USA > Maine > History of the First Maine cavalry, 1861-1865, V. 1 > Part 12
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The duties were incessant. Picket on the lower Rappahan- nock half the time, and fatigue duty at Belle Plain Landing, unloading grain, etc., most of the remaining time, while now and then a portion of the regiment would be at both places.
As an instance of the military manner of doing work, the story may be told that one cold, drizzly day, when the greater part of the regiment was on picket, an order was received to send a detail to Belle Plain with three days' rations, for fatigue duty. Every private in camp that was able to go was sent, but the number was insufficient, and an imperative order came back for more men. Non-commissioned officers, musicians, sick men, and everything that could be scraped together, were sent off this time, and reached their destination just at dusk, after a hard, wet march. Shelter was put up as well as could be done. and the men made the best of an uncomfortable night, the rain turning to snow before morning. It appeared the next day that this strong detail was there to cut piles for the building of a new wharf; that by dividing the work equally among the men there for that purpose. the men must cut four piles each. and that it was necessary to stay there three days, as there were only axes enough for a few men to work at a time. The men could hardly see the necessity of sending so many men, a great many of whom were unused to wood chopping, to do so small a job, when half a dozen men could have been detailed who would have done the work better in much less time, but supposed it to
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be strictly " military." And when at noon of the second day the project was abandoned, the detail went back with very light opinions of "military operations."
At first the regiment spent three days on picket and occa- sionally three at the landing, and then it was changed to ten days on picket, and ten divided between Belle Plain and camp, the latter being the most unpleasant part of the winter. It was a blessing that so little time was spent in camp. The time spent on picket duty was, on the whole, the pleasantest part of the winter. The pickets were posted on the banks of the river below Falmouth, in plain sight of the enemy's pickets. Just after the battle of Fredericksburg the pickets on both sides of the river fraternized, and became quite social. There was the best of good feeling between them. They talked, laughed, chafed each other about various battles, threatened in a good- humored way, and altogether acted in such a manner that one not acquainted with real war would never have suspected them to be enemies. A favorite mode of chafing was a salute, say from the southern side, "How are you, Yank?" to which, " How are you, Johnny ?" would fly back instantly. " How are you, Bull Run ?" would come next, and " How are you, Antietam?" be sent back ; and so it would go, each side taunt- ing the other with this or that defeat, till the list was exhausted, or till one or the other let his passion get the best of him and showed it by his reply, when the other would make the air ring with laughter ; and it would not be strange if some of the " acci- dental " picket shots arose from this cause. And the pickets did not keep on their own side of the river at all. but went across at will. They supplied each other with the latest newspapers from either side, traded knives or any other commodity, and, what did both sides the most good, the boys furnished the rebel pickets with plenty of coffee, salt, etc .. and got in exchange plenty of tobacco, articles very much needed by the men of the respective armies. Picketing in good weather was real pleasure during this state of affairs, but matters got to such a pass that it was found necessary to order all communication between the pickets stopped. This order was pretty well obeyed, but occa- sionally the temptation was too strong to be resisted, and trade
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was carried on in a small way on the sly. One method of sus- taining commercial relations was to build a raft a foot or so square, generally of corn stalks, fix in a mast with a late news- paper for a sail. load the raft with tobacco, and so set the sail that the wind would carry the raft across the river. The recip- ient would reciprocate in coffee, if he could do so; and it was quite common, on asking a man where he got his tobacco, to receive the reply. " I had a ship come in." Of course this was without the knowledge of the officers.
