USA > Maine > First Maine bugle, 1892 (history of 1st Maine Cavalry) > Part 11
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 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
HON. WILLIAM E. BARRETT.
Hon. William E. Barrett, speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, was then introduced, and made a rattling patriotic speech, receiving oft applause.
2
12
FIRST MAINE BUGIE.
THE GOOD BYES.
A few words of parting and good will closed the formalities, but the comrades lingered long in the armory to once more tall: over the old times before saying the " Good byes."
THE LADIES' AUXILIARY.
The fifth annual reunion of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the First Maine Cavalry was held in one of the parlors of the Lancers' Armory at the same time as the regimental reunion. The president, Mrs. Susie H. Drinkwater, called the meeting to order. and in the absence of the secretary, Miss Grace F. Tobie was elected secretary pro tem. The association voted to adopt the badge of the First Maine Cavalry Association. Officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows :
President -- Mrs. Addie Tobie, Pawtucket, R. I. Vice-President-Mrs. C. W. Lang, Portland. Secretary and Treasurer-Miss Grace E. Tobie, Portland.
The meeting adjourned until the next reunion of the First Maine Cavalry Association. There was a goodly number pre -- ent, including fourteen who had not before registered.
THE MASSACHUSETTS BRANCH.
The comrades of the Massachusetts Branch held their annual reunion and dinner at the Crawford House, on the evening of April 3d, 1890. Many of the comrades were accompanied by ladies, and previous to the meeting and banquet an informal re- ception was held in the hotel parlors. At 6 p. m. the business meeting was held, President G. N. Harris occupying the chair. Officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows: President. Gilbert N. Harris : first vice president, Capt. H. C. Hall ; second vice-president. A. L. Ordway: secretary, C. A. F. Emery: treasurer, Col. A. C. Drinkwater: executive committee, Albert Edgecomb, P. F. Shevlin and C. E. Jacks. Comrade Edgecomb reported that the armory of the National Lancers on Bulfinch street had been secured for headquarters of the regimental association during encumprem week in August. The follow- ing committee was appointed to co-operate with the general committee of the regimental association in making preparation
19
1
NINETEENTH ANNUAL REUNION.
for the reunion in August: P. F. Shevlin, Albert Edgecomb. D. W. Gage, H. C. Whitney, Frank W. Green, Col. A. C. Drink- water, C. O. Stone, G. N. Harris, George F. Jewett, B. P. Doc, Charles E. Jacks, Horatio C. Libby, C. A. F. Emery, Jame. T. Williams and H. C. Hall.
At 7.30 p. m. the company marched to the banquet ball, where covers were laid for fifty persons. Comrade Gilbert N. Harris presided, and about the well spread table were seated the follow- ing: Bvt. Brig .- Gen. J. P. Cilley, Col. Albion C. Drinkwater, Lieut. George F. Jewett and wife, George N. Harris and wife, A. L. Ordway and wife, Mrs. F. M. Hoyt, Albert Edgecomb and wife. P. F. Shevlin and wife, Miss Sarah Devine, D. W. Gage and wife, C. O. Stone and wife, A. C. Souther and wife, George Ordway, T. J. Long and wife, Isaac C. Brick and wife, C. H. Stevens and wife, Warren Mansur, S. S. Goodhue, H. R. Green, N. L. Owen, J. T. Williams, Alfred Pierce, T. B. Pulsifer, J. S. Curtis, F. W. Green, C. A. F. Emery. It being, in fact, a family party, the after-dinner exercises were characterized by a delight- ful informality, brief addresses being made by Comrades G. N. Harris, Gen. J. P. Cilley, G. F. Jewett, Col. Albion C. Drink- water, P. F. Shevlin, Alfred Pierce, Warren Mansur and others.
To the efforts of the committee as above appointed is due the pleasant success of this reunion.
14
FIRST MAINE BUGIE.
AFTER APPOMATTOX.
NO. III .--- THE BLACK HORSE CAVALRY. BY MAJOR HENRY C. HALL.
