USA > Massachusetts > Reminiscences of military service in the Forty-third regiment, Massachusetts infantry, during the great Civil war, 1862-63 > Part 15
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my arms in the vain endeavor to avoid their thrusts. Singu- lar as it may seem, we were not annoyed by them in our tents on the open plain, on the other side of the Trent.
Another pest of our army-life may as well be brought to the front now as at any other time. We had a common Sibley tent for the reserve-post at this same picket-station. It was as dirty and neglected as was usual in such cases. One day, while I was on duty at the nearest post, I noticed that the members of the guard who happened to be occupy- ing the tent, all at once, and without any apparent provoca- tion, sprung out of it with a haste which could not have been excelled if a live shell had dropped in their midst. They then straightway proceeded to level it to the ground, working with a zeal that showed that they were in earnest. After I came in, I tried, in an indirect way, to ascertain what the matter was; but nobody knew. For this reason, I fear that I shall be obliged to leave the reader to evolve the cause out of his or her inner consciousness.
There may have been a few who escaped this fearful nui- sance, one of the greatest humiliations of our soldier-life : if there were any such, they were fortunate indeed. Come they would, in spite of the utmost care of our persons. With the indifferent and thoughtless, they stopped. By per- petual vigilance, those who were energetic in their personal habits of cleanliness managed to resist, with more or less of success, this Egyptian plague.
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CHAPTER XI.
THE RETURN HOME.
THE ensuing letters detail the order of events by which T the regiment found itself transferred to Virginia, and made, to some extent, a participant in the interest attaching to the occurrences which culminated at Gettysburg.
CAMP ROGERS, June 21, 1863.
Yesterday was nine months since our company took the oath for that length of time, and, by a coineidenee somewhat singular, we marched to the barracks of Company HI, Seventeenth Regi- ment, and stacked our arms, while they served us the same way. They have got our splendid arms, in the most perfeet order ; and we take sueh a set of Brummagems as you never put eyes on, mostly Belgian smooth-bores. We are glad for their sakes, how- ever.
We have received to-day New-York newspapers to the 17th inst., in which the North seems to be in full blast for another seare ; and items from Boston look as though the Forty-fourth would be off again (baek to the scene of war). We look upon it as somewhat exaggerated, though it may be, that, in sheer desperation, the rebel forees are moving north en masse. It is thought possible that it may effeet us, even to the extent of going home by way of Vir- ginia or Pennsylvania ; though of this we know nothing, and there are various theories as to our possible movements. All drill is stopped on account of heavy pieket and fatigue duties (in build- ing forts) and the heat.
MONDAY, A.M., 22d.
So far as we ean aseertain, the Fifth and Forty-fifth leave be- tween now and Wednesday, and are ordered to report at Fortress Monroe. We suppose they may be kept there, or sent up to Wash- ington or Philadelphia, or, quite as likely, sent home (which last proved true). If we are needed, we may follow in their tracks.
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ON BOARD TRANSPORT STEAMER "VIDETTE," YORK RIVER, VA., June 28, 1863.
If you received the letter mailed on the 22d, I presume your minds are somewhat prepared for this. On Wednesday morning, the 24th inst., the Forty-third, and all the other nine-months regi- ments remaining in Newbern, received notice to be ready to go on board of transports, in heavy marching order, at four hours'notiee. And at noon we had orders to fall in at half-past four P.M., when we took our final leave, with three rousing cheers, of Camp Rogers. Our friends of the Seventeenth Regiment swarmed out of their barraeks as we passed them to bid us a hearty good-by. After the usual delays ineidental to sueh movements, four companies, ineluding our own, got on board of this steamer ; the rest of the regiment finding aeeommodation on the steamer "Emilie" and the schooner "Skirmisher." We drew the most water, and, in coming out of Hatteras Inlet, we grounded, and remained for six hours, until noon of Friday, the 26th ; our eonsorts having passed out the same morning. We were directed to report at Fortress Monroe for orders. We reached that plaee about three o'eloek on Saturday P.M., and, after waiting about three hours, had orders, with the rest of our regiment, to come up this river, as we under- stand it, to White-House Landing, where a foree, under Gen. Dix, is menacing Richmond, in order to relieve the pressure upon Penn- sylvania. Ostensibly we are going to Richmond. But I have got to be too old a soldier to believe all that I hear. Our colonel is reported, on good authority, to have stated to the officials at the fortress, that we were provided with but forty rounds of ammuni- tion, and he was told that we should not need twenty : so it would appear that the movement is only a feint. We were ordered to leave our sick, and our heavy baggage, at Newbern, to be sent direct to Boston. Malarial sickness is fast increasing in the regi- ment, and there are some with us who ought to have gone directly home.
