USA > Delaware > Four years in the war. The history of the First Regiment of Delaware Veteran Volunteers, (Infantry,) containing an account of marches, battles, incidents, promotions. The names of all the officers and men who have been connected with the regiment from its organization in 1861, to the close of the war in 1865 > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17
.
.26
HISTORY OF THE
on their shoulders, and wondered what it meant, for I saw them march off across the field. On inquiry I learned that one of the companies of the regiment, having been on picket duty a few days previous, had gone, after they were relieved, to a well furnished farm-house, and supplied themselves with what they could find and carry to camp. General Wool hear- ing of it, placed the officers commanding and the men under arrest, and required them to return every . article.
To Lieutenant-Colonel O. Hopkinson, more, pro- bably, than to any one else, the Regiment owed their acknowledged skill and efficiency as skirmishers, he having drilled them with special pains and remarka- ble success.
Major T. A. Smyth, having served in the Twenty- fourth Pennsylvania Regiment during the three months' service, and having a natural talent for military duties, was well fitted for the position he occupied. His subsequent advancement to the posi- tion of a general officer seemed the natural result of his soldierly qualities.
Surgeon D. W. Maull, having been a practising physician at Georgetown, Del., for several years pre- vious to the war, entered the service as a private at the commencement of the rebellion, but was imme-
27
FIRST DELAWARE REGIMENT.
diately commissioned as lieutenant. Upon the re- organization of the Regiment he received the appoint- ment of surgeon, and continued in the service till after the surrender of Lee. Though he could not rise to a higher grade than the one to which he was at first appointed, he became the ranking Surgeon of the Second Division of the Second Corps, and was Surgeon-in-Chief of Division. Energetic and prompt in the discharge of his duties, he won for himself the esteem of his fellow surgeons, and during the battles of the Wilderness and before Petersburg became one of the chief operators.
First Lieutenant and Adjutant W. P. Seville brought to the Regiment considerable military know- ledge, acquired at West Point and on an expedition to Utah. He was promoted to a captaincy, and became Acting Assistant Adjutant-General on the staff of General T. A. Smyth, of the Third Brigade.
First Lieutenant and Quartermaster T. Y. Eng- land, becoming known as one of the most competent and efficient officers, was commissioned captain and commissary of subsistence, and was assigned to duty at army headquarters.
Assistant Surgeon S. D. Marshall was a well read young practitioner before entering the service. He
28
HISTORY OF THE
resigned, on surgeon's certificate of disability, after the battle of Fredericksburg.
Of Chaplain T. G. Murphy it does not become me to speak, except, as a matter of history, to say that he was a regularly ordained minister, and had been pastor of the Presbyterian churches of Dover and Smyrna, Del., for a number of years before the war. In view of his services with the wounded during and subsequently to the great battles he was, upon re- commendation of the Surgeon-in-Chief of Division, assigned, by order from corps headquarters, to duty at the division hospital in 1864.
The record of the line officers will be found in the accounts of camp life, marches, and the battles in which they fought, were wounded, or killed. Sur- . geon Maull and the chaplain were the only officers who remained with the Regiment that retained their original position. They and Brevet Brigadier-Gene- ral Woodall and Captain Sparks alone of the original officers remained at the close of the war.
Having arrived at Fortress Monroe we were in the enemy's country, and could not fail to notice the difference between seceled Virginia in a state of war, and loyal Delaware in a time of peace. The contrast was great, and decidedly in favor of the latter. This was all the more remarkable because
FIRST DELAWARE REGIMENT. 29
we were in one of the finest portions of the Old Dominion-at Point Comfort, which nature and art had combined to make a most delightful place of resort, or residence. Here the carly settlers rested after a boisterous and dangerous voyage across the ocean. To them it must have been a comfort indeed to anchor in this beautiful harbor, and to rest on that quiet shore shaded by the ever- green pines and forests of oak, in which the wood- man's axe had never rung; and in freedom, security, and peace to enjoy the refreshing breeze that swept across the sea. But it is not now what it once was. The noble forest trees have been felled, the cultivated fields trampled beneath the hoof of the neighing warhorse, the enclosed gardens laid waste, and the homes where once refinement, wealth, and beauty dwelt are deserted or laid in ashes and utter ruin.