A good story of picket duty at this time is thus told by Corp. Joseph R. Curtis, of Co. I, then private : -
Early one morning when the regiment was picketing near Lamb Creek church. after orders had been issued to exercise the utmost vigilance, and to hold no communication with the enemy, as I was on my lonely beat, I was made aware. by the restlessness of my horse, that something was wrong in my front. I listened attentively, and soon heard the remark made on the other shore, " He has gone over to make the Yanks a visit." A moment more and I heard the sounds of an approaching boat, and dismounting. I crept down to the water's edge, where I could get a good view up and down the river, to see what was coming. Looking intently I discovered, through the morning mist, a boat containing a stalwart rebel soldier, nearing my post. I at once raised my carbine, and in a low voice sang out, " Halt ! who goes there?" The boat stopped, and the occupant, rising to his feet. replied, "I am what you call a rebel, and am a sergeant in Co. B. Ninth Virginia Cavalry: but I am not on a hostile expedition, and have no arms with me." Holding up a letter, he continued, " I have a sister living in Oregon, and wish to send this to her : it contains the news of my mother's death: it is unsealed. and if I have written anything contraband you need not send it." I told him of my orders, which I dared not disobey, though my sympathies were with him. He now appealed still further to my sympa- thies, with such success that he was given permission to cross if he would say, on his honor. that he had no arms. He hesitated, but upon receiving a promise that he should be allowed to return to his comrades, he approached the shore. By this time the mist had lifted, and I could see on the other shore a score of rebels, anxiously waiting the result of their comrade' sex- pedition. The Virginian landed. and an interesting conversation followed. He related much of his past life. said he was sick of the war, and that there yas but little real sympathy on the part of the people with the leaders in the secession movement: but when I suggested that it would be better to remain on this side of the river. he replied, with a slight curl of the lip. ". My enlistment and obligation to my government are as binding as yours, and I have no sympathy for deserters from either side." and started to return. At this moment the relief appeared on the scene, and the rebel was taken pris- oner, in spite of my protestations, while I was put under guard and marched away with him. there being great excitement among the watching rebels ou
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the other side of the river. We were taken to the headquarters of Gen. Gregg, commanding the division, where I related all the circumstances, and gave the general the letter. This was read aloud, and found to contain nothing but a statement of the sergeant's mother's sickness. death, and dying words, and his own regrets at the cruel war. I laid strong stress on my promise to the rebel sergeant that he should go back, and requested that. whatever might be done to me. my promise should be faithfully kept. After questioning the sergeant, the general told the corporal of the relief that. under the circumstances. it would have been better to allow the rebel to return to his camp, and telling me that, while no wrong was done this time. it is not always safe to allow one's sympathies to interfere with duty, as by so doing much harm might be done the service, he directed that I should be put on the next relief, and that the rebel should accompany me to my old post, and be allowed to recross the river. Accordingly, a short time afterward, myself and the rebel, now firm friends, rode together at the head of the relief, to the post; and as the rebel's comrades across the river rec- ognized him, they gave a wild shout of joy. With mutual congratulations over the result we separated, and the sergeant returned safely from his "visit to the Yanks," and was gladly welcomed by his companions.
Occasionally deserters came over and cheered the boys by accounts of dissatisfaction among the rebel troops, based, doubt- less, upon their own feelings, but this slip-shod sort of gratifica- tion got thin by use. One night a corporal and ten men came over together, passing the piekets by crawling through a ravine at the right of the line, and made their way to general head- quarters without being discovered, where they surrendered themselves. Contrabands often came over in search of free- dom. Among these were two who had travelled some dis- tance, one of whom was engaged as a servant by Col. Douty, and the other by Capt. Virgin, of Co. G. They were smart, intelligent negroes, and proved good servants, but at first were inclined to be homesick. and mourned for the good things they had enjoyed, even in slavery.
