USA > Maine > History of the First Maine cavalry, 1861-1865, V. 1 > Part 15
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Not being acquainted with the programme, on arriving at the cross-roads, the boys, anticipating a few hours of sleep, lost no time in stretching themselves out for that purpose. But the most drowsy had hardly time to get well to sleep before they were again ordered into the saddle, and the brigade was again in motion, then going alone. It was decidedly easy for the men to sleep in the saddle, however, as most of them did do. The march was continued without more than the usual incidents, till noon of the next day, when a halt was made, long enough for those who had rations or forage, to cook something to eat, and to feed the horses. Soon after this it became officially known that there would be no chance for sleep that night, which was rather discouraging, and the boys began to wonder whether or not they could by any means live through a third night without sleep. But it was a military necessity, and they were willing to try.
Late in the afternoon a halt was made at Rockville, or Rocky Mills, fifteen miles from Richmond, when the horses were fed and groomed, the more fortunate of the men getting something for themselves to eat ; and just at dark a detachment of one hun- dred men from each of the regiments was sent, under command of Lieut. Col. Smith, of the First Maine, to destroy the railroad bridge across the South Anna River, ten miles from Richmond. It was a wild ride of several miles, mainly through woods, with
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EXPEDITION TO BURNN'AA BRIDGE.
no road, and it seemed in no particular direction, and most of the way at a trot. There was a lively dodging of the lower branches of the trees, and more than one of the boys found himself nearly, if not quite, brushed from his saddle by a heavy branch, which he did not see in time to dodge, in his rapid ride.
On arriving near the station on the railroad, Col. Smith dis- covered that his guide knew very little about the locality, and that the road he was on ran directly across the railroad, a posi- tion into which he did not wish to get. Capt. Spurling was sent with a force to destroy the station, tear up the track, etc., and the remainder of the command was drawn up in line in an open field. By this time blazing fires and the sounds of heavy blows denoted that the work of destruction was going on. Col. Smith and others went forward toward the bridge until they drew the fire of the enemy who was guarding the bridge, and the orders from Gen. Gregg being not to bring on a fight in any case, Col. Smith decided to return. So he sent an orderly over to where the fires were burning, with orders to "tell Capt. Spurling to finish the work he is about, burn the culvert, and join us as soon as he can, as the enemy is on the move in this direction " (pointing toward the left). This order was slowly and distinctly repeated, that there might be no mistake about it. The orderly found Capt. Spurling with a few men busy as bees near a burning station-house and burning cars, and deliv- ered his message. Capt. Spurling finished his work, and did it well, too, and soon the command was moving away from the railroad.
The ride back to Rockville was gloomy enough. The excite- ment was over, and tired nature began to assert its sway. Two- thirds or more of the men allowed themselves to go to sleep, and their horses to wander at will. Consequently there was no order nor anything else in the column, but it was strung out to almost indefinite length, with large gaps in it; and the utmost efforts of officers and the wakeful men were insufficient to keep the men anywhere except straggling along in single file. Twenty wide-awake, determined rebel soldiers could have cap- tured the whole two hundred, and not had much to boast of either. It was clear, simple good luck that the detachment ever
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
got anywhere. And when, about two o'clock in the morning, Rockville was reached, where the boys had fondly hoped to get a brief nap, at least, and it was found that the remainder of the command had gone, and there was "no rest for the weary," even those who had thus far kept awake gave up in despair, and went to sleep directly, making the column for the rest of the march more straggling and more inviting to the enemy than before. Arguments, orders, curses, loud and frequent, and even blows, could not keep the men awake, or keep the horses in their places, or scarcely in any place, some of them stopping in the road sound asleep. About four o'clock the tired, weary boys found the regiment, some three miles from Rockville, standing "to horse," expecting orders to move every moment. Caring little for the expected orders, the boys threw themselves on the ground, and were quickly asleep, ready to run all risks for what they so much needed. As good luck would have it, they got an hour or so of sleep, and when they were waked up as the column started they were in the best fighting trim, - cross enough to bite their sabres in two.
