far guarded us. In their

hreasts there was not a particle of hu-man sympathy; abuse, sneers and ill-

treatment knew no bounds. It we had"been wild beasts, we would have beentreated with more consideration. Theywere armed with shotguns, double-barreled and single, squirrel rifles andother articles of ancient manufacture.They threatened to shoot us on theslightest provocation, saying that theyhad not killed a "Yank" yet, and nowthey had their opportunity. They tookpleasure in telling us that they nowhad us and that our bones would bleachon Georgia soil.

Huddled in this pen, we remainedunder a drenching rain. One at atime, we were admitted to a small in-

closure and carefully examined and re-

lieved of all money, knives, watches—even mementoes and keepsakes weretaken from us. Even the linings ofour blouses and trousers were torn, sothorough was the search. A largeamount of money was taken from ushere: but "Yankee ingenuity" was toomuch for them. Knowing that we weregoing to be searched, many a bill wastightly wadded, the top of a button onthe blouse removed, and the bill placedtherein and the top or cap of the but-ton replaced. Many others were tightlywadded and placed under the tongue.Other devices were resorted to. Wehoped that we would fare better afterleaving here, feeling that we could notfare worse. We remained in this slave-pen about 36 hours; then, being placedon flat cars, we were taken to Atlanta.Here we were again placed in a slave-pen over night, and again searched, justas we were at Tunnel Hill, and the samemethods of secreting money resorted to.

We had not yet lost all our money,but everything else was taken from us.After they had kept us on exhibition,apparently, for the satisfaction of thepeople of Atlanta, who came by thou-sands to view us, we were again placedon flat cars and started for Richmond,Va. Day and night we occupied thoseflat cars, -whether moving or not. Thescorching sun by day and the chillynight air alike found us on them with-out protection, many of us sufferingfrom undressed wounds. Ten days thuspassed before we reached Richmond.On three occasions, while the trainwas passing thru a cut, people gather-ed on the banks and threw stones andsticks down upon us as our train slow-ly moved along. Many of our boyswere badly hurt, not seeing the peopleon the banks until they commencedstoning us. As we passed thru Peters-burg and saw the immense fortifica-tions, preparations and munitions ofwar, our hearts sank within us, as wefeared that our army could never takethose works. I really thought theywere impregnable.

Oct. 1, 10 days after our capture, wereached Richmond. On this trip theygave us only sea-biscuits to eat; andI never will forget either the taste orfiavor of them. We broke them withthe heels of our shoes. The boysthought they must be some that Noahhad left over when his ark rested onMount Arrarat, and to this day I havenot doubted but such was the carte;

and yet, for aught I knew, they miiThthave been made by some prehistoi'lcrace, which, at some time in the remotepast, inhabited this country. Thistheory I think the most plausible, as


the art of making them seems nowlost. Of course, if they had lain a fewthousand years exposed to the elements,it would not have affected them.We were here placed in a large brick

building with three floors and an attic.

This building had been used as a to-bacco warehouse, and situated near theJames River and on a street runningparallel with it, and almost directlyopposite Libbey Prison, on the oppo-site side of the street. Castie ThunderAvas on the same side of the street.Our building was known as the Pem-berton Prison. The basement was full

of large hogsheads filled with sugar.On each of the three floors 400 menwere pla^ced, and in the attic 200, whichmade us pretty numerous for the spacewe had to occupy. A solid brick wallran from bottom to roof lengthwisethru the building, giving us only halfthe floor space that we otherwise wouldhave had, leaving ventilation on oneside only. I cannot now recall the size

of the floor that we were on, but it

must have been about 28 or 30 feetwide, for as we lay down to sleep wewere in four rows—one row with headsto outside wall on each side; two rowswith heads to heads in the center.This left two alleys about three feetwide between the feet of each outsiderow and the feet of each inside row.So packed were we when lying downthat we had to lie, as we called it,

"spoon fashion." When first lyingdown we lay on the left side, and whendoing so one could not turn over unlessthe w^hole line the entire length ofthe building turned. The four rowsoccupied the entire length of the build-ing; for the want of room, no one couldturn on his back. The rule was that,when 10 men called out "Spoon," theentire row would turn onto the rightside. As for bedding, we had nonewhatever of any description. We lay onthe bare floor with our shoes for ourpillows. On this same space we stayedduring the day and slept during thenight. For the want of bedding, andas a protection against the cold, chillynights, we slept with our clothes on,which consisted simply of trousers, ashirt and blouse.We had no water with which to wash

even our hands or face; combs we didnot have, except as we made them frompieces of the floor or bone, and then, 15or 20 would use the same comb. Owingto our crowded condition and lack ofsanitary arrangements, we soon becamefilthy; vermin, known as the grayback,soon became very numerous. The airwas foul—so many people and no ven-tilation. The sick, the wounded and

those who were well all fared the same;all were equal except in the matter ofendurance. It was here that I recov-ered from my wounds without medicalor other aid other than what naturedid for me.Every morning Lieut. Barrett would

come up the stairs with a squad ofmen with fixed bayonets, and we wereordered to fall in four lines lengthwiseof the room while they counted us off,

I suppose, to see if any had escaped.They would then count the dead, andfrequently made a bungling job of add-ing, sometimes having to have the aidof a prisoner to help them out. Onsome three occasions it was found thatthere was a man or two short, and inorder to compel us to tell how thisshortage came, Barrett kept us withoutrations two days each time. Of course,everyone claimed he knew nothingabout how the shortage came. It wasdone in this way: There were two nightguards at the entrance, who were, inmy opinion. Union men at heart andwere pressed into the service, whowould furnish clothes and the counter-sign. Why they did so I leave you toconjecture. However, it may be someof those bills that were so successfullysecreted when we were examined camenow into play and did good service.Of course, no one would give theseguards away; we would starve first.

Our daily rations consisted of a smallpiece of cornbread, two and one-halfinches long, two inches wide and three-fourths of an inche thick, together witha very small piece of horse or mulemeat about the size of an ordinary esS-This was given to us once a day, andwe ate it all at one time. One meala day, and only one-quarter enough atthat, comprised our daily bill of fare.Our time was occupied largely in hunt-ing for and killing graybacks, whichwe did by searching our shirts andtrousers both inside and out carefully.On two occasions I got a sheet of paperand envelope to write home, I waspermitted to write only six lines. Oneof those letters my parents received; theother one I took out of the postoflicemyself after my release from prison14 months after I had written it. Theone that my people received was givento me by my mother years afterward,and I herewith give the contents of it:

"Richmond, Va.. Nov. 2, 1863."Dear Parents: I am a prisoner of war

at Richmond. I was wounded andtaken prisoner at the battle of Chicka-mauga. My wounds are improving;think I will get well,

"Lovingly, from your son, JamesGleason."

The National Tribune 8crap Book. 137

This brief note is all that my peo-ple knew of me or heard of me fromthe time of my capture until my re-lease 15 months later. We were notpermitted to say anything about thewar or our treatment, and must leaveletters unsealed, and, as they were notexamined in our presence, we did notknow whether they were forwardedthru the lines or not. Therefore, onething that troubled me thru all myprison life wa^ to think that perhapsmy people had not heard from me anddid not know whether I was killed orwas a prisoner.

In all the time that I was a prisoner1 did not hear from home. Early inNovember our cavalry made a raid onRihmond for the purpose of liberat-ing the prisoners, and really enteredthe edge of the city. Our joy knewno bounds when we saw the rushingof the rebel troops to and fro, and asthe Union shells fell in the James Riverand around our prison, cheer aftercheer went up. But we were againdisappointed, and for some of us, atleast, it was best that we should be; forthat night the two rebel guards beforealluded to as our friends told us thatour building had been undermined withpowder sufficient to have left not abrick where it stood; that everythingwas complete and orders given to theeffect that the moment the Union cav-alry entered the city the fuses were tobe lighted; and the rebel war records,now on file at Washington, show con-clusively that such orders were given.One scene stands out distinct and

vivid during all the years and will re-main with each one who was on floorNo. 2 until death. It was the nightof Nov. 2, 1863. Lieut. Barrett and2 00 men with fixed bayonets came ontoour floor about sundown and orderedus all into line on the south side ofthe building. We fell in in six ranks,while they arranged themselves alongthe north side and facing us. Barrettthen told us that they were there foriDusiness; that our lives were in hishande; that we ought to be killed, any-'way, and would be, if we violated ina single instance any of his orders. Hethen ordered us to stand perfectly still

until relieved, making no movement ofthe body, head, feet or hands, ourhands reaching down by the seams ofour trousers, eyes straight to the front.He then gave orders to his men that if

any one of us should move either hand,foot, head, position of body or eyes, orspeak, that they should instantly com-mence firing on us and continue firingas long as one of us remained, whilethey stood with their guns at a ready

with the hammers drawn back andready in an instant to fire on us. Therewe stood motionless, each one fearingthat his fellow might disobey ordersin some way, realizing that nature wasfast becoming exhausted, which wouldbe the signal for our destruction.Under the terrible mental and physi-

cal strain which we underwent thatnight (and the hours passed like somany months), it is not within my pow-er to describe. We had hoped andhoped that the end would soon come,as the rebel guards were becomingwearied as well as we. But, to oursad disappointment, about midnight theguards were relieved and replaced withfresh ones. Then again we listened tothe orders given those 200 rebel sol-diers by Barrett as before. Discour-agement and a keen sense of our condi-tion pervaded each one. We could notlook at our comrade on the right handor on the left, as we had to lookstraight ahead. We knew it would bea matter of endurance, or else end indeath. The terrible torture that we en-dured for the last few hours beforedaylight I cannot describe; I will simplyleave it to your imagination.We remained in that position until

daylight. Some had fallen dead on thefloor with a thud, which caused ourhearts to beat quicker and quicker andthe guards to bring their guns to theirshoulders. One poor fellow fell be-side me. I dared not look to see whohe was, and did not know until we wererelieved, altho he lay at my feet. Bar-rett did not remain with his men thatnight, only coming when he placedthem at sundown and again at midnightwith their relief. Had the officer whohad charge of the rebel infantry thatnight literally obeyed the orders givenby Lieut. Barrett, none of us wouldhave survived until morning; for I amsatisfied that the orders were not strict-ly obeyed, especially as it was nearingdaylight, as human endurance becameunbearable. We did not know that themorning would relieve us; we did notknow when the end would come of all

this torture. Why we were so torturedI never knew, except it was that theydeemed severe discipline necessary Inorder to control us and keep us fromplanning escape, etc. This Lieut. Bar-rett, who caused that terrible suffering,was himself burned to death in a burn-ing building in Richmond in 1866. Nov.20 we were moved from Richmond toDanville, a town of about 2 00 inhab-itants in the southern part of Virginia,near the North Carolina line. The reb-els told us we were now going to beexchanged. At Danville we were placed

138 The National Tribune Sci^ap Booh.

in another brick building, similar tothe one we were in at Richmond, ex-cept that there was no wall in the cen-ter and there were five windows oneach side; three floors, on which therewere 400 men each, and 200 in theattic, where there was no ventilationexcept a window at each end. Ourprison was known as No. 4. I was onthe second floor.

