HOA
THE RECORD
SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY,
ALO; :
.
BOSTON;
JAMES P. WALKER. 1867.
THE RECORD
SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY,
1861-65.
BY ALONZO H. QUINT,
,
ITS CHAPLAIN.
BOSTON: JAMES P. WALKER.
1867.
£513
."5
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867,
BY JAMES P. WALKER, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
Cambridge : Press of John Wilson and Son.
TO
S*r0nir gfesarjjusttis Jnfanfrg
THE MEMORY OF ITS DEAD,
AND
THE FUTURE OF ITS LIVING.
PREFACE.
COUNTING it the . honor of my life to have been the Chaplain of the Second Massachusetts Infantry, the preparation of this record has been no less a work of love than of duty.
My own full notes, compared with, and completed by, the note-books of officers and enlisted men, were its basis. I have also carefully studied all the various rolls, books, and reports of the regiment and of com panies ; the full papers preserved by Brevet Major-Gen eral Gordon ; private letters, and letters in newspapers ; official reports of generals, the Report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, and the State papers ; special histories of campaigns and biographies, as well as rebel histories, biographies, and official reports. In addition to the thanks due to Adjutant J. A. Fox and others of the regiment, I acknowledge my obligations to the officials in the Adjutant-General's office, for the kindest facilities in the examination of their excellent records.
The engraved portraits have, generally, been fur nished by friends.
VI PREFACE.
I have described general movements only sufficiently to specify the share of the Second. , I have not criti cised military operations. I was not a military man. I pretend to no knowledge of strategy or tactics.
If I have been silent as to the gallant deeds of par ticular men, it was because I remembered the reply of a commander, in 1863, to a request for the names of men deserving medals : " Where all are meritorious, to mention some is to do injustice to the remainder."
" This regiment," wrote General Hooker, in 1864, " as is known to two armies, has no superior." Yet to indulge in praise seemed to me not only needless, but contrary to that spirit which refused to put the names of battles upon its colors.
I have been painfully convinced that it is impossible to record the history of a regiment. The narrative lacks the living experiences. But this record is made for men to whom every date is a scene, and every name a comrade ; for widows and orphans, and for childless parents. Their experiences will fill up the outline. Myself sadly dissatisfied with the result of unsparing labor, yet I trust that the men of the Second — from no one of whom, in the discharge of my own delicate duties, did I ever receive a discourtesy — will appre ciate the purpose, and be indulgent to the defects, of
this work.
A. H. Q.
NEW BEDFORD, MASS.
CONTENTS.
THE HISTORY.
PAGE
I. THE BEGINNING 1
II. CAMP ANDREW 14
III. • PATTERSON'S CAMPAIGN 33
IV. WATCHING THE RIVER 43
V. THE FIRST WINTER 60
VI. THE SPRING CAMPAIGN . . . . 67
VII. BANKS'S RETREAT 80
VIII. GENERAL POPE 96
IX. CEDAR MOUNTAIN 104
X. POPE'S RETREAT 119
XI. ANTIETAM 128
XII. THE WINTER 143
XIII. CHANCELLORS VILLE 156
XIV. FROM BEVERLY FORD TO GETTYSBURG . . . 175
XV. JOURNEYINGS 185
XVI. UP AND DOWN THE RAILWAY 195
XVII. HOME AND BACK 204
XVIII. FOR ATLANTA 219
XIX. To THE SEA . * 244
XX. THROUGH THE CAROLINAS 256
XXI. NORTHWARD 275
XXII. THE END 288
Vlll CONTENTS.
THE MEN.
I. THE ENLISTED MEN, First Term 295
Second Term 431
,, ,, ,, Non-commissioned Staff . . 472
II. COMMISSIONED OFFICERS 475
III. FIELD AND STAFF 509
IV. THE COLORS AND THEIR BEARERS 511
V. THE BAND 513
VI. TABLES: Nativities 515
,, Casualties in Action 517
,, The Enlisted Men Accounted For . . . 520
,, Commissioned Officers Accounted For . . 522
,, Summary 522
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 523
INDEX. .... 525
ENGRAVINGS.
GEORGE H. GORDON opposite title-page.
EDWARD GARDINER ABBOTT opposite p. 14
GEORGE L. ANDREWS 84
RICHARD GARY 117
WILDER 1) WIGHT # . • 139
JAMES SAVAGE, JUN 148
CHARLES REDINGTON MUDGE 181
WILLIAM COGSWELL * 256
ALONZO HALL QUINT 480
WILLIAM BLACKSTONE WILLIAMS 488
THOMAS BAYLEY Fox, JUN 501
SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
HISTORY.
I.
THE BEGINNING.
t
ON Saturday, the 13th day of April, 1861, tidings of the attack upon Fort Sumter came to Boston. On that day, E. R. Mudge, R. S. Fay, jun., Greely S. Curtis, A. B. Underwood, and others, were in con sultation with George H. Gordon, an educated and experienced soldier. "You must give up every thing now," said Major Gordon, addressing Mr. Under wood, — "and prepare for the war. Get men ready. Go to drilling. Get yourself ready, and give up every thing else."
Major Gordon had already fully considered the sub ject. He had early foreseen the great troubles which were to come upon the nation, and advocated prepara tion. His military knowledge had given him a promi nent position in the consultations held at the State House. His advice had been sought, and largely fol lowed, in the organization of the militia for active service ; which enabled the governor to send, upon a few hours' notice, the earliest regiments to the defence
1
SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
of the national capital. His interest in the approaching struggle had led him to address a meeting of the Suf folk bar. He had already pledged himself to re-enter the military service of the country, and had therefore resigned the command of the New-England Guards ; advising the members of that battalion to regard it as a nursery of officers, rather than to attempt to take it, as an organization, into the field.
" Wherever," said Major Gordon to the battalion, upon resigning his command, "any son of Massachusetts can render the most efficient service to the State, there, in my judgment, should his efforts be given. Although, in the first outbreak of war, reliance must necessarily be placed upon our militia, in whose ranks are found men of the best classes in our community, yet, for prolonged and continuous service, a composition of forces like that constituting the army of the general government is indisputably the most efficient and ser viceable, — a composition in which the character and intelli gence of our best citizens must be used to organize and drill the bone and muscle of those upon whom we must rely for our armies.
Then we may, with a small body of well-instructed gentle men, impart information, raise into an organization and render efficient very many large bodies of men, all of whom will in time become soldiers rather than undisciplined mobs of raw militia.
Wherever, in the present sudden emergency, any, even the least, capacity exists to impart information and efficiency to a company of privates, we cannot afford to waste precious material that may instruct many others, by calling it to render individual service as privates rather than officers.
My aim, as chief of the New-England Guards, has been rather to impart to my command the necessary instruction
THE BEGINNING. 6
to enable them to command rather than to build up a com pany to serve as privates during the fatigues of a long cam paign.
Massachusetts needs to-day military skill, science, and power to instruct. No man has a right to refuse his skill to drill the body of the militia of our State, even though he sacrifices that ambition so near to a soldier's heart, to be the first to bleed for his country."
On the 15th, Major Gordon was summoned to the State House, to advise regarding the forwarding of the militia regiments that morning called for by the Presi dent of the United States. Upon returning from the consultation, he said to Mr. Underwood, "The governor has told me, that, when he gets these troops off, I shall go with the next regiment." That day, and the suc ceeding, the gentlemen already mentioned, with others, discussed the measures necessary for raising troops "for the war." Underwood was ready to go; so was Curtis.
So were George L. Andrews, Wilder Dwight, and a thousand gallant men all over the State ; who, as yet without concert, were destined to make a name in history for the Second Massachusetts Infantry. They were soon brought together.
On the 18th day of April, Wilder Dwight entered the office of Major Gordon, — Dwight was a mem ber of the New -England Guards battalion, — and said abruptly, "Will you raise a regiment?" Major Gordon replied, "I am already committed to that. I have spoken to the governor upon that subject ; and he has promised me the command of the first
4 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
regiment which leaves the State for the war." D wight repeated his question, in its precise language, and re ceived the same reply. Major Gordon then explained the difficulties in the way of raising a regiment upon such principles as seemed to him essential.
These difficulties depended upon the fact, that, at that time, no law authorized the reception of forces into the service of the Government otherwise than as organized militia, and that only for a brief period. By the laws of Massachusetts, all officers were to be chosen by the men, — a system which Major Gordon, with all other soldiers, knew to be destructive of proper discipline. Nor would the clothing and equipment of the men follow the army model, which his foresight perceived to be necessary ; and the opposite of which, a very short experience, by another regiment, proved to be absurd.
These and other difficulties were discussed at length in the interview, but without arriving at any satis factory solution. But, before they separated, D wight suggested, as indispensable, the raising of a fund for regimental purposes. This was agreed upon, and the following paper was immediately drawn up : —
BOSTON, April 18, 1861.
Whereas it is proposed forthwith to raise, equip, and organize a regiment of men, to be drilled for efficient service in the defence of the Government wherever they may be needed; and whereas Major George H. Gordon has offered his services to superintend and aid in this purpose, and action has already been taken by the Governor to offer such a regi ment to the Government, —
The undersigned hereby agree to contribute the sums set
THE BEGINNING. 5
opposite their respective names to pay the expense of such equipment and organization, and the support of the regiment until it can be received into the service and pay of the Gov ernment.
With this paper, D wight left the office : in less than an hour he brought it back, bearing subscriptions for five thousand dollars. In a few days, the sum was increased to nearly thirty thousand, only sixty-five per cent of which proved to be necessary. Of this fund, Mr. Thomas D wight was the treasurer. The list of subscribers will be given in a subsequent page.
At this same interview, the manner of addressing the public was discussed ; for that a regiment was to be raised was a foregone conclusion, notwithstanding all difficulties. It was determined to issue bills adver tising the raising of a regiment ; and, within a day or two, these were printed, and posted in public places. This notification, it is believed, preceded the measures under which any other three-years' regiment was raised.
It was also soon settled, that George L. Andrews, of Boston, who had also been in the councils at the State House, ought to be lieutenant-colonel.
It would have been difficult to find three men equally qualified for the work before them.
The first, after graduating at West Point, in 1846, had immediately entered upon active service. He had participated in every action of General Scott's cam paign, from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico ; had been severely wounded after the fall of that city ; had been brevetted " for gallant and meritorious conduct ; " and
6 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
not until after nine years of service, sometimes as far away as Oregon, had he concluded to return to civil life. Entering upon the practice of the law, he was rapidly making himself successful, when he again brought to the service of the country the clear intellect, thorough knowledge, rapid decision, and power of exciting enthusiasm, which have been recognized by subsequent promotion, well-earned, and only too slowly given.
George L. Andrews had graduated at West Point, in 1851, at the head of his class. Assigned to duty as assistant to Colonel Thayer of the Engineers, he had been engaged for three years in the construction of Fort Warren, in Boston harbor ; had been ordered to West Point as Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Military Engineering, the Science of War, &c., where he remained a year, and resigned on account of the absurd inadequacy of the (then) pay to support a family. Thoroughly acquainted with military science from its broadest principles to its slightest details, a thorough disciplinarian, a man to whom duty was law, his merit has shown itself in higher stations and important commands. These qualifications he brought to the Second, refusing the place of paymaster, and also the colonelcy of a regiment of volunteers.
Wilder D wight was a graduate of Harvard College, — of high rank in the class of 1853, — and of its Law School. With a clear mind, high culture, indomita ble will, genial and persuasive powers, with the culture obtained by foreign travel and the discipline of study
THE BEGINNING. 7
with Caleb Gushing and Judge Hoar, — he had sprung at once into the higher ranks of his profession. He was not without some knowledge of military routine, ac quired at a military school. He would have seen high rank but for the fatal day of Antietam.
These men gave their best powers and most earnest devotion to their country. For its sake they deter mined to make a regiment worthy of the cause. How far they succeeded is now historical.
Previous to any overt act of rebellion, Greely S. Curtis, of Boston, had said to Major Gordon, "If this thing leads to war, I wish to go ; and I should like to go under your command." In the interviews alluded to, Mr. Curtis again spoke of entering the service. He was promised a commission. He mentioned jthe names of several of his friends whom he thought quali fied ; among them were James Savage, jun., and Henry L. Higginson, of Boston. After some inquiries they were promised suitable positions. These gentlemen and others assisted in raising money, and in other methods. Their recommendation was justified.
On Thursday, April 25, the "Boston Journal" said : —
" Recruiting offices for the new regiment under Major Gordon were opened yesterday at 22, Canal Street ; at Clin ton Street, corner of Merchants' Row; and at 129, Federal Street. . . . Another ... at No. 55, State Street, next to en trance to Merchants' Exchange."
At Canal Street was Mr. Curtis ; at Clinton Street, Mr. A. D. Sawyer ; at Federal Street, Mr. Under-
8 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
wood, and Richard S. Fay, jun. ; at State Street, J. Parker Whitney, — afterwards, Mr. Underwood, and, still later, Francis H. Tucker and T. L. Motley, jun.
Some of these offices were temporarily suspended after a few days ; for the consideration was weighty that there was yet no authority to raise a regiment, and no evidence that one tendered would be accepted. It was determined, therefore, to apply for authority directly to the War Department. The State gave its sanction, and Messrs. Andrews and Dvvight were se lected to go to Washington.
They left Boston on the 25th of April. South of Philadelphia, they began to find troops on the road : but, being bearers of despatches from Governor Andrew, they found no difficulty in getting to Perryville on the Susquehanna, where they were obliged to take a tug boat for Annapolis ; for this was the time when the road through Baltimore was in the hands of a brutal mob allowed to work its will by an inefficient Executive. Late in the evening of the 26th, Messrs. Andrews and Dvvight reached Annapolis. The buildings and grounds of the Naval School were filled with three-months' men ; and, although there were the usual bustle and want of system of raw troops, it was pleasant to see that the Government had so far been spurred into life. Passes were procured from General Butler for Washington ; and information that a train would start at some uncer- ' tain time in the night, — uncertain, because the road had been damaged by Maryland rebels. Three days before, a Massachusetts soldier, looking at a locomotive disabled
THE BEGINNING.
by Annapolis people, said, "I made this engine ; and I can put it together again ; " and the Massachusetts Eighth and the New- York Seventh opened the way to the junction. But the road was again injured ; and when Messrs. Andrews and D wight, with Captain (since Colonel) Maynadier of the Ordnance Corps, a loyal Virginian, who had accompanied them from Perry- ville, — after remaining all night in the station-house, and getting in the morning a breakfast of the usual Southern hog and hominy, — started on the train, they found frequent delays necessary for repairs. At Annapo lis Junction were trains filled with troops, and camps were near by. Pickets were stationed along the road to Washington ; troops were in that city, and reconnoi- sances were being made. The loyal people were then cheerful; but Breckenridge, Mason, Wigfall, Hunter, and Clingman were still in Washington.
An interview with the Secretary of War was ob tained by the help of General Eipley, Chief of Ord nance, on Monday, April 29. The application did not meet with favor. The Secretary doubted his right to authorize the raising of a three-years' regiment. Then, as some time later, it required effort to obtain the privilege of defending the country. The messengers from Massachusetts persisted. D wight thought he could draft a paper which would be satisfactory. Ap parently wearied with the importunity, the Secretary told him to do so. It was done ; and, after a little hesitation, signed. D wight immediately telegraphed, " All right : go ahead ! "
10 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
In that paper, which pledged the Secretary to accept the regiment when it should be raised, the first author ity, in point of time, to raise a three-years' regiment, was thus given to what became the SECOND REGIMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY. When the President issued his call, May 4, 1861, for thirty-nine regiments of infantry and one of cavalry, for three years, this regiment became one of the thirty-nine ; and it was, with all other volunteer regiments, subsequently a part of the half-million of men authorized by Act of Con gress, July 22, 1861.
With this permission, Andrews and D wight returned home, still by way of Annapolis. With this authority, with the assurance of aid from the Governor, and with his promise that the commander should select his officers, and with funds in plenty, the work was pushed vigorously forward. The recruiting offices were re opened on the 29th, and others added. Charles F. Morse opened an office in Salem ; James Savage, jun., in Fitchburg ; Charles R. Mudge, in Lynn ; Marcus M. Hawes, in Lawrence ; Rufus Choate, in Springfield ; Richard Gary, Richard C. Goodwin, and others, in Boston ; while men were recruited in Easton, in Berk shire County, and a few in other places, at the same time.
The control of the funds and the designation of methods were left with the commander. The particu lar rank to be given to Curtis, Savage, Higginson, Mudge, and others was, by common consent, undecided : the simple assurance, that, at the proper time, a suitable
THE BEGINNING. 11
assignment of rank should be made, conforming to the impressions of the colonel as to fitness and capacity, gave entire satisfaction and secured entire harmony.
The principal office — headquarters in Boston — was opened at 20, State Street, Colonel Gordon being there except during a temporary illness, when Lieutenant- Colonel Andrews took charge. Charles Wheaton, jun., of Boston, was soon selected to aid, eventually becom ing adjutant. His value is well remembered, as he remained in that capacity, declining promotion, until he became, in 1862, commissary of subsistence, in which station he rose to a place on the staff of a corps commander. R. Morris Copeland, in the latter part of April, by advice of James Savage, with whom he had become acquainted in Salignac's drill-club, ap plied for the place of regimental quartermaster : it was given him ; and his indefatigable zeal and business ability made him a most valuable officer. Energetic and faithful, he afterwards was aid to Major-General Banks, and then assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of major. Patriotic, able, and brave, yet — he will pardon it — impulsive, he was finally sacrificed to personal pique, — all who knew him felt unjustly and on mere pretence.
It was held as a principle, that the officers should be first selected, and they should recruit their own companies ; and not that the men elect their officers. This principle was apparently varied from in two instan ces, but only apparently. One was in the case of the "Abbott Grays."
12 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
This was a company raised in Lowell. On the morning succeeding the attack of the Baltimore rebels on Massachusetts troops, Edward G. Abbott, of Low ell, commenced raising a company "for the war." It was filled that day. Organized under the militia laws of the State, under the name of the "Abbott Grays" (in compliment to Hon. J. G. Abbott) , it had a cap tain and four lieutenants, who received their commis sions from the Governor. When it was known that Colonel Gordon was raising a regiment, Hon. Mr. Abbott applied to him to receive this company as a part of his command. After an interview with Captain Abbott, the manly qualities of that officer, and the superior material in the ranks, satisfied the Colonel ; and the company was received, with Edward G. Abbott as captain ; Harrison G. O. Wey mouth, for a few weeks, first lieutenant ; then William D. Sedgwick, first lieutenant; and James Francis, second lieutenant : Abbott, to fall at Cedar Mountain ; Weymouth, to attain the rank of major, and to lose a limb at Frede- ricksburg; Sedgwick, to die at Antietam ; and Francis, to become a field-officer, but to bear for ever the marks of the enemy's bullets.
On the same day with the above, William Cogswell, a lawyer in Salem, commenced recruiting there. The company was soon filled ; named the " Andrew Light Guard," while in State service ; and went into camp on Winter Island, Salem Harbor, in "Camp Webb," about the 22d of April. Through the instrumentality of the Governor, it was made a part of Colonel
THE BEGINNING. 13
Gordon's regiment,1 with William Cogswell, captain, to become brevet-brigadier-general ; Edwin R. Hill, a former soldier in Mexico, first lieutenant, to fall in battle ; and Robert B. Brown, second lieutenant, then a law-student, but to leave the service senior captain in his regiment.
1 " Major Gordon, of this city, is raising a regiment. He is a West-Point officer of great merit. His second officer is also a distinguished graduate of West Point. Perhaps you would find it agreeable to add so valuable a body of men as you offer, to his corps ; and I presume that your applica tion, under cover of this letter, may invite his respectful consideration, if his ranks are not already full, and his officers selected." — Letter of Gover nor Andrew, May 6.
1-1 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
II.
CAMP ANDREW.
BROOK FARM, a locality in West Roxbury, once well known as the seat of an experiment on the " community " system, was owned, in 1861, by Rev. James Freeman Clarke, of Boston. When it became necessary to secure a site for a camp, this place occurred to Mr. Copeland as suitable. The patriotic owner freely consented, and gave its use without pay.1 It was capacious and pleas ant, well watered, and had upon it some large build ings. Its use was obtained on the 9th of May; and, on the llth of May, CAMP ANDREW — so named from respect to the faithful, patriotic Governor — was estab lished by the coming of Captain Abbott's company, thenceforward known as "Company A."
On the afternoon of May 14, Captain Cogswell's company (C) arrived in camp, seventy-five men; and,
1 The liberal proposal of another gentleman, who had been inquired of regarding an estate of his, ought to be noticed. " If the State of Massachu setts requires any such place for the accommodation of its soldiery, for one year, or for three years, or during the whole term of the war now in pro gress, my estate in West Roxbury, at the end of Weld Street, and opposite the Brook farm, is at its service, to be occupied by its artillery, cavalry, or infantry, without any expense to the State, —free and gratis, — and with out payment of rent or taxes." — John C. Gore $ Sons.
