USA > Maine > History of the Fourth Maine battery, light artillery, in the civil war, 1861-65; containing a brief account of its services compiled from diaries of its members and other sources. Also personal sketches of many of its members and an account of its reunions from 1882 to 1905 > Part 3
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The rain continued to come down in torrents the whole night and we stood in the road anxiously waiting for the morning. Sleep or rest was out of the question. Occasionally some of the boys, tired and exhausted, would lie down, only to be aroused in a few minutes by some one, in the intense darkness. walking over them, or by finding themselves in water to the depth of Several inches : but morning came at last and with it clear skies.
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Coffee was made and with salt pork and hardtack we had our breakfast, and never was a meal more enjoyed by hungry men.
This day ( September 2d) we continued on our march and at midnight went into bivouac near Alexandria (near Fort Worth). About this time Lieutenant L. M. S. Haynes, sick and with health broken down from exposure, left us and returned to his family in Philadelphia, and his health not war- ranting his return to the Battery, he soon after resigned. On the 3d we moved from Fort Worth to near Fort Albany, a dis- tance of about five miles. Since leaving Washington, ten weeks before, we had swung around a circh, taking in Harper's Ferry, Winchester. Culpeper and Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Sulphur Springs, Warrenton, Manassas and Bull Run, had been in three engagements and in close proximity to sev- eral others, and after marching nearly three hundred miles were now back at our starting point. When we started we were anxious to see something of the war, and many of us were now satisfied that we had seen it.
The 4th of September we crossed the Potomac at Aqueduct Bridge and passing through Georgetown that night, went into camp at Tenallytown and on the 5th marched twelve miles to Rockville. Upon the arrival of the army at the defences of Washington the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Vir- ginia were consolidated and General MeClellan assumed com- mand. General Banks' Corps was now designated as the 12th Army Corps, with a star for our corps badge. The badge was a piece of cloth cut in the form of a star and was attached to the left side of the cap. For the Ist Division the color was red. for the ad Division white, and the 3d Division blue. Each corps had its distinctive badge and every soldier was obliged to wear it. By this means it could be known at a glance to what corps a soldier belonged. At this time General Banks, our corps commander, was assigned to duty in command of the defences of Washington, and General Mansfield assigned to the com- mand of the 12th Corps.
On the 6thi we moved up into line of battle, the Battery being put in position near Sedgwick's Division of the 2d Corps. We remained at Rockville while the army was being reorganized and put in shape for an advance through Maryland to meet Lce, who had crossed the Potomac at Leesburgh and was then
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LIGHT ARTILLERY, 1861-65.
in the vicinity of Frederick and along the Monocacy. About the 8th the army was again on the move in the direction of Frederick. Our marches each day were short, and as one writer expresses it, "the army only drifted." The weather was fine and our route being through the beautiful State of Mary- land, we mich enjoyed the trip in contrast to our previous experiences from Culpeper to Washington.
Our corps arrived at Frederick on the 13th, having averaged on the march only about seven miles a day. The next day (the 144th) we passed through Frederick and at Io o'clock at night encamped near Middletown. During the afternoon the sound of the battle which was being fought at South Mountain was distinctly heard and the bursting shells could be seen.
At 3 o'clock on the morning of the 15th we were again on the move. Passing through Middletown, we followed the road up the mountain through Turner's Gap, where the battle of South Mountain had been fought on the day before between the ist and 9th Corps of the Union army, and D. H. Hill and a part of Longstreet's Corps of the Confederates. As we passed through the gap many of the boys went up the hill to the right of the road to see a portion of the field where the fighting had been severe, and where many of the rebel dead were yet unburied. Passing through Boonsboro, west of the mountain, we camped for the night. On the 16th we continued out march, but the roads were so blocked with moving troops and trains that our progress was slow and it was after dark when we arrived at the village of Keedysville and went into camp not far from General Mcclellan's headquarters.
General Hooker with his ist Corps had crossed the Antietam Creek at the bridge and ford near Keedysville late in the after- noon of the 16th, and in attempting to reach a position on the Hagerstown Pike about two miles from the Keedysville Bridge had been attacked by Hood near the east woods and a sharp con- fliet had lasted from about sunset until after dark. Hooker then took position about three-fourths of a mile from the east woods in the vicinity of the Hagerstown Pike. About mid- night our corps. the 12th, crossed the bridge to the assistance of Hooker and took position north of the cast woods and at Hooker's left, a portion of the batteries being left on the cast side of the creek, the 4th and 6th Maine being among the number.
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Early on the morning of the 17th our Battery was moved to McClellan's headquarters at the Pry House, and after waiting some time we returned through Keedysville and were placed in position covering the stone bridge and on the right of the road, and the 6th Maine Battery in position across the road from us. Soon after Franklin's Corps crossed the bridge in front of us, and took position to the right and in rear of Sumner's Corps, which had crossed earlier in the morning, near Mcclellan's headquarters.