ON BOARD STEAMER " VIDETTE," IN CHESAPEAKE BAY, June 30, 1863.
I am on my return with my regiment, to Fortress Monroe, from White-House Landing, on the Pamunkey River. We have been ordered baek on account of our complete destitution of every thing except the personal outfit of the men (our quartermaster and all heavy material having been left behind at Newbern), and also for the reason that our time is too near out for an advance ;
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in addition to which, the fact that we have condemned arms and a large sick-list has also been taken into account. It is understood that we are to report at the fortress for such transportation to the North as can be furnished ; we don't know when, what, or where.
Gen. Dix had reported the same muskets unfit for use a year previously, while the Seventeenth were at Baltimore. They had been two years in service, and their numbers were less than ours by several hundred men. This gave them an opportunity to lay aside the poorest of the muskets as fast as they became injured. But, when we took them, the old con- demned traps came out of the quartermaster's dust-holes, and were placed in our hands. I have reason to speak very definitely of one of them, which failed regularly three times out of five in attempts to snap a cap; and the general appear- ance of the piece was in harmony with its conduct. This transaction, I am assured, would not have taken place, if the remotest idea had existed that the regiment would go to the front in Virginia and Maryland.
The letters above quoted have taken me a little in advance of my narrative. When we reached Hatteras Inlet, we found Gen. Foster there in his despatch-boat, to see us off, and we took our last look of him, until years afterward, when he came to Boston. We had the vexation to see " The Emilie " go through the inlet with the schooner in tow; while we had a reminder, as we lay aground, of the annoyances and dangers which came near rendering Burnside's expedition abortive. We managed, however, to press through on the flood-tide, and followed our companions.
Two sca-going steamers of the largest size were lying out- side of the inlet. They were understood to have been sent South with orders to bring up troops. They were not at anchor, but lay listlessly in the long ocean-swells; their heads pointing all round the compass, with motions as grace- ful, as they rose and fell, as if engaged in waltzing, - an illusion which was all the more suggestive from the glassy smoothness of the water, which answered well in its flowing undulations to the polished spring floors upon which gay
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assemblies of pleasure-seekers pass the flying hours. I heard no music, unless the measured pulsations of the surf as it broke upon the beach might be supposed to supply the place of a band. I apprehend that my sense of hearing was too dull to catch the sound of the subtle harmonies which are said to pervade nature.
We found that "The Vidette " was a slow coach. At in- tervals of just twenty minutes, all the way up to Fortress Monroe, she blew off steam. When the boys growled at the delay, word came up from the engine-room that we had better hush up, and consider ourselves fortunate that we were in careful hands, as the boat was needing repairs, and would not bear a full head of steam.
We passed Hatteras Light at a distance of a few miles: it compares well in its elevation to Bunker-Hill Monument. The low coast-line and the extremely stormy seas of the winter in this locality, make its height a necessity.
We were very much crowded; but our quarters were above the water-line, and well ventilated, so that there was no actual suffering. We were obliged to sleep on the deck, in two rows, on each side of the boat She was not wide enough for us to occupy twelve feet; so that we lay with legs interlocked, something like clothes-pins when shut into each other. This was all very well as long as we lay still ; but irregular efforts to change our positions snarled our legs as badly as if our heads had been full of "tangle-foot " whis- key. We found ourselves obliged to systematize matters. When a number of us had lain so long on one side that we wanted to change over, some one would stand up, count off a "platoon," and announce it in regular military style: he would then give the order "About-face!" whereupon we would all " flop " at once, with precision and ease, avoiding the unpleasant predicament of confounding a comrade's leg with our own. Of course, we were all "sober; " that is, nobody laughed, or made any effort to extract any fun out of our surroundings.