Clarke, of Bo*to«. v,,3*^v to MOTTO
a site for u ramp. M ;<> MJ
IM suitable. TW and
e its u.st. ant. \voll •/-;.:
CAMP ANDREW. 15
shortly after, forty-two men from Fitchburg and vicinity, the first detachment of Company D, Captain Savage. In the evening of the same day, Captain Whitney's company (F), seventy-eight men, arrived. Late at night — eleven o'clock — on the 15th, Captain Under wood brought Company I, eighty-two men. On the 20th, Company E, from Medway, eighty men, came to camp. This company had been raised in April, and had chosen its own officers. But, concluding to enter the regiment, it agreed, as the condition of acceptance, to take the officers designated by Colonel Gordon. These were, Samuel M. Quincy, captain, who came to be colonel, but found his health so shattered by wounds received at Cedar Mountain, and by rebel captivity, that he could not endure the hardships of field service, and became assistant inspector-general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and afterwards colonel of the Seventy-third U. S. C. T., and subsequently brevet-ted brigadier-general ; William B. Williams, first lieuten ant, — a captain when he fell bravely at Cedar Moun tain ; and Ochran H. Howard, second lieutenant, to be subsequently in charge of the signal corps of a department.
Captain T. J. C. 'Amory, United - States Army (afterwards brigadier - general of volunteers), being appointed mustering-officer, began his duty at Camp Andrew on the 18th, mustering in companies A, C, F, I, and parts of other companies. As detachments came, he mustered their men in. No record of the first date appears : it was probably omitted because the regiment was at last mustered in as a whole.
16 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
The companies not already mentioned came in detach ments as recruited. They were organized as follows : —
Company B, — Greely S. Curtis, captain, whom ill health, in 1864, drove from the service, when he was major in the First Massachusetts Cavalry ; Charles F. Morse, first lieutenant, who, after a faithful service (once wounded in North Carolina) , led home the regi ment in 1865 ; and James M. Ellis, second lieutenant, who subsequently became commissary of subsistence, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Company D, — James Savage, jun., captain, — a lieutenant-colonel, when, a true soldier and gentleman, he died of wounds received at Cedar Mountain ; Wil liam D. Sedgwick, first lieutenant, but transferred to Company A before leaving camp, and succeeded by Henry L. Higginson, who remained in the service until ill health forced him to resign the commission of major in the First Massachusetts Cavalry ; and (after the promotion of Higginson) Fletcher M. Abbott, second lieutenant, who was eventually disabled by disease.
Company F was officered by Charles R. Mudge, captain (after a brief service by J. Parker Whitney), who met a soldier's death while leading the regiment in that gallant, fatal charge at Gettysburg ; Robert G. Shaw, first lieutenant, who sleeps at Wagner ; and Thomas R. Robeson, second lieutenant, who fell with Mudge at Gettysburg.
Company G was commanded by Richard Gary, who lingered one day after the sad 9th of August, 1862 ; Henry S. Russell, first lieutenant, since colonel of the
CAMP' ANDREW. 17
Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry; and Anson D. Sawyer, second lieutenant, who so long and so ably filled the post of quartermaster, until, in front of Atlanta, ill health sent him home.
Company H, — Francis H. Tucker, captain ; Thomas L. Motley, jun., first lieutenant, to be permanently dis abled by wounds while major in the First Massachu setts Cavalry ; and (after a brief service of Robert G. Shaw) Stephen G. Perkins, second lieutenant, who was added to the list of dead at Cedar Mountain.
Company I had Adin B. Underwood, captain, made a brigadier - general for his gallant leading of the Thirty- third Massachusetts at Wauhatchie, where he was maimed for life ; Marcus M. Hawes, first lieuten ant, afterwards assistant quartermaster in the Depart ment of the Gulf; and Rufus Choate, second lieutenant, whose broken constitution and recent death were the price of his loyalty.
Company K was commanded by Richard C. Goodwin, who left an ambulance, at Cedar Mountain, to fall in battle : George P. Bangs, first lieutenant, afterwards prostrated by disease ; and Charles P. Horton, second lieutenant, afterwards an assistant adjutant-general.
The staff, in addition to the adjutant and quarter master already noticed, was composed as follows : —
Lucius M. Sargent, jun., surgeon, who, after dis playing eminent ability in that post, entered the First Massachusetts Cavalry as captain, and fell, a lieutenant- colonel, near Bell Field, Va., in 1864; Lincoln R. Stone, assistant-surgeon, eventually surgeon of volun-
2
18 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
teers ; and, in June, Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, chaplain, whose church, at Jamaica Plain, gave him two years' leave of absence, before their final separation.
The non-commissioned staff was made up as follows :
George W. Blake, a soldier in the regular service in the Florida and Mexican Wars, was appointed ser geant-major, eventually disabled by disease ; James H. Fletcher, quartermaster - sergeant ; Erastus B. Car 11, who had served five years in the Fourth United-States Artillery, commissary-sergeant, and earned promotion ; Joseph W. Nutting, hospital-steward, who served un til he died of disease ; Henry Kesselhuth, who had been a soldier (and wounded) in the Brunswick service in the revolutions of 1848, drum-major; and Charles Spiegel was band-leader until regimental bands were discharged. That band, raised under the auspices of P. S. Gilmore, was a rare acquisition.
The first sergeants of the several companies were these : —
Company A, — Eben B. Whitten, killed at Cedar Mountain. Company B, — Joseph C. Hill, who had served in India, and who became an officer on the staff of General Rosecrans. Company C, — George B. Browning, severely wounded at Cedar Mountain, and made an officer in the Invalid Corps. Company D, — Theodore K. Parker, promoted for gallant conduct. Company E, — William R. Parsons, afterwards dis charged for wounds at Antietam. Company F, — Sol omon Martin, killed at Antietam. Company G, — George P. Southack, once a soldier in the United-
CAMP ANDREW. 19
States service, in Utah, disabled at Cedar Mountain. Company H, — Charles F. Green. Company I, — Everett W. Pattison, a graduate of Waterville College, who became captain. Company K, — William T. Mix, who soon died of disease contracted in the line of duty. Hans G. Christensen was color-sergeant, who, disabled by disease, shed tears as he saw, from the hospital tent at Darnestown, the colors carried out in battalion drill. ' * That flag that I have taken such care of, " he said to the chaplain, " I shall never carry again." He left it to a line of successors, in whose hands it was never dishonored ; the most of whom are sleeping in soldiers' graves.
Of the other non-commissioned officers and the men, their names and deeds will be recorded by and by. They entered the service before the days of bounties. The pay they expected was eleven dollars a month. Some had seen service in India, before and behind the works of Sebastopol, in the French service, in the revolutions of 1848, in Florida, in Mexico, in Oregon, and on the Plains ; and these were ready to renew the hardships of march and bivouac and camp, of picket and reconnoissance, of skirmish and battle, of ambulance and hospital. To most, war was a mysterious thing, full of unknown terrors ; but these men were, ready to meet them for the country's sake. No nobler, truer, brarer men left home than these, who, led by such officers, gave the Massachusetts Second its noble record.
The regiment was gradually filled. At Colonel
20 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
Gordon's head-quarters in Boston there was great activ ity. The office was alive, day after day, with men, who, as accepted, were sent to Camp Andrew. The general business was pressing, but easily despatched by one so well versed in all military details as Colonel Gordon, and assisted by such a -man as Major D wight. At camp, Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews soon appeared, and took his quarters. The drill and discipline there fell mainly to his share of work. Sergeant Collins, of the United-States Sappers and Miners, was obtained as drill-master ; but he did not remain long, and Lieu tenant-Colonel Andrews himself drilled the officers, and had, as well as Colonel Gordon later, recitations daily. In fact, with their own drill, the drill of the men, attention to all roll-calls, guard-mounting, parade, and daily recitations in tactics, the officers had little time to call their own. The hours of duty, as recorded, will show this : —
" 4.45, A.M., Reveille ; 5.20, Inspection of quarters by company officers; 5.30, Roll call of companies, and squad- drill ; 6.45, Surgeon's call, and signal for drill to cease ; 7, Signal for breakfast ; 7.40, Inspection of guard detail by first sergeants of companies ; 7.45, Guard mounting ; 8.30, Signal for drill by squads ; 10.30, Signal for drill by squads to cease, and for commissioned officers to assemble for practical instruc tion ; 11.30, Signal for non-commissioned officers to assemble for practical instruction, the sergeant-major will call the roll ; 12, M. Signal for commissioned officers to assemble for theo retical instruction; 12.45, P.M., Recall, and non-commissioned officers' drill; 1, Signal for dinner; 3.30, Signal for drill; 6, Signal for drill to cease ; 6.30, Signal for companies to
CAMP ANDREW. 21
assemble for roll-call, and inspection by company officers; 6.40, Adjutant's call, — signal for companies to be marched by captains to parade-ground ; Immediately after parade, supper; 9, Tattoo; 9.30, Taps."
When the commissions were issued at the State House, those of the field officers were dated1 May 24 ; of the surgeon, May 28 ; of the assistant surgeon, June 1 ; of the chaplain, June 20 2 ; of 'the captains, May 24 ; of the first lieutenants, May 25 ; and of the second lieutenants, May 28.
The colonel issued his first order under the new commission, as follows : —
HEADQUARTERS SECOND REG. MASS. VOLS.
CAMP ANDREW, WEST ROXBUEY, May 27, 1861. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 1.
1. The undersigned, having been duly invested with the proper authority, hereby assumes the command of the troops at this encampment.
1 On what principle the dates were assigned was never quite understood. The date of the colonel's commission, when the papers were made out, was found to be May 24 ; that of the colonel of the First Regiment, May 22, — which, by rule, gave that regiment a nominal priority. As a matter of fact, Colonel Cowdin had not been mustered in on the day that Colonel Gordon was; at least, Captain Amory, mustering officer, so stated on the day of Colonel Gordon's muster. By the rule, that commissions could be given only after ten ' companies were mustered in, Colonel Cowdin's date was clearly wrong; for his tenth company was not mustered until the 27th, according to the reports of the adjutant-general, while the latest day possible to the Second was the 25th. In addition, the Adjutant-general's Report, issued Jan uary, 1866, says the First Regiment " was mustered into the service of the United States, June 15, 1861." If this was so, the question of priority is settled, as the Department decided on May 25 as the date of the Second. It is a matter of little moment, however ; both regiments honored themselves and Massachusetts.
2 This date should have been earlier ; the inadvertence or misunderstand ing of that officer led to an error not perceived until too late to remedy.
22 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
2. The order of rank of the captains of the Second Regi ment, having been designated by authority duly delegated from the War Department, is hereby promulgated for the benefit of all concerned : 1st, Francis H. Tucker ; 2d, Gree- ly S. Curtis; 3d, James Savage, jun. ; 4th, Edward G. Abbott; 5th, Samuel M. Quincy; 6th, Richard Gary; 7th, William Cogswell ; 8th, J. Parker Whitney ; 9th, Adin B. Underwood; 10th, Richard C. Goodwin.
By command of Colonel GEORGE H. GORDON.
CHARLES R. MUDGE, Acting Adjutant.
Power indeed had been had, but, until the muster-in, its tenure was rather baseless. From the time of formal appointment, it rested on firm foundations. In fact, the military authority asserted, perhaps, its earliest prerogative over citizens in Massachusetts at this camp. It was when a citizen had opened a place for the sale of intoxicating liquors. It was working mischief. So, after fruitless remonstrances, a squad was sent to the place, under an officer ; and, although outside the camp, unceremoniously emptied the liquors into the road, and so abated the nuisance.
For the first six weeks, food was furnished to the men ready cooked. Suitable cooks and stewards wrere pro vided ; and, three times a day, the men used to come to the proper quarters. The system was changed, how ever, to fit men for actual service ; and company cooks were detailed. It is worthy of record, that, under the first system, although the groceries and some other food were supplied by the same dealers as supplied the Tre- mont and the Revere, and the extravagance of the food was sharply commented upon, yet the average daily
CAMP ANDKEW. 23
cost per man was found to have been short of twenty- five cents ; while contractors for some other troops had forty cents. The difference was in the oversight of Quartermaster Copeland. The regimental fund paid the bills.
The clothing was procured, by contract, from Whit ing, Galloupe, & Bliss, of Boston, and was the best the regiment ever had. Strong efforts were made to have " gray " adopted ; but Colonel Gordon was firm, — and the opinion of Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews supported him, — that the army uniform must be had. Indeed, when the militia was to be made ready to go to Wash ington, Colonel Gordon, whose presence was asked at a consultation, advised the army uniform. A general said, " He hoped never to see the Massachusetts soldier clothed in the uniform of the regular army. Such an attempt had nearly caused a mutiny in a Massachusetts regiment in Mexico." — " I believe," said Colonel Gor don, " that the war is to be one of no short duration, and, as the troops may wear out the clothes they start with, it would be almost impossible for the Gover nor of Massachusetts to follow each soldier to the field to supply a pair of Massachusetts trousers. Besides, all that saved the Massachusetts regiment in Mexico from returning in the f uniform of the Georgia militia' (shirt collar and pair of spurs) was due to the fact that they were supplied with United-States uniforms which they wore home." The regimental fund enabled Colonel Gordon to make his own selections, especially as the regiment was in an anomalous position as to
24 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
authority. But the State subsequently assumed the cost of the clothing.
It was with considerable effort that rifled muskets were secured; but they were obtained, — the Enfield, when the Enfield imported was a good piece. Gradu ally it was superseded by the Springfield, of substan tially the same character.
When, after weeks of preparation, the wagons were brought to camp, — twenty-seven in those luxurious days, — and the hundred finely selected wagon-horses were tethered in the camp limits, the equipment was well-nigh complete. No such was found anywhere in service ; and when, in after days, wagons were cut down in number, and horses turned in, and at last mules re placed the horses, the wagoners sighed, — rather the wagoner, — for the twenty-five had, under successive orders, dwindled to one.
Two flags had been presented to the regiment. The first was on the 26th of June. The "Boston Daily Advertiser " gave the following account : —
The regiment was drawn up in line of battle, and pre sented a fine and soldierly appearance. Their movements all indicated a high state of efficiency and drill. A large number of spectators, including the donors and their friends, were present on the hill overlooking the parade-ground. At a quarter-past five, Mr. E. Francis Bowditch advanced towards Colonel Gordon, before the line, unfolding the colors to the breeze. The battalion saluted by presenting arms, the band playing the " Star-Spangled Banner." The officers, having been ordered to the front,, gathered in a group around the colonel, and were addressed by Mr. J. Lothrop Motley, on behalf of the ladies presenting the flag, as follows : —
CAMP ANDREW. 25
Colonel Gordon, Gentlemen, and Ladies : — Only three hours ago, I was informed, to my utter surprise, that the honor had been conferred upon me of presenting this banner to your regiment.
I wish that some worthier and more experienced speaker could have performed this service. And yet I could not find it in my heart to deny myself the deep gratification of associ ating my name, in however subordinate a degree, with this noble regiment and this most interesting occasion. I implore your forgiveness for my inability adequately to express the emotions which are filling all our hearts. You will not value the less this gift from the fair hands of your countrywomen, from those who are near and dear to you, because of my deficiency.
Never in my life did I so covet the divine gift of eloquence as on this occasion. And yet I am consoled ; for, had I the tongue of angels, I could not hope to match the mute elo quence of those stars and those stripes.
Nearly a century ago, there beyond the green hills, in the fair and ancient town of Cambridge, the seat of the Muses, on the 1st of January, 1776, that banner of stripes was first unfurled to the breeze by the great hand of Washington. The Continental Congress, eighteen months later, added the cluster of stars. Then rose that glorious constellation, never more to set. The starry symbol of our Union, respected abroad on land and sea, and idolized at home, was never degraded or trailed in the dust till 1861, and never by the hands of foreigners. Never shall living man forget how the hearts of all loyal Americans, whether dwelling on this or the other side of the Atlantic, were thrilled, as by the sound of the trumpet, when we first caught the response to the call of the president for volunteers, the voice of twenty millions whose bosoms were one.
To your hands, Colonel Gordon, to your tried valor, to your signal ability, to your fortunate military experience on
26 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
the field of honor, we gladly intrust these our most precious possessions, the bone and muscle of our ancient Common wealth, and the aspirations and the ardor of the youthful chivalry of our State.
We know that in your hands, and in those of your brave companions in arms, the welfare and honor of the whole country are safe. Our hearts are too full for words. Our hopes, our prayers, our pride, — every thing but our fears, — go with you. In the name of your countrywomen, I present to you this flag. We know that its folds will never be stained, that they will ever wave foremost among the foremost where duty and honor call.
As I place it in your hand, I will only add the brief and simple phrase of the herald, in the early days of warfare and of chivalry, — " May God defend the Right ! "
Colonel Gordon then replied substantially as follows : —
Sir, — In the name of the Second Regiment of Massachu setts Volunteers, it becomes my duty to receive this magnifi cent flag, and to respond as well as I may. I could wish that some one more eloquent might answer for them. But this is not the hour or the place for words.
When I look upon this long line of men, eager to fight for their country, and in the youthful but resolute faces of these officers who surround me, I feel a deep sense of the responsi bilities on which I have entered, and which, God willing, I will discharge. This flag of our country, which bears on its folds the glorious record of the war of the Revolution, of the war of 1812, and of another conquest of Mexico, has never been trailed in the dust before a foreign foe. It was left to our own countrymen to make the first record of its dishonor. But it still continues the flag of our country, and, God willing, none other shall wave defiantly before it. Never, till it was struck down, did we feel it to be so truly the symbol of our country's greatness. We had been accustomed to regard it in times of peace as only a symbol of our prosperity ; but, now
CAMP ANDKEW. 27
that the hour of trial has come, we look to it as the emblem of our freedom and our power. It shall never cease to wave over our whole country.
We accept this flag, and will render our account of it here after. And, sir, borrowing the sentiment of that immortal statesman, we will strive to defend it so that not a star shall be removed nor a stripe erased.
At the conclusion of the colonel's address, the officers returned to their posts. The color-guard advanced, received the colors from Mr. Bowditch, and carried them to their posi tion in the line ; and the battalion was then marched off in column of platoons to the parade-ground in front of the encampment. The companies were then dismissed, and, half an hour later, returned for dress-parade. At the close of parade, the ladies and other friends of the officers were invited to head-quarters, where they found an abundant collation.
The flag is an unusually fine one, six feet by nine, made of the richest silk. The stars are of gold bullion, very heavy, embroidered on a blue field. The staff is surmounted by a solid silver eagle, heavily gilded, and is decorated with gold tassels of great richness. The flag does great credit to the designers and donors ; and we feel assured has been placed in the hands of those who will esteem it an inestimable privilege to carry it in the van of our army, and will never cease to seek their country's welfare at any personal sacrifice.
The donors of this flag were — Mrs. Richard S. Fay, jun., Miss Bowditch, Mrs. P. Stevens, Mrs. James Lawrence, Mrs. George M. Barnard, Miss Btirtlett, Miss Motley, Mrs. Eben Bacon, Miss S. F. Bradlee, Miss Amory, Mrs. John G. Gushing, Mrs. James M. Codman, Miss Sargent, Mrs. J. Ingersoll Bowditch, Mrs. Mudge, Mrs. Alice Bowditch, Mrs. N. T. Bow- ditch.
£« SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
How gallantly this flag — the battle-flag — was borne, may be seen in its remnants at the State House.
The State flag was presented on the 1st of July. It had upon one side the State arms and motto, with the name of the regiment; on the other, the inscription, "We bear the flag, and keep step to the music, of the Union," with the name of the regiment repeated.
The donors of this flag were — Miss Gary, Mrs. Bangs, Misses Bangs, Mrs. Jere. Abbott, Mrs. J. M. Bell, Mrs. Rufus Choate, Mrs. J. E. Pratt, Mrs. Good win, Miss Bowditch, Mrs. Henry F. Durant, Miss Bartlett, Miss Adams, Miss A. Reynolds, Miss Amory, Misses Austen, Miss Horton, Miss Tyler, Miss Upton, Miss Thwing, Miss Gray, Miss Hall, Mrs. Whitmore, Miss Lombard, Miss Blake, Mrs. J. B. Upham, Miss J. Whitney, Mrs. S. H. Walley, Miss Brewer, Mrs. John E. Lodge, Mrs. R. C. Mackay, Mrs. T. H. Perkins, Mrs. Samuel Hooper, Mrs. J. T. Coolidge, Mrs. J. S. Coolidge, Mrs. H. Ritchie, Miss Curtis, Miss Abbott, Miss Higginson.
Hon. George S. Hillard made the address of presen tation, in behalf of the ladies who gave it. So far as preserved, his remarks were as follows : —
Colonel Gordon, — I have been requested to present this flag to the regiment under your command. It is the gift of some of our patriotic countrywomen, who, since the breaking- out of this war, have shown in so many ways their high- souled devotion to the cause of their country. For their sake, as well as for the ideas which it symbolizes, I am sure it will have a peculiar value in your eyes. And I have much pleas ure in performing this duty. I feel a special interest in the
CAMP ANDREW. 29
fate and fortunes of your regiment, from the fact that among your ranks are several of my friends and one dear kinsman.
Upon this flag are displayed the arms of Massachusetts, a State which we love so well, and which so well deserves our love. But we love the Union none the less, but all the more, because of our local attachment to the particular spot in which our lot has been cast. The affections of the heart are increased, and not exhausted, by use. What should we say of the man who should affirm that his love for his father was so great that he had none left to bestow upon his mother? Such, it seems to me, is the attitude of those who profess an allegiance to their State of such kind and degree as to be incompatible with an affectionate loyalty to the Union.
The flag has also as a motto or device the words, " We carry the flag, and keep step to the music, of the Union." You know by what eloquent lips, now sealed in death, these words were spoken, — words which have become proverbial and immortal, a part of the circulating wealth of the intellect ual realm. This expression is one of those —
" Jewels, five words long, That on the stretched forefinger of all time Sparkle for ever."
