USA > Maine > History of the First Maine cavalry, 1861-1865, V. 1 > Part 21
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I at once deployed the two front companies to be in readiness to meet any attack. At the same time I ordered Lieut. Col. Boothby to go to the rear of the column. instruct the captains while passing them to face their companies about, and conduct the column back to Gaines' cross-road -. Upon arriving at. the cross-roads he was to put out a pieket on the Cul- pepper road, find a guide who could conduct us across the country to Orleans, and then wait till I joined him. As soon as the column got well out of the way. I caused the two deployed companies to withdraw and follow it and with a small party I followed in rear. We crossed a small creek and stopped to tear up the bridge over it, when a squad of the enemy
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that was pursuing suddenly came upon us in the dark. We captured two of them and took them along with us.
On arriving at the cross-roads I found that Boothby had secured a colored boy some fourteen years old for a guide. The boy said he had never been to Orleans, but "know the way most thar. It is only a hog- path part way." It was now midnight, and we were cut off by the rebel army, but were not in any immediate danger of being captured. If we had thought only of our own escape we would have gone through Chester Gap towards Front Royal. thence through Manassas Gap, and thus back to our army by a long and safe detour. But we were the possessors of most im- portant information relating to the welfare of our army. If Gen. Meade remained at Rappahannock Station during the twelfth, then we knew that Lee was fully abreast of him in a race for his communications to his rear. And had we known then the fact that three of our army corps had actually recrossed the river and marched toward Culpepper on that day, we would have been even more strongly impressed with the necessity of reporting promptly. Our object, therefore, was to get back to our army by the shortest line; to graze the enemy as closely as possible and not get caught. We were on the south side of the north branch of the Rappahannock, which we had always crossed near Amisville or at Sulphur Springs, and were now cut off from both those fords. It was therefore necessary to find a new route across the head waters of the river, through a few miles of wooded country wholly unknown to us, and at midnight, too. Hence we were very glad to accept the guidance of the little contraband who " knew the way most thar," even by a " hog-path part of the way."
No time was lost. I ordered the column to start. remained behind.myself to see the picket called in. and then followed in rear. We had not gone far before the hog-path was realized. The way was narrow, but not straight. Without orders the fours became twos, then the twos dissolved, till nearly the whole column was stretched out in single file. The head of the column could do well enough, because it could slow up at a bad place and increase the gait where the road was better. The rear, however, had a different expe- rience. Just as it might quicken its pace to make up lost distance, it would perhaps get doubled up and huddled together into a most awkward jam upon those in front who had slackened their pace at a bad place. Only cavalry men can appreciate the situation. The two prisoners became a burden, and I abandoned them in the woods.
By some accident and coincidence two carbines were discharged some- where in the column almost at the same instant. I thought that by some chance the front had struck the enemy, but soon became reassured, because the column did not halt. Those two shots awoke queer emotions, and I heard the circumstance referred to more than once afterward.
In due time our little guide announced to those who had him in charge that he did not know the way any further. He had got to the outer edge of his little world. Then the column halted for the colonel to make his way to the front. He had been unable to pass it in the woods while it was mov- ing. The march was resumed, and we soon came to a country house, which seemed to us to be as much out of place and lost as we were. We roused a corpulent white man past middle age, but not old. He could not decide
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whether we were from the north or from the south, and we did not tell him for a while. I questioned him very closely as to direction and distance of every place. also as to the roads and the prominent objects upon them. I then gave him a twenty-dollar greenback. promised him a horse to ride home on, and told him to guide us to Orleans. My giving him money was unneces- sary and a very simple performance on my part. which I have never been especially proud of, but it indicates my gratitude for a guide that night.