In the northern part of the country and four miles f.om Richmond are the Midlothian coal mines, then owned and operated by an English company. Here ! posted Captain Wilson with his & company. At my second visit to this post I met a servant with the compliments of Colonel Ball, inviting me to call on him before I should return. Towards evening ! went to the house to which I had been directed and met the colonel at the door. As cach anticipated the other, we were very soon informally introduced. He had buried his wife bat a few days before and I found his beautiful home in mourning. He was much affected in telling me of bis loss, but he soop rallied and our conversation turned not unnaturally upon the. war, its causes and probable results. During my sho t sty he told me that for years before the war he had commanded a militia company of cavalry, all the members of which were resi dents of his county and that he knew each man personally. When the State had passed the ordinance of secession and as- sumed a place in the confederacy the members of this company met and unanimously tendered their services to the new govern- ment which were immediately accepted. He was not an original secessionist, but when the men whom he had so long commande! and in whom he felt so much pride and interest with so much favor and enthusiasm espoused the new cause, he was forced to unite his fortunes with theirs or to single-handed and along vainly beat against the popular tide of public opinion and b treated as a coward and as a traitor to Virginia's honor and to Virginia's interests. Indeed he regretted and deployed the act that had severed or attempted to sever his native State from the Union, and the singularly unfortunate circumstances that sur
-
1
15
AFTER APPOMATTOX.
rounded him alone prevented his pursuing a course his better judgment commended ; accordingly he was soon in the field a rebel at the head of a rebel command. When our troops first occupied Alexandria, he was on duty at that place, and with thirty-five of his men surrendered to Colonel Wilcox under cir- cumstances that were somewhat difficult for him to satis factorily explain to his government with the highest honors to himself and his command. He undoubtedly labored under an error or misapprehension of orders, and was thoroughly loyal to the cause after he had made his decision and embarked in it. His next service after his exchange was at Bull Run, July 21st, 1861. Years before the war a troop of cavalry was raised at Warrenton, Va., and vicinity, which was known as the Black Horse Cavalry. Each man was mounted on a shining black horse and the troop for a long time was famous on the old Virginia muster-fields for the excellency of its drill and discipline, for the beauty of its horses and the skill of their riders. Its fame continued many years, but when the war broke out it had gone down and was only a little more than a shadow of its carlier worth and splendor. But when the call came for troops its ranks were quickly filled and it went into the field under the old name of Black Horse Cavalry. At the battle of Bull Run this company was put in squadron with Colonel, then Captain, Ball's company, and Captain Ball, being senior or ranking officer, commanded the squadron thus formed. He was not called into action until the Union troops commenced to retreat and then he was ordered to charge and pursue them. He followed farther than any other confederate troops --- to the bridge over Cub Run where so much of our artillery trains had been jambed and blocked and aban- doned. Besides wagons and guns, with his small force he captured a number of fleeing Federals, a number much larger than he had men to guard, whom he disarmed and ordered to the rear-to the rebel lines -- some of whom went as directed. but many more escaped and reported a few days later in Wash- ington. As he knew his own men personally, he could call each by name, but when he directed the men of the other company to do anything he would say " Black Horse" do this or " Black
16
FIRST MAINE BUGLE.
Horse" do that. He thought it more than probable that song of the men who escaped heard him use the term " Black Hory and therefore reported that they had been charged and captured by the Black Horse Cavalry.
I confess I was not a little surprised at this bit of undoubted history of that famous troop of fabulous exploits as I learned it from the lips of its reliable commander. At the time of the: battle I was in an infantry regiment stationed on Meridian IBP near Washington. We were not called out until evening and then did not leave the hill. The next day the rain fell furi ously, and for a time our camp was literally over-run with stragglers from our broken and beaten army who were in search of food and shelter and their lost regiments. Many of them, if their reports were true, had been charged and captured by the Black Horse Cavalry, and the frightful stories of what they had seen and endured made me almost wish I had never " gone for a sojer." Indeed, I could fancy a long line of shining black horses. extending from the white plains of Manassas to the right and lett as far as the eye could reach, mounted by lithe and active men bearing huge claymores in their strong hands, and swooping mercilessly down upon our brave boys, already exhausted with the heat, the march and the fight ! Ay, I could almost see the poor fellows vanish from earth at the touch of those miraculous blades, or trodden into the turf by the heavy hoofs of the charging steeds ! How unlike my wild imagination, based upon the fearful reports I had heard, were the simple facts I learned from the lips of this modest man, the principal actor in the closing scene of that dramatic day.