In the quarry of that rich and creative mind many such crystals of speech were elaborated, — symmetrical, glittering, translucent. These words of the great orator, patriot, and statesman, are with peculiar propriety borne upon this banner, because his kindred and the children of his blood have been largely instrumental in procuring it, and because his only son is serving under your command. Assuredly, the father's spirit is well pleased with what it sees this day.
And here I might pause ; for that which I was desired to do I have done. But you and the officers and men under your command will permit me to make this occasion the text for a few observations which I hope may prove pertinent thereto.
30 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
Colonel Gordon replied appropriately, but the reply was never written out.
The " Transcript " added : -
" Both speeches were received with cheers ; and at the close the regiment was marched into the camp, and, after an inter val of rest, was drawn up for the evening dress-parade, the execution of which excited high praise. A refreshing colla tion was dispensed at head-quarters ; and the company were entertained by music from the well-trained band, until the shades of evening compelled them to beat an unwilling retreat."
No regiment had warmer or kinder friends. The mere suggestion of any want brought immediate sup ply. Money or time was not then, nor ever after, spared to furnish the Second with every thing that thoughtful love could imagine. Evidence of this will appear in the course of this record. The Second repaid the kindness, on many a hard-fought field.
Nearly two months passed away in steady prepara tion. Hard work, and severe — sometimes irksome — discipline, made it no holiday. But it had its bright side. Memory reproduces the spot. The guard at the entrance ; the head-quarters, with the sentinel walking his post, — a strange sight; the flagstaff where, from reveille to retreat, the Stars and Stripes floated ; the hospital in the rear of head -quarters, where surgeon and assistant surgeon faithfully ministered ; the winding road to the slope where the old tents were ranged in double lines with company-street between ; the cook houses on the left ; the line-officers' tents crowning the
CAMP ANDREW. 31
slope ; the quarters of the excellent bcand ; the river where men bathed by companies ; the drill-ground ; the hollow where, on the sabbath, was public worship ; the level where, evening after evening, beauty and generosity watched the strange and fascinating parade, — all are before the eye of such of the thousand men as the fate of war has left ; a thinned band now ; and many that are left are scarred and maimed, to whom, with other thousands, their country owes eternal grati tude.
Late in the evening of the 6th of July came this communication : —
CAMP GORDON, July 6, 8£, P.M. COLONEL GORDON, Second Regiment, M.Y.
Sir, — The following despatch was received at head-quar ters this afternoon, at four o'clock : —
WAR DEPARTMENT, July 6, 1861 ADJUTANT-GENERAL, MASS.
Governor Andrew has been requested [by] telegraph to the Brevoort House, New York, to order Colonel Gordon's regiment to proceed as rapidly as possible to Williamsport, via Chambersburg, and report to Major-General Patterson.
WINFIELD SCOTT.
In the absence of His Excellency, I communicate the message. Inasmuch as they knew, at "Washington, that your command was to leave on Monday, the fact of General Scott sending the message makes it apparent that he wished you to leave before ; and we shall endeavor to make ar rangements to enable your regiment to leave for New York, to-morrow, P.M.
WM. SCHOULER, Adjutant-General.
32 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
Arrangements were not completed for the next after noon : but, on the morning of the 8th of July, tents were struck ; baggage was packed ; quarters aban doned ; the men formed in column; "route step, for ward ! " and CAMP ANDREW ceased to be.
PATTERSON'S CAMPAIGN. 33
III.
PATTERSON'S CAMPAIGN.
WHEN, at ten o'clock on the morning of the 8th of July, 1861, Camp Andrew was abandoned, — never more to be occupied by troops , — the regiment marched a mile and a half to West-Roxbury station, on the Dedham Branch, to take cars for Boston. It was an intensely hot day, never surpassed in severity in any campaigns in Virginia or Georgia. At Boston, the in tended line of march through the principal streets was wisely abandoned, although to the disappointment of many friends who had provided refreshments at various points. The regiment, under the escort of the Cadets, was taken only from the station, through Tremont, Park, and Beacon Streets, to the southern end of the Beacon-street Mall, on the Common, where tables loaded with luxuries awaited it. Partings were ended by and by ; and, through the densest of crowded throngs, the waving of flags, and the cheers of thousands, the regiment entered the Providence station. Wagons, horses, baggage, and wagoners, who had come direct ly to Boston, had their own train. A thousand and thirty-five men occupied theirs ; and, late in the
3
34 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
afternoon, the journey of years began,1 with welcome at every station, — along the waters, which glittered in the evening moonlight ; upon the steamer at Groton, with but one accident, the stepping of an officer into the water, from which he emerged safely; over the Sound through the night, and in the waters of New- York Bay in the morning ; landing, and a rest in City- Hall Park, with food for the men, while a breakfast at the Astor exhibited the generous love of the host for the Second, — to be repeated when that same spot was again its camp in 1863 ; an ovation in the streets ; steamboat to Elizabethport ; hours of waiting there, with new kindnesses ; and, at eleven o'clock at night, on the train of the New- Jersey Central.
Then there was a long journey across New Jersey ; sweeping through central Pennsylvania ; meeting the fires of the iron-furnaces at the gray of dawn ; dipping hands and bathing faces, at a short halt, in the beauti ful river of the Lehigh Valley ; dashing down the mag nificent wheat-fields of the Cumberland Valley ; across the lovely Susquehanna, at Harrisburg ; and entering Hagerstown past midnight, to meet, for the first time, the peremptory "Halt ! " of the sentinel, before finding rest in the churches of that town ; on the next afternoon, marching to Williamsport, there to pitch the new Sib- ley tents on the level beside the Potomac, under the few guns on the bluff above ; at five next morning,
l On the Common, one man left. " The sheriffs of our several counties and their respective deputies " found " the bod}' of George H. Sweet, of Ty- ringham, in the county of Berkshire, a minor," by direction of "Theron Metcalf, J.S.J.C. " The body was alive.
PATTERSON'S CAMPAIGN. 35
July 12, fording the river, and entering that Virginia destined to furnish the grave of many a hero.
It was thirteen miles to Martinsburg, and knapsacks were heavy ; but, in the afternoon, that place was reached. The last mile was lined with lively men, the three-months' soldiers, who were amazed to see men march with knapsacks ; and when, passing through the town, and turning to the left, the regiment halted on a pleasant height, it pitched its tents among the camps of Patterson's eighteen thousand men. Here we obtained much news; viz., that "Johnston is falling back," that " Johnston is so chagrined at his position that he is continually drunk ; " that " two companies of rebels have deserted to our side," and other equally valuable information. On the 14th, the regiment was assigned to the sixth brigade, Colonel Abercrombie.
General Patterson, who had been a captain in the war of 1812, and had served with credit in Mexico, was a Pennsylvanian, of the three-months' service. His forces had been collected at Chamber sburg, where he took command on the 2d of June, and his first object was to dislodge the enemy from Harper's Ferry. When, after overcoming various obstacles, he advanced to Williamsport, which he reached on the 15th, the rebel Johnston abandoned Harper's Ferry, and fell back to four miles below Charlestown. On the 16th, Gen eral Patterson had partially crossed the river, when he received a despatch, " Send all the regular troops, horse and foot, and the Ehode-Island Regiment to Washing ton." Thus left without a single piece of artillery,
36 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
and but one " troop " of cavalry, and sadly weakened by the loss of regulars, he was obliged to recross. After vexatious trials as to requests for re-enforcements and as to transportation, he recrossed, on the 2d of July, with less than eleven thousand men, and with one battery of smooth bores. A sharp skirmish at Falling Waters hardly impeded his progress ; and, the next day, he entered Martinsburg. When the Second arrived, it made, with other re-enforcements, his force eighteen thousand and two hundred men. The enemy was in some force at Bunker Hill, twelve miles from Martinsburg ; and had fortified Winchester, nine miles south of Bunker Hill.
General Patterson was now directed to detain John ston in the valley, while operations from Washington were directed against the enemy at Manassas. His own plan of transferring his command to Leesburg, thus se curing Harper's Ferry ; opening a shorter line for his supplies ; and being in position either to re-enforce McDowell or to strike Johnston (if his force war ranted) , should that general move towards Manassas, — had not met with approval at the War Department, although afterwards declared by General Halleck the proper course. General Patterson was thus left to do the impossible thing of keeping at Winchester an army which could at liberty move out of it, on exactly the opposite side, to re-enforce the enemy's main army.
On the llth of July, he was warned from Washing ton, that the rebels intended to attack, when they had drawn him " sufficiently far back from the river [that is,
PATTERSON'S CAMPAIGN. 37
towards Winchester] to render impossible his retreat across it on being vanquished." A council called by General Patterson (of whose members five afterwards became general officers, including Major-General Thom as) unanimously opposed an advance on Winchester. But, as a demonstration was wanted to be made at the same time with McDowell's attack, preparations were made to move forward as far as Bunker Hill, with the intention of afterwards moving to Charlestown. On Sunday evening, the 14th, orders were issued to cook rations ; and the camp-fires lighted hills and valleys. That afternoon, the Second had held its first public religious worship in the field ; and the same afternoon the sick were sent back to Williamsport. One of that number, Hibbard, of Company A, was the first who died after the regiment had left home : it was on the 5th of August.
March in the morning. The army was on two par allel roads. Arrived at the dirty hamlet of Bunker Hill in the afternoon. Pickets thrown out till they encountered Johnston's. Bivouacked that night. A gentle shower rather impaired its effect, — a new expe rience then.
The next day, the 16th, was the day . designated by General Scott. The battle was supposed to be fought. Johnston was still at Winchester; so, on the 17th, the army moved to Charlestown, where it would be as well situated in reference to Winchester, and decidedly better as to itself. The Second was in column at three A.M., and moved at eleven. Those were the days of
38 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
trains : when the head had reached Charlestown, eight miles off, three miles of the column had yet to start ! At Middleway, the people scowled at the flag; at Charlestown, the women scowled and spit. At eleven at night, the Second bivouacked just westward of the town. "We haven't had such a crowd," said the people next day, "since John Brown was hung." John Brown was their standard topic ; and the soldiers were curious. They carried off, in small bits, a timber of the gallows frame. Perhaps they never discovered that they had got the wrong stick ; but as to the place of execution, which thousands visited, there was no mistake.
When General Patterson found that the battle had not been fought, he issued orders for "rations cooked, and in haversacks ; and to prepare to march imme diately." This was on the 18th : but his men's time was out, or nearly so ; they would not move towards the enemy. He entreated and expostulated, but in vain. All he could do, therefore, was to fall back to Harper's Ferry. When Johnston actually left Winchester, Patterson telegraphed the fact to General Scott.
On the 18th, in the afternoon, the Second was ordered alone to Harper's Ferry. It camped in the superintendent's grounds that night. On Sunday, the 21st, General Patterson came with his whole force. The Second moved across the road, and bivouacked. On the 23d, Colonel Gordon was placed in command of the post, with the Second " as temporary garrison."
PATTERSON'S CAMPAIGN. 39
Among other incidents, thirteen fugitive slaves had ac companied the army to Harper's Ferry. Their owners came for them ; and General Patterson ordered that the masters have all assistance. The fugitives were sent back to their rebel owners. That same week, the battle of Bull Kun was fought; and the owners of some of those very slaves were in the rebel army that day.
General Patterson long suffered under public censure for his military conduct ; but the simple facts were these, — he was long delayed, before entering Virginia, by somebody's failure to supply transportation : his best troops and all his artillery were taken away ; when he was — though inadequately — supplied and armed, he necessitated the evacuation of Harper's Ferry by the enemy ; his chosen plan — to go to Lees- burg — was absurdly refused ; placed in front of Win chester, his strength was inferior to that of the enemy, who had also the advantage of fortifications. To at tack was suicidal ; and he was even cautioned, from Washington, that the enemy was trying to draw him on. He was directed to detain Johnston at Winchester, lest he should re-enforce the enemy at Manassas ; when the road to Manassas lay directly on the opposite side of Winchester, and entirely beyond the least possibility of being disturbed. A day was assigned by General Scott on which this work would be consummated; and on that day Johnston was still at Winchester. Patterson's men were going out of service ; and went im mediately, in spite of his entreaties. And, in his whole
40 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
movement, he had then, as in 1864, the approval of George H. Thomas^ — then on his staff, now major-gen eral, — whose opinion is decisive. The people demanded a reason for the failure at Bull Eun ; and stupidity in Eastern Virginia threw the blame on General Pat terson.
A flag was presented to the Second, at Harper's Ferry. The loyal women of that town had secretly made a flag, to be given to the first national regiment which should enter Harper's Ferry.
This flag, during the occupation of the town by the traitor army, was secretly sent for safe keeping to Fred erick City, Maryland. It was brought back, after the occupation of Harper's Ferry by the Massachusetts Second. The occasion of the presentation was one of unusual interest. The citizens assembled in the square, on the evening of July 24 ; and Colonel Gordon, accompanied by the officers of the regiment, the band, and the color-bearer, went down from head-quarters to receive the flag.
It was presented to the color-bearer, and saluted, while the band played the Star Spangled Banner. One of the ladies, Miss Annie Marlatt, then spoke as follows : —
Soldiers of the Union : Thankful that you have come here to protect our homes and our firesides, and in view of your kind and manly bearing toward us, we, the ladies of Harper's Ferry, take pleasure in presenting you this banner, — the Stars and Stripes which our forefathers, our Washington, and our kinsmen, both North and South, fought under. Take it, and may you preserve it unblemished ; and may it be a beacon
PATTERSON'S CAMPAIGN. 41
of protection to life, liberty, and happiness, wherever it may float ! You may then rely upon the prayers, blessings, and good wishes of the ladies of Harper's Ferry.
Colonel Gordon then replied as follows : —
We are proud, ladies of Harper's Ferry, to receive from your hands this emblem of our unbroken nationality. The presentation of our nation's color on Virginia soil, by Virgini ans, to a regiment of patriotic, Union-loving soldiers from Massachusetts, is significant. It is an appeal, by men and women of Virginia, to Massachusetts soldiers, to protect them in their constitutional rights and privileges against the treas onable efforts of rebels, who are represented by that despicable secession-rag that dares to flaunt its accursed folds upon our nation's soil.
Ladies of Virginia, we accept this color with the responsi bilities that it brings. Our fathers and your fathers fought together to establish the government which the old Star- spangled Banner represents ; and, so long as life shall , linger in a single Northern heart, so long we swear to uphold this flag ; and accord to you the protection it is able to offer !
Let the old flag float to the breeze, and wave for ever over our country ; insuring protection to life, liberty, and property, under the Constitution of the United States !
Company I, Captain Underwood, was temporarily detached the day after reaching Harper's Ferry. It was sent off, on canal-boats, to the mouth of the Mono- cacy, where it did vigilant service in capturing contra band supplies. Although repeatedly destroyed (by rumor), it returned, a few weeks afterwards, entirely unharmed.
On the 25th of July, Major-General Banks took command. On the 28th, he took the whole force
42 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
(except the Second, which was to remain) over the Potomac. The force then was : " Three companies of cavalry, 19th New York, 28th New York, 12th New York, 5th New York, 21st Pennsylvania, Ehode-Island Battery," and " Colonel Stone's brigade." The next day, the " three companies of the 2d Massachusetts Volun teers, will be stationed as a garrison in Harper's Ferry, and the detachment of the 2d Cavalry [20 men] now there, the whole under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Andrews, 2d Massachusetts Regiment. The remaining companies of that regiment, and three guns of the Ehode-Island Battery, will be stationed under the command of Colonel Gordon of the 2d Massachu setts Volunteers, upon the plateau on the Maryland side, west of the Maryland Heights. The troops on the plateau will be provided with tents, and the necessary outfit for remaining there permanently." The station was occupied, — but the " tents " did not appear. The trains were, with the rest of the division, in Pleasant Valley.
The Second passed one night in a half-destroyed arsenal building. It held public worship there, near night, when "Old Hundred" rolled up from near a thousand voices, under the crash of a mighty thunder storm. When it crossed, the next day, it was by an old ford, re-opened, which had been used by the Virginia troops in 1775.
The campaign was ended. The enemy held the val ley — and Manassas.
WATCHING THE KIVER. 43
IV.
WATCHING THE RIVER.
GENERAL BANKS'S division was camped, in the early part of August, mainly in Pleasant Valley, which lay behind Maryland Heights. On a ridge there, looking eastward across the Potomac, were the general's head quarters ; and near by was Doubleday (afterwards general) with his guns, — one thirty-two pounder among them, whose shots used to startle the citizens of London County. Doubleday left on the 26th of August. The three-months' men went, and the three- years' men came. Massachusetts sent the 12th and 13th.
But the Second was stationed on the plateau over looking Harper's Ferry ; without wagons or tents, on account of the exposed position of the place. From the road under the heights (the road by which Lieu tenant Jones had moved off after firing the arsenals), a crooked path led up the hill a mile or so, by the beau tiful spring, to Tinsel's house, — the house at whose gate JOHN BROWN had stopped to make inquiries. Half a mile beyond was the schoolhouse under whose floor John Brown had hid his arms.
Here were three weeks of bivouac, hard work, plenty
44 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
of rain, and scanty bacon-sides of a very poor quality. The hard fare was the fault of nobody in the regiment. Every effort was made to secure better. Colonel Gor don had early taught his officers, "Your first duty is not to see that your quarters are ready, but your men's ; not to get your supper, but to see that your men have theirs." But when quarters were shelters of boughs, and nobody had any supper, little could be done. The only decent shelter was the ingenious contrivance of the band.
The hospital was established in the little brick house1 which stood by the canal-lock under the cliff. It was full, — not of Massachusetts men only, but from the remnants of the three-months' men. Surgeon Sargent was in charge ; Assistant-Surgeon Stone was on de tached service at Hagerstown. Of that building, not a brick remains.
• Colonel Gordon still commanded the post of Harper's Ferry ; and Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews occupied the Armory grounds, over the ford, with companies A, C, and G. Picket-duty, drill, and the brightest polish ever possible on brass, was the daily business. Rebel prison ers were kept in the engine-house which John Brown had made his fortress, in whose walls the holes he had pierced for his muskets still remained. The fire which had destroyed the other buildings had left this one un touched. Was it prophetic?
The regiment was a part of the second brigade, Colonel (afterwards General) Abercrombie, Department of the Shenandoah. Brigade head-quarters were five miles off, behind the hills.
WATCHING THE EIVER. 45
There were various alarms, and once a sharp skirmish across the river, with none of the Second hurt. Noth ing more than picket, guard, drill, and supporting the battery on the crest, and the first coming of the pay master, — until the 17th of August, when the whole force was to be restationed along the river. The first disposition of it was as follows (by order dated Aug. 18) : Colonel Kenly at Williamsport, Colonel Leonard at Sharpsburg, Colonel Gordon at Sandy Hook, Col onel Geary at Point of Rocks, Colonel Donnelly at Berlin, Colonel Thomas at Urbana, General Hamilton at Buckeystown, Colonel Abercrombie at Hyattstown. But some of these were soon changed. The Second, on the evening of the 17th, was moved around the Heights, to Sandy Hook, to remain a few days. As the companies were to be withdrawn from Harper's Ferry, Herr's flour-mills were destroyed. A great quantity of flour was sent off, and forty or fifty thou sand bushels of wheat and " offal " destroyed to prevent its use by the enemy.
On the 19th, there was "information, that the rebels are inarching on Harper's Ferry, six thousand strong." Colonel Gordon made preparations with his regiment, and sent for two pieces of artillery, as authorized. " Don't retire entirely without making your enemy feel you," telegraphed Fitz-John Porter. Colonel Gordon requested Colonel , who was to leave Williams- port for Buckystovvn, to come by the way of Sandy Hook, as there was prospect of a fight ; but the Colonel replied, " It would be out of the way to go so far down
46 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
the river." The commander of the Twenty-eighth New York, however, who had sent information, sent word also, "If you have a good strong show for a fight, let us know ; we will come up with what little force we can muster that are not shoeless" But nothing came of the matter.
Relieved by Colonel Geary, the Second and the Twenty-eighth New York proceeded to join their brig ades at Hyattstown, camping the first night at Jefferson, the second at Buckeystown, and on the third — after being drenched by a pouring rain all day, hearing driv ers swear their teams out of a difficult slough, and seeing a liquor shop emptied by order — turned into Hall's Field, which was very wet. Pitched tents there next day, — as it proved, to stay for nearly two months. Water from the well was ten cents a bucket, till General Banks interfered. From the 25th of August to the 6th of September, Colonel Gordon commanded the brigade, which consisted of the Second, the 12th Massachusetts (Colonel Fletcher Webster), 12th and 16th Indiana, and (from the 15th of September) the 1st Pennsylvania Battery.
On the 13th of September, General McClellan's order said, " Commanders of divisions, brigades, and regiments are directed to give their personal attention to prepare their commands to take the field. All unnecessary baggage will be disposed of." The Second prepared, and took the field, — "Hall's Field ;" also, the well from which water had been sold to the soldiers at ten cents a bucket.