Upon arriving at Orleans we were on a road that leads to Warrenton ria : Waterloo, a route, however, too near Amisville and the rebel camps to ven- ture over. I learned from the guide of a more obscure road by which we could pass Waterloo farther to the north and reach the Warrenton turnpike at a point farther east. The guide conducted us by that road, and when we had got well beyond Waterloo, and the rebel camp-fires were well in our rear, I dismissed our second guide, giving him the horse that he had been riding. At his request I waited till he concealed himself and his horse in a piece of woods, to remain while the column was passing, because he said " those soldiers in the rear will not let me take this horse if they see him." It is quite possible that he was right. Soon after dismissing the guide we reached the Warrenton turnpike.
Our route thus far had been chosen upon the supposition and hope that our forces were still at Warrenton; and as we drew nearer the town. specu- lation was rife at the head of the column as to the probabilities of the case. I was hoping and rather expecting every moment to encounter the pickets of some of our forces. We were descending a hill through a thin belt of timber, when suddenly there was disclosed. in the immediate front of the advance guard and just to the right of the turnpike, a camp of cavalry, all asleep, apparently. The column halted. and Maj. Thaxter. of the regiment. without my knowledge, quickly rode into the camp. and, sitting upon his horse in the very midst of the sleeping soldiers, called out: "What regi- ment is this?" A man raised his head and replied: " The Twelfth." " The Twelfth what?" asked the major. "The Twelfth Virginia. you d-n fool!" was the Virginian's indignant reply. The major returned even more quickly than he went, and in a very loud whisper reported. ". Colonel! colonel! it is the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry!" In the meantime I had called for a volunteer to ride into camp and determine the matter. and was just instructing him what to do and how to do it, when Maj. Thaxter so unexpectedly reported his discovery.
We . then concluded. as was afterwards shown to be true, that the main body of rebel cavalry was still in our front. This Twelfth regiment that we had run into was in a place of supposed safety, being between the main body of their cavalry and a corps of their infantry. There was no one stirring in camp, not even a camp guard. It is very possible that we might have cap- tured the whole regiment. But capturing regiments was not in our line just then. We had just as much elephant already as we wanted to carry.
I ordered the fence to be thrown down on the north side of the road, and headed the column northward over fields, pastures, stone walls, woods, high lands and low lands. Before the rear of the column left the road the Twelfth was considerably astir, but did not pursue.
New Baltimore was northeast from us, and there is a turnpike from War-
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renton to that town. It was possible that the enemy had advanced even to that place. I therefore desired to proceed parallel with the turnpike, at a distance from it. in order that we might approach New Baltimore from the northwest by the Thoroughfare Gap road, and thus avoid the possibility of again being cut off by the enemy. We had no apprehension of being cap- tured. because we had an open country to the northward, and could make a safe detour in that direction from any point: but, as before stated. we wanted to return to our army by the quickest and shortest line, to tell it what we knew; yet we could not ineur the risk of being cut off again at New Baltimore. because it would be daylight before we could get there.
It was about three o'clock in the morning when we run into the Twelfth. and took a new departure across the country. There was no moon. and it was more or less cloudy all night. Yet it was not a very dark night. I think more or less stars were visible all the time. We picked our way as best we could for several miles, and came to a fine-looking plantation house sur- rounded by trees, whose shade made the entrance through the enclosure quite dark.
A loud rap brought an elderly and refined appearing gentleman, accom- panied by a colored boy, who may have reached his teens, to the door. In the dark they could not tell who nor how many we were. I learned from the gentleman that our cavalry had retired through Warrenton, followed by the rebel cavalry. the day before, and that considerable fighting had been done. I also learned that we were about a mile northwest of the Warrenton and New Baltimore turnpike, and that we were then on a road by which we could approach the latter place from the northwest, as desired. We took the colored boy for our third guide, who conducted us by the indicated route. and we reached New Baltimore between daylight and sunrise - a " bright. rosy morning." The only person discovered was one rebel cavalry man. riding over a hill beyond the town in the direction of Warrenton. He had probably availed himself of the opportunity to visit home or his sweetheart for a night. We passed through the little town and took the turnpike in the direction of Gainesville. We came to rising ground from which the turnpike in our rear could be seen a long distance. and upon which a patch of corn had been eut up and shocked. Here we formed line faced to the rear. fed our horses, and unsaddled and groomed them by detachments. Many of the men made coffee.