When we reached there the first thingthe rebels did was to again search ussimilar to the way they had done atTunnel Hill and Atlanta, but beforedoing so, they informed us that anyonehaving United States money would getit back on their release from prison,

they receipting us for the same, but if

found on our person when searchingus, it would be appropriated by the Con-federate Government. They had learn-ed by this time that we had ways of

secreting it which was beyond theircomprehension. Very many poor fel-

lows turned over their last dollar ratherthan take chances of losing it, believingthe promises made that we were soonto be paroled and that it would be re-

turned to them. I, myself, gave them$40, all the money I had, taking a re-

ceipt.I do not believe that one dollar of

this money was ever returned. Hav-ing made a good haul on this search,one week later they again searched usand took from us, under threats of theseverest punishment by way of with-holding food, the receipts that they hadgiven us for our money, at the sametime pledging the honor of the Confed-eracy to refund all money on our re-

lease. However, by this time our con-fidence in their honor had ran down to

a very low ebb. Maj. Nolan had chargeof the prisoners at Danville, and to his

credit I will say that he was the mosthumbane of any of our keepers, and didmany little acts of kindness. He wouldcome into the prison alone and talk

with us for an hour at a time. Hetreated us as men, not as brutes. Hesympathized with us and seemed sorryfor our condition, and seemed really

sorry that it was not in his power to

prevent.He took prisoners out to the cook

house to cook our rations for us, grant-ed them the privilege of the town ontheir parole of honor. He was al-

ways welcome when he entered theprison and needed no escort to protecthim. But our condition was anythingbut desirable. Our clothing, as beforedescribed, consisted of one shirt, blouse,trousers, shoes and cap, badly worn andwas fast giving out. Having been at

the front for months before our cap-

ture, we were not able to draw a newsupply. And to make our lot worse.Winter was upon us. No blanket orcovering of any kind in the prison; thewindows became broken, so that thewind and snow would blow thru thebuilding. We slept in spoon-fashion,the same as at Richmond, often snowcovering us when we arose in the morn-ing. No fire of any kind was in theprison during that Winter, and warmthcould not be obtained except by goingup into the foul air of the attic, wherethere was more warmth than elsewhere.We suffered extremely from cold. Ourbill of fare at Danville consisted ofa pint of pea soup and a small pieceof cornbread once a day. We ate it

all at once.We could easily have eaten four

times as much. We suffered extreme-ly from hunger as well as cold. Thesoup that I speak of never saw meatof any kind—just pea soup, pure andsimple, made by boiling a black pea,which in every case contained a bug.When the water became warm thosebugs rose to the top, forming a blacksurface, and the oil from those bugswas really nourishing. Many becamehomesick and discouraged. Sicknessand death in our midst was an every-day occurrence, and to add to our mis-fortunes, the smallpox broke out in ourprison, and eight out of every 10 weresick with it. Fully two-thirds of theentire prison were lying sick at onetime with the smallpox, and the stenchfrom the disease was unbearable. Wehad no medical aid; and without fire,

care or attention of any kind, lying ona board floor, with the snow frequentlyfor a covering, many died. But themortality was less than would be ex-pected under the circumstances. Thefact that we had had no meat to eatproved a great benefit to us on thisoccasion.New Year's Day, 1864, well remem-

bered as the "Cold New Year's," foundus here in the above condition, and oursuffering from cold that day was ter-rible. And to add to our suffering, wewere given no rations whatever. Inthis terrible condition we spent the timehuddled together, telling some friendhow we and our friends had spent NewYear's Day at home, and of dear onesat home whom we had but little hopesof ever seeing again. During that Win-ter we spent our time as best we could,either standing or sitting on the floor,as we had no seats or benches. Verymany passed the hours playing games.Checkers and 12 Men Morris werethe favorite ones, which we would markout and play on the floor. I spent my


time largely at those games and de-stroying graybacks, which were ex-tremely numerous, and in this way suc-ceeded to a great extent in keeping mymind occupied other than dwelling onhome and friends and present condi-tions. When the mind was allowed todwell on home and friends, then home-sickness and death soon followed. May29 we left Danville, this time placed inbox cars strongly guarded and crowd-ed to such an extent that all could notlie down at once. On the roof of thecars the guards were placed. In thiscondition very many died who were toofeeble to stand up, and were trampedunderfoot, both before and after death.We went south. Some of the guards

told us they were going to take us toGeorgia, where they would give eachof us a piece of ground two by sixfeet, which proved too true to most ofus. Nothing important occurred onthis trip, except that our train collidedwith a construction train while cross-ing a bridge near Charlotte, N. C,which badly demoralized the bridge andengine, but both trains kept the track.Had our train left the track it wouldhave plunged into the river, 60 feet be-low, and this would have ended ourprison life and thousands of the poorfellows would have been spared a longand tedious death. Four days fromstarting we reached a small berg inOeorgia called Andersonville, where wedisembarked from the cars, for whichwe were very thankful, and weremarched to the stockade, about three-quarters of a mile away.The sight of this stockade struck ter-

ror to every heart. It was that terrorwhich is not shown by expression, butrather by the reverse; for little wassaid, while much thinking was keptup. We were heavily guarded with in-fantry and cavalry. As we were near-ing the big gate, which was soon toshut on us, the rebel guards were in-creased. As I now look back on thescene, I conclude that it was a precau-tion taken, thinking that when the ad-vance of the prisoners entered thestockade and saw the wretched condi-tion of its inmates, they would revoltand refuse to enter. Soon we were in-side. It was raining; the ground wasmuddy; it already seemed to be crowd-ed; there was no shelter, not eventrees. Had the timber been left stand-ing, what a blessing it would haveproved during that Summer of 1864.Soon we were earnestly conversing

with those whom we found there. Weinquired where we could sleep, and theytold us anywhere. But when night-came, and we endeavored to lie down

on the driest ground we could find,keeping out of the mud as best wecould, we were ordered off by thosewho had pre-empted it before our com-ing. There being no shelter of any de-scription in Andersonville, we were con-stantly out in the open air day andnight. Not desiring to lie down in themud, we remained standing the firstnight, being wet with a drizzling rain.Morning brought relief, but we now sawthat our condition was desperate, andat once determined to make the bestof it. Hard as we thought our condi-tion to be at Richmond and Danville,we now found it much worse, and wish-ed ourselves back again. There wehad a roof over our heads which pro-tected us from the mud and rain. Thefirst 21 days of June it rained more orless each day, so that our clothingscarcely became dry.

Frequently we saw a group trying tosleep standing, by having one man fora centerpiece, the rest huddling aroundand leaning toward the center. Finallywe took to the ground and slept as bestwe could. The moving multitude inthat crowded pen kept the ground,when wet, very muddy.

I shall now very briefly describe thestockade and its surroundings. It con-sisted of about 10 acres of ground sur-rounded by a stockade 14 feet high,built with pine timbers cut 20 feet longand hewn square, so that eaxih wasabout 12 by 12 inches. A trench wasdug six feet deep and the timbers wereplaced therein in an upright position.Twenty feet from the stockade, on theinside, was the dead-line. This consist-ed simply of crotched sticks stuck intothe ground and a pole laid in themabout three feet from the ground. This20 feet between the dead-line and stock-ade was forbidden ground for us. Noprisoner could set foot there; neitherplace his hand on the dead-line, as it

was sure and instant death; and manya poor fellow, preferring speedy deathto a slow and starving one, would de-liberately go to it, rest his hands on thedead-line, and await the result, whichwas sure and speedy. Many who losttheir reason met the same fate.On top of the stockade there were

small sentry stations about 100 feetapart, with a roof to protect the guardsfrom sun andl rain. Each sentry hadhis number. No. 1 was on the rightof the main gate. No. 2 next, and soon. The stockade was enlarged aboutJuly 15, adding about five acres moreand making in all about 15 acres. Theclean ground of the new part was eager-ly sought by all, I being one of thefortunate ones to change my position to


the new part. This addition gave usmore room, and for a few days we didnot seem to be so overcrowded. Atthis time there were about 30,000 pris-oners in Andersonville. Thru the cen-ter ran a sluggish stream, say, fourinches deep and perhaps five feet wide,entering the stockade from the westside. On each side of the stream it

was swampy and composed of a mixtureof black mud and clay, so soft thatit could not be crossed for about fouror five rods on each side of the creek.The lay of the ground was such thatthe rebel batteries opposite each of theouter corners, which were constantlytrained on the stockade, could rakeevery foot of the inclosure. Besidesthose batteries, a large body of troops,both infantry and cavalry, were con-stantly encamped outside and reinforc-ed by several packs of bloodhounds,each pack being in charge of a man onhorseback, whose duty it was to goaround the stockade each morning, thedogs catching the scent of the freshtrack of anyone who might have es-

caped by means of a tunnel during thenight. As soon as the dogs caught afresh scent they set up what seemedto us an unearthly yell, and away theywould go with their keeper, and thepoor fellow, unless he found a friendlytree which he could climb, would betorn to pieces.Owing to our condition, treated like

brutes, almost naked, starving, cov-ered with lice and maggots as we layon the ground; pain, agony, misery anddeath on every hand, coupled with thebelief that our Government and friendshad forgotten us and left us to per-ish under those conditions, the humanpart of man seemed to diminish andthe brute or animal part to gain as-cendency. In August, 6,980 died ofscurvy, diarrhea and despair. Hope wasnow gone, and yet there is no spoton earth that can show greater loyaltyto its country's Flag than that sacredspot inside the stockade at Anderson-ville.

Many, very many, times the rebelstold us that our Government had de-serted us, and if we would go out andwork on the forts and fortifications thatthey were building, we could have foodand clothing; and as many times thisoffer was met with a stern refusal andmany a brave boy said in reply: "What,help to build forts to help kill our ownmen? Never; no, never; we will diehere first." This not having a desiredeffect, the rebels then sought to enlistus in the Confederate service, we swear-ing allegiance to the Confederate Gov-ernment, they offering to feed, clothe

and pay us the same as other troopsand allow us to occupy forts. Thisoffer, like the other, was promptly re-fused, except by a very few. Perhapsone regiment was recruited and organ-ized and sent to the defenses at Charles-ton, their intention being to desert toour own troops. But they never hadan opportunity, and in about six weekswere returned to the prison. Feelingthat our Government had forgotten, orrather neglected us, consent was ob-tained from the rebel authorities tosend a delegation of three of our ownmen to Washington to be presented toPresident Lincoln with a petition sign-ed by about 2 4,000 brave fellows, whowere now almost naked and starving.This renewed hope within us, as wefelt that our Government possibly hadnot know^n of our true condition andthat, on the arrival of the delega-tion at Washington, steps would betaken for our release or parole. Butno; by infiuence of Stanton, the dele-gation was not permitted to see Mr.Lincoln. Every act of Stanton's provedthat he preferred to let every Union sol-dier die in prison rather than exchangethem for able-bodied and well-fed reb-els. This was a crowning shame to ourGovernment, and for which we believethe Secretary of War alone responsible.

Religious meetings were frequentlyheld, led by Serg't Miller, of my ownregiment, and Boston Corbett, whoafterward shot John Wilkes Booth, Con-trast those meetings, if you will, andtheir surroundings with meetings heldat home, and yet all worshiping thesame God. August and September werethe worst months. Scurvy had nowgained such headway that it was themost fatal disease. It first showed itssymptoms in the gums, which wouldswell to the end of the teeth: thenthe whole system became affected; soonthe limbs commenced swelling: a fewdays, and suffering was over.Much has been said about a certain

spring which broke out in Anderson-ville. Such was the case, and it oc-curred under the following conditions:It was on Aug. 15. After a few days ofextremely hot, sultry weather, a greatstorm broke upon us with such furythat no one who was there will everforget it. It became dark, lightningflashed, thunder rolled, and the rain fellin sheets, and to add to the intensityof this terrible scene, the rebels com-menced firing solid shot over us, whichthey kept up, seemingly, for the pur-pose of intimidating us, owing to thefact that some 20 feet of the stockade,where the creek entered the stockadewashed down on account of the great


volume of water that was by this timeforcing- its way down the shallow, slug-gish stream. When this scene was overwe found a pure stream of spring waterrunning from out the ground on thehillside. Boards were obtained fromCapt. Wirz, a trough was made, and in

order to obtain water from the spring,we fell in line and awaited our turn.Usually we remained in line from a halfto three-quarters of an hour. At anyhour, day or night, a line could be seenawaiting their turn to reach the spring.I am told that this spring is runningyet, and rightly it was named "Provi-dence Spring;" for before that we ob-tained water only from the stream, andit was very impure, from the fact thatthe rebels camped on it above the stock-ade. The cook house, too, was builtover this stream and all debris wasthrown therein; and to be sure thatthere was no mistake made, an occa-sional dead horse or mule was dumpedinto it below* the rebel camp and be-fore it entered the stockade.