WATCHING THE RIVER . 47
! General Banks commanded from Tenallytown to near Pools ville, where General Stone was met. He had to watch the river, so the usual picketing was done. There was drill three times a day (with knapsacks, by order of General Banks, on the 23d of Septem ber). Officers' recitations (which General Abercrom- bie's order of Sept. 23 extended to the other regiments in the brigade) were regularly had. On the 25th, a re-organization of General Banks's force took place. First brigade, General Abercrombie : 12th Massachu setts, 16th Indiana, 12th Indiana, 30th Pennsylva- caia, 1st Pennsylvania Battery, the Van Alen (N.Y.) Cavalry, and, subsequently, the 66th Pennsylvania. Second brigade, General Hamilton : 9th New- York State Militia, 3d Wisconsin, 13th Massachusetts, 4th Connecticut, 29th Pennsylvania, and Best's Battery (4th United-States Artillery). Third brigade, Colonel Gordon: 2d Massachusetts, 28th New York, 19th New York (afterwards changed into 3d New- York Artillery), 5th Connecticut, 46th Pennsylvania, and, afterwards, Rhode-Island Battery A. On the same day, the quarter-master of the Second, R. Morris Copeland, was made assistant adjutant-general on General Banks's staff. On the 15th of October, Briga dier-General A. S. Williams was assigned to the third brigade. For three years the Second was in his com mand, and he kept their respect. Brave, cool, genial, experienced in Mexico, he was a favorite. If not, he would never have got the pet title of "Papa," — short ened by and by into "Pap." When the men, in after
48 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTKY.
years, used to say "Here comes 'Pap,'" they felt that matters would go on right ; and " Pap " knew and be lieved in the Second.1
Around Hall's Field gathered traders. Barns and sheds were filled with various kinds of merchandise. Butter, eggs, and milk were sold at prices wonderful to the old farmers. Tobacco was a staple ; and cooked eatables sold handsomely. And a sergeant of the Second got married to a Massachusetts woman, — the chaplain officiating, of course.
The whole division was put into good shape, in doing which, some of the non-commissioned officers a? the Second were detailed to drill new regiments. It was in this vicinity, that a colonel was sadly annoyed once. The colonel formally complained to the colonel of an adjoining regiment, that the men of the latter so dis turbed him, on the night before, that he could not sleep. " I'll punish them," said the latter ; " but what did they do?" — "Why, there was one of your sentries who kept calling out, r Corporal of the guard, post four ! ' At last,
i ALPHEUS STARKEY WILLIAMS, born at Saybrook, Conn., Sept. 20, 1810, son of Ezra and Hepzibah (Starkey) Williams. His father died in 1818. Alpheus graduated at Yale College in 1831 ; was in Europe from 1834 to 1836; was a lawyer, judge of probate, &c.; bought the "Detroit Daily Advertiser," and edited it; in 1847, was in the Mexican war as lieutenant- colonel, First Michigan Volunteer Infantry; returned, July, 1848; post master at Detroit, 1848 to 1852; in mercantile business until 1861; was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 17th May, 1861, and had charge of Camp of Instruction at Detroit until September, 1861, when he reported to General Banks; was assigned to command of division, 20th March, 1862; commanded the corps at Antietam after General Mansfield's fall; was breveted major-general in 1864; was in Sherman's campaigns to Atlanta, Savannah, and Virginia.
WATCHING THE RIVER. 49
I went out to stop his noise; but without effect." — "What did you say to him?"— "I said, 'My friend, if you want corporal of the guard, post four, why don't you go after him, instead of disturbing people's sleep this way ? ' ' The colonel of the disturbing regiment stared ; but, finding the other serious, gave emphatic utterance in two words, the second of which was "fool." Such were some of the early officers.
There were reviews occasionally : and, on the 26th of September, Fast Day, the whole division met for public worship, when half a dozen chaplains officiated (the chaplain of the Second preaching, by choice of the major-general) ; and Holmes's Army Hymn was sung as he never heard it.
On the 27th, Captain Abbott was sent to Boston to obtain recruits, and succeeded very well : he returned the latter part of October.
Here Surgeon Sargent left the regiment. Unflagging devotion to duty, night and day, — for the hospital tents were filled with typhoid cases, — saved lives ; but it broke his health. He left, with the regrets of all : a skilful surgeon, a generous man, of cultivated powers ; too easily affected by sympathy, though it never made his hand tremble, — he was a loss. The regiment always remembered him ; and the old men of the Second were sad when he — then lieutenant-colonel of cavalry — fell in battle, in 1864. For a short period (Dr. Stone being at Hagerstown on hospital duty), Assistant-Surgeon William R. Bennett, of the Fifth Connecticut, was with the regiment, being assigned
4
50 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
Sept. 24. He was then, and afterwards, one of the best surgeons and truest men in the army. Assist ant-Surgeon McLellan served, also, a short time, with acceptance. Soon, Francis Leland, of Milford, Mass., came out as surgeon, — to be wounded at Cedar Moun tain, and, after a faithful service, to leave, from pros tration of health.
On the 15th of October, Colonel Gordon issued an order regarding gambling. "A vice so pernicious in its results upon individual character," he said, " cannot be indulged in without depraving the man, and un fitting him for the discharge of the sacred duty upon which he has entered. That which is a recognized crime at home should be, to New-England men, a crime anywhere. A regiment of gamblers cannot fight like patriots. All gambling, of any kind, for money or valuables, with cards or by any other implements, is hereafter strictly prohibited in this regiment."
On the 13th of October, General Banks said, "This division may be called upon to move at any time within the next twenty-four hours." It was not, how ever.
On the 21st, an official wrote to the colonel, "I thought you would like to know that General Stone and his army are at Leesburg, — but very slight fight ing." We should have liked to know it ; but we did not. That evening came an order to cook rations ; and, at eight o'clock, another to leave tents and wagons, and " move at once, without baggage ; leave a
WATCHING THE RIVER. 51
guard to come on with tents and baggage, rations, &c. Take what rations you can in haversacks." The regi ment was on the road immediately, at the head of the column. At Pools ville, met stragglers. By the road were tired soldiers, resting by fires, from whom we learned of the disaster at Ball's Bluff. At 3J, A.M, the regiment was at Conrad's Ferry ; reported to Gen eral Hamilton, and was stationed up and down the river. Across the river was the bluff, sixty feet high, where gallant men had been uselessly sacrificed ; where Colonel Baker had said, "Had I two more Massachusetts regiments, I could beat them yet." He had two splendid ones, the Fifteenth and Twentieth. From Harrison's Island the wounded were coming. Men of the Second crossed the river in skiffs, and brought back fugitives, then hiding under the bank.
The next day McClellan came.
On the 23d, came an order to move to Edvvards's Ferry : " The enemy threaten us in force ; send two of your regiments, especially the Second Massachusetts." So the regiment marched six miles that night ; and, the same night, marched back again. Most of the division were at Edwards's Ferry.
On the 26th, the division was ordered back to Darnes- town. Major D wight led with pioneers. The Second, on that day assigned to Colonel Abercrombie's brigade, camped that night at Dawsonville ; the next, at Seneca Creek, three miles from Darnestown, for duty on the river ; and changed camp in November, in a fallacious hope of getting out of the malaria of the river.
52 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
Thanksgiving Day came while there ; and Major Dwight, then in command (Colonel Gordon was absent, and Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews severely sick) , issued this order, in which, after reciting General Banks's order, he said : —
" Pursuant to the foregoing suggestions and authority, the usual drills will be dispensed with to-morrow ; and there will be a religious service, at ten o'clock, to-morrow morning, to be followed by the usual Thanksgiving dinner. It is to be hoped that the officers and men of this regiment will unite in revi ving all the memories and associations which belong to the time-honored home-festival of New England ; and in public thanksgiving and praise for all the blessings which have followed, them since they left the homes which this festival recalls."
So the company down by the river's bank was relieved by Indiana men, and came back to camp. Public wor ship was held at ten o'clock ; and the Proclamation was read, ending, " God save the Commonwealth of Massa chusetts ! " And there was a dinner. Ninety-four turkeys, weighing nine hundred and seventy-three pounds ; seventy-six geese, weighing six hundred and sixty-six pounds ; seventy-three chickens, weighing one hundred and seventy-six pounds, — all cooked in the stone ovens built by the men, — were followed by ninety-five plum puddings, weighing eleven hundred and seventy-nine pounds; with apples, nuts, figs, and raisins. In the afternoon, there was prize-shooting, and games of ball ; and, in the evening, dancing, to the music of the band. And a mail, bringing six hun-
WATCHING THE RIVER. 53
dred and two letters and nearly five hundred papers. And at taps all was quiet.
Rumors of removal were welcomed. The bad air of the river was telling severely upon the health of the men. The hospital was full. Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews was seriously ill. We had changed camp, on the 12th of November, for the sake of health. When orders came to $end the sick away, by canal, march ing orders were known to be near. On the thirtieth day of November, the first party left for Alexandria. Over twenty of the Second formed part of the two hundred assembled, according to orders, before noon. The wind swept bitingly down the valley, and the sick men shivered. No boat came until near night. Some from the Second built fires under the lee of a great rock, to the injury of a growling sutler's pie-boxes ; and tea was made, and beef-tea. Just before dark, a boat came from the next lock. Put it was wet. A few cornstalks were got ; but sentries stopped that in behalf of the rebel owner, who was in prison on a charge of treason. Those were the days of love for enemies. The men were lowered into the wet boat, all huddled so closely that the last man out had barely standing room. Some died that miserable night. No Government provision was made (for nobody knew the boat was coming) at Alexandria ; but the noble Sani tary was there, its officers having been written to by the chaplain of the Second in behalf of his own men. The whole transaction was a case of the grossest mis management. An attempt was made to have it inves-
54 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
tigated ; but it was smothered. The surgeon of the Second had done his duty, however.
The second party went up the river two days after Assistant-Surgeon Stone had charge ; and every thing was done perfectly. But one of the Second died next day at Frederick ; and Wisconsin men fired the volleys over his grave.
It has already been said that "no regiment had warmer or kinder friends." Those friends followed it with their gifts to the field. In October, 1861, began a series of supplies which never ceased. The following note refers to a gift received that month.
BOSTON, 22d October, 1861.
I send you, my dear sir, one thousand pairs of socks, col lected in ten days, for your regiment, with my very best wishes for its prosperity and success ; and, with my kind regards to yourself, am, Sincerely your friend,
EVANS HOUSE. E. HENDERSON OTIS.
The kindness of Mrs. Otis continued. When it is remembered that this regiment was but one of the large number for which this lady devoted her time, her labor, and her means, gratitude appreciates the additional lustre given to the historic name she bears.
In the same month, the following letter was re ceived : —
COLONEL GEORGE H. GORDON, — Several ladies in Bos ton, interested, as every one is, in the comfort and welfare of our soldiers, are desirous to do something to add to the pro vision made by the Government for the Massachusetts Second
WATCHING THE RIVER. 55
Regiment ; and, in order that their work and supplies may be really useful, they venture to ask Colonel Gordon to send a list of articles, constantly important to the comfort of the men, not supplied at all, or in insufficient quantities, by Govern ment, indicating what is now most imperatively needed, and at what intervals particular articles will need renewing. The more promptly this information can be given, the sooner arti cles will be forwarded.
An association of ladies in Boston will be formed, by which efforts will be made to supply the Second Regiment regularly with clothing, or other things necessary for its com fort. A knowledge of their wants is necessary before any thing will be done, and therefore an immediate answer will be gladly received.
Address Mrs. GEORGE H. TICKNOR, Park Street, Boston.
Colonel Gordon will oblige the ladies by giving an exact address, if possible, and the safest mode of transport.
Oct. 7, 1861.
To that "very kind and considerate proposition," Colonel Gordon replied on the 10th, advising that their gifts should take the form of woollen undershirts, draw ers, socks, and articles of that substantial kind, rather than that of supplies of a more perishable kind, or which would only incumber a soldier. " Upon examination," said he, " of flannel undershirts furnished Government, I' find them thin, flimsy things, poorly adapted to guard against inclemency of the season ; " at the same time, expressing " heartfelt gratitude for the kindness of the offer, and leaving the ladies, under the circumstances set forth, to act as in their judgment may seem wise, and intimating that, after an engagement with the
56 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTKY.
rebels, there may arise necessities not now in exist ence."
The " Regimental Aid Association " (for the Second) was soon formed. It included the following ladies : Mrs. J. G. Abbott, Mrs. Jere. Abbott, Mrs. G. P. Bangs, Mrs. Joseph M. Bell, Miss Bowditch, Mrs. W. S. Bullard, Mrs. Richard Gary, Miss Gary, Mrs. James Codman, Mrs. B. R. Curtis, Mrs. C. P. Curtis, Mrs. J. F. Curtis, Miss A. Davis and Miss S. Davis, Mrs. William Dwight, Mrs. William Endicott, jun., Mrs. G. Goodwin, Mrs. William Gray, Mrs. S. E. Guild, Miss E. Q. Guild, Mrs. G. W. Holmes, Miss H. E. Hovey, Mrs. G. R. Kendall, Mrs. W. S. Lewis, Mrs. C. G. Loring, Miss I. Loring, Mrs. S. T. Morse, Miss A. Motley and Miss E. Motley, Mrs. E. R. Mudge and Miss Mudge, Mrs. F. Parkman, Mrs. S. Parkman, Miss E. T. Parker, Miss A. Patterson, Mrs. Edward 1ST. Perkins, Mrs. George H. Peters, Mrs. J. E. Pratt, Mrs. A. S. Putnam, Mrs. J. Quincy, Miss Sarah Read, Mrs. William Robeson, Mrs. W. B. Rogers, Mrs. C. F. Shimmin, Mrs. W. H. Swift, Mrs. Tick- nor and Miss Ticknor, Miss S. E. Thacher, Mrs. Nat. Thayer, Mrs. P. R. Walbach, Mrs. Charles E. Ware, Mrs. J. S. Warren, Mrs. W. F. Whitney, Miss M. Wigglesworth and Miss A. Wigglesworth, Mrs. Elijah Williams, Miss S. D. Williams.
From this association, box after box continued to come. Many of the soldiers of the Second, in the picket or guard duty of the winters, were warmer for the kind gifts of those ladies. "I enclose a list," wrote
WATCHING THE KIVEK. 57
the secretary, in February, 1862, "of the members of the association whose liberality and energy have provided these comforts, wishing the men to know that I am only an agent of many of their friends. . . . We take much pride in the reputation of the regiment, and feel how trying this long inaction is to both officers and men in this inclement season, since in our quiet homes we find it so difficult to wait." That list is inserted, that the soldiers of the Second may know to whose kindness they were, indebted. That a more particular account of their donations is not inserted is due to the delicacy which requested it.
Other friends were ready to help. The chaplain was requested by friends at home to make known any wants he might find. Earely was he without the means, while in Virginia or Maryland, to assist the sur geons in procuring food for the hospital, when such food could be found ; and many were the gifts which came from various sources.
Some companies had special friends. The men of D experienced particular kindness from the parish of Rev. J. F. Clarke, of Boston; E, from the people of Medway. But worthy of particular mention was the " Soldiers Aid Association," of Lowell, the home of Company A. This was one of the two earliest, if not the earli est organization of the kind in the country. It was formed, with a large subscription fund, immediately after the fall of Sumter, with a view of supplying every soldier from Lowell with all that was needed for his comfort, efficiency, and health. Their work was excel-
58 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
lently done ; especially valuable in the days when the supply departments of the Government had not expand ed to the needs of a vast and suddenly raised army. Of this association, Judge Crosby was the president. Company A shared in its bounty. "As Chairman of the Committee on Correspondence and Forwarding, for nearly two years," says Mr. William G. Wise, "I was in communication with Captain Abbott, of Company A, of your regiment, and can truly say that no officer with whom I corresponded evinced so deep solicitude for the comfort and welfare of his men, and so intelligently anticipated their wants.1 A few days before Cap tain Abbott was killed, I received a letter from him, stating his need of fifteen men to recruit his company. With the aid of the mayor and other gentlemen, we procured the men, who left Lowell to join Company A the day he was shot." It was through Mr. Wise's effi ciency that Company A was the first company in the army to sign an official "allotment " roll. He went to Washington, found that no rolls had been printed, although a form was in type ; prevailed on a staff officer to cut red tape, and give him an order on the public printer to print a few copies ; took those copies to Poolsville, in company with Mr. Coffin (Carleton) ; followed on to Harrison's Landing, and started the roll in Company A, left in charge of Lieutenant Francis, "who faithfully attended to it." The money allotted
1 It ought to be mentioned, — for few knew it, — that officers of the Second repeatedly paid, from their own pockets, for supplies for their men when not furnished by Government.
WATCHING THE RIVER. 59
was made payable to G. W. Stickney, Esq., President of the Kailroad Bank, Lowell.1 Mr. Wise afterwards entered the army himself.
1 The former chaplain may be pardoned for stating the fact, that his memoranda show an account rising one hundred thousand dollars which passed through his hands, as sent home by express; for each individual package of which he took the receipt of the express company. He would be ashamed to say that his agency did not cost a soldier a single cent, were it not that a percentage was demanded and paid for such service in some regiments. Of this amount, only one package, of forty dollars, failed to reach its destination ; which the express company immediately made good. Henry A. Rice, Esq. (Denny, Rice, & Co.), of Boston, kindly deposited in savings banks all moneys sent him for that purpose, and preserved the bank-books until called for.
60 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
V.
THE FIRST WINTER.
ON the 4th of December, 1861, the brigade started for Frederick. The first night, a cold one, at Barnes- ville. At dawn, just as old Sugar-Loaf was showing himself, the regiment went down into the mists around his base. A brisk march brought the regiment to near Frederick, to wait three hours and a half in a bleak wind, until the responsible officer could be discovered, — in front of a nice coal fire in his chamber at a Frederick hotel, — to tell where to camp. Then, after retracing steps for a mile or two, pitched tents by the Monocacy, at the Junction. The next day, crossed on a light bridge ; marched four or five miles ; stacked arms in a pleasant wood, four miles east of Frederick by the Baltimore pike, and stayed there three months.
Winter-quarters were not allowed ; but eventually the men were permitted to make themselves comfort able, though under canvas the whole winter.1 The
1 As a matter of interest, the savings of flour by the regiment, in three months, are given: October, 38 bbls., 139 Ibs. ; November, 34 bbls., 174 Ibs.; December, 23 bbls., 173 Ibs. Different rations these from the seven hard bread per day of 1864-5.
THE FIRST WINTER. 61
magnificent Sanitary Commission met the wants of the hospital. On the 6th, an order of General Abercrom- bie established the title of " Camp Hicks." The Second was on the west ; then the 16th Indiana, the 30th Pennsylvania, and the 12th Massachusetts. The 12th Indiana was substituted for the 30th Pennsylvania. Of the four regimental commanders, Lucas, of the 12th Indiana, Hackleman, of the 16th Indiana, and Webster, of the 12th Massachusetts, have fallen in battle. The 3d Wisconsin was doing provost-duty in Frederick. A brigade was three or four miles south of General Aber- crombie's, and other troops several miles west of Frederick.
All winter the usual routine went on, — guard-duty, parade, drill, recitations. These were varied by visits, to Frederick, of officers and men in turn. Invitations there ; concerts by the bands of the Second and ' Twelfth ; receptions by General Banks, and some hospitalities by the people. An army lodge of Freema sons, located in the regiment, also helped those inclined
that way.1 *
It was at this camp, that an officer, in great wrath, called up a sergeant, and inquired, " Why didn't you do what I ordered, about, &c., &c. ?" — "Had no orders,
1 This lodge, "Bunker-Hill Army Lodge, No. 5," worked under a dis pensation signed by William J. Coolidge, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Its first officers were George H. Gordon (colonel), Master; Alonzo H. Quint (chaplain), Senior Warden; Wilder D wight (major), Junior Warden; Francis Leland (surgeon), Treasurer; Edward G. Abbott (captain), Secretary; Adin B. Underwood (captain), Senior Deacon; Anson D. Sawyer (lieutenant), Junior Deacon; Francis H. Tucker (captain), Tyler. Of these, Major D wight was killed at Antietam; Surgeon Leland,
62 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
sir." — "Why, didn't I send you a written order, such a day ? " — " Oh ! was that an order ? I thought it was a standing pass to go to Frederick ; and — and I have been in three times on that paper." The captain (he has earned high rank since) concluded, that, if the sentries could not read the paper, it was hardly worth while to blame anybody. It was here — or was it at Seneca? — where, in obedience to orders from Washing ton that company-commanders read certain articles of war every Sunday morning, one of them, — he was a thorough soldier too, — after the reading, said, " Now, men, these are articles of war, and ought to be obeyed. Now, there is one of them too much violated. It is that against profane swearing. There is too much of it in this company, from the commander (I own it) down. Now, it has got to be stopped. When I say a thing, you know it has got to be done. And I
say this shall be obeyed, and I'll be d d if it
shan't ! " A gentle smile in the line brought him to remembrance ; and, " Sergeant, march in the company ! " was the order of the discomfited captain, who was never discomfited in action.
•wounded at Cedar Mountain; Captain Abbott, killed at Cedar Mountain; Captain Underwood, maimed at Wauhatchie. Of others connected with this lodge, Mudge fell at Gettysburg; Surgeon Heath died from excessive toil in front of Atlanta; Major Francis, Captain George, Captain Parker, and Captain Sawyer, all w.ere wounded.
This lodge was a centre of interest at that camp, and in Tennessee. St. John's Day, in December, lS&lr it took part in a celebration at Freder ick, when a great number of Masons participated; and where an address was given in the Lutheran Church, by the chaplain of the Second Massa chusetts, on " Masonry and the State."
THE FIEST WINTER. 63
Here, too, were religious observances. A good Catholic priest came, and had all needed help, — tent, &c. , — to minister to the two hundred men of his per suasion, while the usual services went on in harmony. A good library, too, the gift of some unknown friend, was of great use all winter.
