USA > Maine > History of the First Maine cavalry, 1861-1865, V. 1 > Part 9
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On the eighteenth Cos. G, I, and K, under command of Maj. Whitney, started in a pelting rain storm which had been con- tinuing for some hours, for a reconnoissance across the Rappa- hannock. After a ride of fifteen miles the river was reached at three o'clock in the afternoon, but it was found so much swollen that crossing was impossible, so the boys made themselves as comfortable as they could for the night in some unoccupied houses at Rappahannock Station, foraging for subsistence. The next day the river was still impassable, and at noon the major decided to return to camp, which was reached that evening. All the streams in the vicinity were much swollen by the rain, so much so that the pickets under Lieut. Cary, of Co. K, who had been relieved on the eighteenth, could not get back to camp until the afternoon of the next day.
On the twenty-second the regiment, with the whole division, marched to Waterloo, a distance of nine miles or so, to re-enforce Gen. Shields, who apprehended an attack from Stonewall Jack- son, and remained there, doing little but camp duty, till August fifth, in a locality where men and horses would have starved to death if obliged to subsist on the country.
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CHAPTER IV.
THE CAMPAIGN UNDER POPE.
THE ARMY OF VIRGINIA. - GEN. POPE'S FAMOUS ORDERS. - HIS PLANS .- THE BOYS LEARNING TO TAKE CARE OF . THEMSELVES. - DECIDEDLY UNPLEASANT SENSATIONS. - DECREASE IN THE NUMBERS OF THE REGI- MENT. - REVIEW BY GEN. POPE. -- " FORWARD !"-AT CULPEPPER. - BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN. - UNDER FIRE FOR THE FIRST TIME. - MAGNIFICENT ARTILLERY DUEL. - A TRYING EXPERIENCE. - BIVOUAC ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE. - ARTILLERY FIRE IN THE NIGHT. - POPE'S RETREAT. - THE REGIMENT REAR GUARD FOR THE RETREATING ARMY. -FIRST BRANDY STATION FIGHT. - THE FIGHT AT WATERLOO. - A SKIR- MISHI IN A THUNDER STORM. - THE RAID ON CATLETT'S STATION. - BACKING AND FILLING. - SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN. - SCOUTING AND PICKETING DURING THE BATTLE. - BIVOUAC AT CENTREVILLE. - A COOL AMMUNITION TEAMSTER. - BACK TOWARD WASHINGTON. - SUF- FERINGS OF THE BOYS DURING THE RETREAT. - AN ENGLISH OPINION OF THE REGIMENT. - MUSTER-OUT OF THE BAND.
T HE first of August, 1862, found the regiment at Water- loo, Va., and all together, the five companies which had been serving in the Shenandoah valley under Gen. Banks for nearly four months having rejoined the main body. The forces under command of Gens. Banks, Fremont and McDowell, which had been acting independently, had been consolidated into one army, called the " Army of Virginia," and placed under command of Maj. Gen. John Pope, as were also the defences of Washington. The field force of this army was thirty-eight thousand men, and a portion of this was in poor condition. Gen. Pope had made such disposition of the troops as he deemed best suited to carry out the wishes of the govern- ment, and had issued his famous orders, discarding lines of retreat and a base of supplies, ordering the arrest of all male citizens found within his lines, declaring that the army must subsist on the enemy's country, announcing his headquarters to be in the saddle, etc., which, though received with derision
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
by the enemy, had put new life into the men and officers of his own command, who in their turn laughed at the declaration of the rebel government that Gen. Pope and his officers would not be entitled to the privileges of prisoners of war if captured. They felt that their new commander meant business, and they were tired of marching back and forth for nothing, of guarding and protecting the enemy's property, and of the alternative of going hungry or running the risk of punishment for foraging, when their foes were so well off. They believed in Gen. Pope, and they welcomed him to their command with a feeling that he was the man for the place.