In June an organization known asthe "Raiders," composed of our ownmen, bound together by an oath of se-crecy, were located in the southwestcorner of the stockade. They were about3,000 strong and made up mostly ofmen from the lower resorts of ourgreat cities. They soon became theterror of the prison, and to such an ex-tent that we were afraid to even speakof their doings for fear that we mightbe speaking to or in the presence ofone of the gang, and if so, that nightwe would pay the penalty with ourlives. This brought a new affliction ontous. If a prisoner was seen to havemoney, a ration of cornmeal, or any-thing, he was spotted and that nightbe would be robbed, and if he resistedor attempted to give an alarm, he wouldbe choked to death. We were afraidto sleep. I, myself, have lain on theground, pretending I was asleep, andseen them choke to death a poor fellowabout 10 feet awav.Our rations consisted of cornmeal

mush, and they would take possessionof the wagons bringing it in to the pris-oners, keeping it all to themselves, al-lowing the rest of us to starve, fre-quently, for two days at a time withoutanything to eat. If new prisoners camein with clothing, they would rob themof it at night, in a quiet way, and noone must say anything about it. Soonthe prisoners organized what wasknown as the "Regulars," with a manby the name of Keys at the head, bet-ter known as "Limber Jim." He or-ganized us into companies, and a des-perate encounter took place for su-

premacy. It was a struggle for life,but with the timely aid of 100 menwith guns and fixed bayonets, whichCapt. Wirz placed in Keys's hands andsubject to his orders, the "Raiders"were successfully run down and theleaders taken outside, where they weretried by a court-martial composed of12 of our own officers, who werebrought from the Macon Prison forthat purpose, resulting in 300 to run thegauntlet and six to be hung.A scaffold was built inside the pris-

on and the six men hung on July 11,1864. Those who had to run the gaunt-let received cruel treatment, indeed.This effectually stopped the "Raiders,"and we had no more trouble with them.It was an extreme act, yet, as I lookback upon that scene now, I view it asan act of justice and humanity. Spieswere sent into the stockade, dressedin our clothing-, who reported all at-tempts at tunneling or plans of escape.My position in the new stockade wasnext to the dead-line on the south side.I was then chumming with Serg't JohnMorris, of the 18th U. S. Regulars. Wepreferred to be next to the dead-line,because of the purer air and the groundnot being- so much affected by vermin.One night Morris, who, like the restof us, was troubled with the campdysentery, got up about midnight, andas he again lay down beside me, Iwoke up. Immediately on the stillnessof the night rang out a report fromthe gun of the guard on the stockadesome 2 5 feet away, which startled me,at the same time feeling somethingwarm and wet all over my face. Im-mediately Morris commenced to quiver.I turned toward him and spoke; he didnot answer. I placed my hand on hishead; it was wet; the ball had enteredhis head, and it was his brains I feltwarm and wet on my face. I got up,telling my neighbors that Morris waskilled. The guard refused to let anyof us come near Morris, and told usthat if we gathered together and talk-ed about the circumstance he wouldshoot us as long as he had ammunition.Our food, as before stated, consisted

of mush made out of cornmeal, groundcob and all, and no salt, which wasmade in the great cook-house just out-side of camp on the stream. Hugewagon-boxes, made tight, received themush at the cook-house and a four-mule team drew it to the stockade. Forthe purpose of drawing our rations, wewere divided into squads of 100 men.Each squad had a Sergeant, whose dutyit was to draw the rations of mush forhis hundred. He also had a board, andon that board he carefully divided the


mush into as many lumps as there weremen in his squad, and one more, be-cause the rule was that the Sergeantwas entitled to two rations. Then, hav-ing' carefully taken from the largerand placing on the smaller piles, untilhe became satisfied that the piles wereall about one size, with the hungry menstanding around, he would then directsome one to turn his back, handing hima slip, not of each man's name, butof his number in the squad. The Ser-geant would then point with a stick to acertain pile of mush, saying, "Whose is

this?" While the fellow with his backturned would speak a certain number,tbe comrade bearing that number wouldrush up and carefully take his ration.The Sergeant would then continue thrut^ie entire list, pointing his stick, atthe same time using the words, "Andthis?" This was repeated until eachman in the squad had received his ra-tions. There would then be two rationsleft, which belonged to the Sergeant.No other way could be satisfactory, sojealous was each for fear they did notget as much as their fellow. The ra-tions of mush would fill about anordinary teacup, which we receivedonce a day, receiving nothing else.

After delivering the mush, the wagonwas again driven to the cook-house,standing in the hot sun, the flies didtheir work—the rest we leave to theImagination—after which the wagon-T30X was again filled with mush, without•cleansing, which frequently becamesour, and when shoveled out of thewagon frequently had black streaks,showing a state of fermentation. Therewas nothing here to attract our atten-tion. We played no games, as at Dan-ville. The scenes of to-day were re-peated to-morrow. Many became in-sane, and as the rate of mortality ranhigher each month that we were there,until in August, two out of every threethat were in the stockade the first ofthe month died before its close.The dead were carried inside the

dead-line at the main gate at 8 o'clockeach morning and left in rows, entirelynude, as w^hat clothing was left wasalways appropriated by those who hadbeen their friends. They were merelyskeletons. I have frequently countedfrom 300 to 400 dead soldiers at once.Four-mule wagons would drive in, thedead be thrown up on the wagon bytwo men, straightened around until aload of them was obtained, and so onuntil all of them were taken out. AboutSept. 20 our cavalry, making a com-bined effort from different points to

come to our relief, the rebels scatteredus in different directions. I, with oth-

ers, was placed in box-cars and sentto Charleston, S. C. Here we were underthe fire of our own fleet for about twodays, and those mortar shells, as theyrose and dropped into the city, as view-ed by us in the night, were truly grand.When leaving Andersonville we were

assured by the rebels that we were thistime going to be exchanged. They as-sured us that there would be no disap-pointment this time, and that theywould take us to Charleston, there tobe paroled and turned over to our ownGovernment; and from the fact that weknew our fleet lay in the harbor, andthat we were going in the direction ofCharleston, we believed what they toldus, notwithstanding their having lied tous on previous occasions. On this tripwe were not guarded as strongly as onformer ones until after reachingCharleston, but we thought the troopswere there in defense of the city. Soonthey placed us in box-cars, telling usthat arrangements were made to turnus over to our own forces elsewhere.We again became suspicious, and whenit dawned on us that we were going toanother Andersonville, all hope wasgone, despair taking its place. Afterabout 3 6 hours we reached Florence,S. C. Here we found another stockadesimilar to the one at Andersonville, asit had a stream passing thru it and adead-line, and covered about 10 acresof ground. There was no shelter what-ever. As the cold, drizzling rains of No-vember came on, thousands who hadwithstood their experiences in Ander-sonville and elsewhere now gave up all

hopes, most of them dying, for, as wesurveyed our condition, we saw beforeus no escape from death. Feeble,emaciated, naked, starving, no shelter,and Winter approaching, did not helpto encourage us. Some built earth huts;many others dug in the ground, thenexcavated a place off to one side for aprotection from the elements.

It was not my purpose when com-mencing to write this reminiscence ofprison life to draw it out to such alength, but as scene after scene passesvividly before me, I briefly note them,and yet T find, on reflection, that one-quarter of the circumstances that I

might have alluded to I have not men-tioned.But I must close this narrative. Suf-

fice it to say that our food and treat-ment in Florence was similar to that atAndersonville, and the fact that Win-ter was again approaching and wasnow upon us made our lot very muchworse, and practically all now aban-doned hope, as we knew we could notlive in that condition during another

The National Tribune Scrap Booh, 143

Winter. About one acre of ground in

one corner of the stockade was parti-tioned off about Nov. 1 by laying polesin crotches, similar to the dead-line.This part was called the hospital, althothere was no shelter there any morethan in the rest of the prison.

I now made up my mind that my onlychance for life was in being paroled,and that if any were paroled it would bethose in the hospital. I now commencedto plan more than ever to get out, anddecided on trying to get into the hos-pital. The rebel doctor had the sick-call sounded about 9 o'clock each day,and those who were not able to walkwere brought to him. He examinedthem briefly, and if he deemed themfit subjects for the hospital, they wereadmitted; if not, they were sent back.The advantage at the hospital lay notin shelter, neither in change of food,so much as it did from the fact thatthe sick were prescribed for and fur-nished some medicine. At this time I

was considerably crippled up fromscurvy and rheumatism, and decided tomake the attempt to get into the hos-pital. With the aid of two comradeswho befriended me, one on each sideand a stick in my hand, which I used asa cane, I was taken one morning to thesick-call. The doctor, looking me over,said he guessed I could stand it a whilelonger, and refused to admit me. Assoon as I got out of his sight, I dis-pensed with further assistance of thecomrades mvYvo were aiding me to walk,being able to go back to my quarterswithout assistance.

I was afraid to repeat the attemptthe following morning, as I feared thedoctor might remember me, so I waitedfor about four days, when I again re-peated my attempt to get into the hos-pital. Assisted by my comrades andleaning on them I again appeared be-fore the doctor, and this time it provedsuccessful, as I appeared much morefeeble than before, while I was reallyable to go anywhere in the prison with-out assistance. Now, being admitted tothe hospital, it was necessary for me tokeep quiet. The morning of Nov. 26,1864, three rebel officers came into thehospital part of the stockade, sayingthey were going to parole 500 of thesick. The hospital was divided intowards of 100 men each, each man num-bered. The officers informed us thatthey would parole the first fifth ofthe first 10 wards. I did not knowwhat my number was then, on accountof so many deaths which had takenplace. Hope sprang anew within us,and yet, as we had been deceived sooften, we bad many doubts, but the fact

that they had once commenced to ad-minister the oath to us and the furtherfact that it was the sick that were beingparoled, gave us great hopes, and my'anxiety to know' if I should be includ-ed among the fortunate few was in-tense.To be paroled then, owing to my

physical condition, meant life and lib-erty to me. To miss it meant suredeath, as I could have survived my con-dition but a few days longer. When thehospital steward commenced calling theroll of my ward (No. 9,) I anxiouslyawaited my name, until the first 4 hadbeen called. With the very keenest-anxiety I listened for my name. Whenthe 4 7th man had been called I wascompletely discouraged. Next thesteward said: "No. 48; James Greacen,Co. I, 22d Mich." I then stepped for-ward to the table, signed my parole,swearing that I would never take uparms for the United States until I waslegally exchanged and notified thereof.No change to the human mind couldbe more sudden. Hope at once tookthe place of despondency. As we wereparolled we were taken outside of thestockade, and spent that night lying onthe pine plains with but few guards,the rebels furnishing us with betterand more abundant rations than we hadever received since our capture.The next morning we were placed on

flat cars, reaching Savannah about 4o'clock in the afternoon, where we werepermitted to camp in an open field ad-joining the city, and while we still hadmisgivings, yet from the conduct of therebels in sending about only 20 guardswith us, and the fact that on reachingSavannah we were furnished with whitebread, sweet potatoes and coffee, manyof us ate more than we should. How-ever, this gave us renewed confidence.The citizens of Savannah flocked aroundus in large numbers, and mingled withthe prisoners, and many of them, bothmen and women, seemed glad that wewere on our way to our homes, andthat our prison life was over. Muchsympathy was manifested by them andmany kind words spoken. After againfurnishing us a good meal for ourbreakfast next morning, we weremarched to the dock thru one of theprincipal streets of the city, while thestreets and windows, even to the thirdand fourth stories, were crowded withcitizens who had gathered to see ourwretched condition.Three transports lay at the dock,

which conveyed us down the SavannahRiver to a point opposite Port Pulaski,where our fleet lay at anchor. About?, o'clock that afternoon we stepped off


the rebel flagship onto the GeneralLyon. Over our head floated the Starsand Stripes, which we had not seen for15 months and which we could not helpgazing- upon. Never before nor sincedid that old Flag seem so dear to meor mean so much to me.The Union officers shook each by the

hand as we stepped on board, having akind and pleasant word for all. Whata change—a pleasant smile, amongfriends, as compared with the profane,tyrannical and brutal treatment thatwe had been so long accustomed to.

Imagine the contrast. Our officers whoreceived us, in their dress-suits withside-arms, the pictures of health, ofstrength and of plenty, and we in ourstarved and wretched condition, eachpartially naked, what clothing we hadconsisting mostly of meal sacks; gauntand sunken features, with hair uncutand unshaven faces, and demoniaclook. When taken prisoner I weighed180 pounds; I now weighed 96 pounds.

Bath-tubs and soap were at once fur-nished us; our rags, vermin and all,

floated down the river; new suits thru-out were furnished us; after which wewere furnished with coffee, bread, but-ter, beef, potatoes and a gill of vinegarto a man, which we were requested todrink, on account of the scurvy. Theamount furnished was very small, asthe Surgeon would not permit us to

eat but a certain amount, while ourappetites craved much more.The General Lyon weighed anchor

the next morning, and the next day, onour way to Annapolis, nearly went tothe bottom in a storm off Cape Hat-teras, where two months later she didgo down to the bottom with 5 00 pa-roled prisoners on board. Here ourclothing, which we had drawn but fourdays before, was destroyed, and we wereagain supplied with new clothing. TheGovernment paid us four months' payand gave each of us a 60 days' furloughto our respective homes.

''The Old Sixth Corps.'

By Thos. Lynch, 43 ClifE St., Conajoharie, N. Y.

Editor National Tribune: Havingseen the request of P. G. Marks, Leb-anon, Pa., for a copy of the song, "GodBless the Old Sixth Corps," I inclose

a copy for publication, believing thereare many more comrades who would bepleased to see the song in print andthereby obtain a copy.—Thos. Lynch,4 3 Cliff St., Conajoharie, N. Y.

God bless our noble army,The hearts are strong and brave

That have willing come our standardFrom treason's grasp to save;

But from the Western prairieTo Atlantic's rocky shore.

The truest, noblest hearts of all

Are in the "Old Sixth Corps."

Then, 'ere we part tonight, boys,We'll sing one song the more,

With chorus swelling loud and clear,

Glod bless the "Old Sixth Corps."

In the thickest of the battle.

Where the cannon's fiery breathSmites many a strong heart pressingOn to victory or death.

The foremost in the conflict.

The last to say, 'tis o'er

—

Who know not what it is to yield

—

You'll find the "Old Sixth Corps."

There's many a brave man lyingWhere he nobly fought and fell;

There's many a mother sighing.For the son she loved so well;

And the Southern winds are breathingA requiem where they lie

—

O, the gallant followers of the crossAre not afraid to die.

Our truest, bravest heart is gone,And we remember well

The bitter anguish of that dayWhen noble Sedgwick fell;

But there is still another left

To lead us to the fight.

