USA > California > A Volume of memoirs and genealogy of representative citizens of northern California, including biographies of many of those who have passed away > Part 6
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The enemy having destroyed the bridge over the Chickahominy, Wilson's men were set at work repairing it, while Gregg's division held the enemy in check. It rained very hard all day, but that did not in the least deter the enemy from making it very disagreeable for us; nor on our part in making it unusually lively for them.
As I have said before, we entered their forts early in the morning, and turned their own guns upon them, and some of their guns in the immediate vicinity of Richmond made it hot for our men, who were serving the guns in the forts, as they were not built for protection from the rear. The Rich- mond Home Guards, with some of their regular forces, made it very hot for our cavalry, who were dismounted for the occasion.
I well remember several interesting incidents that took place that day. But I will relate only one, to give you some idea how interesting, and, I may say, amusing, it was for some of the boys, I being one of them who really enjoyed it.
Lieutenant Charles G. Miller (or as he was more familiarly called, "The Little Napoleon"), of our company, was sent out to the extreme front with a dozen men to see what the enemy was up to, as the firing had ceased in that direction. There were Lieutenant Miller, William Davis, Shel Stiggle- man, Joe Bowers, Billy Borts, myself and others in the party. It was rain- ing "great guns," and we made for an old log house, not far from the eremy's lines ; but we concluded that it would not be safe to stay in the house, as the enemy might surround it and capture us. So we found a large barn door and leaned it up against a cherry tree for shelter, fronting the enemy's line.
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Now Charlie Miller was one of the most eccentric men we had in the regi- ment. He was always rubbing his hand over his face, and if he felt a stray beard on his chin out would come his razor (which he always carried loose in his pocket ), and it made no difference where he was that beard must come off then and there! After we had got settled under the door, out of the rain, Miller began to feel of his face, and said, "By gosh, boys, I must shave !" So, putting his cake of Williams' soap ( which he always carried) out in the rain to get it wet, he had his face nicely lathered, and was getting ready to shave, when whang! bang! came a shot from the enemy. Miller says, "By gosh, I think they have got the drop on us:" and he ordered a retreat to the house, but soon found that that was not a safe place, for the chinks were being knocked out in all directions; so we took refuge in a stone milk-house at the foot of a small hill, and from there it was every man for himself.
The enemy was swarming out of the woods after us, so each man took to the brush. The ground was covered quite thickly with young oak trees of about three or four years' growth, so we were pretty well protected, as well as the enemy. I ran from one clump of bushes to another until I got behind a large oak tree that stood on the bank of a sunken roadway, and here I halted for further developments. I didn't have to wait long until I saw a "Johnny" run from one bush to another, and we kept up a lively correspond- ence with each other for some time, until he stopped. Probably he had rut out of ammunition, or something else, although I don't remember to have interviewed him on the subject. Then I tried an experiment to see just how mnich they thought of me. So I put my cap on a stick and held it out a few inches from the tree. But no sooner had the cap appeared in sight than they sent their compliments after it, and it was lucky for me that my head was not in that cap, for a ball passed through it! I became thoroughly satisfied that it was not any longer "healthy" in that particular spot, so crawled back- ward into the roadway and finally got into our lines; but some of the boys were not so fortunate and were captured. From where we were at the old log house we could see Richmond, being not more than one and a half miles ‹listant. We kept the enemy back, so they would not interfere with the build- ing of the bridge: and when that was repaired we crossed over to the south side and went into camp, with the rain still pouring in torrents. That night 1 sat at the foot of a big tree, but did not sleep, as my head ached as if it would split. We had eaten nothing but hardtack for two days, and were liable not to have anything warm for days to come.
To give some idea what a division of men can do, and that under the most unfavorable circumstances, I will here mention the feat performed by Wilson's division in rebuilding the bridge over the Chickahominy river. It was about 7 o'clock a. m. when they arrived on the ground. They cut the trees from the swamp and made a bridge over the river. That bridge was fully a quarter of a mile in length, and our forces were crossing it by 3 o'clock p. m.