One experience, however, happened to us, which was any thing but laughable: in fact, it came near costing some of us
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our lives. The boat, in all probability, had not had so many men on board before, since she bore Burnside's heroes to the scene of their exploits, more than a year previous. Her cook- ing apparatus was drawn upon to its full capacity : in doing this, a large copper-bottomed boiler was used without due regard to its condition. The consequence was, that twenty or thirty of us were attacked with severe pain and vomiting, with indications of poison. I was one of les miserables. We all recovered ; but the effects in my own case were permanent, so far, at least, as to unfit me for duty, and, in connection with the malarious influences with which my system was already charged, I was finally prostrated.
We entered Hampton Roads during Saturday afternoon. A small fleet of merchant-vessels lay at anchor, and we could see "The Minnesota" at the mouth of the James River, opposite Newport News. At the moment of our ar- rival, a bank of thunder-clouds was in the western horizon, obscuring in partial darkness the tall masts and heavy spars of the great ship. Their gloom was enhanced by the smoke and noise of her guns; for she was engaged at the moment in firing a funeral salute to the honored memory of Commodore Foote, the gallant man who won the first naval victories of the West.
The scenery, and the associations of the vicinity of the fortress, are of the most interesting character. The land is so low, that it makes little or no claim upon the attention. The ocean asserts its supremacy by the absence of islands or peninsulas. The swell broke angrily on Willoughby Spit, outside of the anchorage, revealing the terror of the waves when lashed by storms ; but in all other respects the bay and the outlying sea with which it mingled were quiet, present- ing no impressive indication of power to the senses, except their magnitude: this, however, was impressive in the ex- treme. The broad expanse of water stretching magnificently seaward from the majestic fortress as far as the eye can reach, toward Capes Henry and Charles, secmed a fitting arena or foreground for the naval conflict in which, a year before, "The Cumberland " and "Congress " had been sunk under
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circumstances of imperishable honor, and where " The Moni- tor " appeared unexpectedly upon the scene, and vanquished her huge antagonist, "The Merrimac." The hull of the frigate " Brandywine," in use as a storeship, was a conspicu- ous object in the roads. She was associated in my mind with the visit of Lafayette to America, having been placed at his disposal when he returned home. . By a very grateful and tender reminiscence I thought, at that moment of terror and gloom in our national affairs, of the bright aspirations of the young republic, and felt in my heart that it could not be that our sun was to set in irrevocable disaster.
We received orders on arrival, as previously stated, to proceed at once up York River, and report to Gen. Dix at White-House Landing on the Pamunkey. We arrived there early the next day, remaining over night, without leaving our vessel, and started on Monday, on our return to the fortress.
During the twenty-four hours of our visit to White-House Landing we had very interesting calls from prominent friends and acquaintances in our Chelsea company, G, of the Forti- eth Regiment. "The Vidette " lay close to the shore, the banks of which were near enough and high enough to per- mit our main boom to be swung over our quarter, so as to furnish a bridge upon which we could pass and repass. Our friends were strongly impressed with the idea that it was possible for the column (supposed to be about eighteen thou- sand men which had been gathered there) to make a sud- den dash upon Richmond while Lee was in Maryland, and capture the place. We smiled at their ardor; but we said nothing calculated to chill it. During the next year their magnificent record had extended from Upper Maryland to Olustee in Florida, including the siege of Charleston. I presume that when, a year afterward, they came back to White-House Landing, they were not so eager to rush upon the impregnable fortifications of the rebel capital.
This column, or a part of it, did actually advance ten miles toward Richmond a day or two after we left them, but were repulsed. Col. Porter states, that " it may be truly said, that to the Fortieth it was duc that lasting disgrace was not in- flicted upon the entire corps."