What has brought this change? What but the demon of war. It has left to neither field, or farm, or boundary. Destruction and desolation now reign where peace and plenty once abounded.
Hampton, the beautiful village that sat in the shade of wide spreading trees, and in the midst of a garden of flowers, is now no more like its former :If than the naked and sightless skull is like the. well formed features and sparkling eyes of a village
3*
30
HISTORY OF THE
beauty. Magruder, the Confederate General, vainly imagining that every Virginia town was a Moscow, laid it in ashes, lest the Union soldiers might make their winter quarters there. The roofless houses and churches, the broken chimneys and blackened walls are all that are left of that queen of villages. But they are doing their duty well in deriding him for his folly and sin. New Castle, in Delaware, is what Hampton was in Virginia. The inclosed farms and cultivated fields, the well furnished houses, and the bursting barns in Delaware are what might and would have been in Virginia but for the rebellion.
Occasionally a few ladies were seen on the parade grounds, but it was very seldom that a gentleman was there in citizen's clothes. Very different in this respect were the evening parades at Camp Andrews, where ladies and gentlemen assembled every evening to witness the dress parades. Very different, too, was the manner of going through the manual of arms after Colonel Andrews had drilled his men a few weeks.
The soldiers' rations were now drawn from the quartermaster, and not from their home tables. Even the officers felt the change, for, notwithstand- ing the fine fish and oysters which were so abundant, they would have been glad to sit down at Mr. Mor-
31
FIRST DELAWARE REGIMENT.
rison's well supplied table at Hare's Corner. Every- thing assumed a military aspect. The pic-nic at the Cross Roads was broken up. Playing soldier was over.
The initiation of the Regiment in doing picket duty was severe. Though they had not far to go from camp, the line was low, wet, dark and dan- gerous, both on account of the nature of the land, and the supposed proximity of the enemy. Our Union forces had been defeated at Big Bethel, a few miles distant, and the Confederates still held the place. How much nearer they were and in what force was not known. They were supposed to be not far off and in considerable numbers. Under such circumstances for the picket to sleep on his post was considered both disgraceful and dangerous. Remiss- ness in this duty might endanger the whole line, and even the encampment. Hence every man on post was required to stand with his face to the foe, and not to sleep. At one post, where a corporal and six men were stationed, the sentinel was required to keep a lookout from the top of a tree, as from such a position the approach of an enemy could be discov- ered at a greater distance than from the ground. There was an "alarm along the line" not unfrequent- ly, owing probably to inexperience or timidity. With
32
HISTORY OF THE
such precaution and watchfulness it was dangerous for any one to approach a sentinel except in the direction and manner prescribed. A serious accident occurred, on a part of a line picketed by the First Delaware, which was through a woods in which was much undergrowth. One very dark night when a person could not be seen a few paces off, young Hamilton, of Company I, having been relieved, was returning to the post of the reserves, and losing his way approached the picket, who, supposing him to be an enemy stealing through the bushes, fired upon him. The ball struck his thigh and broke it. HIe was removed to the Hygeia Hospital at the Fortress, where he suffered with great patience and soldierly courage.
The pickets returning from duty often had amusing stories to tell of each other. One seeing a bush shaking by the wind, called out "Halt," but he re- ceived no answer and fired at the reed. Another, strange to say, mistaking a stray hog for a chival- rous foe, made him squeal and "bite the dust." Such mistakes (?) sometimes were more serious than at first supposed, for the offending party was made to pay for his game. Another, who might have been taken for a lunatic, seeing the moon dimly rising through the trees and supposing an enemy was ap-
----
2
33
FIRST DELAWARE REGIMENT.
proaching with a lantern, shot at the moon, but missed his mark.