There was intemperance sometimes. Frederick was filled with liquor shops. General Banks issued an or der, on the 10th of February, about " the alarming in crease of intemperance," and how " ill-disposed persons " were selling liquor "to the detriment and discredit of the service, the injury of the men, and the danger of the public ; " and he declared it the " duty of every officer in this command at once to take the most effective meas ures to suppress this evil." Provosts were to shut up certain places, and make arrests. Colonel Gordon did take effective measures ; so effective, that the liquor- selling Dutchman just across the road came over one day in wrath: "Your officer come to my house, and did speel all my leetel beer." — "Served you right'," was the reply. And he was provided forthwith with a barrel overcoat, and marched round to the tune of the "Kogue's March."
There was some chagrin at idleness. The men shouted over the victories at Henry and Donelson, and the sturdy Indianians echoed the cheers until the in fection was universal. But nothing was done, save that fifteen men (the quota of the Second) were sent, out of scores of old sailors volunteering, to man the gunboats on the Mississippi. Captain Cary commanded the de-
64 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
tachment, — which left on the 16th of February. The men never came back.
Several new officers came at this camp. The first break in the list of officers which left Camp Andrew had occurred on the 16th of September. Lieutenant Sedgwick, then Division ordnance officer, was appointed assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of captain, and assigned to duty on the staff of General Sedgwick. He was still serving with that gallant offi cer when he fell at Antietam.
In October, Captain Curtis and Lieutenant Higgin- son left the regiment. The former was appointed lieutenant-colonel, the latter a captain, in the First Massachusetts Cavalry. In December, Lieutenant Mot ley was appointed captain in the same regiment.
In November, Lieutenant Ellis, who had been de tailed on the 8th of September to the commissary department of the brigade, was appointed commissary of subsistence, with the rank of captain. He served for a long time on the staff of General HartsufF, where he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Lieutenant Copeland, then an aid to General Banks, was appointed assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of major, on the 27th of November.
In December, Captain Tucker resigned. He after wards entered the civil service in the West. Lieuten ant Hill also resigned. He subsequently re-entered the service, and fell in battle, Dec. 9, 1864, while first lieutenant in the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts.
These various vacancies caused promotions, and also
THE FIKST WINTER. 65
the appointment of second lieutenants. From civil life — almost the last selections outside the ranks — were taken J. Ingersoll Grafton, who was to fall, after gal lant and meritorious service, at Averysborough ; Eugene E. Shelton, by and by a staff officer, and to be wound ed ; Daniel Oakey, afterwards wounded ; John A. Fox (faithful and true) , adjutant, in every action from Chan- cellorsville to the end of the war ; Henry B. Scott, afterwards assistant adjutant-general, wounded at Chan- cellorsville, and major in the Fourth Massachusetts Cavalry; Francis TVr. Crowninshield, who, four times wounded, was to come home senior captain in 1865 ; and then to die. Everett "YY. Pattison, first sergeant of Company I, was promoted to be second lieutenant, for general meritorious conduct ; as well as Quartermas ter-sergeant George F. Browning, who was speedily disabled in battle, and found a place in the Invalid Corps.
There were rumors of war occasionally. On the 5th of January, 1862, orders came to the whole force to be ready to march. There were troubles up near Hancock. The Third Brigade went off ; but, with the Second, there resulted only an accumulation of cold victuals. On the 20th» we were to be "ready to march in one hour's notice ; " " the enemy is in force on the upper Potomac." But the principal business still continued to be, preserving the secessionists' wood- lots, according to orders.
But that winter was exceedingly valuable, not only in the renovation of health impaired in the Potomac
5
66 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
malaria, but in the steady acquiring of knowledge by the officers in study, (both by old officers and in the " infant department ! ") and the thorough drill in which all became experienced. The result was, that, when the Second took the field in the spring, it was thoroughly prepared for Winchester, Cedar Mountain, and Antietam, — all of which were to come that year. This inaction, every one knew, could not continue. So the day after Washington's birthday, — celebrated by a great review in Frederick, and a prayer which was an insult to the army and the country, — there came orders : Be ready at " one hour's notice, with three days' cooked rations," and " cartridge-boxes filled." The wag ons went off immediately, and the victuals were eaten. "The artillery, pontoons, and the Second Brigade," said the brigadier, " have all left ; in all probability, we will leave this evening." But "we" did not. It proved that the pontoons, floated by canal from Washington, were too wide for the canal-locks at Harper's Ferry, and could not get into the river. But on the 27th, in the mist of morning, Camp Hicks was abandoned, — to become a settled village.
THE SPEING CAMPAIGN. 67
VI.
THE SPRING CAMPAIGN.
ON the morning of the 27th of February, 1862, at four o'clock, the regiment passed, for the last time, through the quagmire which separated camp and road, and marched into Frederick. Then, railway cars ; at evening, at Sandy Hook ; over the pontoon bridge ; and a night in the emptied houses of Harper's Ferry, where the regiment was quartered in the abandoned houses on Shenandoah Street, and the field and staff took turns at supper in using the solitary fork and single spoon. Company F was put on provost duty, and Lieutenant-Colonel Andre ws was made provost- marshal. And the spring campaign was begun.
A reconnoissance was ordered towards Charlestown the next day. The Second, the 3d Wisconsin, five squadrons of Michigan cavalry, and two sections of artil lery, were put on the road, under command of Colonel Gordon. The cavalry, with Colonel Gordon at the head, drove in the rebel videttes, and dashed into Charlestown at full speed. The regiment entered to the music of " John Brown's body." Captain Best posted his battery (a good soldier was Captain Best) , and the
68 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
infantry was stationed ; chicken-feathers filled the air ; and suddenly General MC€LELLAN appeared, and turned the reconnoissance into an occupation. It was the first sight of that general ; and, as his glance took in the line drawn up to receive him, he won their hearts.
The Court-house was tenanted by companies of the Second. It was a strange event, when, on the follow ing sabbath, the Second worshipped God in the Court house where John Brown was sentenced, and its chap lain occupied the very chair in which the judge had sat in that memorable trial. Massachusetts ideas were on their successful march.
On the 5th of March, the remainder of General Banks's force having arrived, the Second went into camp, — unluckily, in the grounds of a " Union " family who could not endure the vicinity of "Union" troops, and had to move next day a mile out of Charlestown. On the 7th of March, news came that Colonel Mauls- by's Maryland Regiment had been " cut to pieces " at Cabletown. So Colonel Gordon was sent out with the Second, the Sixteenth Indiana, two squadrons of caval ry, and two sections of artillery : " Let not a moment be lost." Not a moment was lost, — to find that nobody had seen any enemy, to kindle huge fires, and come back in the morning.
Winchester was the object aimed at. We had troops at Charlestown; a brigade at Smithfield; and, further west, Shields's division (formerly the lamented Lan der's) ; and, at Leesburg, Colonel Geary. On the 9th, General Abercrombie was told : " Information has been
THE SPRING CAMPAIGN. 69
received that the enemy has abandoned the batteries on the lower Potomac, and is preparing to abandon Ma- nassas. You are therefore ordered, pursuant to directions received from Washington, to put your command in con dition to move at seven A.M., to-morrow." It was done, — three days' cooked rations in haversacks. General Gorman moved first towards Berry ville, but sent back for re-enforcements. So our brigade (General Aber- crombie's) hastened on, and reached Berry ville about sundown. The only action which had taken place was with- a battery of the enemy, which a few shots sent off in a hurry. The battery subsequently proved to have been a threshing-machine, worked by three laborers, and superintended by a farmer on horseback.
That night was a bivouac, — with a savagely cold storm to usher in a cold night. But the sun rose warm, and wagons came on, and tents were pitched for one night. The next day, " the rebel Jackson had marched to the rear of our force at Winchester, and captured seven thousand men, — the fight still going on." Cheers followed the order to "fall in." In twenty-five minutes the regiment was in the road. Mile after mile was hurried over. Massachusetts men passed others in camp, and cheered tremendously. "I wish I was in Dixie," enlivened the road. But at midnight, "The messenger did it for a joke ; " and bivouac again. At noon, camped a few rods off, a couple of miles from Winchester.
Jackson had deliberately evacuated Winchester, — carrying off all his stores, such private property as he
70 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
pleased, — and left the naked defences. We had kindly waited a fortnight to let him do it.
There the Second remained ten days. A re-arrange ment of regiments was made, on the 10th of March. First brigade, General Williams : 28th New York, 28th Pennsylvania, 1st Maryland, and 5th Connecticut. Second brigade, General Abercrombie : 9th New- York State Militia, 13th Massachusetts, 12th Massachusetts, and 16th Indiana. Third brigade, Colonel Gordon : 2d Massachusetts, 29th Pennsylvania, 3d Wisconsin, and 27th Indiana. Here and then the Second became asso ciated with that gallant Third Wisconsin with whom it stood side by side in sworn brotherhood for three years ; and with the Twenty-seventh Indiana, hardly less to be tried, — and found true.
Here, too, General Banks formally assumed com mand (on the 26th of March) of the "Fifth Corps," comprising two divisions, — his own, now under Briga dier-General A. S. Williams ; and another, under Brigadier-General Shields.
Troops were to be sent into Eastern Virginia. So, on the 20th, orders came for three days' march : the first day, to Snicker's Ferry; the second, to Goose Creek ; the third, to Gum Spring. The Second moved on the 22d, and reached Snicker's Ferry ; but Gum Spring was not to be seen for near two years. General Abercrombie's brigade had crossed at Snicker's Ferry when the pontoons broke down. It took all day to mend them, and the brigade camped. That broken bridge changed the destiny of the Second.
THE SPUING CAMPAIGN. 71
While waiting, Lieutenant-Colonel Crane, of the Third Wisconsin, sent a despatch regarding the wagon- train which was coming up in his charge, and added, " We have heard cannon at intervals, — hear them now ; they seem to be south-west." The cannon were at Kernstown, near Winchester. On the morning of the 24th : " Colonel, you will proceed at once to Berry ville ; and if, on your arrival there, you hear the sound of large guns, giving an indication of an action in prog ress, you will push on by a forced march to Winches ter." By and by : "Major General Banks . . . directs, that the brigade at Berryville under command of Colonel Gordon be ordered immediately to Winches ter." Soon : " Send back the ordnance train with all possible despatch." Again: " Send forward [to Win chester] your battery with all possible despatch." The Second, after a fifteen-mile march, entered Winchester, and were quartered in the railway buildings : " The gen eral is pleased with your speed."
Jackson, who after his evacuation of Winchester had kept within a moderate distance of that place, had been misled by rebel women of Winchester into believing that the force which he knew to be moving to Snicker's Ferry comprised all but a provost guard; while a whole division really lay behind the hills. So, returning to occupy Winchester, some cavalry drove in the pickets on the 22d : it was supposed to be nothing more than Ashby's lively troops, with a couple of guns. General Shields (commanding in absence of General Banks) got his arm broken by a shell ; and Colonel Kimball, of
72 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
Indiana, took command. Desultory fighting took place all Sunday, until in the afternoon it was found that Jackson's whole force was present, and- our whole strength was sent out. The enemy was handsomely whipped, but was far from being routed, although compelled to leave the wounded along the road, and losing two pieces of artillery.1
But Jackson had accomplished his object ; which was to keep the forces still in the valley, and thus prevent them from strengthening McDowell for the movement expected towards Richmond.
There was but one man of the Second in this affair. It was private Alexander, who had just arrived at Win chester (where our Company Gr was on provost duty) from a Southern prison. He borrowed a musket, went out, and fought where he saw a chance.
The Court-house, hotel, and the other buildings, were filled with wounded, rebel and loyal alike. They were treated alike ; but the rebel women of Winchester showed their usual devilish spirit. One confederate soldier was asked, "Do you have kind treatment?" " Yes," he answered, as if wondering at it. "Why, didn't you expect it ? " - " No, I thought you would kill us." — " What made you think so ? " — " We were told so." One poor fellow of sixteen years, whose mother
1 Esten Cooke, of Stuart's staff, in his life of "Stonewall Jackson," says that the Union force was 11,000: it was less than 7,000 by official record. ' He says that the rebel infantry force engaged was 2,742 ; but prisoners were taken from eleven regiments of their infantry. He says that the Union killed was admitted to be 418 : it was officially reported at 103. He says that the rebel killed were 80 ; but they left 270 dead, found upon the field.
THE SPKING CAMPAIGN. 73
had made him volunteer, wanted to take the oath of allegiance. "I should die easier," he said, "if I did." The oath was administered, and he felt happier.
The next evening, the regiment started after Jack son, — the band leading off with "I wish I was in Dixie." It was a cold night ; bivouac by the road side about one o'clock, five miles above Strasburg, when fences suffered ; in the morning, forded Cedar Creek, a rapid and beautiful stream, where a fine bridge had just been destroyed : halted in a rough pine wood, just north of Strasburg ; were sent on by a " scare " next day to four or five miles below Strasburg ; and there camp and park trains in rear of General Sullivan's line, "having reference to the defensibility of the place chosen for encampment and concealment from the enemy."
March 31 : "Messengers on outposts," said General Sullivan, "report the enemy advancing." April 1: orders to move without tents or baggage, — the whole corps. Jackson's headquarters were then at Mount Jackson, seven or eight miles off. Colonel Gordon's brigade led, and the Second was in the advance. Two miles on, rebels and guns were in sight. A few shots from Cothran's fine New-York battery sent them off. Then, — skirmishers and flankers out, — pressed on steadily. The rebel rear-guard, with two pieces of artillery, stop at suitable points. Then the steadiness of the Second tells ; and the rebels, as we learned in a
village, swore savagely about " them long-range
Yankee rifles." At Woodstock, their shot whizzed
74 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
suddenly. Colonel Gordon has his guns in position instantly, and the rebels fly. At the "Narrow Pass," the bridge is on fire : quick hands of the Second extin guish the flames, while Cothran's shots and the enemy's are lively overhead. At Edenburg, the bridge is past hope ; but the struggle is for the place where it had been. The guns dash through fences, over ditches, up a height ; the Second presses on at double-quick ; and , after a few minutes, the point is gained. Camp is ordered. On that day the Second had its first man wounded, — Bonney, of Company I. The next day, Pennsylvania men rebuild the bridge. Pleasant weath er turned to rain, — a cold, dismal rain. The forlorn 'horses droop their heads. Pet dogs keep inside. Logs support a doubtful fire in front of the open tents. Dripping individuals solemnly chop wood. Dismal sentinels pace steadily. Off on picket is a shelterless company. Wet soaks up inside the tents. The only comfort is that the enemy, in sight on the opposite ridge, are just as wet.
"Hard business, sir, this soldiering," says John to the major. "Yes, John." — "It's aisy for them as sits at home with their good fires to read of this victory and that, but it's hard for them as has to do it, sir." — "Yes, John." — "It would do them good to come out here, and try to warm themselves by a hole in the ground, sir." — "Yes, John."
There was delay, at Edenburg, to get 'provisions and shoes ; but on the 17th of April in motion again. General Shields had moved in the night. At four, the
THE SPRING CAMPAIGN. 75
Second moved. Crossed the creek in the dense fog ; and, as the sun came out, saw the mountain ranges on either side, the undulating lands, wooded or in cultiva tion, the green winter- wheat and hyacinths by the roadsides, heard the robins and swallows, and the artil lery with which Shields was waking up the enemy on ahead. Found every bridge burning, but was little delayed ; and reached Mount Jackson — where the rebels had built fine hospitals, and buried scores of sol diers — to find the railway depot still in flames.
After some hours' waiting, General Shields is to advance on the main road, and Colonel Gordon's brigade, with some regiments of Donelly's, to make a flank movement to the right, on a dirt road; crossed a wadable stream, and came opposite Rood's Hill, which the rebels speedily left. Passed through Forest- ville, so called because barren of trees ; crossed another stream ; ascended and descended ledges ; waited for artillery stuck fast ; and at half-past eight turned into a wood, and cooked and slept.
The knowledge of some of these people was remarka ble. At Forestville, a group were astonished at the instruments of the band. "What is that?" inquired an alarmed woman, in respect to the largest instrument. " That, ma'am, is the bell-teezer, a new instrument for throwing grape, and terribly destructive at short distan ces." Nobody ventured near the terrible weapon.
The next morning, forded the north fork of the Shenandoah. The water was high, and the current very rapid. Men and horses went down. It took ten
76 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
horses to get one caisson across the river. Passing through Newmarket, to camp two miles south, the loyal population was out in joy, — but it was black. Here came a message : —
To MAJOR GENERAL BANKS : To you and the forces un der your command, this Department returns thanks for the brilliant and successful operations of this day.
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
That was for driving Jackson up the valley.
That camp was mud. Rails and straw made a little shelter, — the wagons being left a few miles behind for days. Rain was incessant, and cold severe. The men christened it " Camp Misery," and officers and men fared alike. Only one pair of boots seemed water-proof: they were the major's, who found they had been moved in the night into position to catch water ; and they were two-thirds full, without a sign of a leak.
On the 21st : "Ready to march at ten, A.M., to-mor row." To-morrow came, but no march. On the 22d, the General said," It has been represented, that, in many cases, men reported absent, sick, are in reality detained, performing various duties at the hospital to which they have been sent, — without detail from competent author ity, — long after recovery." That was true enough, but General Banks could not help himself, although he sent officers after them.
On the 25th, moved on to near Harrisonburg, — a raw day ; but, for a wonder, it did not rain. Camped. On the 27th, ordered out on, a "dirt road" of a very mean kind, and very mean of its kind. Jackson was
THE SPRING CAMPAIGN. 77
" within three miles : " but we went on eleven miles with the ^Twenty-seventh Indiana, and somebody's battery, and somebody's cavalry, and discovered nobody but Colonel Donelly, who was camped out there ; and came back again, making twenty miles of useful service that Sunday. Jackson was on the other side of the middle Shenandoah, at the end of a bridge piled with combus tibles. Somebody got over there afterwards, decidedly to his discomfort.
Cut down baggage again, also the number of wagons. On the evening of the 4th of May, struck tents, and moved a mile towards Harrisonburg, to sleep in a field ; which was accomplished with a view to take a fair start in the morning. The next morning, started for Strasburg ; stopping, after eighteen miles of march, at Newmarket that evening, and going into camp, to be roused up and move at midnight across the Massanutten range to help General Sullivan, whom the signal-lights on the hills said was threatened (at Columbia Bridge) by twelve thousand men. Found troops and fires lining the splendid road up the hill; magnificent scenery at sunrise, when the top was reached ; pleasant information, at the other base, that General Sullivan was surprised — to find us there, as he had seen no enemy; and bivouacked two nights near Berner's Mills. Climbed the hill back again, — with wild cherry in blossom, red- bud, columbine, iris, wood-violets, and the genuine New-England Mayflower, and the woods on fire, — and got back to camp, where " Colonel Ticehurst " had had dress-parade.
78 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
On the 10th of May, tents were struck, to be ready to have a couple of shelterless nights, with the wagons half a mile off: on the 12th, made fourteen miles northward, and had piles of leaves for beds : on the 13th, to Strasburg, — the dirtiest, meanest town of all the dirty, shiftless villages of the valley.
At Strasburg, the newspapers were read. Learned that the corps was at Stanton, aiming for Eichmond ; also, that Jackson had evacuated the valley. All true, except that we had fallen back to Strasburg, and that Jackson was still on hand with twelve thousand men. Here fortifications were building ; first-rate, only un fortunately commanded by higher ground. General Shields's division was detached, and crossed over into Eastern Virginia.
It was a surprise to everybody, — this retrograde movement. It was supposed that Banks and Fremont were to unite farther up the valley, and put an end to Jackson's operations, — which was perfectly feasible. But, at Harrisonburg, peremptory orders came to fall back to Strasburg, fortify and hold that place. It was one of the "gates of Washington." They had not then learned . that the place to defend Washington was in front of Eichmond. But, to the chagrin of every body, the summer was to be passed at Strasburg.
"It is hard," said the commander to a friend, regard ing the complete overthrow of the intended campaign, " to be the only man in the division that must not com plain." He did not complain. His admirable patience was exemplified then as since, when he endured misrep-
THE SPKING CAMPAIGN. 79
reservation in silence lest the service should suffer. No truer patriot than N. P. Banks has taken part in this war ; nor any man who had wiser foresight, from the time when he said to the President, on the first call for seventy-five thousand men, " President, call out a million ! "
But we were to stay at Strasburg.
80 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
VII.
BANKS'S RETREAT.
THE War Department said that General Banks was to remain at Strasburg during the summer. But Jackson had a habit of overruling the decisions of the War Department.
General Banks did the best that could be done with his inadequate force. He had but one division, that of General A. S. Williams, including two brigades, under Colonels Gordon and Donelly. He set to work to finish the fortifications, keeping most of his troops at Strasburg. He stationed the First Maryland (Colonel Kenly), a suitable proportion of cavalry, and a few guns, at Front Royal, ten miles off, which was the head of the eastern sub-valley, as Strasburg was of the western, — the two into which the Massanutten range divided, for fifty miles, the Shenandoah Valley. The Manassas railway was speedily opened to Strasburg ; and Kenly guarded it at his station, at the same time doing outpost duty. Vigilant picket service was kept up, and daily reconnoissances were made from Stras burg, — often twelve miles out. But the force had been fatally weakened by the removal of Shields's Division.