The Army of the Potomac, under Gen. McClellan, had been defeated on the peninsula, and not only forced to " change its base," but was closely pressed by the enemy. Gen. Pope's instructions were to protect Washington, to prevent the enemy from occupying the Shenandoah valley, and to draw the enemy's troops from McClellan's front if possible, to allow the latter to operate with greater ease against Richmond, or, as it proved, to enable him to withdraw successfully from his posi- tion at Harrison's Landing, and to take shipping for Aquia Creek and Alexandria. With this end in view the Army of Virginia was so placed that any attempt on the part of the enemy to enter the valley would render the whole force liable to be cut off, and at the same time Washington was guarded by the whole strength of the army. Then, with the view of draw- ing troops from McClellan's front, and with the intention, should the enemy throw all his forces in the direction of Washington, of resisting his advance at all hazards, and so delay and embar- rass his movements as to gain all the time possible for the arrival of the Army of the Potomac behind the Rappahannock, Gen. Pope commenced the operations which, though successful as far as releasing Mcclellan's force was concerned, resulted in what is known as " Pope's Retreat," and in a second defeat of the Union forces on the famous battlefield of Bull Run.
The men had now become " old campaigners." They had learned, by that best of schools, experience, how to take care of themselves, under any or all circumstances. Each man carried at least one, and many of them two, pieces of shelter
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OH, NO, NOT FLEAS!
tent, and so the men were ready to go into camp at any time, in any place where ordered, and with any weather, and make themselves comparatively comfortable. They had learned to carry their own rations, and to cook their own coffee and pork or beef, instead of having them carried in the wagons, and depending upon a company cook, and thus were in no danger of being again caught as were the seven companies on their arrival at Warrenton Junction the April before. In short, each one had learned, or was fast learning, to depend on him- self and his own resources, and thus was ready for any emer- gency, as far as his own health and comfort were concerned.
It may not be out of place just here to speak of another unpleasant experience of the boys, and one which does not usually appear in the records of campaigns, the history of brave deeds, or even in the accounts of the sufferings of the boys in blue. It was not long after their arrival on the sacred soil before some of the boys began to feel queerly. There was a sort of crawling of the flesh, accompanied with a strong desire to scratch. The reason of this was not understood at first; and even after suspicion was aroused, there was an inclination not to believe the humiliating truth. The reason will be explained in the reply of one of the boys who was asked one day by an officer, who noticed his shrugging shoulders and the general movements of the body within his clothes: "Have you got fleas ?" " Fleas ! d'ye think I'm a dog? No; them's lice." This was the fact, but how loth the boys were to accept it. They would have sold out cheaply, and considered this degra- dation the worst that could befall them. They would retire to some private spot, that no one else should learn of their awful condition, and there hold a private inspection of their clothing, and ruthlessly murder all the detested animals they could find. It is but truth to say they never felt so meanly before. But as one after another discovered that he was not the only one so afflicted, that he was not the only one so utterly disgraced, the humiliation grew less, and each one felt better to know others were enjoying the same misery. The vermin got into the regiment in various ways, - brought from general hospitals and from soldiers' retreats by men who had stopped in those
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
places, caught in old houses and on deserted camp-grounds, caught by having clothes washed by the people, white and black, living in the vicinity of the different camp-grounds, and in dozens of ways. It is probable that not a single member of this, or any other regiment, from first to last, that ever reached Washington and beyond, escaped this infliction. But they soon learned how to flank this enemy. By keeping out of old buildings and away from old camp-grounds, by doing their own washing, or getting some comrade to do it for them, instead of carrying it to the citizens to be done, by frequent inspec- tions, by changing their clothing often when circumstances would permit, - those who tented together changing at the same time always, -and by getting over their modesty, so that as soon as one found evidences of vermin on his person he informed his tent-mate, and an entire change of underclothing was instantly made, the boys managed, as a general thing, to keep free for most of the time, though when so situated as not to be able to fulfil these conditions, as during active campaign- ing, they were often troubled, but this trouble was compara- tively of short duration, and easily relieved, when circumstances favored. This refers, of course, to the men while they were with the regiment. In prisons, parole-camps, hospitals, conva- lescent-camps, etc., it was a different thing. Many incidents could be related in this line, but, as it is not a pleasant subject to consider, one will suffice. Some of the boys will remember seeing the commander of the regiment one day, a year or more later than this time. pull off his shirt by the roadside, during a brief halt of the column, and hold an inspection, resulting in the exclamation : "Here they are, all drawn up in battle array - Fletcher (his colored servant), bring me a clean shirt!" The shirt was brought, put on, and the colonel went on his way rejoicing.