During the early part of the winter, when the weather was fair, the Regiment was frequently exer- cised in all the military evolutions, but these occu- pied only a part of their time, and various expedients were resorted to for entertainment. Men who, before they enlisted, had but little taste for reading, became anxious for a book, paper or tract, and the chaplain, with an armful of reading matter, which the Amer- ican Tract Society, and the Presbyterian Board of Publication furnished him, was always a welcome visitor to their tents. Several hundred letters left the camp daily, and some whose educational advan- tages had been limited or neglected in early life, applied themselves to learning to read and write with gratifying results. Games of chance, as an amuse- ment, degenerated by a short, natural, and easy process into gambling, and the expert won handsome sums from the inexperienced, whose families became the sufferers. This evil, coming to the knowledge of the colonel, was arrested by an order from him for- bidding it. A similar order from General Wool, extending to the whole command was soon after issued. The authority and power of military commands to restrain open vice is limited only by their own dis-
-
34
HISTORY OF THE
position. The prohibitory liquor laws which have proved ineffectual in civil life, are as casily and effectually enforced as any other by military au- thority.
The articles of war are not only a military but a moral code, and the army, instead of being a school of vice, may be a school of morals. Intemperance, profanity, gambling, and other immoral and ungen- tlemanly habits receive no countenance from these articles. They seem to be based on the assumption that good morals and gentlemanly habits are essen- tial to a good and true soldier. If the whole truth were told, we doubt not, the war would furnish very many instances to show how essential these traits are in commanders. Drunkenness, profanity, and other immoralities, are traits in military leaders which do not command the respect or confidence of their men. We have lost more than one victory, suffered more than one defeat, and buried many a brave man in consequence of the excessive use of rum. Soldiers who would drink to excess themselves have often severely censured it in commanders, and expressed their unwillingness to be led into battle by a drunken officer.
It is not to be supposed that in becoming soldiers the officers or men had changed their tastes or habits,
35
- 19555
FIRST DELAWARE REGIMENT.
or that they would not scek gratification in their ac- customed ways.
The colonel gave liberty to the chaplain to " do all the good he could:" not only so, he gave him the opportunity to preach the Word every Sabbath to the whole Regiment, drawn up in a hollow square. He was always present himself and ordered, " officers to the front," that he might know who were absent.
The preacher had a noble congregation before him, and they made a fine appearance. To him the sword and musket added solemnity to the scene. Many of those who stood before him in the panoply of carthly warfare, he had reason to fear, would ere long, fall on the field of battle to rise no more.
How many of these are clothed in the "armor of God?" Are they all good " soldiers of Jesus Christ ?" Will they all "come off conquerors" through him ? Will each be able to say at the last, " I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of right- cousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that day ?" These questions pressed with solemn weight on his mind. There was no time to be lost. They must be pointed to the cross --- led directly to Jesus, as the Captain of salvation. All other knowledge except of Christ and him
36
HISTORY OF THE
crucified would be unavailing for the soul's happy immortality. In no other garments than those of Christ's righteousness could they appear accepted before God. Under the influence of these thoughts he preached the gospel which to some is foolishness and to others a stumbling block, but to them who believe, it is the wisdom of God and the power of God unto salvation. They who were Christians at home were Christians in camp. Animated by the same spirit their fears, their hopes, their aims, were one-their comforts and their cares whether at home or in the army. The war did not destroy
religion in the soul. It wilted that which was so only in appearance, and had been grown on the stony ground of unsanctified hearts. It tested and proved the genuineness and reality of Chris- tian experience, but did not destroy it. The ex- perience of the Royal Psalmist, on the banks of the river of Babylon, longing for the communion of the sanctuary; and the Christian soldier, at Camp Hamilton, desiring the privileges of God's people in the house of prayer, were alike. Both could say, "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts. My soul longeth, yea, even faint- eth for the courts of the Lord. A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather
1
.
FIRST DELAWARE REGIMENT. 37
be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." The weekly religious exercises on the parade ground were not sufficient to satisfy the longings of pious soldiers for their accustomed social evening meetings. As- sisted by the officers, we purchased a large "chapel tent," and dedicated it with appropriate ceremonies, to religious, moral, and intellectual uses.
In this tabernacle we formed the "Soldiers' Chris- tian Association," and met for prayer, preaching, lectures, and debates. Those of the original mem- bers who remain, or, who subsequently joined the association, will probably be glad to have the pre- amble and' enunciation of sentiments proserved in the History of the Regiment as a part of it in which their religious life is, in a measure, portrayed. This Association, though often suspended in its operations, still existed to the close of the war, and a pleasant addition was made to it at the Field Hospital of the Second Division, Second Corps, not long before the opening of the last campaign. Several of those who joined it previously to the battles of the Wilderness, died in those and sub- s quent battles. And, in the hospitals, pleasant references were made by the sick and dying, to our meetings held in the tent, or log chapel. The
4
.