The next day, the 13th, we had a brush with the "Johnnies" at Bottoms' bridge, and on the 14th passed over the old battle-fields of Mcclellan's unfor-
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tunate campaign of 1862, arriving at Haxtell's Landing that day, where we rested three days, and drew five days' rations from the commissary of Gen- eral B. F. Butler, who had been bottled up for some time and was unable to extricate himself.
On the 17th, at sundown, we started on our return to Grant's main army. The 18th was employed in skirmishing with a body of cavalry near White Horse Landing on the York river. It was here at the landing that the men from Michigan ( the same that built the bridge across the Chickahominy ) showed some more of their clever work. When we got to the York river we found no way of crossing, but there was a railroad bridge about three hundred feet long, and of sufficient height to admit of steamboats passing under it. The rails were all gone, but the stringers were intact, and all that it needed was plank to cover it. One of the Sixth Michigan men reported to the gen- eral that he had discovered an old sawmill about four miles back that could be repaired. The mill repaired, the lumber was sawed to cover the bridge, and as fast as the planks were sawed into twelve-foot lengths they were carried on horseback ( two men to one plank) to the bridge, there to be laid in place. By 12 o'clock that night the bridge was covered with plank, and the men began to cross on it by twos, leading their horses. Going across that bridge by moonlight gave one a peculiar feeling about the pit of the stomach akin to seasickness.
During the next five days we were maneuvering in and about West Point. We were then sent to Cold Harbor to cover the operations of General Custer, who had been sent to intercept a supply train. He met a larger force of infantry than he could handle, was for a time entirely surrounded, and but for the timely arrival of our brigade would have fared badly. Then the whole cavalry command returned to the main army, joining it on the 24th, after having made one of the most successful raids of the war.
From the 9th to the 24th we partly subsisted off the country through which we traversed,-a portion of the country that had been foraged over many times by the Confederate army ; nor did we lack for anything. But I, for one, was very glad to get back to hardtack and coffee. I think we fared the same that the Confederate army did all the time, but they were used to that way of living and we were not.
While on this raid I was sent out to do some foraging. In the party was an Irishman : I have forgotten his name, but we will call him Pat. for short. Now. Pat wanted everything in sight that he or his horse could eat, and was determined to have his own way in getting it. We had visited several houses, with no results: and we finally came to a small house in a clearing in the woods. I went and asked the lady of the house if she had any corn that she could spare us for our horses. She said, "I have about three pecks of shelled corn in a barrel in the attic." I saw that she told the truth and ordered the men not to touch it. Pat, who was always present, said, "Damn it! boys. I'm going to have that corn." I said, "Pat, you touch it at your peril." But, nevertheless, he started for the stairway and I ordered him under arrest and sent back to camp. This lady had three small children, who were cling-
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ing to their mother and seemed nearly frightened out of their wits at seeing Union soldiers. She remarked that this corn was all that she had in the world to live on! I think she told the truth, for I did not even see a chicken or pig about the place. She thanked us for leaving the corn. We went about one mile further on, where we found plenty of corn and hams, which made us feel happy.
The return to the main command did not afford us much rest. The infantry forces had been fighting almost continuously from the 5th to the 24th, and had lost, in killed, wounded and missing, nearly one-fourth of our army, but had outflanked Lee at every turn, and were now on the point of crossing the North Anna river.
On the 26thi Grant sent Sheridan, with Torbit and Gregg's divisions, to Taylor's Ford, to deceive the enemy if possible and watch the crossings, one division of the Sixth Corps following us, as usual. As soon as it was dark the withdrawal of the Army of the Potomac to the south side of the North Anna river began, and by the morning of the 27th the army had crossed, and the pontoons were taken up and other bridges destroyed.