The regiment had been gradually growing less in numbers from the time it first trod the sacred soil. The change from the cold winter of Maine, with its comparative inaction, to the heat and rains of Virginia, and the hardships, exposure, and irregularities of eating and sleeping incident to active cam- paigning had been a severe one, and told on the constitutions
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THE BATTLE OF CEDIR MOUNTAIN.
of many with fearful effect. A large number had gone to the hospital, some never again to see their comrades, yet the effective strength of the regiment would compare favorably with that of any other regiment in that army.
On the first day of the month all the troops in the vicinity were reviewed by the new commander, accompanied by Gens. MeDowell, Ricketts, Hartsuff, Tower, and a regiment of staff officers. The evening of the same day two companies marched a dozen miles or so, on a guerilla hunt, but returned unsuc- cessful. On the second Cos. G and H went to Warrenton, and were engaged in patroling in and around the village till the ninth, when they departed, and rejoined the regiment on the morning of the tenth at Cedar Mountain-the day after the battle at that place.
Tuesday, August fifth, the regiment took up the line of march for Culpepper, where it arrived the next day, and camped a couple of miles above the town. Here it remained till Thursday, and then went on picket three or four miles below the town, Co. D proceeding to Raccoon ford and picket- ing there, remaining until recalled in haste the next evening. Friday afternoon it was suddenly ordered forward, as the pickets of the First Pennsylvania Cavalry had been driven back from the Rapidan River. By a circuitous route through the woods the regiment reached a position some half a mile from the ground of the battle of Cedar Mountain, and was placed on the advance line of pickets, the second line, cavalry and infantry, having been doubled and trebled. Hardly had the outer line been formed when three mounted rebels, proba- bly spies, attempted to enter the lines under cover of a fence, but were seen and driven back.
Saturday, the ninth, the day of the battle of Cedar or Slaugh- ter's Mountain, was an eventful day for the regiment, as on that day the greater portion of it was under fire for the first time, and that, too, under the circumstances which most se- verely test soldiers. Reveille sounded at four o'clock in the morning, and at half-past six the regiment, with several others, forming Gen. Bayard's cavalry brigade, were drawn up in line in front of the enemy's batteries, though unaware of this latter
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
fact. For several hours the boys sat there patiently waiting, and at last the tiresome sitting still was relieved by the regi- ment being ordered to take a new position, a hundred rods or so to the rear. Before they were fairly in line again the rebel batteries opened upon them with shell, but they fell short, and the Union batteries replied with such vigor that the enemy's fire soon ceased, and all was quiet till about the middle of the afternoon, when a brisk fire of shot and shell was opened by the enemy, to which Union guns rapidly replied. For an hour or more the boys calmly sat on their horses between the contending forces and watched a magnificent artillery duel, the effect of the shells upon the enemy being distinctly visi- ble and ofttimes cheering, and the scene losing no interest or excitement from the fact that the cavalry men of this and the other regiments were in nearly equal danger as the men more actively engaged. Fortunately for them, however, the enemy's gunnery was bad, or it was other forces at which it was aimed. The regiment was then on the left of the line, unsupported by any considerable force of infantry ; and the pickets discovering a large body of the enemy evidently attempting a flank move- ment on the left. the fire of the batteries was turned in that direction. and the regiment ordered to retire. And now shot and shell fell among the troopers like hail as they marched from the field, but neither man nor horse was injured. Another position was taken, some half a mile in rear of the former one, whence four companies were sent out soon after to drive back a force of the enemy's cavalry, which was again trying a flank movement. A little later the regiment was driven from this position by a brisk and well-aimed artillery fire, the shells from which burst all around them, and finally bivouacked for the night on the field.