38
HISTORY OF THE
religious life, hidden to the eye of the world, of not a few was seen by Him who "watched for souls as they who must give account." Pious parents, whose prayers for their sons were unanswered during the abundant privileges of a religious kind in civil life, may find that God had them all trea- sured up with their answers in the church trium- phant in heaven,
Preamble and articles of the "Soldiers' Christian Association" of the First Regiment of Delaware Volunteers. Date of or- ganization, Camp Hamilton, near Fortress Monroe, Virginia, February, 1862.
We, whose names are here enrolled, for the purpose of our intellectual, moral and religious improvement, do hereby form ourselves into an association, to be called " The Soldiers' Chris- tian Association," and make the following declaration of our views and principles :
I. We reverently acknowledge God as our King, who has the right to rule in us and reign over us; as our Law-giver, who has the right to prescribe both what we should be and what we should do; and as our future and final Judge, who will award to every man according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
II. We trustingly acknowledge Jesus Christ as the only suf- ficient Saviour, and we willingly enlist, as soldiers of the Cross, under him as the Captain of our salvation, believing that he is able to bring us off conquerors and more than conquerors over
39
FIRST DELAWARE REGIMENT.
all our spiritual foes, and we engage faithfully to imitate and follow him whithersoever he leads.
III. We acknowledge the Holy Spirit as our sanctifier, by whose help alone we can be faithful unto the end, and fitted for death.
IV. We adopt the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as our rule of faith and practice, and take them as the man of our counsel, a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path.
V. Any officer or soldier may become a member of this Asso- ciation by signing his name to these articles.
VI. Any member who shall behave inconsistently with the foregoing declarations, may be admonished in the spirit of meck- ness, and if he persists in his improprieties, may be expelled from the Association by a vote of a majority of the members present at any regular meeting.
VII. The officers of this Association shall be a president, who shall be the Chaplain of the Regiment, and five curators, chosen quarterly by ballot, who, with the President shall constitute a committee through whom all charges and complaints shall be made to the Association.
VIII. Any member, against whom there are no charges, shall have the liberty of withdrawing from the Association by a vote of the majority of the members present at any regular meeting of the Association.
Whilst the members of the Association were pre- paring a place and means of enjoyment of a kind they desired, others were erecting a building for different kinds of entertainments suited to their
7
40
HISTORY OF THE
tastes. In the rear of our Chapel Tent, a large and well-proportioned log theatre was built.
When finished, it was a wonder how so complete an affair could be brought from the woods and constructed with so few facilities. Within it was conveniently and comfortably arranged, with stage, rising and falling curtains, shifting scenery, foot- lights, orchestra, etc. The walls were ornamented with evergreen festoons, and chandeliers entwined with ivy, interspersed with the red and blue berries of laurel and cedar, hung from the roof. It was opened with a ball, at which officers and ladies from other camps and the Fort participated. The the- atrical performances which succeeded, passed off with great eclat. The building was not large enough to accomodate all who, no doubt, would have been glad to attend the performances of the amateurs, and private soldiers were excluded, ex- cept a certain number from each company, who were from time to time reported the cleanest and most soldierly in appearance. Most of the actors were members of the Regiment, and performing their parts well were frequently applauded by the audience.
Other agencies were busy. Disease and death were doing their work, The large three-story
----
41
FIRST DELAWARE REGIMENT.
building adjacent to the camp, and near the water's edge, which Surgeon Maull, with characteristic fore- thought and energy, had secured for the sick, was well filled with patients from the two regiments. An alarming disease suddenly appeared in camp and removed to " the pale realms of death " four of our men in five days. Two died in one day. As we carried one out for burial, another was brought into the hospital, and before we returned from the grave of the first, the second was a corpse. Captain Neal Ward, of Company C, mysteriously disappeared from camp, and all efforts to find him were unavail- ing for several days. His lifeless body was at length found [March 26, 1862,] in the water, near the bridge. His remains were sent home with an escort of officers and men from his company.