BA2sTKS'S RETREAT. 81
Despatches to Washington, representing the danger, met with no good result. At last, a special messenger was sent. "Jackson has returned into the valley," General Banks telegraphed to him on the 21st of May : " this is confirmed by information from different sour ces." — "Jackson is about eight miles from Harrison- burg ; Ewell, still at Swift-Run Gap," said the General. But the messenger met with rebuff, — almost contemptu ous rebuff. The responsible official at Washington did "not believe that Jackson was at all to be dreaded." Continued effort induced a promise to forward General Cooper's Brigade from Baltimore. But the promise was too late.
On the afternoon of the 23d of May, information came to Strasburg, that an overwhelming force of the enemy had attacked and was driving Kenly. It was Swell's, which had made forced marches northward on the eastern side of Massanutten.
Colonel Kenly had eight companies of the 1st Maryland, two of the 29th Pennsylvania, two of the Ira Harris Cavalry, two pieces of Captain Knipe's Battery, and Captain Mapes's pioneer corps of fifty- six men. With this force, it afterwards appeared, he had kept up for some hours an intermittent struggle, the enemy moving cautiously, but steadily ; and Kenly endeavoring to save his command, — retreating gradually to meet the hoped-for re-enforcements. But, in the afternoon, his little force was flanked on either side ; Colonel Kenly was wounded, and his command routed.
6
82 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
Upon receiving tidings of the disaster, but while ignorant of its completeness, General Banks sent out the Third Wisconsin (Colonel Ruger), some cavalry, and a section of artillery. But, between eight and nine o'clock, orders were sent to Colonel Ruger " to halt ; if beyond Buckton, to fall back, if necessary, to a position where he would not run any risk of being cut off." Fugitives in the evening had brought tidings of Kenly's utter rout, and information that the enemy were moving towards Winchester, which was eighteen miles north of Strasburg and on the direct road to the Potomac. In the night, therefore, the wagons were loaded, and the men put under arms ; while experienced officers explored the roads leading from Front Royal to Win chester. These parties found that the enemy held each road, and was evidently hastening to Winchester to cut off and capture the whole force. The trains, about three, A.M., were started to the rear. But in the morn ing : " Information received this morning," said an order, " shows that the enemy returned to Front Royal last night, and will not, now at least, attempt our rear. Our force will remain in Strasburg, therefore, till fur ther orders. . . . The Secretary and Assistant-Secre tary of War both telegraph that ample re-enforcements will be sent." Possibly the promised re-enforcements are referred to in the despatch of the President, of that date, to General McDowell, who was then opposite Fredericksburg : " General Fremont has been ordered by telegraph to move from Franklin on Harrisonburg, to relieve General Banks. . . . You are instructed, lay-
BANKS'S RETREAT. 83
ing aside for the present the movement on Richmond, to put twenty thousand men in motion at once for the Shenandoah, moving on the line, or in advance of the line, of the Manassas-Gap railroad." To which, Gene ral McDowell, while obeying, replied, "I am entirely beyond helping distance of General Banks. ... It will take a week or ten 'days to get to the valley."
Hardly had General Banks's order to remain been received at brigade headquarters, and before General McDowell could have started on his ten days' move ment, when another order followed, — "to move at once towards Middletown, taking such steps to oppose the enemy (reported to be on the road between Front Royal and Middletown) as to General Williams may seem proper .... Cothran's Battery is on the hill behind us, awaiting your orders. " The re-enforcements to Kenly had been recalled; the advance-guard (southward) called in ; and about ten o'clock, A.M., May 24, the column was on the road, endeavoring to reach Win chester before the enemy, who was on the road from Front Royal to that place.
Colonel Donelly's Brigade followed the wagons, which had a strong guard : Colonel Gordon's was next ; and General Hatch, with most of the cavalry and six pieces of artillery, was to protect the rear, and destroy prop erty which could not be brought off. The wagon-train was miles in length ; and hundreds of disabled men left behind by Shields's Division, encumbered the road.
The column, excepting the rear-guard, had passed Cedar Creek, when the enemy attacked the train, then
84 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
mainly in front, and held the road to Middletown. The troops then hastened forward, and Colonel Donelly attacked the enemy, who were in strong force, and gal lantly drove them two miles from the road. The troops passed much of the train, the danger appearing to be in front. General Hatch was at its rear.
About a mile and a half above Newtown, report came that the enemy had cut the train in the rear. General Hatch found it impossible to pass through, and was temporarily separated from the column. Colonel Gordon went back with the Second Massachusetts '(with that, the 27th Indiana, 28th New York, and a section of Best's Battery) to relieve the train. The 27th Indiana was already in line when he reached Newtown. The 28th New York was halted in reserve. Colonel Gordon, commanding the brigade, ordered Lieutenant- Colonel Andrews, commanding the Second, to "ad vance, take the town, and hold it until further orders." "The enemy," says the rebel officer Cooke, "turned sav agely." Colonel Andrews advanced, with a section of Best's Battery also ; Companies A (Captain Abbott) and C (Captain Cogswell) being deployed as skir mishers. The enemy's artillery was posted in front, in the main street, and threw shot along its length. The enemy were speedily driven out of town, and took position on the heights beyond. The colors were dis played from the highest house, as a signal to Hatch. Four guns from Best's and Cothran's batteries were immediately posted, and "opened a furious fire upon the Confederate batteries." " Jackson hastened to the
i to Middletown. ; Donelly and gal-
s from the r he troops
, the danger :; to be in
i was at its rear.
-. .:s-:iifr and a half abovf Newtown, report
t isemy Lad <-ui the •; un in the rear.
pa-^ tlirough, and
Mtnirilv •• column. Colonel
\\tnr 1. il Massachusetts
>r :}•.<:- h Xew York, and a
B»? the train. The 27th
as ac reached Newtown.
Xev? ^•Hb*n reserve. Colonel
lered Lieutenant-
<nd, to "ad-
M-ther orders."
oke, "turned sav-
^dvanced, with a section of
• ; Companies A (Captain Abbott)
_rswell) being deployed as skir-
y was posted in front, in
vhrew shot along its length. The
driven out of town, and took
!/eyond. The colors were dis-
.<t house, as a signal to Hatch,
and Cothran's batteries were
'opened a furious fire upon
" " Jackson hastened to the
BOAJHEEFJ. (£E®[ffi<£E D.. ARDHIEEWS,
BANKS'S RETREAT. 85
front," but the loyal force "continued to check his fur ther advance until dark." 1 Jackson was * profoundly enraged."
The disabled wagons, about fifty in number, could not be brought off for want of horses ; and, by order of Colonel Gordon after sending in vain for horses, they were burned.
It was twilight when he ordered his force on again. Companies A and C were in the rear, and the men of B were flankers. A little distance beyond the burning wagons, the enemy's cavalry appeared. Part of A was placed on the left of the soad ; part of C on the right ; and platoons from the two, under Lieutenant Grafton, in the road. Jackson was with his cavalry. " Charge them ! charge them ! " said he. They advanced ; but, when within fifty or sixty yards, the men of the three companies poured in their fire, and the rebels turned and fled. " Cowards ! " could be heard shouted. " Shameful ! " said Jackson. 2
A little farther on, at Barton's Mills, Company I re lieved A and C, that they might take their knapsacks, left there before returning to Newtown. Again the cavalry came on : Company I opened fire : again the
1 Rev. Professor Dabney, in his Life of Jackson, says : " Upon approach ing Newtown, the General was disappointed to find his artillery arrested
. . . The enemy . . . showed a determined front. ... It was sunset be-,, fore they were dislodged, and the pursuit resumed."
Between these two biographers of Jackson is this difference : Cooke gives as fair a story as possible, considering his exalted views of South ern men ; nor does he exhibit an ugly spirit. Dabney is perfectly malig nant; and, apparently from principle, never tells the truth if he can avoid it.
2 Dabney.
86 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
cavalry fled. " So severe a fire," says Dabney, " that the cavalry advance retired precipitately out of it, carrying the General and his attendants along with them, and riding down several cannoneers who had been brought up to their support." Then the enemy's infantry appeared. "Three regiments of the Stone wall Brigade," says Cooke, "were thrown forward," who "attacked with great gallantry ; and heavy firing ensued." " So pertinacious was the stand of the Federalists here," says Dabney, "the 27th, 2d, and 5th Virginia regi ments were brought up ; and the affair grew to the dimensions of a night combat before they gave way." It was a combat between three regiments of the famous Stonewall Brigade, and Company I, with D as flankers, re-enforced on the sides of the road by Companies B and C, the whole under Major D wight of the Second Massachusetts. The regiment accomplished the object of the halt, and moved on. .
Near Kernstown, a halt was ordered for rest, and to arrange to send on the wounded. Ambulances were sent for, but did not appear ; and the wounded were put into a house. Half an hour passed : again the enemy crept up in the darkness, and opened fire, which was promptly returned. But the cavalry, which had joined, stampeded. The macadamized road brought the regi ment into relief, while the enemy were hidden in the fields. The order was given to move on ; and the enemy did not immediately follow. Surgeon Leland, with the wounded men in the house, fell into the hands of the enemy.
87
At two o'clock, A.M., the regiment reached the vicini ty of Winchester, and lay down to rest. But Com pany C, as was a company from each regiment, was sent out on outpost duty, and were skirmishing steadily. They maintained their position with difficulty, but suc cessfully.
Early in the morning, Colonels Gordon and Donelly placed their brigades in position. On the right of the road, looking southward, was Colonel Gordon, — the Second on the right, then the 3d Wisconsin, the 27th Indiana, and the 29th Pennsylvania. Battery M, First New- York Artillery (Lieutenant Peabody) , consisting of six six-pound Parrotts, was posted on the ridge. In front of the line was a gulley, running at an angle with the road; and beyond, another height. Colonel Donelly posted his few regiments on the left of the road.
At five, A.M., the skirmishers were driven in by the Stonewall Brigade, under General Winder, making " a sharp and resolute resistance, firing heavy vol leys." Colonel Gordon immediately directed his bat tery to open fire on the columns of the enemy moving into position. " To dislodge these guns," says Cooke, " Carpenter's and Cutshaw's batteries with two Par- rott guns from the Rockbridge Artillery, were rapidly placed in position, and opened fire. The battle speedily commenced in good earnest." Donelly's guns and in fantry were quickly heard on the left, and " a dan gerous enfilade fire was poured on the Southern lines."
i Cooke.
88 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INTANTRY.
Two companies of the Second were thrown forward to annoy the enemy's guns, — D, Captain Savage ; and G, Captain Cary. They took shelter behind a stone wall, and " opened a galling and destructive fire on the cannoneers and horses attached to the Confederate bat teries." The fire was so sharp that some of the enemy's guns withdrew, and some were silenced. The skir mishers continued their fire " with a precision which was galling and dangerous in the extreme. ~No one could mount to the crest of the hill without hearing the
O
sudden report of their excellent long-range guns, suc ceeded by the whistling of balls near his person. To drive out these persistent and accurate marksmen," the rebel Poague threw solid shot at their stone wall ; " but, in spite of the missiles and crashing stones around them," says Cooke, " the line of sharpshooters still gallantly held their position."
But rebel regiments were moving in swarms around the right, under the rebel General Taylor. To prevent being flanked, Colonel Gordon moved the Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania and Twenty-seventh Indiana to the right. " The Federal commander," says Cooke, of this move ment, "was making preparations to assail Jackson's position in force. All was ready at last ; and suddenly the Federal infantry was seen moving in heavy columns to the [rebel] left, with the evident intention of gaining possession of the ridge to the north and west of the town." Against Taylor's men and the Stonewall Brigade on the flank, and the still steady fire in front, Colonel Gordon's four regiments were, of course, of
89
little avail. They poured in a destructive fire, and then heard the order to fall back. The Second moved down the hill, by left of companies to the rear, — the Third Wisconsin, in line of battle ; but a company or two of each halted to pour one destructive volley. The heights were now swarming with rebel troops, whose fire went principally overhead. The regiments kept in order ; entered Winchester ; and the Second, turning into a cross street, re-arranged the order of companies, and formed by the usual alignment. The enemy appeared on the main streets, and opened fire. Through Winchester (with shots from houses until forbearance ceased l) , by the burning buildings ; on the road to Martinsburg, — the rear of that portion of the force which took that road. The enemy's guns were quickly placed in an old work, and opened fire. Cavalry threatened. But the regiment kept steadily on. Some of the force in the advance were getting into disorder. General Banks, knowing that any disorder would become
1 On this matter, testimony was afterwards taken, by order from Division Headquarters. In addition to abundant proof, that citizens fired from houses, was evidence that women fired upon the soldiers. I make a few extracts from different statements: "I came out on the west street. I saw two women shoot from a window. They used guns." — "I saw a woman standing in the window with a pistol in her hand. I saw her shoot, and saw a man fall." — "I saw a woman shoot a pistol from a window." [Five wit nesses to the scene.] — "I saw a woman fire, from a house, a revolver. This was near the centre of the town. " — "I saw two women. One discharged a pistol; the ball passing over my head, and entering a wall on the opposite side of the street." — " On Main Street, a woman came to the door, and fired what I thought to be a revolver." When it is remembered, that, during our occupation of Winchester, women were as safe from insult in the streets of Winchester as in Boston, the infamous conduct of that population is evi dent. It needed purifying by fire.
90 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
a rout, placed himself in front, and restored discipline. Thirty-two miles' march, without a halt, brought it to Martinsburg. There the enemy ceased to follow. The quartermaster procured " crackers," and fed the men. Thirteen miles more, with a throng of Union people, children and adults, and Williamsport was reached. The trains, save the wagons lost before the Second became rear-guard, were safe. A thousand camp-fires blazed on the hillside. The trains crossed by the deep ford ; the ammunition wagons, by the single ferry ; the men forded ; all were over before noon next day, except that four companies of the Second, and the same of the Third Wisconsin, — sworn friends from that day, — were left for duty on the Virginia shore.1 The Second had marched, in thirty-three hours, fifty-six miles, fighting in one pitched battle and in the skirmishes as rear-guard.
The conduct of the Second on this occasion put its reputation, before the country, on that basis for which its thorough discipline, accomplished drill, and personal bravery had been fitting it. Its own State was proud of it ; and that pride only grew with succeeding years. The regiment was satisfied with itself; and officers and men from that day understood each other, taught as only this baptism of fire could teach.
1 Dabney says, " When the last of the cavalry drove the last of the fugi tives across the Potomac, a multitude of helpless blacks were found," etc. There was no annoyance whatever beyond Martinsburg. The troops were in order. Nor did the infantry all cross until next day; and then, without a sign of the enemy. General Banks replaced the infantry south of the river with cavalry, who occupied the road for miles out.
91
But Major Dwight — brave and beloved — was miss ing. Surgeon Leland, who had remained with the wounded at Kernstown, and Assistant-Surgeon Stone, who would not abandon the hospital in his charge at Winchester, were prisoners. Captain Mudge and Sec ond Lieutenant Crowninshield were wounded, — Mudge, carried for miles in the arms of a few of his men, who, separated from the command, succeeded in taking him to Harper's Ferry. Emerson and Staples, of C ; Lakin, of D ; Dane and Peck, of Gr ; O'Connell, of H; and Higgins, of I, — were killed in action. Stephens (A.), of B ; Colvin, of D ; Churchill, Vose, and Williams, of F; Bickford and Bosmore, of I, — were mortally wounded. Forty-one others were wounded. And, besides seventeen of the wounded, seventy-seven were prisoners.1 Of the dead, Higgins was buried at Bartons- ville ; the others, on the field near Winchester.
Jackson's object had been accomplished. Not in destroying or capturing the division, which he ought to have done ; but in effectually breaking up the plans of the general-in-chief, by frightening the authorities, as usual, into the securing "the defence of Washington," which his mere advance accomplished. The troops were never " to uncover Washington." McDowell was
1 Pollard, in his " Southern History," says that Jackson took " four thou sand prisoners." As General Banks had but two brigades, the brilliancy of this statement is evident. It is a sample of Pollard. He is not worth refer ring to again.
The "English Combatant's Battle-fields of the South" makes Banks's force twenty thousand men, and says that Winchester " was strongly forti fied." English!
92 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
not to re-enforoe McClellan for the capture of Rich- mond. "The President's order," said McDowell just before this affair, " is a crushing blow ; ... we shall have all our large masses paralyzed." They were : and Banks's command, fatally weakened early in May, had met with a crushing disaster. Banks, left with less than eight thousand men, had been overpowered by a force admitted to be over twenty thousand.
Crossing the river to Williamsport, camp was estab lished half a mile back of the town, and continued until the 10th of June. Here Major Dwight suddenly returned. Various accounts had insisted that he was dead. But he had yielded a moment, in Winchester, to the solicitations of a wounded man to place him in a house. It was a momentary stop, but when he came out, the rebels were there. Receiving his arms, an offi cer asked him, " Have you no other arms ? " — " If you are very particular," replied the major, " here is a pen knife." He was treated kindly ; and after considerable effort succeeded in getting paroled, and reached our lines. As he came to camp, a shout went up, "The major ! "' All order seemed to vanish as the men rushed towards him, took hold of his clothes, cheered; and escorted the happy, laughing man into camp. He was not exchanged until after Cedar Mountain. Surgeon Leland was paroled, and left with wounded at Winchester when the rebels quitted. Assistant- Surgeon Stone was paroled ; the parole to be a free release, if at Washing ton he could secure an agreement that surgeons should be not liable to capture, — which was accomplished.
BANKS'S RETREAT. 93
A change of command took place. Two brigadiers had been sent from Washington, and had arrived ; but were not assigned, at Strasburg. On the 28th of May, Brigadier-General George L. Greene took command of the Third Brigade. He was a good and brave soldier ; but an angel — if a military angel exists — could not have satisfied the men, after their experience of Colonel Gordon in the retreat. A sense of injustice was preva lent. General Banks felt the harshness of removing an officer who had rendered such service, and who had always been so efficient ; but he was powerless. He is sued, however, an order in which he expressed his —
" Unqualified approval of the manner in which Colonel George H. Gordon has discharged the duties of brigade- cormnander. In organization, discipline, instruction, and equipment, he has maintained and elevated the standard of his command. In the execution of orders, — often, from the extreme necessities of our position and the great reduc tion of our force, sudden and difficult, — he has been prompt and successful, exhibiting on all occasions the qualities of an accomplished and experienced officer. The commanding officer has also the pleasure of expressing his approval of the manner in which the Third Brigade and its commander discharged their most important duties in the march from Strasburg, on the 24th instant ; and, in the affair with the enemy, as rear-guard of the column, in the evening of the same day, which contributed so much to the safety of the command ; and, in the engagement of the 25th, at Win chester, Va. He has the strongest confidence that its distinguished character and reputation will be maintained hereafter."
But this removal resulted in the immediate promotion
94 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
of Colonel Gordon. He had been unanimously recom mended for the appointment of brigadier, by the Con gressional delegation from Massachusetts, in August, 1861. The personal opposition of a Massachusetts official had prevented it ; but General Banks knew his worth, and had regularly arranged his brigades to place him at the head of his own. The glaring injustice now overrode personal influence ; and his promotion for his conduct in the retreat, was made June 12, 1862. "He has got his promotion," wrote one official to another. "I could not help it : he earned it." The scene, when he took leave of his old regiment, with the reply of Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews, was affecting.
General Greene continued in command, and Lieu tenant-Colonel Andrews was promoted colonel : Ser geant Miller, of Company D, was promoted to be second lieutenant, — by and by, to be disabled by wounds.
Of General Fremont's movements from Western Vir ginia (on which he started May 25) into the valley; of Jackson's sudden evacuation of Winchester, necessi tated thereby ; of the pursuit, and of the battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic in consequence, — it is out of the province of this account to speak. But the valley was cleared for the time.
At Williamsport came a paper of a private charac ter from the War Department. At Strasburg, the line officers (if the lieutenant - colonel commanding knew of it, he kept silence) , terribly chagrined that a regiment of such material, and made by so much labor,
BANKS'S RETREAT. 95
should be kept in inaction at Strasburg, while other troops were to win glory in Eastern Virginia, had ven tured to address a letter to the Secretary, stating their case, and asking, if the good of the service would per mit, to be put where they could do something. The answer was kind and appreciative : but " the exigencies of the service required that the regiment should stay at Strasburg." This answer was received at Williams- port, and was thought, under the circumstances, to be rather a good joke. There was to be glory enough by and by.
96 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTKY.
VIII.
GENERAL, POPE.
On the 7th of June, General* Greene told the bri gade to be " in readiness to move across the river at an hour's notice ; " and that " neither officers or men will be permitted to leave the camp." On the day previous, General Banks had issued an order, that General Williams's Division was to " march through the city of Winchester, in close order, with drums beating ; and in no case whatever will any soldier be permitted to leave the ranks." This was to prevent that salutary vengeance which the incensed soldiers would have ta ken on all houses from which men and women had fired on our soldiers in the retreat. Perhaps it was best, but that infamous town never met its deserts. Luckily, Satan will get his own some day.
Furious rains had prevented a crossing for four or five days ; but, on the 10th, the troops crossed the river, the band of the Second playing " Carry me back to ole Virginny." Bivouacked that night near Falling Waters ; the next, camped at Bunker Hill. The next day approached Winchester ; halted an hour outside the town ; marched through in the manner designated, find-
GENEKAL POPE. 97
ing there General Sigel's Corps, which had been sent across from Harper's Ferry, on the usual principle of doing every thing too late. The colonel got a bou quet in Winchester, which proved that there was one decent woman in that ungodly town. Kept on for a mile below town ; rested for some hours, and then moved to Bartonsville, six miles below Winchester, and camped. So far into Virginia, everybody had scrupulously abstained, according to orders of the brig adier, from even getting a drop of water from any body's well, which seemed rather hard in that villainous country, and was very discouraging to a chaplain in re gard to the increase of swearing.