This ended the battle of Cedar Mountain proper, as far as the regiment was concerned. That night the enemy fell back. having got enough of Gen. Pope's force. In this engagement the regiment suffered no loss, nor did it render any very effi- cient service in the general acceptation of the term as applied to battles. But it performed nobly and unflinchingly the vari- ous duties assigned to it to perform, went where it was ordered
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AFTER THE BATTLE.
to go, and filled an important place, covering the left of the army, though it was not severely attacked; and that the general officers had at that time no more faith in the service of the cav- alry was no fault of this regiment. That it was more trying to sit under the artillery fire and be doing nothing, with nothing to attract the attention but the sad work of shot and shell in the ranks of both friend and foe, and to follow the course of the flying missiles by the sound, -in short, that this passive service, this being merely interested spectators, this waiting in expec- tancy of being called into action, was a much harder experience, and more trying than would have been active participation, no old soldier will question for a moment.
It was a new experience for the boys of the seven companies, at least, and advanced them one more step toward being cava- liers. They now knew better what war really was, and saw something of its effects. Among the strange sights and sounds which came under their notice, there are but few that have been preserved from oblivion. Many will remember the brisk artil- lery fire after dark on the night of the ninth, and will recall the splendid appearance of the shells as they went screaming through the air, the light of their fuses resembling in form, speed, and direction through the sky the blaze of rockets, and lighting up the heavens as if with a cannonade of shooting stars.
The day after the battle was spent in reconnoitring around the flanks, but not near the field. On Monday the regiment started to advance, but was stopped at the battle-field with a flag of truce, and ordered to come no further. However, two com- panies were allowed to visit the field to collect the wounded, bury the dead, and render what assistance they could. Cos. D and K, under command of Capt. Smith, with the ambulance corps, were sent on this duty. This gave the boys the first realizing sense of the " horrors of war."
The next day after this visit an advance was made, when it was discovered that there was no force there, the enemy having withdrawn. Then came a couple of days of picketing, scout- ing and reconnoitring in various directions, in the vicinity of the battle-field. and then on Thursday, the fourteenth, the regi- ment moved to the Rapidan River and went on picket. A day
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
or two later it moved back to near the Cedar Mountain battle- field, and was there when " Pope's Retreat " began on the eigh- teenth. Gen. Pope having learned from a captured letter that the enemy designed overwhelming him before Mcclellan could come up, decided to withdraw across the Rappahannock, to prevent the successful accomplishment of this design. On Mon- day, eighteenth, the regiment was mustered in the forenoon to account for absentees, and soon after noon was ordered to prepare to move immediately. Horses were saddled and packed, the men mounted, and everything was in readiness to move by three o'clock, and from that time until half-past six the next morning the men remained on and by their horses, waiting for trains to pass and orders to start. The welcome order at last came, but the march was only for half a mile or so, when the regiment was drawn up in line of battle and remained in that position till four o'clock in the afternoon. Then, as rear guard of Gen. Pope's whole army, it moved out, passing through Cul- pepper Court House about dusk, and camping near Brandy Station, a station on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad half a dozen miles from Culpepper, and went on picket on the Raccoon ford road, Cos. B and G being outposts.
The next morning, August twentieth, occurred the first fight of the regiment at Brandy Station. The first knowledge of the presence of the enemy was received by Sergt. Jumper and Corp. Grover, of Co. G, who while a short distance outside the line of piekets, on the look-out for rations that would relish better than the regular fare, with special reference to chickens, were captured without giving an alarm. Capt. Taylor, with two companies, had been sent out to reconnoitre in front. and before proceeding far he saw in the distance a large body of troops and a handkerchief waving at them from a house. Judging rightly that that salute could only be intended for rebel soldiers, he fell back to the reserve and prepared to receive the approach- ing enemy. Scarcely had he got into position, and before he had fairly notified the remainder of the regiment that the enemy was near, when the piekets were driven in, closely pursued by the rebels. This was a great surprise. Indeed, so little was danger anticipated that the horses, with the exception of those
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FIRST FIGHT AT BRANDY STATION.