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The scene upon the York and Pamunkey Rivers was a very animated one. It was well calculated to deceive distant or superficial observers, and for the moment I was a little puzzled myself; the item that confused me the most being the fact that a large locomotive went up the river on a schooner's deck, and was in process of transfer to the York- river Railroad while we were there. Large numbers of steamers, some of them of great size, were passing up and down the river. They were often visible across the beauti- ful meadows for miles before we met them; and, when we came opposite to each other, a large amount of cheering was indulged in. I recollect that one boat had quite a number of rebel prisoners on her forward-deck, - sour-looking fellows, most of them, in butternut clothes. On the upper-deck of this boat, in front of the wheel-house, was a smart-appearing Union soldier, a sergeant. He leaned over toward us, and pointed with great earnestness and much gesticulation to the after-part of the boat. We could see that he had some piece of information that he was longing to impart; but, on account of the noise, he was obliged to confine himself to pantomime. We learned, when we reached the landing, that, if he could have said in ordinary language all he wanted to, his talk would have been about as follows : -
" We've got one of the biggest toads in the rebel puddle aft there in the cabin ; " the fact being, that Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, an officer of cavalry, a brother of Robert E., had just been captured, and was on board.
On the passage up the river I noticed the ruins of a large ship upon the stocks. Her frame had been completed when the hand of the industrious artificers had been stayed, no doubt, rudely. Nearly a third of the timbers, including the whole bow, had fallen over bodily to the ground, present- ing a sad emblem of the distress which the great State of Virginia had brought upon itself.
On our return to Fortress Monroe we landed, and went into camp at Hampton, remaining a day or two. On the afternoon of July 2 the whole regiment went on board of the steam transport "Kennebec," and landed at Baltimore,
----.. .
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near Fort McHenry, early in the afternoon of the 3d, at the precise moment of the final desperate and disastrous charge of the rebels at Gettysburg.
We marched a short distance to the barracks, which were provided for us in a large unfurnished upper-room of a sub- stantial building which had been- used as a tobacco-ware- house. One of the most unpleasant incidents of our whole term of service happened during the ensuing night. It was impossible to prevent the men who wanted liquor from ol- taining it. They had been so long without stimulants, that it seemed to fly into their heads at once, and with fearful power. They were not ugly nor malicious ; but it made them delirious with excitement. There were no accommodations for commissioned officers in the building, and none of them were present; so that the roughs had every thing their own way as long as the "hoorosh " lasted. It was confined to a hundred, more or less, of the illiterates of the regiment (not one of them belonged to our company) ; and the way that they raced around the great room was a caution to wind- mills. All that the rest of us could do was to pick up our equipments, and pack ourselves as closely as we could against the walls, holding our traps in our hands. This wild scene lasted for several hours, until nature was exhausted, and the foolish fellows, one by one, dropped off to sleep.
My vitality was failing me very fast at the time, from causes already stated. Being too weak to stand, I made a rush alone for the centre of the room, which was compara- tively secure, but not altogether so. As the drunken crowd swept close by me, I attracted the attention of one of their number, who sympathetically inquired the reason for my conduct. He was an entire stranger personally to me, and I was the same to him; but he kept his eye upon me, and acted in the most friendly manner whenever I was in danger. actually saving me from being trampled under foot.
The next morning was the Fourth. The victory at Gettys- burg was known in Baltimore. There was a certain air of exhilaration manifested in the business portion of the city. occupied mostly by Northerners, but, with that exception,
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no exultation was visible. Early in the forenoon the regi- ment started through the city to its northern suburb, locat- ing at Camp Bradford.
We marched for miles, through streets occupied by costly hammered granite buildings, without seeing an open window, a waving handkerchief, or hearing a single cheer.
Our camp was on a steep hillside, in beautiful private grounds understood to belong to a party compromised with the Rebellion. We were placed under strict orders not to injure or mar the property in any respect : a heavy rain which came on in the night obliged us to disregard this order. The soil was so hard, that we might as well have been on the roof of a building, as all the water that fell above us ran down the surface of the hill, and drove us at midnight out of the fly-tents which were given us, with bayonet and dipper to trench ourselves.