We were at Hanovertown on the morning of the 27th, capturing that place, with little opposition ; but in the afternoon we encountered the forces of Fitzhugh Lee and Gordon on the Hanover Court House road and forced them back to Attlee's Station. It was reported that the enemy's cavalry was massed at Hanover Court House, and on the afternoon of the 27th our regi- ment was ordered to make a reconnaissance to find out whether this was a fact. We found the enemy. as reported. In returning to our command that night, in the darkness we ran into an outpost picket headquarters and were given a warm reception by our own men. I remember that one of our men was wounded in the knee, and he made as much noise as a whole regiment of men would if wounded in regular battle. The remainder of that night I spent on the porch of an old house, but slept very little.
Here I must relate a peculiar dream, or presentiment, that I had that night. It was so indelibly stamped on my mind that it never can be effaced. I dreamed that on the morrow we would have a hard-fought battle, and I would either be killed or wounded. I saw the battle-field in my dream, and saw the very spot where I was wounded. I saw the dead and dying all around me. The next morning I told some of the boys of my dream and the most of them laughed at me for being so superstitious. About 8 o'clock Major Northway came to me and said, "Truman, don't you want to take some men and go out and bring in that corn that we captured yesterday?" I did as requested. The Major said. "I believe I will go out with you: I am not feeling very well this morning." We rode along some distance in silence, and finally I said, "Delos. I had a most peculiar dream last night:" and I told him the dream. He said, "True, that is queer ; I had the same dream last night." We got our corn, and on our way back the boys got some chickens, and my mess had chicken for dinner : but I could not eat any, and they laughed at me for being so superstitious.
Dinner was hardly finished before "boots and saddles" was sounded on
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double quick, and the boys knew well what that meant. We were in our saddles in almost no time, and off to the left of the road, about one-fourth of a mile, went our battalion on double quick. We had come to a narrow, but deep ravine, that could not be crossed with horses ; so, as usual, in cases like this, we left our horses with the fifth man, and went into this battle dis- mounted. In crossing the ravine spoken of there was a large tree that had fallen across it, and on this we crossed. Some of the men were very "shaky" in the knees, and tumbled off into the ravine: but, of course, they were on hand for the fight. I don't remember ever knowing of one of our boys to miss a fight, if they could get to it in time. About fifteen rods from the ravine we met the enemy in the woods. They proved to be the forces of Fitzhugh Lee and Gordon's old division of cavalry. The woods were quite open, and much dead timber lying on the ground. With this we fortified ourselves as best we could ; but it was only a few minutes before the firing on both sides became general all along the line, and I must say that it was the most severe engagement that I was ever in. After we had been engaged about fifteen or twenty minutes it became so hot that I was sure that every man in the com- pany would go down, and I found out afterwards that it was equally hot all along the line. We left our breastworks early in the fight and were advancing. slowly at first; but reinforcements must have come up on the enemy's side, for all at once they began to pour the lead into our ranks harder than ever ; but we stood firm. I was just pumping out the old cartridge and putting a new one in my carbine when a minie ball passed through my left arm near the shoulder. I asked Sergeant Will Davis to relieve me of my cartridge belt and revolver ; then I walked back to my horse. Just as I was leaving the field the Sixth Michigan Cavalry came on the field with a shout, and as they passed me I shouted. "Go in boys;" and I imagine that it was not long before they were fighting side by side, with the Sixth Ohio boys; and it was not long before the battle was ours. It was a heavy loss on both sides. Our men buried three hundred and fifty of the enemy, and, of course, the number of their wounded must have been large.
As I left the battle-field I crossed the same old log that had given some of the boys such a peculiar sensation in the legs as they walked it one-half hour before, as they were going into the battle. The minie balls were whiz- zing past me at a lively rate. I finally reached the headquarters of the division surgeon, who is nearly always near the front, to attend to those who need prompt assistance. They put a tight bandage around my arm and gave me a large drink of brandy. I then mounted my horse, and rode about one mile back to the brigade hospital.
As I was riding past a troop of cavalry ( which I afterward found to be the Second Ohio) that I had not seen since it went to the western army in 1862, a lieutenant by the name of Cowdry noticed me and said to his captain, "I believe that that man that just passed is Reeves from our town;" and shortly afterward he followed me.
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HOSPITAL LIFE.