Six of the boys, however, Sergts. Jumper and Forsyth, Corps. Baker and Fuller, and Privates Mason and Mitchell, all of Co. G, were not allowed even these meagre rations of sleep, for as soon as the expedition reached the regiment they were ordered to report to Gen. Gregg immediately. They did so, and were sent back to. Thompson's cross-roads, a distance of eighteen miles, with despatches to Gen Stoneman. The story of that ride through the enemy's country, with horses so tired and worn that not one of them could go faster than a walk (and two of them gave out altogether soon after starting, forcing their riders to pursue their journey on foot and alone), going within'a mile of a large camp of the enemy without attracting his attention, passing themselves off as rebel scouts to a large number of citizens they met, and finally a portion of them over- taking and delivering the despatches to Gen. Stoneman just as he had moved out from the cross-roads, while the rest came in safely on foot some hours afterward, is but one of the strange stories of individual adventure that could be told of the mem- bers of the regiment. The wonder is that all of them were not
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THE RETURN MARCHI.
taken prisoners, as they confidently expected to be ; but pluck and persistency saved them.
At daylight the brigade started on the back track, taking a road in the opposite direction and following it for a while, to mislead any scouts that might be in the vicinity, and then suddenly changing direction and taking the right road, and sending out foraging parties, who were so successful that when a halt was made, soon after noon, at the cross-roads, there was ham and meal enough to cook a sort of a dinner for all. Then the march was resumed, and half a dozen miles further on the brigade reached the main portion of the cavalry corps, with Gen. Stoneman, near the Pamunkey River, and went into camp. The horses were unsaddled, which must have been a new sensa- tion for them, and the boys got a good night's sleep, the first since crossing the Rappahannock, five days before.
The next day, May fifth, the command remained quietly in camp, waiting for the return of the various detachments that had been sent out from the corps, and giving men and horses an opportunity to rest, till nearly night, and then was put in motion just as a lively thunder shower came up, the First Maine being advance guard, with Cos. A and D to the front. The Pamunkey was crossed on a high bridge, which was blown up and burned after the last man was over, by a detail from the regiment, under command of Lieut. Cutler, of Co. B, and the boys began to realize that they were on the way to the Union lines, which to them had all the significance of going home. The shower settled down into a steady rain ; the night was very cold; the boys, who, during the day had been inclined to growl at the heat, were shivering in their saddles ; the rain soon made the roads muddy and marching hard work, while, to add to all the discomforts of the situation, it was so dark that it was impossible for one to see his file leader, unless the file leader rode a white horse ; and more than all this, the way was through swamps, thickets, woods, cow-paths, by-paths, any- thing but travelled highways. It was a dismal ride, and made more so by the sound of an occasional shot from a guerilla. and the doleful note of a single whippoorwill that followed the column all night long. The regiment had to picket the various
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
cross-roads till the column passed, to prevent a surprise attack on the flank ; and there was need of it, as was learned next day, for the column passed within-two miles of Gen. Lee's baggage train, and within three miles of Gen. Stuart's cavalry.
At daylight the Spottsylvania pike was crossed near Tollards- ville, two companies standing picket on the pike on either side as it passed, within sight of the enemy's camp fires and within sound of their drums, but no attack was made. Soon after crossing the pike the column halted, the pickets rejoined the regiment, ham and flour from the surrounding country fur- nished a breakfast, and the column rested till about noon. Then there was a march of a few miles, another halt, and just before dark another start. This night's march commenced like that of the night before, only it rained faster, was darker. muddier, harder, slower, and more tedious, if that were possi- ble ; and hours through a piece of woods, with the road in a terrible condition, requiring constant watchfulness to keep the horses on their feet, and even that was not successful in all cases, while the same whippoorwill kept up his mournful tune, and there was the occasional shot, as if the guerilla were keep- ing the whippoorwill company. Rebel camp and picket fires could be seen frequently, but they gave no trouble. About midnight the advance got out of the woods at Verdiersville, when there was an hour or two of shivering in the cold, wait- ing for the rear of the column to catch up, and the command again started, this time on a plank road, where marching was easier, pleasanter, and more rapid, allowing the boys relief from their constant care, which most of them improved by going to sleep. Many of them remember nothing of the march from Verdiersville, except, perhaps, an indistinct recollection of being ordered "into place," until they found themselves fording the Rapidan at Raccoon ford, just at daylight. During this night a number of men were led off the read in the darkness by rebel scouts, who were on the watch, and captured ; and an attempt was made to mislead the train in the same way, but this was frustrated by Lieut. Stone, acting assistant quartermaster of the brigade, who was fired on and his horse shot.