detailed for duty, had been unsaddled the night before, and the men at the reserve had gone into camp and had passed the night as comfortably as could be (Co. G camping in a beautiful clump of sycamore trees near a spring), had slept soundly, and now a part were getting breakfast, a part getting up, some of them had got saddled, and all as free from concern as if really in camp, with their arms and equipments scattered around at will. There was bustle and confusion around the reserve for a few moments, some packing up, some saddling, some mount- ing, some getting ready to leave, and not much order about anything. and the men had scarcely got into line when the enemy appeared in force at the top of the hill behind which the line was formed. Order was restored in a few moments, as the men got ready for action. The carbineers were dismounted and a sharp skirmish ensued, both with carbines and revolvers (Co. L, Capt. Taylor, with drawn sabres, holding the road, and the remainder of the regiment coming to the rescue as soon as possible after the alarm sounded), which lasted about an hour and a half. when the. regiment was relieved by the rest of the brigade. The battle raged for some time after this, the cavalry holding the enemy until the trains, artillery and infantry were all safely across the Rappahannock, when the cavalry also moved back, crossed the river, remained in line of battle for a while. and finally went into camp near Rappahannock Station. In this engagement the regiment's loss was several men wounded and prisoners, and three horses, while the service rendered was an important one, -- that of keeping the enemy back till the remainder of the brigade could get there. The men were cool after the first flurry was over, and obeyed orders nobly. At that time there were but six carbines in each company, which had been issued a short time before for the purpose of forming a corps of carbineers, but these performed good service, and a force of two thousand men was held back by them and the use of the revolvers.
On the twenty-first artillery fire was commenced by both armies about nine o'clock in the morning, and soon after the regiment was in line of battle for an hour or so, when with the brigade it moved half a dozen miles in the direction of Water-
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
loo, and again formed in line of battle, supporting a battery. This position was maintained all night, the men holding their horses by the bridles. The next day the regiment and the battery moved a mile or-so toward Warrenton and there remained for the day, the battery in position, with the regiment as support. In the afternoon Cos. G and E were detailed to reconnoitre towards Sulphur Springs. This little force pro- ceeded nearly to the bridge across the Rappahannock between Sulphur Springs and Jefferson, when the rebel infantry was dis- covered crossing the river. On the way back to the regiment Co. G received orders to go on picket, and did so, the outposts having quite a skirmish with the rebel outposts during a terrific thunder storm about sunset, and being driven in to the reserve. In the evening the company was relieved and rejoined the regi- ment, which went into camp about midnight. The storm this night was indeed terrific, even for Virginia, and is still remem- bered by the boys as the thunder storm of the service. The men were wet through and through, and when at last the wel- come order came to "go into camp," utterly exhausted they threw themselves upon the wet ground, and without shelter from rain or protection from the mud underneath them, they slept as sweetly as though on beds of down.
On the night of the twenty-second Sergt. M. T. V. Bowman (then commissary sergeant of the regiment and subsequently lieutenant and commissary) was at Catlett's Station, having gone there for rations for the regiment, which were in the wagons ready to start for the front the next morning. He was in the tent conversing with the brigade quartermaster, when suddenly, to the surprise of every one, for there was no appre- hension of danger, the train was attacked by Gen. Stuart's cavalry, which had swung around the Union army and was making a raid at this point, - a raid well remembered by Gen. Pope's forces. The attack was so furious and so well followed up that there was no time to harness the teams, - barely time for these two and another officer to secure their horses and mount, which they did, though nearly surrounded and amid a shower of bullets. They escaped capture by plunging into the woods, with the bullets whistling around them lively. Then
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SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN.
came a wild ride through the woods in the dark, dodging the branches of trees, going they knew not where -anywhere to escape their pursuers, until they arrived at a safe distance. Then, thinking it best to know definitely what was taking place before going further, Sergt. Bowman consented to go back to find out, the officers to wait for him there four hours. He had but started when the terrible thunder storm commenced; but this was rather an advantage than otherwise, as the lightning assisted him in finding his way. Riding until he heard the sounds of the enemy, he left his horse and advanced on foot until he could see Gen Pope's headquarter wagons burning, and see the enemy busily employed in breaking open boxes for what they could find. Ere long he heard a movement in his rear, and was ordered to halt ; but not choosing to obey, a bullet was sent after him to enforce the order. He eluded his foe, found his horse, and was up and away, hotly pursued by the enemy. He reached his waiting friends, but the enemy was close behind. and he and his friends were forced to flee, and finally escaped unharmed, remaining concealed until daylight, and then finding their way to the Union forces.
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