And with a hearty three times threeWe'll cheer our gallant Wright.

Then, on; still onward will we press,

'Till treason's voice is still,

And proudly wave the "Stripes andStars"

On every Southern hill.

We'll struggle till our flag is safeAnd honored as before;

And men in future time shall say"God bless the Old Sixth Corps."

Then, e'er we part tonight, boys.We'll sing one song the more.

With chorus swelling loud and clear,

"God bless the Old Sixth Corps."

\'

Robert E. Lee.

By W. Medkirk.

This paper is only intended to recite

a few historical facts in the life ofRobert B. Lee, to show that by parent-age, education, surroundings, and every-thing in the way that made up his life,

he never believed that a State had theright to withdraw from the Union ofStates; that it was an indissolubleUnion, founded by our fathers; that hisancestors were all Federalists, and thathis father did not hesitate to lead theUnited States troops into Pennsylvaniato suppress the "Whisky Rebellion."

Lee's State, Virginia, had less causeto secede than any other State; it was aUnion State and cast its electoral votefor Bell and Everett in 1860. The re-"bellion was a landholders', no less thana slaveholders' rebellion—not a rebel-lion of the people. South Carolina wasthe one which kept up the agitation,as she had inherited it from Calhoun,who made slavery the issue when hedropped the tariff as the issue in 18 32,w^hen Jackson sent him word that atthe first move on his part against theUnited States Government he would ar-rest him and hang him Virginia hadno interest in common with South Car-olina—the election of Abraham Lincolnwas only a pretext. John Janey, Presi-dent of the Virginia Convention, saidthat "Mr. Lincoln was not the cause ofsecession; he only served as a bridgefor the convention to pass over."The calling of 75,000 troops by the

President was another excuse for theleaders to fire the Southern heart; thecalling of troops was to protect Wash-ington, as there was no doubt in theminds of President Lincoln and his ad-visors that the rebels would attemptto take Washington. It was an oldidea of theirs. Brooks, of South Caro-lina, in the Senate in 1856, said: "IfFremont is elected, the South shouldon March 4, 1857, march upon Wash-ington and seize the archives and theTreasury of the Government."

There were men from the foundationof the Government who were very weakin their ideas that it was a perpetualUnion. Jefferson was a constant thornin Washington's side, and was such aplotter, even while he was in Washing-

ton's official family, that Gen. Lee'sfather warned Washington about him.But it was a long time before Wash-ington saw his treachery, and for thelast three years of Washington's life

Jefferson never stopped at Mount Ver-non, altho he passed there frequently onhis way to Washington. Jefferson said:"Whether we remain in one Confeder-acy or form into Atlantic and Missis-sippi Confederacies, I believe is not veryimportant to the happiness of either."He said that, too, after the AtlanticStates had paid $15,000,000 toward theLouisiana purchase.The conduct of Jefferson so wrought

up Washington that, writing to Gen. Al-exander Hamilton about the Shay re-bellion, he said: "What, gracious God,is man, that there should be such in-consistency and perfidiousness in hisconduct? It is but the other day thatwe were shedding our blood to obtainthe Constitution under which we nowlive—constitutions of our own choiceand making—a.nd now we are unsheath-ing the sword to overturn them." Again:"The just pride of patriotism is exalt-ed by the more comprehensive title of

citizen of the United States." Again:"Because I see under popular and fas-cinating guises the most diabolic at-

tempts to destroy the best fabric ofhuman Government and happiness thathas ever been presented to the accept-ance of mankind."To show how little real disunion sen-

timent existed in the Southern States,

except probably South Carolina, I will

state that about 18 5 Gen. Quitman wasthe disunion candidate for Governor ofMississippi, and Senator Foote was theUnion candidate. Foote met Quitmanin joint debate and drove him fromthe contest. Jeff Davis took his placeon the ticket and was overwhelminglydefeated. The same thing occurred in

Georgia. Howell Cobb was the Unioncandidate for Governor, and was elect-

ed by a large majority.Many will be surprised, as I was,

when I found that a Democratic Con-gress passed a force bill in 1832, giv-

ing President Jackson unusual pow-ers to suppress the threatened seces-

145


sion of South Carolina in that year. Itpassed the House by a vote of 16 9 ayesto 48 noes, and the Senate by 32 ayesand one no. Its champion in the Sen-ate was Senator Reaves, of Virginia.My purpose in this paper is to give

some light upon the character of Rob-ert E. Lee, his state of mind prior tothe rebellion, and his course during thewar in prolonging it when he knew it

was a hopeless contest. I firmly be-lieve that Lee was never satisfied withthe course he took. Every line he wroteup to the time he left the army wasagainst the right to secede and the wis-dom of it. He did not come out open-ly against his State's seceding, probab-ly because he was an Army officer.

There can be only one reason given forthe course he took, and that was am-bition. He believed that if the Confed-eracy were established he would be theWashington of it; but he never adviseda man to follow him into the rebellion.On the contrary, I was told by a Unionvolunteer general officer that a Lieuten-ant, a Virginian by birth, was orderedto report to the Secretary of War inWashington. He came to Washington,and on Pennsylvania avenue he metLee, who stopped him and in hisformal way greeted him and asked himwhat he was doing here in Washington.He said he had been ordered to reportto the Secretary of War, "but I don'tknow what to do; I am worried aboutit."

Lee dropped his head a moment, thenstraightened up and said: "Report tothe Secretary of War, Lieutenant; re-port to the Secretary of War." Thenhe saluted and passed on. The Lieu-tenant did report to the Secretary ofWar, and before the end of the war roseto high rank.John S. Mosby said of Lee that Lee

has said the South was in a state ofrevolution, which the secessionists de-nied. Lee said he did not justify him-

. self on any theory of States' rights, butpleased his family and friends; andtherefore he did not fight for a prin-ciple, but for a sentiment. He also saidthat Lee nor the South should haveblamed Abraham Lincoln for being op-posed to the extension of slavery intothe Territories; so was Jefferson; andthe people of the Territories had asmuch right to oppose the extension ofslavery into the Territories as the peo-ple of Illinois had to quarantine againstthe cattle disease.

George H. Thomas, a Virginian, neverfor an instant wavered in his loyaltyand devotion to his country, altho all hisfamily and friends were rebels. All theextracts that I will read are from Lee's

personal and official correspondence,taken from Long's Memories of RobertE. Lee, by Brig.-Gen. A. L. Long,formerly Military Secretary to Gen. Leeand Chief of Artillery, Second Corps,Army of Virginia. It, therefore, can-not be called "Yankee lies." My ob-ject in presenting a great many of theseextracts from Lee's correspondence is

to show that he, as a military man,knew the hoplessness of the rebel causeas early as 1862, and therefore is per-sonally responsible for holding out as hedid.

Lee was commissioned Colonel of theFirst Cavalry March 16, 1861. April20, 1861, he sent his resignation to Gen.Scott with a request that it be forward-ed with a favorable recommendationat once to the Secretary of War. Theresignation was accepted April 25, 1861(Army Register, 1860 to 1861). OnApril 23, 1861, Lee was appointed, bythe Governor of Virginia, Major-Gen-eral and Commander-in-Chief of theforces of the State of Virginia. He waspresented with his commission by thePresident of the convention, who in ful-

some words told him that they expectedhim "to be governed by one desire andone determination, and that is, that she(Virginia) shall be defended; she placedher sword in your hands on the im-plied condition which we know vou willkeep to the letter and in spirit; thatyou will draw it only in defense of Vir-ginia."

Lee in reply said: "I devote myselfto the service of my native State, inwhose behalf alone will I ever againdraw my sword."

Lee organized the State forces andhad a force of about 30.000 men. Nowfor the peculiar situation which pre-sented itself. Lee was in command of30,000 State troops; his commission wasto defend the State against all comers,and he accepted it with that under-standing and desire. His State troopsmenaced the rebels as well as the Unionforces. The rebels could make no head-way in Virginia until Lee was got outof the way. This, comrades, to me is

the most startling and interesting in-formation from rebel history I know of.

Alexander H. Stephens was in Rich-mond to induce Virginia to enter therebel Confederacy and to undo, so faras Gen. Lee was concerned, the workwhich that morning had been perform-ed. (Page 491, Long's book.) Steph-ens said: "I was to know as the shadesof evening fell upon that day, and hesat in my room at the Ballard House,at my request, to listen to my proposalthat he resign, without any compensa-tion or promise thereof, the very hon-


or and rank he had that same morn-ing received. Gen. Lee heard me quiet-ly, understood the situation at once,and saw that he alone stood betweenthe Confederacy and his State. Themembers of the commission had seenat once that if Lee was left out of theproposed compact that was to makeVirginia one of the Confederate States

—

and I knew that one word or even alook of dissatisfaction from him wouldterminate the negotiations—North Car-olina would act with Virginia, andeither the border States would protectour lines, or the battlefield would bemoved at once down to South Carolinaand the borders of Georgia. Gen. Leedid not hesitate for one moment, andwhile he saw it "would make mattersworse to throw up his commission, hedeclared that no personal ambition oremolument should be considered orstand in the way."

So, instead of Lee's defending hisState and drawing his sword in her de-fense alone, as he had declared andpromised, he surrendered all to theConfederacy and made his own Statethe battlefield instead of South Caro-lina.On April 23, 1861, Lee assumed com-

mand of the military and naval forcesof the State of Virginia, two days be-fore his resignation was accepted. Suchan act was desertion, and his resigna-tion should never have been accepted.He should have been marked as a de-serter and treated as such when cap-tured. The acceptance of his resigna-tion was a nullity and void, because hewas a deserter from the Army at thetime it was accepted. Therefore, hewas no longer an officer of the UnitedStates Army, and yet he is called aVirginia gentleman and a high-mindedChristian soldier. There is not record-ed in history a more perfidious act.December 27, 1856, writing of slavery,

Lee said: "There are few, I believe, inthis enlightened age, who will not ac-knowledge that slavery as an institutionis a moral and political evil. I thinkit is a greater evil to the white manthan to the colored race. The blacksare immeasurebly better off here thanin Africa, morally, physically and so-cially. The painful discipline they areundergoing is necessary for their furth-er instruction as a race, and will pre-pare them, I hope, for better things."And yet he fought four years to per-petuate an institution that was a "moraland political evil," and that was thefoundation stone of the Confederacyand the cause of secession, as SouthCarolina so declared in her ordinanceof secession.

Writing from Texas in January, 1861,Lee said: "I received Everett's 'Life ofGen. Washington.' How his spirit wouldbe grieved could he see the wreck of hismighty labors. I will not permit myselfto believe until all the ground of hopehas gone, that the fruit of his nobledeeds will be destroyed and that hisprecious advice and virtuous examplewill so soon be forgotten by his coun-trymen." Then was the time for himto have shown some moral courageand to have come out boldly and ad-vised his people against such a crisis,

as did John Minor Botts and hun-dreds of other good men. It is veryprobable that A^irginia would not havebeen dragged into secession hadLee at that time spoken the "fittedword" that would have driven the mobout of Richmond. But no. He keptquiet and let the mob have its way.How much better for himself and forhis State would it have been if he hadfollowed George H. Thomas, his supe-rior as a soldier and a gentleman.Writing again, Lee said: "I see that

four States have declared themselvesout of the Union. Four more apparent-ly will follow their example. Then, if

the border States are brought into thegulf of revolution, one half of the coun-try will be arrayed against the other.I must try and be patient and awaitthe end, for I can do nothing to hastenor retard it." Strange that he coulddo nothing. As he invoked the memoryof Washington, I should think thatwould have been enough for him tohave tried at least to prevent the peo-ple of his State from rebelling.The author of his life says: "From

the above it will be seen with whatpain and regret Col. Lee witnessed theprogressive steps leading to the disso-lutioTi of the Union."