In the meantime, about daylight, Jackson, whose command had replaced Hood, opened the engagement from near the east woods, which was promptly responded to by Hooker, who ordered an advance along his whole line, which resulted in a terrible conflict in the corn field beyond the east woods. About seven o'clock Mansfield ( 12th Corps) approached and with Hooker's Corps charged through the west woods to the Dunker Church. It was while deploying his troops that General Mans- fieldl was mortally wounded and General Williams assumed command of the corps. A little later General Hooker was also wounded and was succeeded by General Meade.
From our position on the east bank of the Antietam near the upper or Keedysville bridge, we had a clear and unobstructed view of the battlefield from the east woods on the right to near the sunken road at the left of Dunker Church where French and Richardson of Summer's 2d Corps did such terrific work. As we repeatedly saw the long lines form and advance for a charge, it was with bated breath and intensest feeling that we watched them move forward until a line of smoke would roll up from in front of them and we could see mien fall by the hun- dred, and the thin and broken ranks would fall back and reform for another attack, or to resist an attack from the enemy. It was grand, it was terrible, and the memory of such a day can never be effaced from the mind. By two o'clock the heaviest of the fighting on the right was over, but the artillery continued to be engaged until night. Late in the afternoon we could hear the heavy fighting of Burnside, on the left, as he was forcing the crossing at the Stone Bridge near Sharpsburg, nearly three miles to the left of where we were stationed. Just across the bridge in front of us and a little to the right, near Hoffman's house, were located the field hospitals, which presented a busy
.
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LIGHT ARTILLERY, 186I-65.
scene. Ambulances, stretcher bearers and the wounded who could walk kept up a constant procession all the day. Toward night the sound of conflict gradually died away, and after coffee had been made and supper eaten we gathered around our fires and in subdued tones we discussed the battle of the day and the prospects of the morrow. In our front the enemy had been forced back from the east wood to the west wood and the Dunker Church. On the left Burnside had forced the crossing at the bridge, and gained a position on the west bank, but still the two great armies lay facing each other with positions not greatly changed from that of the morning. We all looked for a continuance of the conflict and perhaps a more severe one, if such a thing was possible, on the morrow, and felt that instead of being onlookers we would probably be among the active par- ticipants. So with feelings of uncertainty and apprehension we quietly rolled ourselves in our blankets for our night's rest. The losses for the day on the Union side were 2108 killed, 9549 wounded and 753 captured or missing, a total of 12,410, and the Confederate losses were fully as large.
Genera! MeClellan in his report says that "about 2700 of the enemy's dead were counted and buried upon the battlefield of Antietam:" also that "a portion of their dead had been previ- ously buried by the enemy."
The next day proved to be a day of inaction, the two armies resting in the positions which they had occupied at the close of the battle. There was a tacit truce and Federal and Confed- crate burying parties passed freely between the lines. To us the day was a long one as we watched and waited. During the following night Lce crossed the Potomac with his army and when the morning of the 19th canwe, it was discovered that the enemy was gone. At an carly hour our army started on the advance, but it was nearly noon before we crossed the bridge on our way across the battlefield. The road was crowded with the artillery and trains and our progress was slow, moving some. times only a few yards and then halting for the road to be cleared in front of us. As we advanced up the hill in the direc- tion of the Dunker Church and came to the ground where Jack- son and Sumner had been heavily engaged, the sight was one that could never be forgotten. The enemy's dead at that point lay as they had fallen, and the line of Jackson's most advanced
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charge was marked by a row of dead the whole length of the fieid, and so close together that we had to pull some of them out of the way to clear a road. Bullets and shell had wounded them in every conceivable form, and death had come to some so suddenly that the hand and cartridge were at the mouth in the move of tearing cartridge. They had been lying in the hot sun for two days and their bodies had swollen to enormous size and were as black as negroes and the stench was sickening. Nearer the east woods many were busy digging trenches and conveying the dead, by rolling them on blankets, to their burial.
It was near sunset when we reached the Dunker Church. where we waited a half hour. On the east of the road a rebel battery had been in position and upon the ground were the remains of two caissons that had been blown up, and twenty- seven dead artillerymen and many horses lying thick together. The church was filled with wounded laid upon the hard seats and apparently having received but little attention. Upon the front seat was a fine looking young rebel soldier who was unconscious, a bullet having passed completely through the fore- head, entering just above the temple on one side and coming out the other. Two or three surgeons came along and looked at him, felt his pulse, and shaking their heads passed along to attend to others where their service might be of some benefit.
A little beyond the church we came to a wounded rebel who lay in the corner of the fence, groaning and unconscious. A bullet had passed completely through his head near the car. Where we remember that these are only two instances among hundreds and that they had been more than two days without any att nlance or care, it shows a little of the horrors of war. It was dark before we were clear of the battlefield, and glad we were to get away from the terrible scenes of carnage and death through which we had been passing all the afternoon.