Arriving at the brigade hospital, which was about a mile from the battle- Geldl. where I found Dr. W. B. Rezner and staff, in the act of amputating a man's leg. Zenas A. Northway, a cousin of mine, came to me and asked what was the matter. I said, "Well, Zenas, I guess you will have to take my arm off." He gave me a big drink of brandy and I sat down and watched them operate on the other fellow, and was satisfied that they had done a good job. and he didn't die under the operation ; and I told them that I was ready whenever they were. After my arm was amputated they laid me on the ground. to recover from the effect of chloroform, and here I will leave myself for a few minutes and take you back to the field of battle again.
The First Battalion was commanded by Major Delos R. Northway, which was on the right of the road. fighting for dear life. The major was shot through the heart, as I afterward learned, at almost the same instant that I was wounded. His presentiment and mine proved true. George R. Northway, another cousin, went to assist the major, and was wounded five times, none of the wounds proving fatal at that time, but he eventually died from the effects of them.
I will now go back to the hospital and to myself again. As I said before, I was laid on the ground to recover from the effects of the anæsthetic. When I became conscious of things on this mundane sphere I saw standing over me a lieutenant in the Second Ohio Cavalry by the name of Cowdry, who had followed me after seeing me ride past his regiment. I reached out my right hand and said, "How are you. Tip?" Just then my left shoulder gave me a sharp twinge of pain, and I felt for my left arm, and found that it was gone, and I said, "That's all right. Tip;" and we commenced to talk about the fight that was going on at the front. I never had the pleasure of seeing Cowdry from that day to this. The doctors all remarked that Reeves was about the coolest man they had ever operated upon.
A field hospital is not a pleasant place to be in, especially when the army is on the move and surgical operations are being performed. Ours consisted of a large Sibly tent. no cots of any kind for the wounded to lie on. My bed. for the two nights that I lay in that tent, was a few pine boughs, covered with a rubber poncho blanket. It was so hot that no covering was needed. There were several other badly wounded men in the tent, and I do not now recall to mind but one attendant that came near us the first night we were there, and he only to bring us water and hardtack ; and I can assure you that it was untold agony that I suffered. The next day and night we were left to the tender care of my old friend Henry Van Hout, a sort of a roustabout at hospital headquarters. He was a Polander and could not speak the English language very well. The next day after I was wounded he came to me and said, "Moster Reeves, here is your gold ring: I had to cut it off your little finger to get it off." I would much rather he had not told me that, but was thankful to get my ring. I placed it on my right-hand little finger and wore it until 1885.
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The second morning after the battle we were put in ambulances to go to White House Landing, there to take the steamer to Washington. After riding over a very rough road for a mile or so I told the driver to let me out and I would walk, as the jolting was more than I could stand. I took my canteen of water, but nothing to eat, and trudged along that hot, dusty road all alone, with the sun seemingly trying its best to melt me down. That thirty miles to the landing was the longest and hardest thirty miles that I ever attempted to travel, and I thought it would never come to an end. By keeping my shoulder thoroughly wet by pouring water from my canteen on it, I managed to survive. At last, about I o'clock in the morning, I came to a wagon train. I awoke one of the drivers and asked if he could give me something to eat and permission to sleep under his wagon. He gave me some crackers and some salt pork, and also gave up his bed to me. But, tired as I was, I could not sleep, on account of the severe pain in my shoulder. The next morning, after eating a few crackers, I went to the landing, where, to my great joy, I found the Sanitary Commission, where I was soon cared for by a doctor and a lady attendant. The very sight of a lady at that time and place did more to cheer up the wounded than a whole corps of doctors,- not that I did not think the doctors necessary; and I felt like throwing my good right arm around the one that helped the doctor that morning, for it was the next thing to having my dear mother with me. I think that I felt like repeating that little verse that my mother taught me when a small boy :
"Mother's love, supremest blessing That on man was ere bestowed ; When all else in life forsakes you, Mother's your eternal friend."