The duty while on picket was also, except in very bad weather comparatively easy. A portion of the regiment was always kept in reserve, and generally went into camp in the best locality that could be found. a mile or two from the out- posts, and the men there had nothing to do but keep in readi- ness. On the ten-day trips the duty was divided up so that all portions of the regiment had some time on main reserve, and on the three-day trips one portion was on main reserve one trip
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and another the next, thus treating all the companies alike as nearly as possible. This was very pleasant. The men made themselves as comfortable as they could, and they had thor- oughly learned how. With pieces of tent, rubber blankets, etc., they made shelters, usually in the form of a shed, of all sizes, from large enough for a dozen or more to occupy to a single tent for a couple. In front of these, huge blazing fires kept things cheerful and warm by day and night. In these quarters the men enjoyed life, and much preferred them to the "dog-holes " at Camp Bayard. There was story-telling, joking, singing, card-playing, and the genial humor and good feeling which numbers always give to true men, and it was well-nigh impossible for the time to hang heavily. And, ranged side by side, with their feet to the fire, they slept comfortably, or lay awake and talked of home life or camp experiences till far into the night.
Toward the close of the winter orders were issued from army headquarters that the men at the main reserves should wear their arms at all times, day and night, and the horses remain saddled and bridled all the time, a change from the previous custom. The last portion of the order was obeyed, but the first didn't seem to fret the boys much. Accompanying this and serving as a foundation for it was another, providing that officers and men on picket duty who allowed themselves to be surprised and any portion of their command captured, should be responsi- ble for all the property so lost to government, and the money . value thereof would be charged to them. This was caused by the fact that piekets had been surprised on different parts of the line (not of this regiment, however), and quite large cap- tures made. The boys in their fun construed the order into a prohibition against allowing themselves to be " astonished," and it thus passed into a by-word.
At the company reserves, from which the reliefs went on post, matters were much the same, only there was the sending forth of the fresh reliefs, and the return of the relief from the outposts, every two hours, the vidette duty to do, the arms to be worn at all times, etc., and sleep or enjoyment were not so uninterrupted. but there was much real comfort even there.
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Some of the pleasantest memories of the service are of hours passed at the picket reserve during that winter; and the names " Lamb Creek church." "Sutton farm," and of other points along the river where the reserves were stationed, will always call up agreeable recollections. The men got better acquainted with each other under those circumstances than while being in camp with two, or at most four, in a tent. There were gener- ally men enough at the different reserves for at least four, and sometimes five reliefs, so that the duty was not arduous. Two hours on post and six or eight off was certainly light work, though that was enough in some of the weather. It generally happened, however, that in the worst weather the duty was more severe, either from having a smaller number of men at the reserves, or a larger territory to picket.
At the time Gen. Burnside made his ineffectual movement on Fredericksburg (known in the army as the "time Burnside got stuck in the mud "), January twenty-first, twenty-second and twenty-third. the regiment was on picket three or four miles below Falmouth. A portion had been on duty there for three days, and on the twenty-first the remainder was sent out to relieve it. This last detail reached the different reserves just before dark, in a cold, driving rain; the first reliefs were at once sent on post, and the remainder busied themselves in putting up shelter, building fires, cooking coffee, etc. It was hard work, for there were no fence rails except a long distance away, and no trees for wood or tent-poles. By the time shel- ters were up, and they were not any great shakes for shelters. either, the men were wet, cold, hungry, and saucy. There were men enough for but three reliefs, and for three days in the cold rain did they perform that duty, all the time two hours on post and four hours off. On the second day, however, they were allowed to change the reserves and occupy some deserted negro huts, where they made a pretence of keeping dry and warm while off duty, although there were drawbacks to thorough enjoyment there. But the four hours off were not sufficient time in which to recover from the effects of the two on. That was the worst attack of picket duty that winter. To add to the general discomfort, the fog set in so thick one of the nights.