Again, writing from Texas, Jan. 2 3,

1861: "The South, in my opinion, hasbeen aggrieved by the acts of the North,as you say. As an American citizen, I

take great pride in my country, herprosperity and her institutions, andwould defend any State if her rightswere invaded." He was proud of hisAmerican citizenship and took greatpride in his country. Both his citizen-ship and his country were the UnitedStates, not the State of Virginia; andhe had Washington's opinion to guidehim on that point. Continuing, he says:"But I can anticipate no greater calam-ity for the country than the dissolutionof the Union. It would be an accumu-lation of all the evils we complain of,

and I am willing to sacrifice everythingbut honor in its preservation." But it

is nowhere shown that he sacrificed or


attempted to sacrifice anything for thecause of the Union; but he did sacri-fice his honor in deserting to the enemy.When Blair accused him of being in-

fiuenced in his course by the fear oflosing his slaves, he declared that hewould give the 4,000,000 negroes if it

would save the country. And yet hewas following South Carolina, whoseexcuse was that Mr. Lincoln intendedto free the slaves, while Mr. Lincolnhad declared that he had no such in-

tention, and no power to do so, if hehad.Again he said: "Secession is nothing

but reovlution. The framers of ourConstitution never exhausted so muchlabor, wisdom and forebearance in its

formation, and surrounded it with somany guards and securities if it was in-

tended to be broken by every memberof the Confederacy at will. It is intend-ed for a perpetual Union, so expressedin the preamble, and for the establish-ment of a Government, not a compact,which can only be dissolved by a revo-lution or the consent of all the peoplein convention assembled. It is idle totalk of secession. Anarchy, and nota Government, would have been estab-lished by Washington, Hamiltan, Jeffer-son, Madison and all the patriots of theRevolution. If the Union is dissolvedand the Government disrupted, I shallreturn to my native State and share themiseries of my people, and, save in de-fense, shall draw my sword on none."^ It looks as if Lee had read Jackson'sproclamation to the nullifiers of SouthCarolina with great care, and agreedwith Jackson, who depicted to the peo-ple of the South what would happen tothem if they followed Calhoun; for Lee

• certainly shared with the people of Vir-ginia miseries enough to satisfy him,and, in addition, he had all alone tobear the misery and humiliation of de-feat. At the time he wrote to Gen.Scott (April 2 0, 1861) he also wrote tohis sister, Mr. Marshall, then residingin Baltimore: "Now we are in a stateof war which will yield to nothing. Thewhole South is in a ^tate of revolution,into which Virginia, after a long strug-gle, has been drawn. I recognize nonecessity for this state of things, yetin my own person I had to meet thequestion whether I should take partagainst by native State. With all mydevotion to the Union, I have not beenable to make up my mind to raise myhand against my relatives, my children,my home. I have therefore resignedmy commission in the Army and, savein defense of my native State, with thesincere hope that my poor services willnot be needed, I hope I may never be

called on to draw my sword. I knowyou will blame me, but you must thinkas kindly of me as you can. I have notime for more."The President of the Virginia Conven-

tion, in presenting his commission tohim, said that "no spot on the soil ofVirginia shall be polluted by the footof an invader." If the gentleman liveda while I guess he realized, as Mr. Leedid, that his words were not prophetic.

In a letter to a friend, dated April25, 1861, at Richmond, the very date ofthe acceptance of his resignation by ourGovernment, he said: "I wanted to saymany things to you before I left home,but the event was rendered so im-peratively speedy that I could not."Writing to his danghter: "The home weso loved has been forever desecrated."The great mass of our comrades and

countrymen believe that Lee command-ed the Confederate forces from thestart. He did not. He was placed incommand of them on June 1, 1862.Prior to that time he was on Davis'sstaff.

It is a common saying that Gettys-burg was the turning point of the war.I shall quote from Lee's official reportsto show that he knew as early as theFall of 18 62 that there was not theshadow of a chance for the rebels tosucceed from that time on. But oh,how he hated to give up! His visionsof being the successful commander whohad established the Confederacy weregone, and he would rather die himselfand sacrifice thousands of lives in thehope of success than face a surrender.The people were tired of the war. Thearmy was tired of it and were desert-ing every day, but they had no place togo and were hunted down like wolvesand put back into the ranks. The can-cer of remorse for his treason was al-ready gnawing at his vitals.

In his report of his operations inMaryland, writing of the condition ofhis army (September, 1862) he said:"Altho not properly equipped for inva-sion, lacking much of the material ofwar, and feeble in transportation, thetroops poorly provided with clothing,and thousands of them destitute ofshoes," etc. Sept. 8, 1862, writing toJeff Davis, he urges that the rebel gov-ernment encourage the DemocraticPeace Party of the North all they can.To Davis, Sept. 23, 1862: "The numbersof this army have been greatly reducedby desertion and straggling. Our strag-glers are being daily collected. Howlong they will remain with us or whenthey will again disappear is impossiblefor me to say."

Sept. 20, 1862: "Many of the strag-


glers have wandered to a distance,feigning sickness, wounds, etc. Manywill not stop until they reach their dis-tant homes." Nov. 20, 1862, Lee re-ported his army: Aggregate, 153,773;aggregate present, 86,569; aggregate ab-sent, 67,204. Dec. 2, 1862, Lee reportedto the Secretary of War, notifying himthat a firm in Richmond proposes tofurnish 1,300 pairs of shoes at $15 perpair, and calls them "extortioners." Heopposed the hanging of Dahlgren's men,because it would provoke retaliation. Asthe rebels under command of the rebelGeneral Gilmer had held up a B. &O. train and robbed the passengers ofall they had, and if the Federals caughtthem they would treat them as high-waymen and hang them. Oct. 2, 1863,he wants deserters shot. Nov. 6, 1863,he states: "Robbing of farmers and oth-ers has been committed by our army aswell as by the Federals." Nov. 29,1863, he wants the whole population ofthe Confederacy put in the army. Jan.16, 1865, writing to Longstreet, Lee ad-mits that he has nothing for man orbeast. Yet he continues the strugglefor three months more.

Writing to Jeff Davis, he recommendsthat all able-bodied men employed ascooks, teamsters, mechanics and labor-ers be put into the ranks, and theirplaces be supplied with negroes, andthat negroes be put in places of whitesin every place in the army wherenegroes can be used. Lee to Early,Sept. 27, 1864: "A kind of Providencewill yet overrule everything for ourgood." Dec. 11, 1864: "I called for5,000 negro laborers under an act ofFeb. 17, 1864; 2,200 was the greatestnumber ever reported, and a largenumber of them have deserted. Thepresent number cannot exceed 1,200."To the Secretary of War, Jan. 19, 1865:"There is great suffering in the armyfor the want of soap." Jan. 25, 1865,Lee issued a circular saying that hehad nothing of any kind with which t©equip his cavalry. Yet he held on twomonths longer, hoping Providencemight save his title of General.

Lee's last appeal for supplies (Feb.8, 1865) was sent to the Secretary ofWar, who sent it to Davis, marked"Personal, and to be returned." Davisperused it and indorsed it as follows:"This is too sad to be patiently consid-ered and cannot have occurred withoutcriminal neglect or gross incapacity. Letsupplies be had by purchase or borrow-ing, or other possible mode." Feb. 24,1865, Lee wrote to Gov. Vance, of NorthCarolina, telling him "the North Caro-lina soldiers are deserting, and friendsfrom home are writing them to desert.

Friends write them that the numberof deserters is so large in the severalCounties of the State that they neednot be afraid of the home guards, andthat the cause is hopeless; to take careof themselves; that he (Lee) has senta force to North Carolina to hunt downdeserters, and when they resist to takeno prisoners.

Feb. 26, 1865, Lee wrote to the Secre-tary of War, inquiring of him as towhat had become of the order to en-list negro troops, stating that he hadseen it in the papers, but had receivedno official orders about it, and that hecould enlist a great many in Petersburg.

April 7, 1865, a number of the prin-cipal officers of the rebel army, per-ceiving the difficulties that surroundedthe army, and from a feeling of af-fection and sympathy for Lee, volun-teered to inform him that, in theiropinion, the struggle was hopeless, andthat the contest should be terminatedand negotiations opened for the surren-der of the army. They appointed Gen.Pendleton to speak to Lee, which hedid. Lee said: "Oh, no; I trust it hasnot come to that;" and added, "be-sides, if I were to say a word to theFederal commander he would regardis as such a confession of weakness asto make it a condition of demandingunconditional surrender—a proposal towhich I will never listen." So he sac-rificed hundreds of lives in the nextfew days for the purpose of makingterms. Yet his worshipers speak of his"stainless sword."He expressed the Union sentiments,

before referred to, after the people offour States had rebelled and four morewere about to do so; and yet he accept-ed a commission from President Lincolnand took the oath of allegiance to theUnited States on March 16. 1861, know-ing for a certainty that Virginia wouldsecede, and knowing also that he wouldfollow her into rebellion; but he wasnot honorable enough under the con-ditions to refuse that commission. Hewanted to be in the United States Armyas a full-fledged Colonel. Lee, the gen-tleman, was not honorable enough tosay to the pure and good Lincoln, "No,Mr. President, I cannot accept that pro-motion and commission at this time,"and remained on the paj^ roll of theUnited States Army to the last minute.

Poor old Gen. Scott tried to hold Leeloyal to his duty. He pictured to himthat, owing to his age, he (Scott) wouldhave to retire as the head of the Army,and that Lee would certainly get theplace. His apologists cite that as anevidence of the tempting offers thatwere made him, as though it is an in-

150 The National Tribune ^cvaf Booh.

cident to be proud of, but in my judg-ment it only adds to his weight of in-famy.

In the last days of the struggle Leebecame desperate, and I am firmly con-vince(f never intended to live to seethe end; and he had that in view whenhe placed himself at the head of abody of troops to make a final desper-ate charge in an attempt to break theUnion lines, and he was prevented fromdoing so only by the soldiers them-selves. Lee never wrote nor talkedabout the war after the surrender. Hewanted to forget it. When he was be-fore the Congressional Committee onthe Conduct of the War they did notsucceed in getting a word from him.His invariable answer was, "I don'tknow; I can't recollect."

Longstreet, the day before the sur-render, called upon Lee for assistance.Lee asked Gordon if he could sendLongstareet any aid, and Gordon saidthat he could not; that his corps wasfought to a frazzle, and he could dono more. Then Lee turned to hisstaff, and then the failure of the pastfour years rose up before him, and inhis anguish and remorse he cried out:"Then I must go and meet Gen. Grant,and I would rather die a thousanddeaths."

"The moving finger writes, and havingwrit,

Moves on; nor all their piety nor witShall lure it back to cancel half a line;

Nor all their tears wash out a word ofit."

Our Noble Dead.

By Mrs. H. Sexton, Breckenridge, Mich,, 1909.

Over the meadows the soft winds blow,And robins nest in the trees once

more.Shadows silently come and go,And sunlight falls thru the open door.

We meet again in the sweet Springlight.

In honor of those who bravely died,To scatter floral tributes bright

Over the graves of a Nation's pride.

Well we remember that sad, sad dayOf the early Springtime long ago.

When our brave young heroes marchedaway,

'Neath our Nation's colors to meet thefoe.

Many a mother, in those dark days.Heard with anguish the country's call,

Followed her darlings with tearful gaze,And gave the cause she loved her all.

Many a soldier returned again.Maimed, disfigured, starved and ill;

And many more were in battle slain.And sleep in Southern trenches still.

Months lengthened to years, and all thewhile.

Hovered above us the war-clouddread,

And rebel rifles and prisons vileIncreased the list of our noble dead.

We cannot honor their names aboveThe rightful homage that we should

pay;They gave their lives for the homes

they loved,And the Flag that's kissed by the

breeze to-day.

Soldiers, you who are left to tell

Of weary marches and hospital fare.Of hard-fought battles, when shot and

shellFrom contending forces rent the air;

Of ceaseless longing for friends andhome

;

Of picket duty and sleepless nights.Where the dread guerrilla was wont to

roam,Invading the citizens' peace and

rights;Your silver locks and your failing

strengthTeach us the lesson, sad but true;

Time pauses not, but will bring, atlength.

The day w'hen this will be done foryou.

The changing seasons their course willrun,

Bringing the Springtime, ever dear;On each occasion many a one

Will have joined the sleepers fromyear to year.

Soon you will answer the bugle call.

Fold your tents at the summonsdread.

Into line at the order fall

And join the army of noble dead.

May the Nation remember her nobledead,

And yearly visit each honored grave,As long as the sun shines overhead.As long as the Stars and Stripes shall

wave.

The Battle of Pittsburg Landing.

By Col. E. T. Lee.

There is no battle of the war for theUnion which has been more writtenabout and less understood than the bat-tle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing,which was fought on the west bank ofthe Tennessee River on April 6 and 7,

1862, between the Union army, com-manded by Gen. U. S. Grant and D. C.Buell, and the Confederate army, underGen. Albert Sidney Johnston and Gen.G. T. Beauregard. But before we en-ter into the description of the two days'battle let us look at the situation ofthe two armies and their commanders.On the side of the Union, Gen. Grantwith his victorious Army of the Ten-nessee had just taken Forts Henry andDonelson with 15,000 prisoners and all

the cannon and small arms, and hadgone up the Cumberland River andcaptured Clarksville and Nashville,sending the gunboats up the TennesseeRiver as far as Pittsburg Landing.These victories had thrilled the great

loyal North, for Port Donelson was thefirst great Union victory of the war.The troops had caught the inspirationand felt that they were invincible andwere anxious and ready to meet theenemy on any field. But the triumphof these troops and the achievementsof their commander had already awak-ened jealousy in the minds of thosehigher in authority, and as the greatarmy gathered at Fort Henry to takethe steamers to go up the TennesseeRiver there came an order which readas follows:"Headquarters, Department of Missouri.

"St. Louis, Mo., March 8, 1862."To Gen. U. S. Grant: You will make

your quarters at Port Henry untilfurther instructions. Turn the com-mand over to Gen. C. P. Smith. Signed,yv. H. Halleck, Major-General."