At the White House Landing there was a hospital boat in waiting to take the wounded to Washington, at which point we arrived three or four days later. Owing to the fact that I had tised so much water on my shoulder on my way from Cold Harbor to the landing, the dressing had partly come off. exposing the wound, and the flies had not been slow in making their presence known to me. Although I was very much worried about the skip- pers being in the wound the doctor said they had probably saved my life, after the experience I had had. I well remember how rejoiced I was to hear him say so, as it was worrying me not a little. But how were they to be gotten out? That was the question uppermost in my mind just then. "The easiest thing in the world," replied the doctor, as he prepared a little diluted chloro- form and turned it on my shoulder, and the skippers all "skipped" out in a basin. I really believe a happier man than I could not be found in that hos- pital.
From the day that I entered the United States hospital (I was there abottt one month) I was around the ward, writing letters for those that could not write. I found many comrades that were more unfortunate than myself. I remember one poor fellow that had his right arm and left leg off! His name was George W. Truelove. He had married a few months before he
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entered the service, and he would have no one write his letters to his wife but myself. My wound was healing nicely, and if I could have stayed there a month longer I would have been home three months sooner than I was, and escaped no end of suffering.
Grant's army had crossed the James river and were having very hard fighting all along the line in front of Petersburg, trying to capture the Weldon Railway and the works in front of Petersburg, which if captured would let them into the fortifications of Richmond.
The sick and wounded were being sent to the hospitals in and around Washington, so that those that were already in the hospitals, that could be moved farther northi, were sent out as fast as possible. Cars were scarce, and almost any old thing in the shape of a car was good enough for sick and wounded soldiers ; so thought the railways running out of Washington. We were placed aboard of a regular box car, fitted up with rough plank seats, placed crosswise of the car; and in these we were huddled like cattle, about fifty in a car! We left Washington about 10 o'clock a. m., of a hot July day, with no provision being made for food or water for us, and the suffering that we endured is beyond description. We arrived at Baltimore about 6 o'clock in the evening, and were fed by the Sanitary Commission ladies. Here I made a vigorous protest and by so doing managed to get into a day coach. I told the officer in charge of the train that I would not ride another mile in that box car, as the jolting of the car had already caused the wound to break out afresh. From Baltimore we went to Chester, Pennsylvania, where the govern- ment had a large general hospital. We arrived there about midnight, to find our way to the hospital as best we could. I found the hospital, which was about three-fourths of a mile from the depot. more dead than alive. The wound in my shoulder had sloughed off, so that the bone was exposed. The inhuman treatment that I received from the time I left Washington was a disgrace to any civilized nation ; and I so reported to headquarters.
Now commenced the battle of life and death with me. For more than two months I did not leave my bed, and the agony that I had to endure is far beyond my ability to describe. About two weeks after entering the hospital gangrene set in ; and I will here say that it was at that time the most dreaded of all the many diseases to wounds that the doctors and patients had to con- tend with. In my case it was alarming. as it was not attended to in time to stop its course before it had eaten a hole into my shoulder two or three inches in diameter and at a depth that was very suggestive of being too near the heart! At one time they thought I was dying and the doctor attending to my case concluded to call in counsel. Doctors to the number of twenty-two gathered around my cot to see me, and I do not believe there was one of them that thought I would live a day longer. They held a council and the chief sur- geon, an old German, said, "Val, the poor boy can't live; but we'll experiment on him!" So they turned me over on my right side and began operations. All this time I could hear and understand what they said, and knew what they were doing. They cauterized the sore, and did me up the best they could, and, from what took place later on, they evidently thought I would die before
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morning. The next day the old doctor, with all of his staff, came to see what kind of a corpse I was making. As the old doctor came to my bed he said, "Mine Cot ! Mine Cot! the poor poy is alive." Evidently the old doctor had expressed the opinion of all the rest. From that day I began to improve, and in a few weeks was able to be out; and I am confident that there was not a pound of real live flesh on my bones ; in fact, I was a living skeleton, wabbling around in a very uncertain sort of a way. But I was satisfied to wabble at all, after the trials that I had passed through.
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