When the confederate cavalry was organized into regiments. the so called Black Horse Cavalry formed a part of the Fourth Virginia regiment and as Black Horse Cavalry was heard of no more, but in after years the members of that organization to which they belonged were no strangers to us and on every field where we met them are mingled the bones of the blue and the gray, or little mounds, beneath which rest the remains of the bravest and best of both regiments, rise above the plain, thus eloquently attesting the valor and the fidelity to the causes in
2
17
OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE LAST CAMPAIGN.
which they fought. At Aldie, June 17th, 1863, we took from them their colors, but it was a trophy dearly, yes, too dearly, won.
When the Fifteenth Virginia Cavalry was formed Captain Ball was made its colonel, but on account of ill health he retired from the service before the close of the war.
GEN. CILLEY'S OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE LAST CAMPAIGN.
The following is copied from Colonel Cilley's official report of the campaign of Lee's surrender, made in April, 1865 :
I also beg leave to mention the following instances of individual examples of bravery :
Sergeant Major Edward P. Tobie, Jr., after receiving two wounds, either of which would have procured him admission to a hospital, refused to go on the sick list, but remamed with the regiment, and after Adjutant Little and Acting Adjutent Peor were wounded, discharged the fall duties of adjutant.
Also Samuel Gurney, sergeant of Co. H, who on the morning of the 9th of April, while securing some Spencer ammunition left on the field, saw an opportunity to capture some prisoners, and with two men. all the force that was with him, charged and captured one captain, one lieutenant, a sergeant and fourteen men. One of the two men with Sergeant Gurney was killed and the sergeant had a bullet pass through his pistol holster.
Also to make the following recommendations for Brevet :
Captain Myrick, Captain Hall and Captain Freese, who during the winter and this spring campaign have commanded battalions, particularly Captain Myrick for distin- guished services at Dinwiddie Court House when sent across the Creek with his battalion, and Captain Hall for bravery and efficient services at Dinwiddie Court House and gallantry in the charge at Farmiville.
Immediately after making the above report, a fuller statement of the services of the captains recommended for promotion was called for and the following was sent forward :
I respectfully recommend the following named captains commanding battalions for promotions as brevet majors :
Captain Henry C. Hall. Captain John D. Myrick. Captain John A. Freese.
They all have been in command of their respective battalions during most of the campaign last fall, almost the entire time during the winter and all the titre this spring.
18
FIRST MAINE BUGLE.
Captain Hall served three months in the first regiment ahmed in Maine and . been in this regiment since its first organization. He was wounded while in cold an ! of his battalion at Wyatt Farm, Sept. 30th. 1864. At the action toar Dinwiddie Cours House, he held bis battalion with tensions courage to the fire, losing 33 per camos his officers. At the charge at Farmville be displayed marked galantry, leoling th, column that did most to dislodge the enemy from their strong position on the hill. just beyond the city.
Captain Myrick is also a veteran and was in command of a battalion a portion of last summer. At the action near Diuviddie Court House, March 3ist, his Latt -hoo alone crossed the creek and met the enemy's first attack in the morning. He did. played great courage in the manner he withdrew it, and fought well the entire 4 In all the other actions he acquitted himself with honor.
Captain Freese has seen service first in the Seventh Maine Infantry, then in First District of Columbia Cavalry, and since the transfer of that regiment has served in this. In the charge on Lee's train the yth inst., he was struck la the bowels with v. bullet, causing severe pain and continued noussa, but remained with the regiment and reported himself for duty till the present time.
The double duty imposed on the above named officers, viz: field officers and copy- pany commanders, for there were no Heutenants in either of their companies, and the meritorious manner in which they have discharged both, deserves, I respectfully suc- gest, the recommended brevet rank.
Lieut. Bowman's Wedding Journey.
DES MOINES, IA., Nov. 5th, 1891. GENERAL J. P. CILLEY:
My Dear General: On entering my office this morning I saw upon my desk with papers and letters a copy of the " First Maine Bugle." In glancing over it I was reminded of my trip during the past summer to my own native Maine. Leaving here on the fifth of July, / went to Columbus, Ohio; thence to De- troit and on to Toronto, where we took the beat down the lake to the St. Lawrence through the Thousand Islands and rapids to Montreal, stopping for a time at the Windsor: thence across to the White Mountains and from there to Portland, Me. Ihad a desire to spend a few weeks on some of the beautiful islands in Casco Bay, and was urged by friends to make my stay at Little Chebeague about seven miles from Portland. We found on that island a very pleasant hotel and remained there about three weeks, frequently going to Portland. On one of those
19
LIEUT. BOWMAN'S WEDDING JOURNEY.