Imagine the feelings of the army andits commander upon the receipt of thisunexpected order. Gen. Halleck hadtrumped up charges against Gen. Grant,claiming that he had failed to reportthe strength of the army under his com-mand and that he had exceeded hisauthority in taking Clarksville andNashville. He made these charges toGen. George B. McClellan, who was

then in command of the army, and likethe good soldier that he was. Gen. Grantobeyed his order and turned over hiscommand to Gen. C. P. Smith, who wasa gallant soldier and who admitted thata very great Injustice had been doneGen. Grant. The troops went on boardthe large fleet of steamers, and one ofthe grandest sights ever witnessed onthe Western waters was the old Armyof the Tennessee leaving Port Henryfor its new base at Pittsburg Landing.The troops were rejoicing that they

were to go on to the front to meetthe enemies of the old Plag, and as thesteamers passed each other with bandsplaying and the flags floating, cheerafter cheer echoed over the waters ofthe Tennessee. The "Silver Moon" andthe "Glendale" joined in the grandchorus with their steam calliopes, oneplaying "Dixie" and the other "The GirlI Left Behind Me." The river was high,on account of the spring rains, and thegunboats accompanied the troops up theriver. The boat which carried the 41st111. was the "Aleck Scott," the fasteststeamer on the river, and we passed allthe others, except Gen. S. A. Hurlbut'sheadquarters boat, and landed at Pitts-burg Landing, the first of all the troopswho went up on that occasion. Therehad been two companies of the 3 2d111. and one of the gunboats up therea few days before, and had a skirmishat the Landing and one or two of the32d boys were killed and wounded.We loaded our guns on the steamer

and deployed up the bank and out intothe timber, but found no enemy thereat the time. We went out about onemile from the landing and went intocamp. The remainder of our divisionfollowed, and soon Gen. W. H. L. Wal-lace, Gen. B. M. Prentice, Gen. John A.McClernand, and Gen. W. T. Shermanwith their divisions arrived and wentinto camp farther out. Gens. Shermanand McClernand occupying the groundnear the Shiloh church, where the bat-tle opened on the morning of the 6th.About two and a half miles from thelanding Gen. Lew Wallace with his di-vision was stationed at Crump's Land-ing, some six miles down the river on

151

152 The National Tribune Scra^p Booh.

the west side. Gen. C. F. Smith estab-lished headquarters at Savannah, asmall town down the river about eightmiles on the east bank of the TennesseeRiver. Thus was the Union army lo-cated.

Pittsburg Landing was an elevated lo-cation and heavily wooded land. SnakeCreek emptied into the Tennessee onthe north and Dill's Run and Owl Creekon the south. The place could havebeen made impregnable in a very shorttime by the erection of breastworks, butnone were thrown up, and it was herethat our Western army were to learnits great lesson that ever afterwardmade it and its commanders on thelookout for any emergency, and wereready to receive or to make an attack.It was a dear lesson, but a positiveone that Grant nor Sherman neverafterward forgot. Gen. Grant remain-ed at Fort Henry and aided in sendingforward troops and supplies to Gen.Smith. On March 2 4 Commodore Footesent word to Gen. Smith that he de-sired to see him on board his flagshipto consult with him in reference tosending the ironclads down the river,as the water was falling very rapidly.In stepping into a yawl from his head-quarters steamer, Gen. Smith missed thestep and slipped and severely bruisedhis left leg from the ankle to abovethe knee, not only removing the skin,but tearing the flesh from the bone inplaces. He was 6 2 years old, six feetthree inches tall, and weighed over 200pounds. He was a West Point gradu-ate and was every inch a soldier, andwas well liked by his troops. (He grewworse, and this injury caused his deathat Savannah in April after the battle.)He wrote to Gen. Grant at Fort Henryand told him of his injury, and askedthat he come up and take command ofthe army. In the meantime Gen Granthad asked to be relieved from any com-mand under Gen. Halleck, who heconsidered had done him a great in-justice, as he had reported the numberof troops under his command and con-sidered he had authority to takeClarksville and Nashville. Gen. Hal-leck, seeing the situation, wrote to Gen.Grant, asking him to go up to Pitts-burg Landing and take command ofthe army and lead it on to still greatervictories. He went as requested, and onboard the steamer "Hiawatha."On April 2, just four days before the

battle, there was a council of war held,and Gen. Smith turned over the com-mand of the army to Gen. Grant. Hal-leck had ordered that Grant should goto Pittsburg Landing and take com-mand and await the arrival of the

Army of the Ohio, under Gen. Buell,when Halleck was to v^ome down fromSt. Louis, take command of the com-bined armies, and move on the enemyat Corinth, 24 miles away, where theyhad strongly intrenched themselves. Itwas never any part of the program onthe part of the Union commanders tofight a battle at Shiloh. At this coun-cil of war Gen. Smith said to Gen.Grant: "In the next few days you willhave to meet and, I hope, defeat theablest General in the Southern Confed-eracy, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, be-ing in my opinion, the ablest militaryman of his day." Gen. Grant modestlyremarked: "We will do the best wepossibly can do to defeat him." Mc-Pherson, Hurlbut, McClernand, Mc-Arthur and Sherman were present atthis council. Thus it will be seen thatGen. Grant was placed in full commandonly four days before the battle, andwith his former experience with Hal-leck, he would do nothing not specifiedin his orders from Halleck. Shilohwas considered only a temporary campfor the army, awaiting the arrival ofthe Army of the Ohio and Gen. Buell.The headquarters had been establish-ed at Savannah by Smith, and theyyet remained there when the battleopened on the morning of April 6.

Now let us look at the Confederateside before the battle opens. Gen. Al-bert Sidney Johnston had just beensent West by Jeff Davis to take com-mand of the Confederate forces. Hehad only reached Bowling Green, Ky.,a short time before Gen. Grant tookForts Henry and Donelson, and hadnot time to arrange his troops, thatwere scattered from Cumberland Gap tothe Missouri River, and on the west toPea Ridge, Ark. The capture of theforts caused Gen. Johnston to fall backfrom Bowling Green, and when Nash-ville fell he retreated to Murfreesboro,Tenn. This so enraged the Southern-ers that they said in their papers thathe was not competent to command thearmy, and charged him with being un-true to the South. So great was thepressure that Jeff Davis ordered Gen.Beauregard to come up from Charles-ton, S. C, to assist Johnston in the com-mand of the army.

It was decided to concentrate theConfederate forces at Corinth, Miss, 24miles from Pittsburg Landing, and, if

possible, stop the farther invasion oftheir soil by Gen. Grant's army. Troopswere hurried to this point from everyquarter, until an army of 46,000 or 50,-000 men were gathered there. Gen.Johnston heard of Gen. Buell's armymarching toward Pittsburg Landing,


and he and Beauregard decided to makea forced march and attack Grant'sarmy, and, if possible, destroy or cap-ture it before the arrival of Buell. Hegave orders for the army to move onPittsburg Landing at once and that all

the various commands must be in po-sition near the Union lines on the after-noon of April 4 at 3 o'clock; but, owingto the/ bad roads and a portion of thearmy getting mixed up, they did not getinto position until the evening of the5th, too late to commence the battleon that day.

There was a council of war calledthat night at Gen. Johnston's headquar-ters, and Gen. Beauregard insisted thatit should only be called a reconnaissancein force and that no attack be made, ashe felt sure that they would find theUnion forces behind breastworks, asthere had been heavy skirmishing onthe day before. But Gen. Johnston saidthat the battle must go on and askedthat he be permitted to command thetroops in person on the field and thatBeauregard see to the sending forwardof the reserves as he should need them.There had been some skirmishing theday before and Gen. Prentice had sentout Col. David Moore, of the 21st Mo.,with five companies of the 21st and fivecompanies of the 25th. They return-ed and made a report that there wasactivity in the front and that a largecavalry force was in front of them.At 3 o'clock on Sunday morning,

April 6, Col, Moore with five com-panies of his regiment again went tothe front, and at break of day he drovethe advance pickets of the enemy inand engaged their advance. He sentfor the remainder of the regiment,which was sent him, and soon Prentice'swhole division was in line of battle andhotly engaged about a quarter of a milein front of their camp, where they madea desperate struggle to beat back theenemy, but were overpowered and out-flanked and were compelled to fall backto their color-line, where they madeanother stand and were again com-pelled to retire with heavy loss. Gen.Prentice then rallied his men and fellback about one mile and joined Gen.Hurlbut's Division at what was knownas the "Hornet's Nest," and where heand his gallant division stood like awall till 5 p. m., when he was outflank-ed, overpowered and captured. Gen.Sherman's advanced brigade, Hilder-brand's, soon became engaged, and thenhis whole division.

It came like a thunder clap from aclear sky to Gen. Sherman, for he says:"Not until I saw the long line of glisten-ing bayonets emerging out of the tim-

ber did I become convinced that theenemy intended a general attack."*Many of his troops had never beenunder fire and many were just fromtheir homes in the North and did notstand the fire of the enemy like theothers who had fought at Donelson,and his division was soon driven badewith heavy loss.

Gen. McClernand threw his divisionin the breach and made a desperateattempt to stem the tide of battle thatwas sweeping the Union forces to-ward the landing. The battle ragedaround the old Shiloh Church and t»the right and left. Gen. Hurlbut hadtaken a position about one mile to theleft and rear at the "Peach Orchard."He had sent Veach's Brigade to theassistance of Sherman and McClernand.W. H. D. Wallace had brought his di-vision up to the line occupied by Hurl-but, and soon the whole army had con-centrated on this line. Gen. Grant andstaff were at Savannah. When he heardthe first cannon in the morning he wassitting at the breakfast table at theOld Cherry House, and Mrs. Cherry wasjust in the act of handing him a cupof coffee when he heard the first gunfired. He said: "The battle has open-ed and we must go."He ordered his Aids and staff to go

on board the steamer "Progress," andas soon as steam could be raised theystarted for Pittsburg Landing. Heslowed up at Crump's Landing longenough to tell Gen. Lew Wallace tohave his division in readiness to marchto whatever point he might be needed,and then proceeded on to the front.Arriving there about 9 a. m., he and hisstaff passed thru Hurlbut's Division atthe Peach Orchard and went out towhere Sherman's and McClernand's Di-visions were. He soon returned, and ashe passed inside the lines of Hurlbut'sDivision he said, "Boys, you will soonhave something to do," which was veri-fied by the attack of the enemy onour division, and the battle opened all

along the line; and this was the placethat witnessed the most desperate fight-ing that occurred during the battle.We will give what Col. Preston John-

ston says of the struggle at this point.He is a son of Gen. Albert Sidney John-ston, and was on his father's staff. Hesays: "When the Confederate armyreached Hurlbut's Fourth Division andthat of W. H. D. Wallace's, with a frag-ment of Prentice's, a gigantic contestnow begun, which lasted more than fivehours. In the impetuous rush forward ofregiments to fill up the gaps in the frontline, even the brigade organization wasbroken.


The Confederate assaults were made•by rapid and often unconnected chargesalong the line. They were repeatedlychecked and often repulsed. Some-times counter-charges were made anddrove them back for short distances.But whether in assault or recoil, bothsides saw their bravest soldiers fall infrightful numbers. At each charge therewent up the wild yell heard above theroar of artillery. Hurlbut's men weremassed in a position so impregnable andthronged with such fierce defenders thatit won from the Confederates the title

of "The Hornet's Nest." Here, behinda dense thicket on the crest of a hill,

was posted a strong force of as hardytroops as ever fought.To assail it an open field had to be

passed. Enfiladed by the fire of its bat-teries, no figure of speech would be toostrong to express the deadly peril ofassault. For five hours brigade afterbrigade was led against it. Hindman'sBrigade, which earlier in the day hadswept everything before them, werenow reduced to fragments and par-alyzed for the rest of the day. A. P.Stuart's regiments made fruitless as-saults. Gibson's Brigade was orderedby Bragg to assault, and made a gal-lant charge; but, like the others, re-coiled and fell back with very heavyloss. Bragg ordered them again to thecharge, and again they suffered a bloodyrepulse. This brigade was four timesrepulsed. This bloody affray lasted till

nearly 4 o'clock p. m., without makingany visible impression on the Federalcenter.

Gen. Sidney Johnston was with Stat-ham's Brigades confronting Hurlbut'sleft, which was behind the crest of ahill. The Confederates held the par-allel ridge in easy musket shot, and asheavy firing as I ever heard, says Gov.Harris, of Tennessee, was kept up byboth sides. When Gen. Johnston cameup and saw the situation, he said to hisstaff: "They are offering stubborn re-sistance here; I shall have to put thebayonet to them." It was the crisis ofthe conflict. The Federal key was inhis front. He determined to charge.He sent Gov. Harris, of his staff, tolead the 45th Tenn., which had refusedto charge again, and after a brief con-ference with Gen. Breckinridge, thatofficer, followed by his staff, appealed tohis soldiers to charge the enemy.