Late that night we went into bivouac not far from Sharps- burgh, on the Harper's Ferry road. The next day (the 20th) we continued our march and at noon on the 21st arrived at Sandy Hook, where we remained until the 23d, when we moved into camp at Maryland Heights on a field about a mile from the Ferry and near the house of Mr. Smith.
Lee's army was on the Virginia side of the river in the Shen- andoah Valley, and Mcclellan's was centered at and around
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LIGHT ARTILLERY, 1861-65.
Harper's Ferry and Maryland Heights. The army, after its long inarches and severe battles of the past six weeks, was in need of rest and supplies of all kinds, and Mcclellan, proverbi- ally slow, settled down for a good long rest until forced by pressure from Washington to make an advance a month later.
Our camp was everything that could be desired as to location, being on high ground in the edge of a large field and by the side of a fine grove about half a mile from the Harper's Ferry road, but perhaps at no other time was there as much homesickness and discontent as during the few weeks we were here. We were occupying shelter tents, each man having a tent which con- sisted of a piece of cotton cloth about five and a half by six feet. Two of these were buttoned together and placed over a ridge pole resting on forked sticks, which gave just room for two men to crawl under. Both ends of the tents being open, they were not very comfortable in the cold fall weather that we were having. This being our first year in the field, we lacked the experience in taking care of ourselves and making ourselves comÃo: table that we had later. Then we were in need of cloth- ing of all kinds and the chilly winds made it very uncomfortable in the much worn clothes that had done service all the summer. Added to these, and worst of all, was the vermin with which we found ourselves loaded. We had been marching and camping for three months, with the thousands of troops that composed the ariny, with very little chance of a change of underclothing, and these pests had been accumulating and increasing at an enormous rate. At first many were ashamed to own that they were among the victims and tried to quietly free themselves from the nuisance, but it was soon found that the only way was to declare war boldly and fight it out energetically. At first many tried picking them off, but we soon found that they aver- aged a daily crop of fifty or sixty without in the least diminish- ing in number. Then boiling our clothes thoroughly was tried. and with constant boiling and watchfuhiess we succeeded in ridding ourselves of them. Then our rations of hardtack and salt meat began to get rather monotonous and we were longing for any change. About the only fruits that we could obtain were the wild paw paw and wild grapes which grew along the banks of the river. The paw paw somewhat resembles the banana, is about half the size, and has about as much taste as
3
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a raw pumpkin, but with us, anything that was green was good, and quantities of them were caten with a relish. With the wild grapes a sauce was made, and this was considered a delicacy. The summer and fall campaign had told quite severely upon us and our ranks were largely reduced by those absent in hospital and others constantly dropping out from disease.
CHAPTER III.
SHARPSBURG AND ANTIETAM IRON WORKS -- WINTER AT HAR- PER'S FERRY AND MARYLAND HEIGHTS -- JOIN ARMY OF POTOMAC -- WITH 3d CORES-WAPPING HEIGHTS.
The 25th of October, Mcclellan crossed the Potomac with the army, en route for Warrenton and the Rappahannock, leaving the 12th Corps to hold the Potomac from Harper's Ferry to Sharpsburgh. On the 30th we broke camp and moved up the river. The center section was placed at Shepherdstown Bridge, the left section, under command of Lieutenant White, at Blackford's Ford, and the right section, under command of Lieutenant Eaton, at Antietam Iron Works, near the mouth of Antietam Creek, to cover the fords at these places.
By this time we had received clothing and had somewhat recovered from our spirit of depression and homesickness, and at once went to work to provide ourselves with comfortable quarters. Perhaps our first experiments were not a brilliant success, but they were a vast improvement on our Maryland Heights quarters. Old boards and fence rails, sticks or any- thing that could be found were utilized, and tents of all styles of architecture were constructed and we were soon enjoying the luxury of bunks raised about a foot or eighteen inches from the ground and with straw to sleep on. At the Iron Works where Lieutenant Eaton's section was located were the remains of the buildings and near by was a grist mill. In some of the build- ings the horses were stabled, and with bricks obtained from the buildings, chimneys and fireplaces were built for some of our quarters. The grist mill also contributed to our comfort in the way of adding corn meal to our rations, the boys stealing corn from the horses and the accommodating miller grinding it. taking care that he took good toll. At this time Lieutenant Eaton was quite unwell and the command of the section largely
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FOURTH MAINE BATTERY
devolved on Sergeant Bangs. The Sergeant became aware of the corn stealing and threatened punishment to the offenders, bat volunteered to contribute generously towards the purchase of corn. It was not until many years later that the Sergeant learned that he had been the only contributor, that the corn had continued to come from the same source as before, and his con- tribution had been divided among the "syndicate." Then occa- sionally a stray pig would come our way which would be added to our bill of fare. While here, drilling at the guns occupied a portion of each day, but our duties were light and the tinic passed very pleasantly and quickly.