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that men actually got lost on their beats, and wandered around in the dark without knowing where they were, till the fog lifted and allowed them to find their beaten track, only to repeat the operation in a few moments more, when the fog shut down again. There was probably not a man on post that night that did not get off his beat, if he pretended to patrol at all. The horses, when left to themselves, would work in the direction of the reserve camp by intuition, no matter where it was, or if they had only been there once. Upon being relieved, most of the men gave the horse its head, and away it went at a canter, over ground where the rider would have to pick his way carefully by daylight, arriving safely at the reserve every time, thus showing the superiority of the horse over its more intelligent rider. The relief that started out at two o'clock in the morning on this foggy occasion, got lost, and after wandering about for some time, brought up at the reserve, whence it started out again, and finally found the line of outposts with the aid of the answering cries of the poor fellows on duty, who had long been wondering why in the world that relief did not come. Among other duties at that time, the company on the right of the regi- mental line had to send a non-commissioned officer to Falmouth every two hours to patrol the road, and see that there was noth- ing unusual along the route. On the night' mentioned the patrol started out at ten o'clock, got lost, and did not reach Falmouth at all. For nearly five hours he wandered about the fields and woods, not knowing where he was, his horse all the time working towards the reserve, and himself trying to guide the animal in what he considered the right direction, and was finally run into by the lost relief, and gave up the idea of patrol- ing to Falmouth. At twelve o'clock another patrol was sent. out ; he also got lost, and seeing his hopeless condition he trusted to his horse, and got back to the reserve in about two hours from the time he left it, without, however, having been to Falmouth.
Sergt. Winsor B. Smith, of Co. K. told this story of picket duty, at the reunion of the regiment in Pittsfield. August 25. 1880 :-
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You remember what we called Burnside's "mud march." You remem- ber where we were. We left Camp Bayard and went down the Rappahan- nock on picket duty. We took three days' rations and three days' forage. as usual, and a storm came up as usual, and at the end of three days there was no relief. nor rations, nor forage for us, and still we stood in our places. The only way for us to cover the ground was to stand three hours off and three hours on. And it was not the advantage then that it is now to be a corporal. A corporal had to stand his post, and the captain and lieutenants had to take their turn, three hours on and three off. No rations nor forage came, but the rain kept right on, some of you will remember ; and our reserve was up in the middle of the road, or what was the road, for about the fourth day it was more like a stream. We had quite a nice fire built on a raft, but had to keep renewing the raft in order to prevent the fire going out. When you came in and got off your horse you had the privilege of praying for the time to come when you could mount your horse and go back on your beat again, because that was the best part of it. Now, comrades, for those three days and three nights I stood that honestly and fairly, just as I agreed to when I signed the papers: but that fourth night down there, while marching up and down the bank of that river, the rain pouring down, soaked all through, nothing to eat, my old horse suffering the same as I was. I said to myself, "Look here, Smith. you cost Unele Sam considerable money. He has got you pretty well broke in. Now you ought to be worth something to him, and you ought not to be wasted here in this manner. Those 'Johnnies' across the river there are just as badly off as you are. Your carbine has got six inches of solid mud right in its muzzle, there is not a cap on your revolver, and it would do no good if there were, for the tubes are all plugged up, and you could not get your sabre out of its scab- bard if you tried ever so hard. If a 'Johnny' was bold enough to come over here to-night you wouldn't be fool enough to tackle him, so what is the use of your being here ?" Now we were supposed to patrol a beat of about a half a mile in length, and down at the end of my beat there was one of those cattle-sheds, with a flat roof and a manger running through the centre. similar to the army coffins, said to have been made by the mile, and cut into requisite lengths. I went out there one night. I had got to be there three hours. When I first went on to the post I said to myself. " Now I am going to take my bridle rein in my hand, get into that manger, lie down and sleep just two hours and a half: then I am going to be up and out on my post in great suffering when my comrade comes to relieve me." Well, I was back on my beat on time, suffering awfully when the other fellow came down to relieve me. We relieved each other, having no officers to spare to do that business. Then I went to the rear, wishing for the time when it would be my turn to get into the manger again. I got in two and a half hours more in that sleeping-place, and so I kept it up until daylight, and still no relief and no fodder. But the next night I think my conscience began to smite me a little, else I began to lose confidence in my ability to wake up on time, and so oversleep five minutes. At any rate, I thought it was rather too bad for the other fellow to be staying out like that, so I said to him, although he was not of my set. "Look here; there is a nice shelter, good chance to lie down in that manger." " Oh. well," said he. " I wouldn't dare get in there,
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for I would go to sleep." I said to him, "Suppose you do ? I will wake you up if I come down and find you asleep." "Will you ?" said he. I said "Yes." Said he. " Have you been in there ?" I replied, "Yes, I have." Said he, "Look here: why in the devil didn't you tell me of that before ? I have been getting in there right along for the last two nights. and suffering like the devil for fear you would catch me!" I confess I had no business to do that. I have no doubt I ought to have been shot. But I will guarantee that there was not a fire-arm in the First Maine Cavalry that could have shot me during that time.