Gen. Johnston rode out in front andslowly down the line. His hat was off.

His presence was inspiring as he saton his thorobred bay. His voice waspersuasive; his words were few. Hesaid: "Men, they are stubborn; we mustuse the bayonet." When he reached

the center of the line he turned andsaid, "I will) lead you," and moved to-ward the Federal lines. With a mightyshout the line moved forward at acharge. A sheet of flame and a mightyroar burst from the Federal strong-hold. The Confederate line withered,but there was not an instant's pause.The crest was gained, and Gen. John-ston had his horse shot in four places,his clothes were pierced with bullets,and his boot was cut by a minie ball.The Federal soldiers kept up a contin-uous fire as they fell back on their re-serves and delivered volley after vol-ley as they sullenly retired.A minie ball from one of these did

its fatal work. As he sat there afterhis wound, Capt. Wickham says: "Col.O'Hara rode up and Gen. Johnston saidto him: 'We must go to the left wherethe firing is the heaviest.' Gov. Har-ris returned, and finding him very pale,asked him: 'General, are you wounded?'He answered in a very deliberate andemphatic tone: 'Yes, and I fear seri-ously.' These were his last words. Har-ris and Wickham led his horse backunder the cover of the hill, and liftedhim from it. They searched for thewound, which had cut an artery in hisleg, the blood flowing into his boot.When his brother-in-law, Gen. Preston,lifted his head and addressed him withpassionate grief, he smiled faintly bututtered no word. His life rapidly ebbedaway, and in a few moments he wasdead."Thus ended the life of the greatest

Confederate leader in the Westernarmy, who had for six hours urged onthe Confederate forces against Hurl-but's and Wallace's troops, and in hislast desperate attempt to beat the Uniontroops back had lost his life, so veryanxious was he to crush Grant's armybefore nightfall and to gain the victoryhe had so desired.

It was nearly 4 p. m. when our linewas driven back. The brigade ofStewart's on the left was beaten back,and at last Hurlbut's fighting FourthDivision was forced back, out of am-munition and with ranks depleted. Thegallant 9th 111., that had fought on theleft of the 41st 111., had lost 365 menin killed and w^ounded, the heaviestloss sustained by any regiment atShiloh. The troops marched back inperfect order and replenished their car-tridges, and took up their positions onthe last line of defense, one mile fromthe landing. Gens. Prentiss and W. H.L. Wallace still held their positions onthe right, and Prentiss says he had or-ders from Gen. Grant to hold his posi-tion at a 11 hazards, which he did until


be was surrounded and compelled tosurrender.

Gen. W. H. L. Wallace in trying toextricate his command from the peril-ous position at the "Hornet's Nest," wasshot, and died on the steamer. About5 p. m. Gen. Prentiss with some 2,000men were made prisoners after a longand desperate fight in which he stayedthe onward march of the Confederatearmy for many hours There was alull in the battle for a short time afterPrentiss and his men were captured.Gen. Grant, with his Chief of Artillery,

Col, Webster, had gotten up a siege bat-tery from the landing, and all the field

artillery as it came in from the battle-field were parked around the brow ofthe hill covering Dill's Run and thelanding. Some light breastworks hadbeen thrown up, and as the remnantof that gallant army came back fromthe front they were formed along thisline. There were no cowards in thatlast line on Sunday evening. They hadall gone to the river and left theircomrades to fight it out as best theycould. Sherman and McClernand withthe remnants of Wallace's Division wereon the right, which rested on SnakeCreek, where they anxiously awaited thearrival of Gen. Lew Wallace's Division,6,000 strong, which had been orderedon the field by Gen. Grant early in

the morning, but had not arrived untilthe battle had ended on Sunday even-ing.

The last line had only sufficient timeto form when they were attacked byGen. Chalmer's Confederate brigade ofMississippians. They came to the ravineand in range of the artillery, when theguns opened on them and such a sheetof flame as poured forth from this linewas never witnessed in any battle. Thescene will be forever remembered by all

who witnessed it. There were notroops that could withstand such a fire,

and to add to the awful roar of battlethe gunboats, "Conestoga" and "Lex-ington," lying in the Tennessee River,threw open the portholes and beganfiring their fifteen inch shells up Dill'sRun at the Confederate forces. Theywere driven back out of reach of ourcannon, and occupied our camps for thenight.

It has been said that Gen. Beauregardissued an order withdrawing the Con-federate forces after Gen. Johnston'sdeath. Col. Alexander Chisholm, chiefAid-de-Camp to Gen. Beauregard, saysof the closing scene on Sunday eveningat Shiloh: "After Gen. Beauregard be-came cognizant of the death of Gen.Johnston, he sent me with orders tothe front which led to the concentration

of the Confederate forces which re-sulted in the capture of Gen. Prentissand so many of his men.

"After 5 P. M. I carried orders toGen. Hardee, who was then engaged onthe Federal right. I remained with himuntil almost dark, up to which time noorders had reached him to cease fight-ing. On the contrary, he was doinghis best to force back the enemy in hisfront. Had Col. Preston Johnston beenpresent at that last hour of battle onthe 6th, a witness of the actual fruitlessefforts made to storm the last positionheld by the enemy upon the ridge cov-ering the landing, he would be betterinformed why it was that that positionwas not carried, and be less disposed toadduce such testimony of Gen. Bragg tothe effect that but for the orders givenby Gen. Beauregard to withdraw fromaction, he would have carried all be-fore him."Beauregard did tell Bragg not to un-

necessarily expose his command to thefire of the gunboats. That there was astruggle for the last line of defense sev-eral hours after Johnston had beenkilled, every one who was there wellknows. The division of Gen. Nelson, ofBuell's army, arrived on the field justas the last struggle was going on, andAmen's Brigade formed in line of bat-tle, and the 26th Ind. fired severalrounds at the retiring Confederates,having one man killed and threewounded.

This was the extent of Buell's loss onSunday. Lew Wallace's Division ar-rived, as did a large part of Buell'sArmy of the Ohio. And orders were is-

sued by Grant to move on the enemyat daylight on the morning of the 7th.The rain set in and kept falling allnight, which was a Godsend to thethousands of wounded who were leftlying on the battlefield. All day thesteady roll of the artillery and infantryhad been heard all along the line, andfoot by foot had every inch of groun(ibeen contested and both sides had leftthe ground strewn with the woundedand dying. The loss had been fearfulwith both friend and foe, and neitherside made a correct report of theirlosses on that day, as many futurestatements have proved. Grant saysthat at no time during the day on Sun-day did we have over 25,000 men inline, while the Confederates, accordingto their own statement, had from 41,00(>to 46,000 men engaged. With the earlymorning of the 7th, the troops movedforward and attacked the Confederates,driving them back from every positionuntil they were back at the old Shiloh

156 The National Tribune Scraf Booh.

Church, where the battle had com-menced on Sunday morning.They held one ridge very stubbornly.

Grant, seeing this, selected out Veatch'sBrigade of Hurlbut's Division, with oth-er regiments, and formed them in line.

Well do we remember when they tookoff their hats and gave three cheersfor the Union and the old flag. Then,sweeping up the slope and over theridge, they disappeared down the de-cline, sweeping everything before themand driving the Confederate army fromthe field. Cheer after cheer rent theair as the last shot died away in thedistance and Shiloh was won. The gal-lant army under Buell and Lew Wal-lace's Division, aided by the Divisionsof Hurlbut, McClernand and Sherman,did a grand day's work for the Unioncause on that day, and the rebel hostswere driven back to Corinth, with theirCommander-in-Chief killed and with afearful loss in killed and wounded.They had met the sturdy sons of the

Northwest in an open field fight andwith much the largest army, had beendefeated As to their losses, Beaure-gard, just after the battle, made an es-timate of their loss, which he placed at10,699, in a letter to the writer in 1884.He acknowledged that this report wasincorrect, and gave as his reason thathis subordinate commanders sent their

reports direct to the Confederate WarOffice at Richmond, Va., in place ofsending them through his headquarters.The facts are that their loss was near

20,000 at Shiloh in the two days' bat-tle. On the other hand. Grant esti-mates the Union loss at 13,047, whichwas very far short of our actual loss.The positions occupied by Grant andBeauregard at that time would not havebeen held by them 10 days had theymade a correct report of their losses onthat occasion, for it will be rememberedthat both were under a cloud, and hadthe actual facts een known, they wouldhave been superseded at once. Grantsays that the burial parties that he sentout reported that they had buried 4,000Confederate dead on the field, and thennot all of them reported. Confederatedivision and brigade commanders havesince made reports which show theirlosses were at least 20,000. The historyof the various battles show that thelosses at Shiloh were the greatest, ac-cording to the number engaged of anyof the great battles of the civil war.This battle was a great lesson to thecommanders of the Union army andmade them use greater caution in beingprepared to receive an attack. It wasthese lessons that made Grant andSherman the great leaders in the warthat was finally ended at Appomattox.

124th Ohio at Pickett's Mills.

By Peter Price, Co. H, 124th Ohio, Chicago, III.

I was particularly interested in theaccount of the battle at Pickett's Mills,as given in the "Atlanta Campaign," byJohn McElroy.The charge of Gibson's Brigade

over Hazen's did not reach far enoughto the left to cover the 12 4th Ohio.This regiment held its advanced posi-tion until late at night, when they werecompelled to retire. Confederate Gen.Joe Johnston, in his official report,speaks of sending "a detachment ofGranberry's Brigade about 10 o'clock atnight to drive away a party of Federaltroops remaining in a hollow in hisfront." These troops that Johnstonspeaks of were over one-half of the124th Ohio. They were so far to theleft that no order could reach them.The retreat down the hill is describedbelow.

I will try to relate that part of thestruggle, of which I was a humble par-ticipant, at Pickett's Mills, near New

Hope Church. across PumpkinvineCreek. About 3 o'clock in the after-noon of May 27, 1864, Hazen's (Second)Brigade, Third Division, Fourth Corps,of which I was a member, struck PatCleburne's Division with full force. Wehad been marching since early morningover dusty roads and in the hot sun,momentarily expecting to be called intoaction.Heavy firing was heard in our front

soon after noon, and as we advanced,the sound of cannon and musketry be-came very loud. Orders came to closeup, and every man resumed his properplace. We came to a point where theroad led down a steep hill, at the bot-tom of which ran Pumpkinvine Creek.On top of the high ridge opposite, whichwas thickly covered with small treesand underbrush, the enemy was forti-fied and awaiting us. We charged upthis ridge to about 150 feet of the top,when the firing from the Confederate

The National Tribune Scraf Booh, 157

breaistworks in front of us became sodeadly that we were forced to lie downand use our knapsacks for shelter.Word soon after came to us that Cle-burne's Division was in our front andthat they had just been reinforced by"Walker's Division, which accounted forthe terrific rain of bullets poured intous. We could advance no farther. It

was almost certain death to every sol-

dier that was hit, for we were lying•close to the ground as possible behindour knapsacks and facing up hill. Thefiring of the enemy became weakerafter a time, but when any attempt wasmade to advance, the rebels would openagain with such force that we wereobliged to halt. The 124th was on theextreme left.

We now began to suffer from a cross-fire from that direction. Several mem-bers of the regiment started out to re-connoiter, claiming they could see someof the rebs trying to get around us. Onemember of Co. H, Joe Mitchell,a former member of the 23d Ohio, whowas wounded at Antietam, being ad-venturous, advanced a little too far, butnot out of sight of the company. Whileclose behind a good-sized tree, and look-ing for a chance to pick off one of theenemy, Joe suddenly turned aroundsmiling and started back towards thecompany.

The writer said: "Hello, Joe, what'sthe matter?" The reply was, "Shot in

the rear!" Mitchell went back to thedoctor for treatment. Darkness comingpon, others who had followed Joe's leadreturned to their companies. In lessthan an hour after leaving us, Mitchellreturned with about a gallon of hot cof-fee. This was a rich treat, and he wasat once proclaimed a hero.We had been lying on the side of the

Tidge behind our knapsacks, loadingand firing, until long after dark. Manyof the boys fell asleep from exhaustion,myself among the number. About 11o'clock, Capt. Coe, of our company,came around and woke the boys up,telling them the enemy were preparingto advance. Many of those who hadbeen asleep had to be stood up andshaken before realizing where theywere. Presently the clear sound of abugle was heard, being the signal forthe enemy to advance A rustlingaround in front followed, and then be-gan the race down the hill back acrossthe Pumpkinvine Creek. This creekwas quite narrow and shallow in someplaces, but somewhat wider in others.Many of the old boys to this day de-

clare positively it was 20 feet wide.However, the most of them went overall right. Those that did not were

taken by the enemy. Some said after-ward if the creek had been 40 feet wide,with the force of descending the hill andthe thought of Andersonville prison intheir minds, they could have jumped it

with ease. After crossing the creek, the124th joined the remainder of the bri-gade on top of a high bluff, and all be-gan fortifying.Many of our brave boys failed to an-

swer roll call the next morning. Someof those who answered presented a sor-rowful and ludicrous appearance, creat-ing considerable merriment, notwith-standing the sad scenes of the day be-fore. One member of Co. H had ononly his shirt and pants. Many werebareheaded and without gun or equip-ment; in fact, most everything had togo in order to jump that "40-foot"creek. A large number of the boysslept between the two picket lines all

night, and reported later in the day.Several, including a Captain in the regi-ment, fell into the mill pond, but gotout and came in about 3 o'clock in themorning.One member of Co. H had a thrilling

adventure and narrow escape from cap-ture, but being a good runner he livesto-day to tell the tale. Soon after start-ing down the hill he fell over a log, hisgun, equipment and knapsack fallingover his head. This gave the Johnniesa chance to gain on him. . When he gotup there were three of them close be-hind. One reached out to catch him bythe collar, while another raised a gun inthe air to strike him on the head. Theirefforts failing, one of the Johnniescalled out, "Stop! Stop!! You Yan-kee!" accompany the words with sev-eral oaths. But that was no time to re-sent insult—he was going down hill andacross the creek!