At Bartonsville, where the bullets of the enemy were visible in the bridge-posts, the regiment remained six days. Discipline was strict. Soldiers even had to re build a fence whose rails had been taken for firewood, the secession owner complaining about it. Fine times those were : but profanity increased.
Here came to the regiment William H. Heath, as volunteer surgeon. When it was known in Boston, that both the medical officers of the Second were pris oners, Surgeon-General Dale sent a despatch to Dr. Heath, to come in to Boston. He went immediately. "Will you go to the Second for temporary service?" " Yes : when ? " — « This afternoon ? " — " Yes. " He had time only to purchase a valise and a suit of clothing ; and, sending a "good-by"to his wife, whom there was not time to see, left for Virginia. When he arrived, he was persuaded to accept a commission ; and he did not
7
98 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
see his home again until J864. He was to be recog nized as one of the best surgeons and truest men in the corps, before he died, -of disease caused by devotion to duty in the trenches before Atlanta.
On the 18th, moved to near Front Eoyal, and re mained there until the 6th of July. General Fremont was then holding Strasburg; and the two commands were separated, for fifty miles, by a line in the road, — which tended to unity of plan, of course.
On the 25th, General Gordon was replaced in com mand of the brigade. He was joyfully welcomed back. General Greene had secured respect, and deserved it ; and when he was afterwards severely wounded, the bri gade sincerely mourned : but General Gordon they knew.
It was a hot Sunday, that of the 6th of July. Ready to move early ; but not until eleven o'clock was the " forward " heard. A few miles on, at the junction of the north fork and main stream of the Shenandoah, waited in an open plain in tlje blazing sun for hours, while the trains got out of the way. Crossed the tem porary bridge ; passed over Kenly's battle-ground , and saw plenty of old iron ; went through the pretty village of Front Royal, and camped a mile south; men fell down, entirely exhausted by the heat, on reaching the camp-ground, but many found comfort in a cooling bath in the brawling brook near by. On the 7th, re veille at three, A.M. ; at six, on the road for the Blue Ridge. Passed up Chester Gap, where the cooling breeze refreshingly tempered the powerful heat; de-
GENERAL POPE. 99
scended, and thanked God that we were out of the valley at last. Made twelve miles before eleven o'clock ; rested in a beautiful wood just before Flint Hill ; and, towards night, had orders to camp, and a delightful shower blessed the camp.
Some kind of a local magistrate dropped into camp in the afternoon, while the grapes were being eaten, to discuss matters. His coolness was refreshing. He
O
insisted that we had no constitutional right to " iuvade" Virginia, for the Constitution gave no right to carry on a war outside of the United States. Virginia had seceded; ergo, war in Virginia was unconstitutional. Further, we ought to restore fugitive slaves, for the Fugitive-Slave law said so. " But," said the General, " is Virginia one of the United States? " — " No," was the prompt reply. " Then what have you got to do with the Fugitive-Slave law, or the Constitution of the United States ? "
Rear-guard next day. Slow business ; but it gave time to eat the cherries. Waiting for the trains, the men ate cherries ; picked cherries to eat on the road ; cut limbs full of cherries to carry along. Providence had evidently made those cherries for that occasion ; and yet the secession owners had the impudence and impiety to object to the ways of Providence ! Five miles beyond the cherry-trees, halted; then camped, and here recovered divers stolen horses. It was near Gaines's Cross-roads. On the llth, eight miles to near Warrenton.
On the 12th : "Orders having been received from Ma-
100 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
jor-General Pope, commanding the Army of Virginia, to have this command in constant readiness for a move ment," &c. &c. — as if it had been doing any thing else ! On the same day, the " Zouaves d'Afrique," good men under an absurd title and in an absurd dress, were assigned to duty, under Colonel Andrews, — " where they will receive proper instruction and dis cipline." They certainly got it ; and they proved their bravery at Cedar Mountain.1
General Pope was in command. On the 26th day of June, by special order of the President, he had been assigned to this position. It was a good thing that three separate commands in one department were now to be under one head, — McDowell's, to be known as the 1st Corps; Banks's, the 2d ; and Fremont's, the 3d, of the " Army of Virginia," by order of August 12. Fremont, it will be remembered, refused to serve under a junior in rank ; but Banks made no objection.
On the 14th of July (General Crawford was in tem porary command of the division that day), General Pope issued his address. It was by no means well received. "I have come from the West," he said, " where we have always seen the backs of our enemies." The enemy saw his by and by. "I hear constantly," he said, " of taking strong positions, and holding them [ if
1 This company had been General Banks's guard. " An English Com batant," in his work, " Battle-Fields of the South," — a work full of lies from beginning to end, — in referring to a mention of these Zouaves, says, " My reader will not fail to observe from the above, that General Banks's body-guard is composed of negroes." The writer need not hare said he was English.
GENERAL POPE. 101
he had held his, it would have been better for Massa chusetts] ; of lines of retreat, and of bases of supplies. Let us discard such ideas." The latter were discarded when supplies came down to green corn ; the former were not, when they led inside the fortifications of Washington. It was not the way to talk to soldiers who had proved their daring against overwhelming powers. The papers said that General Pope's "head quarters were to be in the saddle." They ought to have said, "in a good many saddles, and wagons enough for a division," — as appeared when five weeks after his assignment to command the General was received by the Second Corps.
Another order was sensible : " Hereafter no guards will be placed over private houses or private property of any description whatever. Commanding officers are responsible for the conduct of the troops under their command."
Here baggage was cut down again, July 16 : one valise to an officer ; three officers to a tent (which was luxury compared to subsequent days) ; a. "shelter tent [tent d'abri] to each two privates." The Sibleys de parted, and were seen no more. Ten days' rations to be kept on hand ; a hundred and fifty rounds of ammu nition per man to be kept in the wagons.
How we came to Warrenton was a blunder. Some stupid official had written "Warrenton," instead of " Washington, " — the " Little Washington " westward. So, on the 16th, marched to Hedgeman's River, crossed it, and camped in a sharp thunder-storm. The next
102 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
day, through the forlorn village of Amissville, to Gaines's Cross-roads ; and, turning westward, travelled in another thunder-storm to a steep hillside overlooking the little village of Little Washington, which nestled prettily under its trees, but proved a sham when one went into it. Here military exercises went on, — instruction of men and officers in sighting, aiming, calculating distances, and so on.
On the 25th, moved a mile below the village, where a camp was laid out on regulation distances, — to follow which would take half a State for a respectable army. Here was a great review and sham fights and cavalry charges. Here it was learned that General Pope had got to Warrenton ; and here he soon appeared. On the 3d of August, he was formally received, on the day of his own selection, — which was Sunday; but, when at the close General Banks was to have Sunday observed by twenty minutes of public worship, General Pope galloped off in a hurry.
Various changes took place in the roll of officers in July. Captain Underwood was appointed major in the Thirty-third Massachusetts. Lieutenant Horton, then detailed on General Greene's staff, was appointed assistant adjutant-general; Lieutenant Wheaton, then on General Gordon's staff, commissary of subsistence ; Lieutenant Hawes, also on General Gordon's staff, assistant-quartermaster ; and Second Lieutenant Scott, also on the same staff, assistant adjutant-general, each with the rank of captain. Two of the vacancies made in the second lieutenancies were filled in July, — by the
GENERAL POPE. 103
promotion of Albert W. Powers, first sergeant of G, and Edward A. Phalen, first sergeant of C, — neither commission arriving until after each had been wounded at Cedar Mountain.
The line of the army ran through Warrenton, Little Washington, Sperryville, and Luray ; while' in the valley somebody was holding, rather shakingly, that Sodom named Winchester ; and the rebels were gather ing, up the valley, the rich crops which a general order, early in the season, had told the people to raise, — on the old plan of feeding the enemy. The left of the line was now to be swung forward so that the whole army should be on the road from Culpeper to Sperry ville ; while cavalry, well forward, covered its front, from the Blue Eidge to the forks of the Rappahannock. General Banks was to move to Hazel River.
The Second left Little Washington, August 6th ; passed General Sigel at Sperryville ; bivouacked at Woodville that night, and at Hazel River the next : fifty or more recruits joined here, and Colonel An drews — the indefatigable man — had a battalion-drill in the morning.
104 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
IX.
CEDAR MOUNTAIN.
THE enemy was crossing -the Kapidan. Culpeper was occupied about the 4th of August, by Crawford's Brigade, of Banks's Corps ; and on the 7th, Ricketts's Division, McDowell's Corps, arrived. Bayard's Cav alry was near Rapidan Station, and Buford's at Barnett's Ford. The enemy made a feint of sending off a column by way of Madison Court-house ; but his object was Culpeper. On the morning of the 8th, Bayard was pressed slowly back ; while Buford reported the enemy advancing on Madison. Crawford's Brigade was sent out towards Cedar Mountain to support Bayard, and General Banks was ordered up from Hazel River. The Second bivouacked that night (or what was left of the night), just on the north of Culpeper. Jackson, the old opponent, was busy again.1
On the morning of the 9th, directions to fall in ; to camp ; to fall in again. An officer rode up to General Banks, with an order. It was given verbally,
1 " Learning that only a portion of General Pope's army was at Culpeper Court-house, General Jackson resolved to attack it before the arrival of the remainder." — Lee's Reports.
CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 105
but reduced to writing by General Banks's assistant adjutant-general, Colonel Pelouze ; and read to the offi cer who brought it, who pronounced it correct. It was this : —
" CULPEPER, 9.45, A.M., Aug. 9, 1862.
" General Banks will move to the front immediately ; assume command of all the forces in the front ; deploy his skirmishers, if the enemy approaches ; and attack him immediately, as soon as he approaches ; and be re-enforced from here." 1
On the road, then, to support Crawford, who was being pressed by the enemy. Through Culpeper, on a south-west course. It was an intensely hot day. One man, — Carey, of F, — died from exhaustion, and was buried by the roadside : he was a recruit, who had joined but a few days before. Two or three miles out of Culpeper, a whole division (Ricketts's) was passed, — destined to chafe uselessly in sound of every shot of that day. Now and then, the dull, heavy sound of single shots was heard. Five miles from Culpeper, left the road at the run, followed its rough course west ward half a mile, and saw Cedar Mountain, — a tall, steep hill, overlooking the low ground ; passed up the hill on which was Brown's house, and the brigade was put in line on the wooded crest beyond it, in a com manding position, to which General Gordon had pointed, while in the low ground, and received the assent of General Roberts, General Pope's chief of
1 General Pope, in his official report, says, " I regret that General Banks thought it expedient to depart from my instructions." It is useless to try to reconcile this statement with his order.
106 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
staff, who soon rode up and approved it. The other brigades were not then in position ; when they were stationed, it was so that the Third Brigade thus had the extreme right, at an angle with Crawford's, and, in fact, totally disconnected : next to Crawford were Geary, Greene, and Prince, in order. Crawford's Brigade was in a wood ; the other three, in the open ground, which was slightly rolling, and their line ran east and west. Gordon's original position was never attacked.
A mile and a half south of the line, Cedar Mountain towered up over the plain. Up that mount, the enemy placed batteries ; and there stood Jackson , able to see the movement of every regiment of ours. His line, gradually developed, came to be about parallel to ours of the four brigades, — his left hid in the woods like our right, and crossing the open ground to the hill. The enemy numbered, one of their accounts says, "about fifteen thousand men." The same authority (Cooke) mentions ten brigades ; and their official list of casualties agrees with this, — specifying losses from forty-two regiments of infantry, one regiment of cav alry, and four "battalions," besides the batteries. Banks's five brigades numbered less than eight thousand
1 Cooke says, " The Federal force opposed to him was undoubtedly much larger than his own." He estimates it at thirty-two thousand, including Banks's, Sigel's, and a division of McDowell's. In fact, none but Banks's men were within miles of the battle-field, as he might have known from the official reports. Dabney says. " The Federalists, according to their own returns, had thirty-two thousand men engaged in this battle." Cooke is honestly mistaken; Dabney, dishonestly.
CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 107
Standing on the height in front of Brown's house, General Gordon's Brigade was almost in one's rear. Looking southward, across a run, was a wooded swell ; an eighth of a mile through, on the southern edge of the wood, was Crawford : an open field, rather more than two hundred yards across, separated him from a wood occupied by the rebels. Crawford's wood ran eastward to a point. There was General Banks in person, near Geary. Next beyond could be seen Greene, and then Prince. Cedar Mountain is full in view. Early in the afternoon, General Banks's skir mishers are seen pushing forward. The enemy presses them. General Banks with his left and centre meet the enemy.1 There is a rattling fire. The enemy have not developed yet ; their troops are mainly out of sight, behind the wood in front of Crawford, — in the valley west of the mountain. But they press harder soon. The guns up Cedar Mountain open. Their plunging shot plough the ground : occasionally, shell burst in our line. Our artillery, stationed on slight elevations, replies. The enemy open with guns from behind the woods in front of our General ; and the artillery fire becomes rapid on both sides. The moving of guns, the shifting of cavalry, the slight changes in line, are visible. It does not yet appear in what force are the enemy. It is two hours before the artillery play gives place to the rattle of musketry to much extent.
1 This is all which bears upon General Pope's statement, that " General Banks had left the strong position which he had taken up, and had advanced two miles to meet the enemy."
108 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTKY.
Then, the battery behind the point of woods is so annoying on our centre, that General Banks orders Crawford to move across the open field, pierce the woods, and attack the battery, while his centre moves on at the same time. The order is gallantly obeyed. His brigade moves on, increased by five companies of the Third Wisconsin, of Gordon's Brigade, as skir mishers , — steadily thinned by a terrible fire from the concealed foe, and by a flank fire which comes from the thicket on the west of the field, in which the enemy have been hidden, — both Crawford's Brigade, and five companies of our Third Wisconsin. Donelly, the brave colonel of the Twenty-eighth New York, is mortally wounded by a shot from the thicket. Crane, the gal lant lieutenant-colonel of the Third Wisconsin, falls dead. Officers are swept off in every regiment. The men keep on, pierce the wood ; but, not far within it, the line has melted away.1
Looking backward from Brown's house, still remains the Third Brigade : the Second, the 3d Wisconsin (five companies), and the 27th Indiana, — three regi ments true as steel. The Second only is visible : some
1 It must be in reference to this, and to the movement of the centre, that Lee's Keport says, " The main body of the Federal infantry, under cover of a wood and the undulations of the field, gained the left of Jackson's Divis ion, now commanded by General Taliaferro, and poured a destructive fire into its flank and rear. Campbell's Brigade fell back in confusion, exposing the flank of Taliaferro's, which also gave way, as did the left of Early's. The rest of his brigade, however, firmly held its ground. Wind er's Brigade, with Branch's (of A. P. Hill's Division) on its right, advanced promptly to the support of Jackson's Division; and, after a sanguinary struggle, the enemy was repulsed with loss."
CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 109
of the men are asleep ; some are making coffee ; some are looking at the battle-field. The ambulances are .grouped in the road cutting the wood. General Gordon stands watching, his glass almost steadily to his eye ; for General Williams has told him, that, so soon as" an order is sent for the Third Brigade to move, he will wave a handkerchief. The rattle of the musketry chafes him ; and he watches for the signal. It does not come, but, impatient, — " Fall in ! " Every man is on his feet. Waiting all through Crawford's attack. At last, "Forward, double-quick ! " Past the house, down the slope, over the run, up into Crawford's woods, past the wounded, and to re-enforce Crawford. But Crawford's Brigade is, for the time, annihilated ; and Gordon's takes its place, gathering up, also, the five Wisconsin companies which had assisted Crawford. Formed at the edge of the open field (Captain Abbott with A, skirmishers, behaving gallantly), they are received with a keen, well-aimed fire. Colonel Andrews spoke a few words to his skirmishers, upon their duty, and passed along the line. The brigade open fire, the Second firing by file. Soon the musketry ceased to be
"The day seemed lost," says Cooke. "In vain did the Confederate officers attempt to hold the men steady. ... At that moment of disaster and impending ruin, amid the clouds of smoke, his voice was heard rising above the uproar and the thunder of the guns. . . . His exertions to rally the men were crowned with success. . . . The old Stonewall Brigade and Branch's Brigade advanced at a double-quick."
These extracts show how near, against a vastly superior force, the battle of Cedar Mountain was to being a victory. The single division lying back, in sound of the guns, impatient for orders, had it been on hand, would have turned the scale. But Pope, who had ordered Banks to attack, did not send the promised re-enforcernents.
110 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
a rattle : it was an unbroken roar, the artillery all silent. For thirty minutes it was steady. Colonel Andrews's horse is shot under him. Savage is
C5
wounded, and Quincy, and two-thirds of the officers. The line is thinning fast.
But the enemy advance in line. They are received with a savage fire, and never get nearer than fifty yards.
There is a heavy force on our right, into which our brigade is firing. They are in blue. " I think," said Colonel Col grove, "we are firing on our own men." General Gordon rode forward, and was met by a savage fire. Then that force advanced, through the bushes. A heavy fire comes down on the right flank. The bullets come like hail. The line shrivels up. It is a question of annihilation or retreat. The force moving on three regiments was made up of Winder's, Branch's, Fender's, and Archer's Brigades. The General ordered the line to fall back ; and, while the centre and left were pressed by Ewell, it fell back to its old position by Brown's house, just as the darkness was deepening. The enemy has the wood, but does not pursue. General Banks establishes a line about a mile to the rear of his former ; and the troops who would have saved the day, if they had been ordered up to the support of General Banks, come to the support ; and General Pope, too.
The losses of the Second had been terrible : Captains Abbott, Cary, Williams, and Goodwin, and Lieutenant Perkins, — dead ; Major Savage, — mortally wounded, and a prisoner ; Captain Quincy and Lieutenant Miller,
CEDAR MOUNTAIN. Ill
— wounded and prisoners ; Surgeon Leland (early in the action), Lieutenants Oakey, Browning, Grafton, Robeson, — wounded; Captain Russell, — a prisoner. Enlisted men : Corporal Bassett, Bright, Dyer, Flem- ming, Hazelton, Livingston, and Sergeant Whitten, of A ; Gilson and Corporal Oakes, of B ; Brown (F. H.) , Cochrane, Frames, Corporal Grey, Hines, Jewell, Stonehall, and Williston, of C ; Bickford, Corporal Fay, and Corporal Wilcox, of D ; Ide and Sparrow, of E : Sergeant Andrews, Hatch, Howard, and Hoxsey, of G ; Corporal Cahill, Corporal De Weale, and Duffy, of H; Sergeant Willis, of I; and Conlan, Daly, Livingstone, Montague, Roberts, and Watson, of K,
— killed; Corporal Buxton, Gilman, and Spalding, of A; Stephens (J.), of B; Donovan, of C; Daniels, of E; Moore, of F; Dillingham, Greene (M.), Smith, and First-Sergeant Williston, of G; Sylvester, of I; and Hauboldt, of K, — were mortally wounded. Ninety-nine others were wounded ; and fourteen men, besides four of the wounded, were prisoners. Of the twenty-three officers who went upon the field, seven only came back unhurt ; and thirty-five per cent of the regiment, as engaged, were killed or wounded. The company of Zouaves, which, the colonel officially said, had " honorably and creditably discharged their duty on the field," lost one commissioned officer, Lieutenant Heirvack, — missing; four non-commissioned officers and privates, — killed, and seven, — missing.
When, in the momentary absence of Colonel An drews to see the wounded, the next in rank was sought
112 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
for, it was the junior captain, whose commission had arrived a few days before.
Well might General Pope say in his official report, "The Massachusetts regiments [there was but one] behaved with especial gallantry, and sustained the heaviest losses." l
Equally well did General Pope speak of the " distin guished gallantry ... of General Gordon."2
Equally well did he say, " The conduct of the whole corps was beyond all praise."
And equally well, "I cannot speak too highly of the ceaseless intrepidity of General Banks himself, during the whole engagement. . . . He exposed himself as freely as any one under his command ; and his example went far to secure that gallant and noble conduct which has made his corps famous." 3
Some time after, there came the following order : —
HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF VIRGINIA, NEAR CEDAR MOUNTAIN, VA., Aug. 16, 1862. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 21.
The following 'despatch has been received from the Gen eral-in-Chief of the Army, and, with this order, will be published at the head of every regiment and detachment in this command : —
1 No official record of the losses of the corps has met the Avriter's eye. Of General Gordon's less than 1500 men, 466 were killed, wounded, or missing. General Lee's Report makes the Confederate loss, 229 killed, 1,047 wounded, — total, 1,276.
2 " Colonel Andrews, Colonel Ruger, Colonel Colgrove . . . deserving praise for gallant conduct." — General Gordon. " My Staff, Captain H. B. Scott, A A.G., Captain Charles Wheaton, and Lieutenant Robert G. Shaw, rendered me especial service. I owe them many thanks for their labors and coolness under this terrific fire." — General Gordon.
3 I make no criticism upon the conduct of this battle, because I am not qualified. Recording events only, much of which I saw, military men will know what was wrong.
CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 113
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 1862. MAJOR-GENERAL POPE, — Your telegram of last evening is most satisfactory ; and I congratulate you and your army, and particularly General Banks and his corps, on your hard- earned but brilliant success against vastly superior numbers. Your troops have covered themselves with glory ; and Cedar Mountain will be known in history as one of the great battle-fields of the war. H. W. HALLECK,
General-in- Chief.
The Major-General commanding the Army of Virginia has little to add to this despatch. It is a feeble expression of his feelings, to say that he was delighted and astonished at the gallant and intrepid conduct of his command, and especially of the Second Corps.1 Success and glory are sure to accompany such conduct ; and it is safe to predict, that Cedar Mountain is only the first of a series of victories which shall make the Army of Virginia famous in the land, and draw very close to the hearts of their countrymen every officer and soldier who belongs to it.
JOHN POPE, Major- General Commanding.
The praise was merited. But were the congratulations on the brilliant success and victory, a burlesque ? Our men felt that they could well spare such victories as being driven from the field by vastly superior numbers, leaving their wounded in the hands of the enemy, bury ing their dead afterwards by permission of the enemy ; while the arms captured by the rebels, lay in huge piles. But that was the way they used to write history.
The evening after the battle, the Second, in its brig ade, was placed in the centre of the new army line,
1 General Banks's. 8
114 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
and close up to the enemy ; so close, that one of its sen tries (Harrington, of Company E) captured, by a little finesse, a party that rode up by mistake. Here it was that General Banks was injured, and General Pope near capture, — General Pope refusing to believe General Gordon's statement that the enemy were but a few yards off.
Brown's house was the hospital for the brigade ; while a mile and a half to the rear was another, — a brick house near the Culpeper road. Over fifty of our wounded were got off the field, principally by the untir ing efforts of the regimental band, which persisted until two of its number, Rawson and Smeath, were made prisoners. Our wounded were at Brown's ; includ ing Surgeon Leland, who, though wounded in the head, could hardly be persuaded to leave their care to others. Colonel Andrews could not bear to leave his wounded without an officer ; and, as Surgeon Leland was wounded, Assistant-Surgeon Stone in Maryland on duty, and Assistant-Surgeon Heath sick with typhoid fever, it was the privilege of the chaplain to remain. Doctor Chappel, the efficient and faithful medical director ; and Surgeon Bennett, of the Fifth Connecti cut, — than whom no truer man ever wore the green sash, — remained also, with the comforting assurance that the enemy would immediately occupy this impor tant height. But, though they pushed up on the central plain past the house, and lay there, two hundred and fifty yards off, they left the place untouched. Within the house and without were hundreds of wounded.
CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 115
All night, in the moonlight, when the fleecy clouds permitted it, and by candles otherwise, under the trees were the men cared for ; while, for hours, the musket- barrels of the enemy's sentries glittered in the edge of a wood. At eleven o'clock, — a flash, — a report, — and a whizzing shell flew screaming into the woods just north and east ; and another, — then over the hospital, and then up the plain ; and our artillery replied as furi ously, their thunder continuous and unceasing, lightning flashing from the muzzles. Half an hour, and it had ceased. Who had driven, the hospital did not know ; but the enemy's muskets were still glittering. Early in the night, a brigade filed quietly in between the hospital and the enemy ; so quietly, that their very presence, not thirty yards off, was not known at first. But hope leaped in the breast ; for Massachusetts men were there, — the Twelfth and the Thirteenth. Before morning, the enemy drew back.
A few ambulances were there. The chaplain had learned of a circuitous path through the woods, to the rear of the line, — the direct road being in the enemy's possession. Doctor Chappel authorized an attempt to remove the wounded. Patiently the work went on, sometimes interrupted by rebel shell. At three o'clock in the morning, General McDowell sent word that that spot was untenable. Patience still ; and at six, the last man was gone.
When the gray of morning came, — the wounded not all sent off, — looking southward, near a mile off, were the rebels drawn up in a long line of battle, but
116 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
motionless. Even the gunners could be seen at their guns. On the north, our brigades were moving into position. It gave promise of a fierce day. But all that Sunday they lay grimly watching each other, while not a shot broke the stillness. Brown's house was left ; and in it a beautiful boy of eighteen months, who, on the day before, had slept through the heavy artillery- thunder, while his mother always stood between her child and the guns as though her body could shelter him.
At night came a rumor to the regiment that the wounded men were still on the field, and that the rebel pickets had fallen back to the wood which Crawford had tried to pierce. A party was detailed by the colonel, with consent of our general, to attempt their help. Lieutenant Abbott commanded it, and Wisconsin men were added, and the chaplain of the Second obtained permission to accompany it. Three miles on, and half a mile from the ground, General Sigel refused "to allow the risk of losing the party. It was midnight, and nothing remained but to sleep at the picket line. At early gray, Lieutenant Abbott tried again for permis sion. While he was seeking it, the chaplain of the Second ventured to elude the pickets, and go on. (It was, it is fair to say, his only breach of military disci pline in three years.) Crossing the run, finding a wounded soldier who had crawled down there, and getting confirmation of the facts ; passing up and through the wood, it was his privilege to be the first to comfort the wounded with the assurance of help. Men
^TTo 08 OC MAKE)
iN. 11 /
wept with joy. " We thought you were never coming ! " A rebel sentry was opposite ; . and, at the waving of a handkerchief, waved a cap, and nodded.
There were the dead, — one, whose clear, ringing "fall in," the Saturday before, still sounded on the ear ; one, who in reply to the question (as he left an ambu lance) " Are you strong enough to go ? " had answered with a smile, "I cannot ben my men go," and
had been almost carried by two of his men ; one, lying there with a miniature^ jfrlio had said a- little before, "If
any thing should hajl^Bto «gw^ wgjAkill " ; and
near him, still alivitt umdc-r. Sergeant
Williston, whose u •••• --turo, —
alas I himself to die , < risp hair, of
which a single lock ^h t$ as the last of the
frank, brave, true v v< ;•..»-•• ,• .-.> •-•
mourned — that- sad day
Truce,, was established; air' 1 rode
around the neutral ground . Amhh , t IK •. nn<l car
ried away the wounded. Parties came to bury the dead, There was Crape, lieutenant-colonel of the Third Wis consin, — the Second mourned him too, — and O'Brien of the same, who lay there and died there. Rebel sol diers had sheltered some with blankets or boughs ; had brought water, and sometimes biscuits and apples. But the dead had been stripped of every thing valuable, even to outer clothing.
It took till past mid-day to bury the dead. Not all were laid there. Abbott- and Gary and Goodwin mx! Williams sleep with their kindred ; arid Perkins,
CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 117
wept with joy. " We thought you were never coming ! " A rebel sentry was opposite ; and, at the waving of a handkerchief, waved a cap, and nodded.
There were the dead, — one, whose clear, ringing "fall in," the Saturday before, still sounded on the ear; one, who in reply to the question (as he left an ambu lance) " Are you strong enough to go ? " had answered with a smile, "I cannot stay when my men go," and had been almost carried by two of his men ; one, lying there with a miniature, who had said a little before, " If
any thing should happen to me, it would kill " ; and
near him, still alive to watch his commander, Sergeant Williston, whose entreaties had saved the picture, — alas ! himself to die soon ; one, with the crisp hair, of which a single lock should go home, as the last of the frank, brave, true man ; and many an one whose homes mourned — that sad day for Massachusetts.
Truce was established ; and rebel and loyal rode around the neutral ground. Ambulances came, and car ried away the wounded. Parties came to bury the dead. There was Crane, lieutenant-colonel of the Third Wis consin, — the Second mourned him too, — and O'Brien of the same, who lay there and died there. Rebel sol diers had sheltered some with blankets or boughs ; had
O '
brought water, and sometimes biscuits and apples. But the dead had been stripped of every thing valuable, even to outer clothing.
It took till past mid-day to bury the dead. Not all were laid there. Abbott and Gary and Goodwin and Williams sleep with their kindred ; and Perkins,
118 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
at Alexandria. Savage, twice wounded, died at Charlottesville. But when the trenches were dug, and the Massachusetts dead were laid in them, green boughs were placed over them lest the earth should press too rudely ; and not without Christian burial were they left to sleep, "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Around the two trenches were trees marked with three deep cuts each, that, while the trees stand, the place should be known. And there was carried away a leaf — kept as a sacred relic — which had drop ped from the hand of a dying man, on which the first glance had fallen on these words : —
" Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dis solved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Never theless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
119
X.
POPE S RETREAT.
ON the night after the battle of Cedar Mountain, the Second was in the centre of the new line, within a few hundred paces of the exultant but cautious enemy. In the course of the following forenoon, the corps was drawn back into the second line, on the plain ; still in sight of the mountain, and between the road and the brick-house hospital. The wounded were still moving from that house to Culpeper, where a hotel, churches, and shops were used as hospitals. At noon, the corps " was- so cut up and worn down with fatigue," that General Pope " did not consider it capable of rendering any efficient service for several days ; " and sent ijfc about a mile and a half to the left, and nearer Culpeper ; where, in a wood, it lay a few days.
The main body of the enemy fell back, on the 10th, towards the Kapidan. But this was not known ; and they left a sufficient show of force to hold the battle ground, take off their wounded, bury their dead, and pile up the muskets, where they lay on Monday when the truce was in force.
120 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
A few days afterwards, General Pope pushed for ward ; but General Banks's Corps was on the 12th sent back to Culpeper. There the Second remained six clays, with six line officers only (Lieutenant Brown immediately asked to be relieved from duty at General Banks's headquarters, and returned), with but one field officer, and with a staff of adjutant, quartermas ter, and chaplain. At Culpeper, Charles J. Mills (appointed second-lieutenant) joined for duty, and was assigned to Company D ; wounded severely at Antie- tam ; and subsequently killed in action. Dr. Robert Ware came out, also, to render temporary service, — a noble man, who, when surgeon of the Forty-fourth Massachusetts, died at Washington, N.C., "a victim to his fidelity to duty." Friends from Massachusetts also came to the saddened camp.
During this interval, General Pope was operating with his cavalry down towards the Rapidan, again occupying the line from Raccoon Ford to the Blue Ridge. But he soon learned by the re-enforcements coming to Jackson, that the enemy, relieved from the care of Richmond by the withdrawal of McClellan, was sending its entire force against General Pope. Then began the effort to delay the enemy, until the army from the Peninsula, coming up the Potomac, could unite with the Army of Virginia. On the 14th of August, came General Reno, with eight thousand men of the forces which had arrived at Falmouth under Burnside : and Pope pushed forward his whole force (except Gen eral Banks's Corps) towards the Rapidan. But it soon
POPE'S RETREAT. 121
became evident that this advanced line could not be maintained ; and, on the 18th, the whole army were put in motion back to the Rappahannock, which was to be held as long as possible, to embarrass and delay the enemy.1 The trains moved first, and the whole force retired rapidly and handsomely. General Banks's Corps, on the evening of the 18th, moved a mile north of Culpeper, to have a fair start in the morning ; while, at Culpeper, railway trains were loading, wagons moving off, and sutlers in despair. On the 19th, by Brandy Station, and across the Rappahannock, to be stationed (the Second) a few rods south of the bridge. The 12th and 13th Massachusetts, in General McDow ell's Corps, were near neighbors. It was a pleasant sight, that evening, when ninety good-looking recruits filed in, under Sergeant Stone,2 and their roll was called by the light of a candle. They were wanted. The next morning, the enemy's cavalry drove in the pickets on the other side, and everybody watched a pretty cavalry skirmish on the opposite plain. Nothing came of it. But, the next day, there commenced movings up and down. All the trains had been sent to the rear, and were safe. In the evening, the Second moved down the river a mile, and bivouacked in a shower. Waked by cannonade in the morning, and moved up the river (suffering for water in that miserable
1 General Reno, to move by way of Stevensburg to either Kelley's or Barnet's Ford; General Banks and General McDowell, to Rappahannock railway crossing; General Sigel, through Jefferson, to Sulphur Springs.
2 Now professor in Kenyon College.
122 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTEY.
country) six miles to Beverly Ford, to relieve a regi ment of General SigeFs ; witnessed a lively fight about sunset, in a brilliant thunder-storm ; and bivouacked in the wet.
General Gordon had been ordered to hold that ford. He^ posted Cothran's battery and the brigade, and waited sleeplessly. In the gray of the wet morning, he heard, with Colonel Kuger, a familiar sound : it was the noise of battery wheels. Soon the shot waked the men, and knocked over the regiment's rail fence. Colonel Andrews moved it a little to the right ; and General Gordon ordered the battery to open fire. The fog lifted a little, and Cothran knocked the enemy's guns to pieces; a second one shared the same fate, wheels breaking, guns falling. The enemy brought on a line of infantry, to get off their guns. Cothran's canister broke them, too ; having, himself, no man seriously hurt.
The men of the regiment made and drank coffee, in the rain ; moved up the river ten miles to the sound of artillery, and bivouacked in a wet hollow a little before midnight, with "fires low." Next day, up by Sulphur Springs, round shot and shell cut the limbs overhead. The last two days, a diet of green corn, — hard bread, fifty cents a piece, and rapidly rising, — and a little meat scraped by a few men from bones left by another corps. Sheep were discovered ; and, after a lively skirmish, they surrendered. The next day, up to near Waterloo Bridge, by orders to help Sigel, who was fight ing ; got there, and saw some .fighting ; but Sigel "didn't
POPE'S RETREAT. 123
want" the corps, relying on his "jackass batterees," which were unfortunately lost. Back a mile or two, and stayed until next day ; then easterly, to near Warren- ton ; cannonade, and the sight, in the evening, of the burning hotel at Sulphur Springs. Next day, to near Bealeton Station, by way of Fayetteville ; the next, to near Catlett's ; the next, the 28th, to Kettle Eun ; and the next day was the first day of the second battle of Manassas.
What all this moving was about, of course men in a regiment could not know. Nor did people at home know much ; for Pope had, at Rappahannock, prohib ited mails and despatches. The troops knew, however, that the enemy, while keeping us awake at every ford, was moving his forces steadily up the river. Their columns could sometimes be seen. General Pope at first held the river. Then he determined, on the 22d, to mass his force at and near Rappahannock Station, cross the river, and " fall on the flank and rear of the long column of the enemy " moving up the river ; but that night the rain swept off the bridges, and made the fords impassable. Then, on the 23d, Sigel, sup ported by Banks and Reno, moved to attack a force rumored to have crossed near Sulphur Springs ; the small force encountered at Great Run, two miles below Sulphur Springs, was driven across ; and General Mc Dowell was at Warrenton. On the night of the 22d, a force of the enemy's cavalry had crossed at Water loo, passed through Warrenton, and destroyed some of the wagons of General .Pope's own headquarter train ;
124
SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTHY.
Sigel and Banks keeping on to Waterloo. The enemy were still moving northward : Jackson passed through Thoroughfare Gap, and was in the rear. Then Pope determined to crush Jackson, and moved towards Manassas : here a brisk engagement on the evening of the 28th, between King's Division, McDowell's Corps, and Jackson's advance, — in which each held his ground. An attempt to hold Thoroughfare Gap, to keep Jackson isolated ; but it was a failure. And, on the 29th, the attack on Jackson, which ought to have succeeded ; but did not, — why, is matter of history. Then the battle of the 30th, when the enemy had re-enforced Jackson ; and its result.
During these battles, the Second, as did General Banks's Corps, lay idle, in hearing of the fire. Al though forming the extreme left, it was not brought into action. Why, nobody could tell. But General Banks's Corps was in the position necessary to guard that flank. He was then ordered to protect the trains from Warrenton Junction to Manassas, also. T The very important duty devolved upon Major- General Banks, the Major-General commanding the Army of Virginia feels assured that he will dis charge with intelligence, courage, and fidelity." Of course he would. He was to protect wagon-trains, railway-trains, see to rebuilding bridges, get the sick safely away from Warrenton, etc. ; and burn trains and locomotives, if necessary. So, after hearing the sound of the fighting on the 29th, the Second that evening moved a mile, and bivouacked under the lee of a grave-
POPE'S RETREAT. 125
yard. It was thought that the army was threatened in that direction. On the 30th, moved four miles on, toward the high ground on the north bank of the Broad Run, and bivouacked in a rain-storm. Then, on the 31st, after orders to destroy baggage, and even ambu lances, — which were saved on condition they should not delay the march a moment, — recrossed the run, saw a long line of cars in flames, from which the men saved a few things, where quantities of saddles, stationery, clothing, and muskets, went to the flames, orders allowing nothing to be taken, not even the mus kets of which our musketless recruits needed one apiece ; passed through Brentsville, forded the rapidly rising Occoquan ; and at noon had safely reached Bull Run, after a detour of twenty miles to accomplish four direct, — without a halt, for the Second led. At the end of the twenty miles, saw men leisurely coming over the four miles, from which no enemy had been visible.
But the army, .shattered and pursued by a victorious enemy, was not to remain at Centreville. The Second, with its corps, moved on the next day to near Fairfax Court-house, by the old Braddock Road. In the even ing, it was again under fire. The enemy were en deavoring to turn Hooker's right, near Chantilly. The battle was fought in a severe thunder-storm. The division, in which was the Second, were in line, to the rear of Reno ; and the enemy's fire passed overhead. The enemy was repulsed; but Kearney and Stevens fell.
126 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
The brigade was afterwards ordered back to Fairfax, to assist in bringing off stores. The order, not dated, was undoubtedly intended for an earlier period. The uselessness of the attempt was apparent : " the enemy are there in force." But the order had to be obeyed. Back some miles, "Where are you going?" said the commander of the rear guard of the army. " To Fair fax." — "Look there!" There was the rebel army; and, to reach Fairfax, the brigade would have to cut its way for miles, as everybody knew before it started.
So, on the 2d, to near Alexandria ; and on the 3d, to the shadow of Fort Albany. ' The daily movements from Culpeper to the defences of Washington had become history. General Banks's conduct had been " marked by great coolness, intrepidity, and zeal." "To confront with a small army," says General Pope, "vastly supe- .rior forces ; to fight battles without hope of victory, but only to gain time, and to embarrass, and delay the forward movement of the enemy, is of all duties the most hazardous and the most difficult which can be imposed upon any general and any army. ... It was only by constant movement, by incessant watchfulness, and hazardous skirmishes and battles, that the forces under my command were not overwhelmed; while, at the same time, the enemy was embarrassed, and delayed in his advance upon Washington, until the forces from the peninsula were at length assembled for the defence of the city."
This tells the whole story, as to the object of the campaign. The Army of Virginia had, in securing
POPE'S RETREAT. 127
this object, met with a series of disasters. Who is responsible for them belongs to general history. There was no fault in the men of that army. Heroism has never been displayed more brilliant than that of the officers and men. Greater endurance, more patriotic sacrifice, or a loftier patriotism, is not to be found. But the commanding general — it is useless to ignore the fact — never had the confidence of his men.
When, therefore, on the 2d of September, "Major General McClellan will have command of the fortifica tions of Washington, and of all the troops for the defence of the Capital," — a thrill of joy went through the army. The dispirited troops became enthusiastic, and their columns were again invincible. The Army of Virginia had ceased to exist.
128 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
XI.
ANTIETAM.
ON the 2d of September, General McClellan took command. The army was in front of Washington, on the south side of the Potomac. On the 3d, the enemy had disappeared. The General was satisfied that the rebels intended to cross the upper Potomac, into Mary land : and he ordered, that day, the Second and Twelfth Corps (Banks's Corps under a new numbering, officially announced on September 12th) to Tenallytown, above Washington ; the Ninth Corps to Seventh Street road, Washington ; and sent cavalry to the fords near Pools- ville. General Banks, who had not recovered from his injury received at Cedar Mountain, was left in command at Washington.
So, on the 4th of September, the Second, passing over the bridge at Georgetown, left Virginia for the third time, and camped a mile or two above Tenally town. The next day moved to a brook a mile and a half above Eockville. There the corps, Brigadier-Gene ral Williams in command, was attached to General Sumner's force. Here the troops were in line of battle, and were there four days. Sumner, commanding the
ANTIETAM. 129
Second and Twelfth Corps, formed the centre ; Burn- side, with the First and Ninth, on our right ; and Couch, the left, on the river.
It was necessary to move with caution. The enemy was known to be in force in Maryland, but whether it was for a movement on Baltimore was unknown. "It may be the enemy's object," telegraphed General Halleck, "to draw off the mass of our forces, and then attempt to attack from the Virginia side of the Poto mac." — "Positive information . . . that the line is cut, corroborates the idea that the enemy is recrossing the Potomac," said the President. " Until you know more certainly the enemy's force south of the Potomac," telegraphed General Halleck on the 13th, "you are wrong in thus uncovering the capital. I am of the opinion that the enemy will send a small column towards Pennsylvania to draw your forces in that direction, then suddenly move on Washington with the forces south of the Potomac, and those he may cross over." Against this pressure, however, McClellan, when satisfied that the enemy was in front, moved forward. A few days had re-organized the army, and partially renewed its supplies ; and confidence had been established. On the 9th, the whole army moved, — Burnside, on the right, to Brook ville ; Sumner, in the centre, to Damascus and Clarksburg; Franklin, on the left, to Barnesville and Poolsville. The troops moved in great parallels, the Twelfth Corps being in three such columns. The Second was at Middle brook, the night of the 9th ; near Damascus, the next ; still
9
130 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
nearer on the llth ; half a mile from Ijamsville, on the Baltimore and Ohio Kailway, on the 12th; and on the 13th, after fording our old acquaintance, the Mono-