On the seventh the command remained near the river at the
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SWIMMING THE RAPPAHANNOCK.
ford till late in the afternoon, the boys improving the opportu- nity as much as they were able to do, in sleeping, or, as they called it, "stealing poor sleep." Along towards night another start was made, and this night's march was about like the two previous ones, the rain still falling, and progress slow. Guerillas hovered around more abundantly, and at one time, it was stated, the column marched for some distance between two columns of the enemy. There was the occasional shot and the lonesome song of the whippoorwill. At midnight the Rappahannock was reached at Kelly's ford, but the three days' rain had swollen the river, and after an unsuccessful attempt by the advance to ford it the idea was abandoned, and the column remained there in line of battle till morning, the boys getting a little more sleep. Fording the swollen river was anything but pleasant or safe, even by daylight, the horses being obliged to swim, and that with a strong current run- ning. However, all of this regiment got safely across (there were rumors of casualties in other regiments), though some of them had much difficulty about it, and all got thoroughly wet, the water running over the tops of the saddles, and flooding saddle-bags and such of the haversacks as were strapped to the saddles. Ammunition, except the Burnside carbine cartridges, which had metallic cases, stood no chance at all that morning. After getting across, the regiment waited several hours, and along in the afternoon took up the line of march for Bealton, where it arrived about dark and went into camp, after what seemed a needless waste of time and strength in getting into just the right position, the camp-ground being changed at least half a dozen times before the boys were finally allowed to settle down for the night. And then there was sleep most sound and sweet, for once more was the regiment inside the Union lines, having been gone nine days, during which time the battle of Chancellorsville had been fought.
Thus ended "Stoneman's Raid," which has passed into his- tory as the first great achievement of the Union cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, and from which dated the rise of that branch of the service in the estimation of soldier and citizen, north and south. What was accomplished by the raid is not a
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
matter for this work. It is enough to say here that the First Maine Cavalry was a part and parcel of this expedition, and shared its dangers, its hardships and its triumphs, and that it was ever after a matter of pride with the boys that they were on "Stoneman's Raid." Starting with but two days' rations. after that was gone the boys lived on ham, flour and meal obtained from the country, cooked when they had time to cook. and eaten raw when necessary. As for rest and sleep, five nights there was no sleep except what was stolen in the sad- dles, and the rations of sleep were short and of an inferior quality during the rest of the time; some of the men seemed demented at times from loss of sleep, and acted half crazed. Three days and nights there was continuous marching, fight- ing, scouting, and picketing, and in fact pretty much of the whole time the boys had been actively employed.
During this expedition Lieut. Estes, of Co. A, who was serving as aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Kilpatrick, was despatched with ten men to go through the rebel lines from Richmond and communicate with Gen. Hooker. On the route he captured an officer and sixteen men. Lieut. Estes himself was afterwards taken prisoner, and started for Richmond, but in turn captured the party who had him in charge, and conveyed them within the Union lines.