trips I called upon Major Thaxter at his new and beautiful horne. I was much pleased to meet him, he being the only officer of our old regiment that I have met since we were disbanded in Augusta, 1865. I have seen but three members of the regiment in all these twenty-six years. After visiting Old Orchard we went to Boston, where we stopped a week; thence to New York, Baltimore, and on down to the old battle-ground at Gettysburg. After a ride of twenty miles over the grounds J became so interested that I concluded to make a longer stay there than I had anticipated. We left the hotel and secured rooms and board at the home of one Mr. R. Sheeds. Eighteen years ago he had built this home on Seminary Ridge --- on the very grounds where so many of our brave men fell in the first day's fight. A short distance back of his house among the trees is where General Reynolds fell-a monument marks the spot- and to the left of his house and not far away is a slab inatking where one hundred and twenty of our men fell in twenty minutes. This gentleman has a vineyard, and the many shade trees about his home made it very pleasant to remain there during the hot days of August. He lived in the town during the battle, and after the first day's fight the rebels, having by their superior numbers forced. our men to Cemetery Ridge, seized upon his house and made of it a hospital, holding it until the morning of the 4th. Con- sequently he was able to give much interesting information about the battle. From the front veranda of his house we had a grand view of the battle-fields from Big Round Top, on be- yond Wolf's Hill, covering the whole line of battle, and away on the left of Wolf's Hill with the glass we could see through the trees a white monument which I believe to be one of those erected on the ground where we had the engagement with Stuart on the afternoon of the 3d of July, 1863. The points that most forcibly drew my attention were Culp's Hill, Devil's Den, Little Round Top, and the Bloody Angle, where Picket made his desperate charge. A party of us spent one afternoon viewing the grounds where we had the cavalry fight. It lays as you know about four miles from Gettysburg. On our way out we came to the monument of the First Maine Cavalry. I was
20
FIRST MAINE BUGLE.
delighted to see it --- halted our carriage, got out and had a good view of it and the inscription of the battles thereon. You know it stands by and facing the main road, but sad to relate a herd of swing occupied the field where it is located and they had been poling their noses so much about the base that on the back side they had made a wallowing place and there is danger, if they are left to occupy that field in the years to come, of their undermining it. While looking at it I felt then and feel now that an iron fence should be built around it for protection. We passed on to the centre of the battle-ground, where stands the fine monu- ment erected by General Gregg with our assistance, where I saw cut in the sides with other regiments engaged our own. I am inclined to think the monument erected and designated there as the General Custer monument is the finest on that field.
How forcibly came back to me the fearful ride I took on the evening of the third day's battle, and on my return had to run the risk under fire of a rebel regiment with my orderly to make my escape. This I never told you of, but may some time. On the 3d of last July a citizen found a shell in what I think is called Stony creek. It had been there for twenty-eight years. He took a sledge hammer and broke it open. It was one of those shells filled with bullets. I brought the half of it home containing some of the bullets and have it as a remembrance of the terrible conflict on and around Culp's Hill, Devil's Den and Little Round Top. We remained two weeks on this battlefield. and I have never visited a more interesting place.
I band you with this, draft on New York payable to your order. Please enter my name for the " First Maine Bugle" for 1892. Send a copy to some deserving comrade of the old regi- ment for me.
Your friend and comrade,
M. V. T. BOWMAN.
1
2
21
SOUTHERN SAILORS.
Southern Sailors.
Gen. Thomas J. Munford, of the confederate service, whose letter appeared in the October Bugle, writes the Bugle a few jokes pertinent to the confederate service which are interesting as coming from an old opponent whose fighting qualities won our respect :
Speaking of horsemen, recalls a requisition made upon nic when stationed near Fredericksburg during the war, by General Fitz Lee to send him a detail of fifty men accustomed to boats. He wanted to cross the Rappahannock below that town and sur- prise a camp on the north side. I had to reply there were not fifty men in my regiment who could cross the river in the day time with a sail boat, or who had ever been in anything larger than a dug-out; that if he wanted men to be ready for a dash and celerity after getting over, he had better look to the tide water regiments ; that if the winds blew and the waves ran knee high, half of my men would be upset internally. I give you an example :
General William E. Jones was crossing the Shenandoah river one day on the march when the river was very high and still rising. The Seventh Regiment had come over and a part of the Sixth, when a raft of trees came splashing along and a poor fellow on a poor weak horse was washed down, the horse drowned, and the soldier"escaped almost miraculously as he could not swim. The next squadron would not move. Jones never minced his words but swore at the lieutenant colonel to move on. "Come over with your men." The reply was, "The men will not take the water, it is too high." "Then com yourself and leave the damned cowards behind." He replied, " My head swims now, and I can't risk it." " Oh. hell !" said Jones, " if my head would swim I would come over after you and dam the water, but it won't, so stay where you are and wait till the nasty stream falls." It was a long time before he heard the last of " his head wouldn't swim."