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After an hour's rest we resumed the march by the shortest route to Bris- tow Station. I despatched Maj. Brown. of the regiment, to find and report to proper authorities our discoveries. He found army headquarters at Catlett's Station. As soon as it was discovered there who he was, where he had been, and what he knew, he became quite a lion, and he knew how to make the most of the situation. At a subsequent interview with Gen. Meade, he emphasized to me the great value of the information which I had sent him by Maj. Brown at that time. For two days he had not received any reliable information of the movements of the rebel infantry, and was worried and annoyed in consequence. He blamed our cavalry for inetti- ciency, while in fact, as it subsequently appeared, the cavalry had done, and was doing, its best. The two cavalry forces were fiercely contending on the thirteenth for the ground between the two armies, and each became a cur- tain to conceal the infantry, which the other could not penetrate.
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Continuing our march, we arrived in the vicinity of Bristow Station about midday. We selected a comfortable place. and abandoned ourselves to rest and sleep. The next morning we crossed the railroad, but remained in the vicinity of Bristow most of the day, watching the interminable wagon trains hastening to the rear through Brentsville. In the afternoon A. P. Hill's corps arrived at Bristow Station and gave battle to our second corps, which lasted till after dark. Before «lark we moved back to Manassas Junction. where we waited and observed the retreating columns of our infantry till late in the night. We did not make any special effort to find our command. The army was retreating, and our division might come to us sooner than we could go to it.
Near midnight the last of our infantry passed us. Our cavalry division was passing to the rear below us, at Union Mills, but we did not know it then. So we resumed the march, and followed the infantry across Bull Run to the higher ground toward Centreville.
As soon as we crossed Bull Run we were among the camps of the infantry, much to their indignation. Infantry men never had much use for cavalry except when the latter was well to the front, between them and the enemy. It was a mortal offence for cavalry to cross their line of march, or to invade their camps. On this occasion we were orphans, or rather vagrants, and did not belong to anybody. We therefore meekly picked our way among their bivouacs until we found a space large enough to form on and dismount. The cavalry men then quickly sought their beds beneath their horses' heads. each with an arm or leg through the bridle for a hitching post. Next morning. however, found us surrounded by many friends, among whom I especially and pleasantly remember. was Col. Frank Heath. of Maine.
During the forenoon we learned that our division was in the vicinity of Union Mills and Fairfax Station: and we had started for the latter place to join it, when we were met by Gen. Warren, who gave me orders to turn back, advance to Manassas, or beyond. until we found the enemy, and cap- ture some prisoners, if we could. I was to send frequent reports back to him. We advanced to Manassas, and met the rebel cavalry just at Fort Beauregard. We skirmished with them. and held them in check till they brought some artillery to the front. We then fell back slowly to Bull Run again. Our batteries behind Bull Run opened upon the advancing enemy at long range, and an artillery duel and considerable skirmishing followed.
Soon after we met the enemy at Fort Beauregard I noticed a young staff officer. a stranger to me, near the skirmish line. I asked him if he had any orders to communicate, or suggestion to make, and he courteously answered that he had not, but only wished to observe. I soon forgot him. Perhaps I did not even learn his name at the time. Since then, however, he became my friend. and, for a time, my commanding officer, and recalled to me that occasion of our first meeting. He is Brig. Gen. R. S. Mckenzie.
The same evening we marched to Fairfax Station, where we arrived at a late hour. The next morning, the sixteenth, after an absence of four days. we rejoined our division, and drew our forage and rations amidst congratu- lations and honors. We had been officially reported as captured.
We marched all day the tenth, all day the eleventh. all day and night the twelfth, were cut off twice by the enemy, and employed three guides. We
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marched all day the thirteenth, were moving all day and night the fourteenth. and were marching and fighting all day the fifteenth.