Fifty miles away from us, at Gettysburg, the same rain was falling upon the bodies of poor wounded men, unshel- tered and uncared for, so great was the number to be attended to. We remained in this camp three days, nothing of interest occurring, except the arrival, at a depot in the vicinity, of large numbers of prisoners from the battlefield.
Those of us who returned home saw another depot, just as we left the city, occupied by five hundred wounded officers of our own army: their injuries were in the upper part of the body, and all of them could walk. They had been furloughed home until recovery. Their spirits were buoyant and im- pressible to the last degree. The thunder of the great fight was still ringing in their ears. As I mingled with them, I saw another illustration, just as I had done when I passed into the ranks of the Twenty-third at Kinston, of the influ- ence of deep feeling in giving eloquent impressiveness to commonplace utterances. My last letter home was written from here.
BALTIMORE, July 4, 18G3.
I am sitting on my blankets, in a beautiful grove, among elegant residences in the northern suburbs of this city. We reached Baltimore from Fortress Monroe yesterday noon, went into
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the barracks of the Union Relief Association, and this morning marched out here, ostensibly to remain until the first part of next week, and then start for home. I do not dare to fully believe this, as we get quite direct intimations that Gen. Schenck, who is in command here, will wait to see the result of the battles to the west of us before he relinquishes his hold upon the four regiments of nine-months men in this vicinity, as, if they prove to be disas- trous, Baltimore will be in imminent hazard. We found it difficult to get out of the place this morning, as all the streets are barri- caded on account of their dread of a cavalry attack. The accounts for a few days have come in so favorably, that public confidence seems to be restored, and most of our men think we shall be at home next week. As I have said before, you must try and restrain your feelings so as not to be disappointed, as, in these times, nothing is certain until it comes to pass.
The next event that happened was as follows : -
"On the 7th the regiment received orders to report to Gen. Naglee, who, understanding there was some dissatisfaction in the regiment, on account of the expiration of its term of service, issued an order leaving it optional with the men to go to the front, or return home. [Eight hundred men were sixteen days over time. ] Under this order 203 officers and men voted to go to the front." - REPORT OF ADJUTANT-GENERAL, 1863.
During the latter part of the afternoon of the 8th, the re- turning members of the regiment retraced their steps through the city, and took the cars for Philadelphia, riding all night. I was with this portion of my comrades. We were under the command of Lieut. Lysander Poole of Company G. Our orderly was with us, but too sick to fill his place, which was occupied by comrade George W. Geary, who was unani- mously chosen to take command of the company, in the absence of the officers. We received very thankfully the hospitalities of the Cooper's shop restaurant; and, after a short march through the city, we crossed the Delaware, and took the cars for Perth Amboy. Early in the afternoon we reached this place, and went on board of a steamer for New York. A very pleasant passage through the narrow channels
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lying west of Staten Island brought us to Castle Garden late in the afternoon, from which place we passed to the Battery, just adjoining. We lay upon the grass here for several hours, taking much needed rest, as we had slept none on the pre- ceding night. After sunset, we formed line, and marched up Broadway a short distance, turning to the right, and going on board the steamboat " Elm City," for New Haven. This latter place was reached at daylight on the morning of the 10th, and the cars were taken for Boston, by the way of Springfield, where we arrived in due time. After reaching Boston, we were marched to the armory of the Boston Light Infantry, in Boylston Hall, and furloughed.
My health and vigor had given out entirely. On the pas- sage home I became rapidly worse, but managed to keep with my comrades until we reached the armory, when I sank ex- hausted on the floor. I was assisted by friends to a horse-car, and came to my home in Chelsea to go upon a sick-bed, and remained there for weeks, hovering between life and death ; my whole system thoroughly pervaded with malaria ; my body corpse-like, so that the impression of the fingers in the flesh would remain for a considerable time; digestion absolutely suspended, the most tempting food being placed before me without the slightest effect upon the appetite; the brain itself, sunk in lethargy, or in feeble, delirious wanderings, taking no intelligent note of my surroundings. Most of the time I was with the comrades at the front. I finally re- covered, being indebted, under Providence, to the skill of Dr. Wheeler, aided by the most assiduous domestic care.
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