Since my letter to you I have seen Lieutenant Colonel Watts of the Second Virginia Cavalry, who was wounded severely at Aldie (and honorably discharged from field service), who had
1
2
22
FIRST MAINE BUGLE.
the Second Regiment, and he has promised to give me his recollections on paper. He was wounded carly in the action, when the command of the regiment devolved upon Major Chry Breckenridge, who was a superior soldier, several times severely wounded and had his eyes and nose disfigured by a sabre cut at the second Manassas battle. Colonel Watts and Major Breckenridge were battered severely in the fight, each receiving many wounds as they were attacked by odds and resisted in the spirit of regular graduates. Both of them were splendid soldiers, of fine physique, masters of a horse and good with a sword.
A Lonely All-Night Ride.
The day after the battle of Port Republic, General Ricketts, then commanding a division in McDowell's corps, knowing of General Shields' exposed position and fearing Jackson would flank him, was very desirous to send him a dispatch. Among the non-commissioned officers at his headquarters no one seemed willing to volunteer a journey of twenty-five miles through a region infested with bush-whackers who were too " willing " with their shooting irons and so utterly indifferent to the rules of civilized warfare. But a sergeant of Co. K, First Maine Cavalry, was tendered the honor. Sergeant William M. Herbert of Bristol. Maine, was as brave as he was modest, and without hesitation accepted the order, fully convinced of its importance and prepared to run the gauntlet, to bear to Shields the message that his little force was in danger of being gobbled. General Ricketts informed him of the danger in his path and the difficulties of his task. advising him to continue at a quick lope, keep a sharp lookout for the enemy, and not get shot. The sergeant afterwards related to me the particulars of his journey and his peculiar feelings on that long and trying ride. He started soon after sundown into a darkness "winch couli be felt " and over a road of which he had no other knowledge save his general's directions. This was his first war experience. Although he suffered no pain from fear, still he was sensible
2
A LONELY ALL-NIGHT RIDE. 23
every moment of the exact nature of his positiou -- at any mo- ment a bullet from an unseen foe. Hour after hour he rode on through the inky darkness, seeing nothing, hearing nothing only the monotonous clicking and pounding of his horse's hoot- amid the goom and stillness, producing a feeling of utter loneli- ness and a savage sternness sometimes dangerous to interrupt. Some men otherwise gentle, tender-hearted, become fierce, even cruel, as dangers accumulate and threaten them. I have known such when in camp the personification of amiability, but in the crash of battle they were simply awful. The sergeant had passed to about half way when he heard the clanking of sabres and tramp of horses' feet -- full run -close upon him, but in time to pull aside into the woods, draw his pistol and await the approach. They were friends -- runaways --- Union sokliers re- treating from Shields' force. They would not return to show our hero the way. They had just been " fired on " by guerillas, "just back " a mile or so on Herbert's line of advance. So he was left to pursue his way alone, into the very danger they had escaped and were fleeing from. Like many another brave man of that time and regiment he consulted not safety but duty, and pressed forward to the rescue of the noble general and brave men who were being trapped by an able general and larger force. Alone and unhurt he passed the ambushed foe; on into the darkness and dreary silence miles away, when he was suddenly called to a halt by feeble voice ,, though this time almost under his horse's feet. Leaning down, peering forward into the night. he could barely discern two little colored children, or their ivories, as they cried, " Please, massa, don' run ober us." To a man enduring the strain natural to such a place and circum- stances it was a comical relief, and away he sped on his course. Soon, without further interruption or incident, except fatigue, a wearied horse-ruined-unable to pass the picket line where he soon arrived. He footed it to the general's headquarters, after which he was refreshed in the inner man by his comrades and left to repose as only a thed soldier can and knows how to enjoy, on the sodden ground of an army bivouac.
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.