In consequence of exposure, and the new mode of life for the men, many of them were sick during the winter; and yet there were but nine that died of disease in the first eight months of service. The surgeons, and hospital attendants, were indefatiga- ble in their attention, and the many good things for the sick which were received from the soldiers' friends at home, were both a comfort and a benefit to them.
Those who were buried at Camp Hamilton, ex-
4*
42
HISTORY OF THE
cepting one, were interred beneath a large willow tree which stood near the shore, and about a quarter of a mile to the rear of the hospital. Under the same tree is the tomb-stone of a Mrs. Laws, which states that she was the wife of the architect of the Fortress, and that he was a Delawarian.
On one occasion, our surgeon, having a concern for the spiritual as well as the physical condition of his patients, sent for the chaplain at midnight to go to see a soldier who had been brought into the hos- pital very ill. He was delirious, and rolled and tossed from side to side, unconscious of what he did or said. The chaplain spoke to him but received no reply. He laid his hand on his forehead, and con- tinued to talk to him, in a mild and steady tone, hoping, if possible, to recall reason to her throne. At length, becoming more calm, the chaplain asked him if he should pray for him. He made no reply, but turned his eye as if recognizing the character of the question.
We knelt and prayed that God would restore him to his right mind, rebuke the disease, and create in him a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within him. During the prayer he became calm. The doctor's salutation the next morning was gratifying and amusing as it was characteristic. "Chaplain,"
43
FIRST DELAWARE REGIMENT.
said he, "your prayer, or my pills, did that man good last night. He is better to-day." I suggested to him that his improved condition might be due to the combination of means. He continued ill, how- ever, for some time, but at length becoming conva- lescent, returned to his company. A few days after- wards he came suddenly into my tent and said, "Chaplain, have you any good book for me to read ? I have resolved to turn my face heavenward, and need a guide. I am resolved to seek religion. I am ashamed for having neglected it so long. I feel that I have been very wicked." His earnestness of manner, and conversation, led me to believe that the Lord had commenced a good work in him, which he would carry on to the day of redemption. His journey was a short one. His race soon run. Soon after this interview he had a relapse and died, during my absence on sick leave.
we are
: Không
44
HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER III.
NAVAL BATTLE.
WHEN the spring opened, the grounds around the officers' quarters appeared like the flower gardens of our peaceful and beautiful villages. Their front walks were paved with the bricks taken from the broken walls of Hampton, and flowers were trans- planted from its yards and gardens. General Wool admonished them that they would not be paid for their trouble, as they would not long enjoy the fruit of their labors. So it proved.
On the Sth of March, a dark object of unusual form and dimensions came slowly down the Elizabeth River from the direction of Norfolk. It was the long-threatened and looked for Merrimac. In- stantly, every thing was astir at the Fortress and in' the harbor. The transports, little and big, which had been sitting like swans in the quiet water in the Roads, immediately weighed anchor, and spreading their sails moved round behind the fortifications, or put to sca. The great guns on the parapets of the
-
FIRST DELAWARE REGIMENT. 45
Fortress and on the Rip-Raps were manned and put in readiness to give her a suitable reception. The Minnesota moved up to meet her foe. But the black mammoth bore away around Craney Island, and, moving up to Newport News, at the mouth of the James River, attacked the frigates Congress and Cumberland. They fought her bravely, but ineffec- tually, for their shot rattled and rolled from her iron sides as harmless as hail from the roof of a house. Yet they would not yield, or surrender, but went down at their posts fighting as they sunk. The Congress, during the engagement, took fire and was abandoned. The Cumberland struck mid-ship by the Merrimac, carconed and sunk; many of her crew went down with her -- she becoming their coffin in a watery grave. Some of her crew leaped from the sinking wreck and swam for the shore, but were picked up by the long boats from the enemy's ship, and became prisoners. The Minnesota grounded on her way to the scene of action, yet she and the St. Lawrence kept up a continuous fire during the con- fliet, pouring upon the iron-clad their heavy broad- sides, though without producing the least impression, so far as could be learned. Having destroyed our two frigates, and after shelling the camp at Newport
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.