It was afterward learned that all ofthe brigade, except a part of the 124thOhio, had fallen back early in the even-ing, but owing to the darkness, and be-ing so far on the left of the line, theywere not notified. During the afternoonand evening the brigade was in a veri-table slaughter pen. There had been aterrible mistake made somewhere. Twobrigades (Hazen's and Gibson's) wereordered, one at a time, to charge twodivisions of the enemy, strongly in-trenched on top of the ridge. In thisencounter Hazen's Brigade alone lost

560 men.Nearly every oflScer of the 12 4th, ex-

cept Col. Payne, was either killed orwounded. Maj. Hampson, who neverknew fear, and acknowledged by Gen.Wood to be the best drilled soldier inthe division, was killed while deployingthe skirmish line. It is not in the

158 2'he National Tribune Scrap Book.

province of a private to criticize theacts of a Major-General, but in the lightof his record at Chancellorsville, Gen.Howard, commander of the FourthCorps, was not held in high esteem bythe men in the ranks. As evidence ofhis not being aware of the position partof his corps was placed in on the after-noon and evening of May 27, was therebuff to a Captain of the 124th. About12 o'clock that night, when the Generalwas informed of our unprotected front,he said he knew it was not so.

Some years after the war, a disputearose between Gens. Hazen and Stanley,

which resulted in a military investiga-tion, but it is not known that any sat-isfactory results came of it. The ex-periences of the night before had no ef-

fect on the ardor and determination ofour men; in fact, they were more anx-ious than ever to meet the enemy again,but on more equal grounds.

Aggressive movements were madeevery day, while here, with continualskirmishing until June 5, when therebels were again forced to retreat, go-ing in the direction of their already for-tified position at Kenesaw Mountain.

The 24th Indiana at Shiloh—The Long March to Get Into the Battle.

By Lewis B. Jessup.

Editor National Tribune: Saturdaynight, April 4, at 12 o'clock, the buglesounded the "assembly," and wemarched to Adamsville, seven miles,thru ni'ud, water and rain, at timeshalf-thigh deep. We found no enemythere, and went back to camp. Sun-day, April 6, early in the morning, wewere awakened by the heavy roar ofartillery in the direction of PittsburgLanding. The morning was clear andpleasant. Louder and louder grew thedin of battle. The artillery resembleddistant thunder. Scarcely a man inour regiment could eat any breakfast,so eager were we for the fray. Col.Harvey had us all ready equippedearly in the morning. For some rea-son unknown to us, we remained incamp until near 10 a. m. By this timethe engagement became general. Theconstant roar of artillery, intermixedwith frequent peals of musketry,warned us that stubborn resistancemight be expected upon both sides. Adistance of eight miles intervened be-tween us and the combatants when westarted for the scene of action. Everyman felt himself nerved to do or die.Every step we took forward settled ourdetermination to prove ourselves w^orthyof our Revolutionary ancestors. Atevery step the din of contending armiesbecame more distinct. In the after-noon we had arrived so near the bat-tlefield we could distinctly taste theburning powder which pervaded the at-mosphere. At this juncture we met anorderly form Grant's headquarters, whoinformed Gen. Wallace that the enemyhad succeeded in forcing our troopsfrom their original position at Shiloh

Church, and that if he (Wallace) per-sisted in his present course he mustarrive upon the battlefield in rear ofthe enemy's forces, for Gen. AlbertSydney Johnston was well enoughversed in warfare to know that whathe did must be done quickly. Upon re-ceipt of this information Gen. Wallacefaced us right about and marchedback almost to Crump's Landing, thenfiled right, taking the lower, or river,road toward Pittsburg Landing. By thismeans Gen. Wallace's Division failed toparticipate in the first day's engage-ment at Shiloh. At sundown we arriv-ed upon the lines. Each army, as if

by natural consent, had ceased its

bloody work and had withdrawn tobreathe for the morrow.We lay down in a drenching rain-

storm and slept but little that night,for our gunboats kept dropping a shellevery minute into the enemy's lines.

Occasionally our pickets would fire avolley at some wounded war horse orimaginary object. Many of our com-rades made a break for a well-filledsutler's tent, which had been uncere-moniously left vacant the day beforeupon the arrival of an iron messengerin the shape of a 24-pounder duringSunday's work. In this tent we keptdry, besides finding enough soda crack-ers to fill up our depleted haversacks.Many of us, too, were out of tobacco.There we found several barrels of fine-cut chewing tobacco, By morning wewere pretty well rigged out for theday's work. At daybreak we fell intoline of battle and moved up about aquarter of a mile.During the night Gen, Buel arrived


'With reinforcements for Grant's army.Wallace's Division occupied the ex-treme rig-ht of the Union forces. Aboutsunrise, April 7. the 9th Ind. Battery,commanded by Capt. Thompson, open-ed the ball. Scarcely had the reportdied away when it was answered by ashell from a rebel battery 15 yards infront of Thompson's Battery. Soonthe two batteries were engaged in afine duel, which lasted 40 minutes, ter-ininating in favor of Thompson's Bat-tery. The rebels moved their batteryfarther to the rear. The writer arguedthat this was a forerunner of the day'sw^ork. Future events proved the truthof our prophecy. Capt. Thompson fol-lowed up his success, and with a wildWestern yell we moved forward half amile. By this time we had arrived nearthe battery again. Capt. Thompson hadsucceeded in bringing his guns to bearupon the battery of 24-pounders infront of us. Our brigade was orderedto support Thompson's Battery. Downwe lay, Zouave style, letting the shot,shell, grape and shrapnel pass over us.The iron hail did us but little damage,however. There we lay just below asmall hillock, upon which stoodThompson's steel pieces continuallypouring death and destruction into theranks of traitors to their country's bestinterests. If ever a set of beardlessyouths deserved credit from their coun-trymen it was Capt. Thompson and hismen that day. Gunner after gunnerwas shot down that day; 1,100 shots"were fired from that hillock withoutchanging position. The caissons be-came empty, and two pieces of theChicago Artillery were ordered to taketheir places. Thompson started to re-fill his caissons, and as the ChicagoBattery had lost four pieces the daybefore on account of insufficient sup-port, they shelled out, too. But Mor-g'an L. Smith, our brigade commanderer, ordered them back. They returnedand held the fort until the return ofthe 9th Ind. We then moved up about300 years nearer the enemy and againlay down. Many of us went to sleepon account of over-fatigue. The artil-

lery upon each side kept up a constantplay upon each other. We were in thewoods now; limbs of trees were con-tinually being lopped off; many of the

men were injured by falling branches.Morgan L. Smith came to us at thisjuncture and told us that as soon asGen. Buell succeeded in driving theenemy to a certain point upon our left

we would go for that battery of 24-pounders in our front. The idea of abrigade of infantry charging a batteryof 24-pounders looked to us new troopslike "Munchausenis^m," but we did it

handsomely. Cos. A and K of our regi-ment advanced and shot down a horseof each gun and caisson, and the bat-tery was ours.By this time the whole length of our

lines was engaged and the noise wasdeafening in the extreme. Gen. John-ston's lines were formed in the shapeof the letter "T," consequently his sup-port was near the center, to be distrib-uted as necessity required. Gen.Grant's lines were formed in three dis-

tinct parallels.About 12, noon, Gen. Buell succeeded

in forcing the enemy back upon ourleft sufficiently to enable us to go forthe rebel battery in front of us. Cos.A and K of our regiment were detailedas skirmishers to advance in splendidstyle. Many of the 2 4th fell duringthis charge. We succeeded in advanc-ing beyond the rebel battery and thesix guns were ours. We reached thebrow of the hill and were greeted witha shower of minie-balls, which left

many vacant places in our ranks. Welay down, and Col. Smith called for vol-unteer skirmishers. More than wererequired sprang to their feet; some hadto lie down again.At this juncture Gen. Braxton Bragg,

with his 10,000 Louisiana and Missis-sippi Tigers, advanced against Wallace'sDivision en masse. They came up untilwe could see the buttons upon theiruniforms. We were armed with oldmuskets; our cartridges consisted of 12buckshot. Morgan D. Smith told us totake aim and fire low, for one woundedrebel was better than three dead ones,as it took two to carry one woundedrebel off, while a dead one was unno-ticed. The engagement was hand-to-hand for 30 minutes, when Bragg's de-moralized columns withdrew. This end-ed the "Battle of Shiloh." The 24thlost 5 7 men killed and wounded.

At Chancellor's House.

Bj S. A. Osborn, Lieutenant, Co. G, 145th Pa., Kennard, Pa.

Editor National Tribune: I need nottell you that I am not a scholar, writeror speller, but I was one of the youngfellows who shot the rebellion to death,and I am an ex-prisoner of war of theAndersonville vintag-e. I have been areader of the grand old soldiers' paperfor 2 years or more, and think it is

growing better and better. It certainlyis great company for the old boys. Tosee them fight over their old battlesmakes us forget that we are growingold, and that the fights and skirmishesare away back yonder nearly 50 years.Now, if I were to criticize the old com-rades I would say the greatest errorthey make is in assuming or thinkingthey know too much of how it was all

along the line of battle. I think thatin this way good and well-meaningmen make sad mistakes. Allow me tocite a case to explain what I mean. Inyour issue of Jan. 28, 1909, appears anarticle by John Kelley, Corporal, Co.D, 14 0th Pa. Comrade Kelley spreadshimself and his regiment out entirelytoo thin. The article that he replies to,

I am sorry to say, I overlooked, butwhen he undertakes to say just whowas or was not there he undertakes alittle too much. He says the 140th Pa.did all—they were all the troops insupport of Lepin's Battery. I supposehe is sincere in what he says, but heis very far from being correct. Justwhat troops were there I will not ven-ture to say, or if I did I might makethe sa;me mistake Kelly did. This I doknow: Brook's Brigade, or what wasleft of it, was there with Brooks incommand. We were led there by Gen.Hancock in person, and our positionwas just to the right of the battery,that had position about 30 or 40 rodsto the left of the Chancellor House.The name of the battery I never knew.I think there was a section of a bat-tery, two or three guns, down near thehouse. Kelly says that the women wentto the rear alone. He is wrong again.I did not see them come out of the

house, but I did see them as they ranto the rear with a soldier at either arm.Kelley further says that his regi-ment occupied all the space to therear of the house. That may be,but I think it would have crowdedthem some, for he says there wasabout 1,000 of them. One thing sure,they did not occupy the whole of theline of support. Gen. Hancock, grand,superb fighter that he was, was doing-his level best to hold Jackson's victori-ous troops in check until our armycould fall back into a new position, andhad gathered up all the odds and endsof his division, and right well and man-fully the boys did what was requiredof them. As for myself, I will just sayI think that I never before nor afterflattened myself out flatter or huggedthe ground closer than I did there andthen. You see, there wasn't a breast-work or the least thing for protection;but from good engineering or goodluck, can't say which, the ground infront of our line was a little higherthat it was where we lay, so that shellsthat hit the ground in front of us wouldgo skipping over, and one that did nothit would just fan us nicely as it wentover. Our regiment, the 145th Pa.,lost its Major there on that line. Hisname was Paton, a man loved by thewhole regiment. Now, Comrade Kelly,I am of the opinion that you are awayoff when you say that the 2d Del. wasnot there, for the 2d Del. was a partof the Fourth Brigade, and was amighty small regiment about that time.The 116th Pa. was also in the First Di-vision, Second Corps, and I think with-out doubt some of them were there.Comrade, allow me to say that if youwere the last of your company wound-ed, and that 14 days before the surren-der of Lee, your company was veryfortunate, indeed. The 14 5th Pa., fivenumbers higher than yours, had lostseveral hundred killed, wounded andmissing, before the 140th had lost any.So, you see we were there.

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