The adventures and misfortunes of Lieut. Harris and his party, who were sent back from Little Washington with de- spatches, should go on record as a portion of this expedition. The party passed Amisville before Gen. Hill's corps arrived there ; but when they reached Jefferson, near Sulphur Springs, they encountered the rebel cavalry. They then retraced their steps to return to the regiment again, but before they reached Amisville they met the rebel infantry, and were thus hemmed in between the two forces. Lieut. Harris avoided detection. took his men into some thick pines, and concealed horses and men, unsaddling, and to all appearances going into camp, to make it appear, should any of the enemy visit the locality, that they were rebs, and at home. In a short time two of those restless geniuses who visit freely from one camp to another paid the little party a visit, and were taken prisoners right within their own camp. When night came on Lieut. Harris and his men cut up their saddles and bridles and turned the horses loose, and then fell into line, and with the two prisoners took the road and marched out without being challenged, going across the river into the country northward. The next morning they met White, with a small party of his scouts, who demanded their surrender. Lieut. Harris took position behind a stone wall and opened fire, displaying the two prisoners from .the top of the wall, and challenged the enemy to shoot. White evidently took in the situation, because he passed on. Lieut. Harris then proceeded to the vicinity of Thoroughfare Gap. where he met Moseby with a large force, to whom he had to surrender, after a sharp skirmish. Upon surrendering, Lieut. Harris was compelled, at the muzzle of a pistol, to give up his watch ; but upon arriving at headquarters he reported the fact of the robbery of his person, and the watch was returned. The lieutenant's feet becoming sore he refused to walk further, and an old. horse was procured, upon which he was mounted. He had told the boys he should never go to prison, and they must look out for themselves.
The party was taken into the mountains and treated very
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well for a few days, and then back to Sulphur Springs, where they arrived one night after dark. There was the old camping- ground, which the regiment had left only about thirty-six hours previous, and Lieut. Harris knew the place well. They were taken to an old deserted farm-house, where he had been before, and he knew the hall led through the house from the front to the back door. The entrances, both front and rear. were rather high, and the steps of the rear door had been taken away, leaving it quite inaccessible. The door was too high for one to jump from to the ground with safety, especially in the dark. The captives were shown into the front door of this house, and ordered to go into a room one side of the hall. The men did as they were bid. but Lieut. Harris, who was in the rear, slipped quietly through the hall in the dark, lowered him- self to the ground from the back door, and concealed himself in some tall weeds. The captors soon produced a light to identify their prisoners, when behold! the officer was not there. A search was instituted, but without avail. The lieutenant heard them searching for him, and swearing vengeance upon his head. He travelled some days, often calling upon the negroes who were at work in the fields to bring him food. which they seemed glad to do, promising not to betray him. By the aid of a map, after five days' tramp he found his way back to the Union lines, much fatigued, reaching them at Gen. John C. Caldwell's headquarters; and as the general was a townsman . and a relative, he found there rest and refreshment, and then joined the regiment, having been absent about two weeks. During his absence the rebel army retreated again to the Rap- pahannoek. tearing up the railroad as it went. and the Union army in turn advanced again to Warrenton Junction, where he entered the lines.
Maj. Thaxter, at the reunion in Auburn, 1883, thus told the story of his visit to the rebel camp during this reconnaissance : ---
Our president has narrated an incident which perhaps it will be well for me to refer to. One of the most important reconnoissances. I think, that was ever made by any regiment during our war, or during any war, was that to which he referred. It was important in its long continuance, in the fatigue endured by man and beast. and perhaps important in its results to
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the commanding officer of our army. It was not in those great battles that are so well known in history that the cavalry regiments saw their severest service: it was in their long protracted reconnoissances. in their raids, in their picketings, in their bivouacs, in all the daily routine of army life. It was these that told upon men, and showed what kind of soldiers there were in this regiment.