The picket duty was all performed mounted, and no fires were allowed on the posts, while the enemy's pickets, just across the river and in plain sight, were infantry, had their tents close to their posts, relieving each other themselves regu- larly, had picket fires burning brightly all night long, and in wet weather could do duty under the shelter of the tents. This was peculiarly aggravating to the Union pickets, as the sounds of their jovial converse were borne across the river to their ears, especially on such nights as that above mentioned ; and the men may be pardoned if they did not consider it just . the best way. Nor was it pleasant to have a jolly Johnny, on a cold morning, standing by his cheerful fire in all the con- sciousness of being better situated, sing out to his shivering friend on horseback across the river, "Come over here and warm you, Yank ; you are cold; I know you are by your looks." But these trifles, though unpleasant, had to be borne. The boys sometimes had their revenge, though. and many a time the stillness of the night was broken by the sharp crack of the carbine on some post, which caused the men at the reserve to jump into their saddles and wait for the next shot. and also caused a lively scattering of the rebel picket fires, till not a spark remained in sight. This last greatly amused the boys, and prevented any twinge of conscience on explaining to the officers that the shot was purely accidental, or that there were sounds heard as if some one was attempting to cross the river.
Although there were spasmodic efforts on the part of the commanding officers to be very strict concerning the pickets, the men soon got over each new stringent order, and performed their duty in their own way. Not that the duty was not well
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performed, but it certainly was not always done according to the strict letter of Army Regulations or General Orders. It was the almost universal practice to enjoy the quiet solace of the pipe while on post, especially in the night-time, of which no complaint was ever made. Then again the men would not patrol with the carbine at a "carry," as instructed to do. except when they saw an officer coming. They kept strict watch at all times, and knew their duty thoroughly, though they chose to do it in the easiest way, and knew what was going on across the river as well as on their own side. They were thinking, not machine soldiers.
During this winter's picketing an incident occurred, which, if it did not originate a since familiar slang term, was the occasion of the earlier instances of its use. The regiment relieved a Maryland regiment one morning, and as the first relief (from Co. G) went on duty, the corporal of the Maryland relief on post accompanied Co. G's corporal, to show the latter the line and the posts and transmit the orders, and to call in his own men. As they rode along, the Maryland corporal related a joke that was played upon one of his men while there. Near the end of the upper beat was a grave, the headstone at which showed it to be some fifty years old. As the man referred to went on duty there for the first time, the one he relieved told him that at midnight the night before the ghost of a man with- out any head, riding on horseback, was seen there. This so frightened the man that he did not dare to go on duty on the midnight relief, but instead hired a comrade to do so for him. Co. G's corporal paid no attention to it at the time, but when he posted his relief at eleven o'clock that night he thought of the story of the ghostly visitation, and thinking to have a bit of sport with the man he left on that beat, Riley L. Jones, he told it to him. Jones, who was just then lighting his pipe, replied between whiffs. " Well, (puff) if there's any man (puff) comes round here (puff. puff) to-night (puff) without any head on (puff, puff) I'll put a head on him." The corporal discovered that Jones wouldn't frighten worth a cent.
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