Col. Douty was now in command of the brigade (First Maine and Tenth New York) and Lieut. Col. Smith in command of the regiment. Saturday, May ninth, rations were issued, and if ever anything tasted good, hard bread did on that day. It was evidently feared that after so long a time of the most active service, the boys would suffer if allowed to lie still, so the camp was moved a short distance, just to keep the boys awake. The next afternoon there were orders to move again, and after an easy march of half a dozen miles or so. on the road to Falmouth. the brigade went into camp near Deep Run, and next day reached Falmouth soon after noon, and went into camp near Potomac Creek. Here it remained, the boys receiving four months' pay on the thirteenth, and doing little but resting, until the fifteenth, when it went back to Bealton (making the trip in one day ) and camped on the ground of the week before. In
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CONSTANT WATCHFULNESS.
this vicinity the brigade remained until the thirtieth, changing camp several times, guarding the Orange and Alexandria Rail- road, and picketing and scouting against guerillas all the time. Guerillas were numerous and bold at this time, hovering around the rear of the army, picking up stragglers, tearing up rails and destroying culverts on the railroad, attacking small bodies of troops, now and then capturing a wagon or a whole train, and occasionally charging into a camp and carrying off whatever they could. One night a picket of the Tenth New York was fatally shot on his post, almost within sight of one of the pickets of this regiment, and the murderers escaped unharmed. The boys soon found the difference between picketing on the Rappa- hannock or in front of the whole rebel army, where they felt comparatively easy, knowing they had soldiers to deal with, - men who treated soldiers, though enemies, as men, - and pick- eting where they were liable to be picked off by men who would crawl up and shoot them without a word of warning or a com- punction of conscience, for the price set upon their heads ; and after a fair trial they formed the opinion, which they never afterwards changed, that picketing against guerillas was the most despicable part of the service.
While remaining here constant watchfulness was required. Half the. horses in camp were kept saddled at night, and a strong camp guard was maintained aside from the pickets, day and night. During the grazing of the horses, which occurred twice a day, half the horses were required to be saddled, and half the men wore their side-arms. At one time the regiment was camped near the station, in a single line extending around three sides of a square, for better protection, the horses outside, with tents, teams, headquarters, etc., inside. The camp guards were marched to the headquarters of Col. Smith, and received their orders and directions from him personally. They were required at night to take their horses, saddled and packed, to their posts, which were just outside the stable picket line, hitch them about the centre of their beats (the horses were allowed to remain at the picket line during the day, saddled and packed), and patrol on foot, armed with side-arms and carbine, and were instructed as to their duties in case an attack was made, and
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
"in case of a charge," upon which especial stress was laid. But eternal vigilance was the price of liberty, here as well as else- where ; for not the slightest -ripple disturbed the monotony of standing camp guard as cavalry and infantry combined, as the boys termed it. The non-commissioned officers, and such as were not detailed on the regular picket, got the most of this sort of duty. "Scares" were frequent, and reports of "rebel infantry this side the Rappahannock," "guerillas coming right down upon us," etc., caused frequent saddling-up in a hurry, and were good discipline for the men, if nothing else.
On the thirtieth there was a short march to Warrenton Junc- tion, where the regiment went into camp, and remained there, doing about the same duty as while at Bealton, drilling when opportunity offered, and having a "scare " occasionally, till Monday, June eighth. This extract from a private letter, written while the regiment was here, gives a new sort of experience : -
Day before yesterday a detail of ten men from this regiment, of whom I was one, and twenty or more from another regiment, went on a reconnois- sance under command of Capt. Tucker, of Co. B, First Maine. Between Sulphur Springs and Warrenton we found a secesh soldier lying by the roadside. He was the neatest-dressed and best-looking confederate I have ever seen, and from his manner I at once concluded he was some one's pet child, which after events proved. He had just been exchanged, and was on the way to join his regiment; had called at Warrenton the day before to see his parents, -said he had gone against his better judgment, and this was the result. When we got to Warrenton I was one of three sent with him to his father's to get a few things he thought he should need. That was a big job for me, who never could bear to see any one in trouble. to take a prisoner of war to bid good-by to his mother. I had to go, however. and make the best of it. Thought I had got somewhat calloused to exhibi- tions of feeling, but found I had not. Treated them as well as I could, and gave his mother all the comfort I could. How she did beg me to " take him out a little ways, where nobody would see me, and parole him ; " but I couldn't do it. I was glad when we got through, though I couldn't have hurried them at all. He left his mother, saying, " Take care of yourself. and don't worry about me: I shall come out all right: and if I get killed, remem- ber I shall die for my country." And we rode off.