Our president has given the substance of the story which he has asked me to tell you. Gen. Meade was in doubt where the rebel army was, and of course it was necessary to ascertain. Early one bright, crispy, October inorning, when everything was beautiful and bright. we left our camp. I remember of noticing how clearly defined were the outlines of the Blue ridge as we marched towards it. When we reached Little Washington we sent a detachment ahead while the rest of us rested there. " When the detachment returned we took up our march back, not knowing that anything had inter- posed in our rear to interfere with our returning the way we came. About ten o'clock at night we reached a place called Amisville, where we found our passage intercepted by Hill's corps, so we were obliged to make a detour to get by them. About two o'clock in the morning we saw before us a large number of fires, which I took to be the camp-fires of our troops. and I sup- posed that all we had to do was to proceed, and that we would soon meet our own pickets in the road. The colonel was of a more cautious turn of mind, and was quite unwilling to have his command go on. I, without any knowledge that he intended to halt, went ahead with the advance guard. expecting every moment that we should meet our piekets in the road. Soon the advance guard stopped; but I, in my confidence that I was soon to meet our own troops, kept on. Not meeting any pickets in the road, when I got opposite the encampment I turned into the field where it was, and went towards it. The first sight of the encampment, the horses and their accou- trements, convinced me that I was in the wrong camp: but. in order to make sure, I rode up beside a man who had a shelter tent thrown over him. for it was a chill October morning. and endeavored to wake him, but he was very soundly asleep, and I could not wake him. I rode a short distance on. to another one, and shook him and spoke to him. and finally succeeded in waking him. He was very cross to think he had been waked. I asked him what regiment it was, and he said ". The Twelfth." I asked him. " Twelth what ?" There was but one of the southern states that sent twelve regi- ments of cavalry into the field, and he was somewhat surprised at my question, and not wishing to be further bothered. he said. "The Twelfth Virginia, you d-d fool." I told him it was all right, and turned to leave. Just then a sentinel in the camp shouted to me to " Halt!" but it was dark. and I knew there would be no danger in my attempting to leave the camp. and I did so. As soon as I regained the road I went on at as rapid a pace as a horse that had been thirty hours under the saddle could go. I found the colonel about where I had left the advance guard, making arrangements with a couple of men to go up to this camp and find out who they were. I said to him. " Colonel. that is the Twelfth Virginia up there." He had no occasion for the services of those men, and we immediately turned off to our left and made another detour, going around the town of Warrenton. This part of the country was very familiar to us, and ten o'clock the next day
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brought us to our friends. The colonel immediately sent to headquarters and reported the results of the reconnoissance to the general in command, who, I have no doubt, regarded it as important information. I am sorry that I have taken so much time in relating this; but really I consider this one of the most remarkable reconnoissances of the war. in the length of time the men were in the saddle, showing the ability, not only of the men of the regiment. but of the horses, to endure fatigue. I have often thought if somebody would write a history of the achievements of the horses in the war it would be interesting.
Col. Cilley, in his remarks at the gathering of the comrades of the regiment in, Boston, in November, 1886, thus spoke of the exhaustion on this reconnoissance : -
My personal experience during that twenty-four hours in the saddle has been called for. Whatever my personal experience may have been, I can say that my personal feelings on that occasion were immense, and may be pertinent in showing the weariness of that long ride, though it is fair to say I was not in good physical condition; that the wound in my arm was not fully healed. and I was fresh from staff duty in Washington, with only one qualification that gave assurance of conquering the resources of Virginia, - an appetite that was the astonishment and standing joke of my brother officers.
On the return march my battalion was in the advance. It was dark and quite late. Col. Smith had determined to bivouac and wait till morning, and said: "You have recently done picket duty in this vicinity, and can select a place for encampment." When, to our astonishment, we found the enemy we had searched for all day, I think our feelings were very much like the old lady's who had formed the habit and had for forty years looked under her bed every night to find a burglar, and at last one night there were his boots and there was the man. She hastened down stairs to her husband. who had been delayed, and excitedly exclaimed: " A burglar is under our bed!" Her husband coolly replied: "No wonder you are happy, my dear. You have found what you have been looking for during forty years."
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