On Sunday, June seventh. Col. Kilpatrick, with the Harris Light. returned from his service on Stoneman's Raid, and again took command of the brigade, and Col. Douty returned to the command of the regiment.
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THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
Now commenced the brilliant campaign which resulted in the utter defeat of the rebel army at Gettysburg. It had become known to Gen. Hooker that Gen. Lee's army was mov- ing westward, and that the cavalry had already reached Brandy Station, a station on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, five miles below the Rappahannock, and about the same distance from Culpepper. Just what his plans were, whether for an attack on Gen. Hooker's right, a grand flank movement to get between the Union army and Washington, or for a raid into the north, were, of course, unknown ; and a reconnoissance in force was necessary to see what was going on, learn of the enemy's position and intentions, as much as possible, and at least let Gen. Lee know that " Fighting Joe " was wide awake. For this purpose Buford's division of cavalry, with a small force of infantry and a battery, were sent out to cross the Rappahannock at Beverly ford; and Gen. Gregg's division, also with infantry and artillery, to cross below, at Kelly's ford, while Gen. Pleasanton, who then had command of the cavalry corps (Gen. Stoneman having been relieved), commanded the expedition in person.
The order to march was received about noon on the eighth, and in a short time the regiment, with the division, was in motion and moving toward the river. All the afternoon could be seen immense clouds of dust across the river, indicating that large forces of the enemy's troops were also in motion, and the boys felt there was hot work in store for them. After a dusty, uncomfortable march, the regiment bivouacked on a low tract of land in the vicinity of Kelly's ford, where the boys were treated to an unusual amount of "getting into position," or, as they called it, "poppy-cocking," and finally were allowed to lie down to sleep, with a cold bite, and holding the horses by the bridles. They were aroused about midnight, and given orders to be in readiness to move at three c'elock, and pretended to "stand to horse" till daylight, killing time as best they might, and thoroughly enjoying the soldier's prerogative of growling. They were not allowed to cook coffee, as the enemy might learn of the presence of the force by the smoke of the tires, and, of course, were cross enough for all practical pur-
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
poses. Soon after daylight the division moved out. A short march in the beauty of the early June morning carried it to the ford, where the First Maine, being in rear of the brigade, was forced to wait for the remainder to cross. Before its turn at the ford came the sound of brisk artillery firing up the river. at the right, which told the boys the ball had opened. When across the river the whole command was put into a gallop. which was kept up three or four miles, the dust so thick that in a very short time the blue of the uniforms was entirely invisible; most of the way through the woods, and all the time rapidly nearing the firing. A brief halt was made, when orders were received to tighten the saddle girths and load the carbines, which were rapidly obeyed, and the regiment again started. shortly after emerging from the woods into a large open field. As soon as the regiment debouched from the woods it formed squadrons at a gallop, drew sabre, and in a moment more was charging across the field. And thus, before the boys were aware of it, almost, the regiment was in its first cavalry charge as a regiment.
And now opened before them, and of which they were a part, a scene of the grandest description. They were nearly at the right of a large open field of undulating ground, with woods at their right. At the left, as far as the eye could reach, were to be seen bodies of Union cavalry advancing with quick movements toward the enemy's cavalry, who were also in full sight, and apparently as active. Officers grouped with their staffs, and squads of orderlies could be seen in different localities, some quietly watching the tide of battle, others moving in various directions. Orderlies and staff officers were riding at full speed in every direction, helter-skelter, appar- ently, as if the success of the whole engagement depended upon each one. A little to the right of the front, near a house surrounded by extensive shrubbery (known as the "Barber House," where Gen. Stuart had his headquarters), was a rebel battery, which turned its attention to this regiment as it emerged from the woods. The whole plain was one vast field of intense, earnest action. It was a scene to be witnessed but once in a lifetime, and one well worth all the risks of battle to
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