On November 7th General MeClellan was relieved and Burn- side placed in command of the army. Burnside at once moved with the army from Warrenton towards Fredericksburg, where it arrived on November 17th. While preparations were being made for the attack on Fredericksburg (the battle occurred on December 13th and 14th) the 12th Corps, which had been guarding the Potomac from Harper's Ferry to Sharpsburgh, was ordered to move to near Fairfax as support to the rest of the army, and on the afternoon of December 9th we received orders to march the next morning.
About an hour before the orders to move came to Lieutenant Eaton, the boys had completed a big old fashioned New Eng- land oven and were preparing a big layout of baked beans and brown bread. We did not object so much to the moving but knew that we could not get away with all the beans and brown bread at one breakfast. However, we got over that by having a good feed for the other boys when they canie along the next morning.
During the night it rained and sleeted with about two inches of snow, and when we started on the morning of the roth the roads were in a pretty slippery condition. Our horses had been standing on brick floors and consequently their shoes were worn smooth and it was with great difficulty that we could get along. It was often necessary to double up the teams and sometimes there were as many as twenty-two horses on a gun to get it up a hill, and at times several of the horses in a team would be down at once and the others would be dragging them along. Our progress, of course, was slow. The rest of the troops had passed us and almost hourly an orderly would come back to
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LIGHT ARTILLERY, 1861-65.
Captain Robinson with orders to hurry up the Battery. The Captain would tell him he was doing his utmost to get along, and afterwards would tell the boys to be careful of the horses and take it easy. At dark we had arrived within about three miles of Maryland Heights and drawing out of the road went into camp, having made about eight miles since early in the morning. Soon after going into camp an orderly came back to Captain Robinson with orders to report the next morning at Harper's Ferry with the Battery. This was good news for the Captain and put him in remarkably good humor, and that night we spread our blankets on the snow and slept soundly after our hard day's work.
We resumed our march the next morning and arriving at Harper's Ferry at I1 o'clock at night, went into camp at the left of the road, about half way from the river to Bolivar Heights. In a few days our old Sibley tents, with the little stoves, that had been stored in Washington when we left Cedar Creek in July, were returned to us, and we were soon very comfortably housed for the winter. As a protection for the horses we built a stockade from small pine trees and covered the roof with old tin obtained from buildings that had been destroyed in the town. This broke the force of the wind and as Jim Allen said. "kept out the coarsest of the cold."
In camp near us was a regiment of cavalry and several infan- try regiments, among them the 6th Maryland, with whom we became very friendly during the winter, and particularly with Co. "1" under command of Captain Bradshaw.
A few days after getting into camp we had orders to keep one gun on picket on Bolivar Heights where the Charlestown road passed through the fortifications. Each detachment took its turn on picket duty, being relieved in the morning after twenty-four hours duty. The second morning it was the turn of Sergeant Bangs' detachment and. he being sick, Corporal Ames was given command of the piece. It was not supposed there was any enemy within miles and the boys were taking things very comfortably when, just at the dinner hour, Llewel- lyn Lincoln, who had been a little way down the line, came run- ning in, calling excitedly, "The Johnnies are coming, the John- nies are coming." and pointed to some cavalry coming towards tis from the left and also about fifty cavalry at a house which
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was about five hundred yards away and at the foot of the hill. While the Corporal was trying to convince him that it was out own cavalry and showing him the cavalry pickets posted on the next hill, the question was settled by a squad from the house making an attack on Co. "I," 6th Maryland, that was on picket duty just outside the gate.
It was the first time they had ever been under fire and they very promptly retreated inside the gate. A shot was immedi- ately sent after the main body near the house, but striking a little short, ricochetted just over their heads, when they scat- tered and took to the fields. Two or three shots were fired at some haystacks and woods where they had taken refuge, but without any result further than that we were not again dis- turbed. In the meantime Captain Robinson had heard the firing and was most roundly abusing the Corporal for wasting ammu- nition. Six days later. Sergeant Bangs was out with the detachment and Co. I was again on picket duty. Everything passed off quietly until about midnight, when we were aroused by a volley and rapid firing in the valley very close on our left. We hustled out pretty lively, expecting business this time, but it was soon learned that a regiment returning from a reconnois- sauce had got into a brush, by some carelessness, with the regi- ment on picket to the left of us.
After this second alarm Captain Bradshaw's company and the second detachment were the fastest of friends. With Christmas time came very welcome and pleasant remembrance from the friends at home, in the shape of boxes filled with catables and many a little knicknack as well as articles of clothing which added greatly to our comfort. For a time we lived high and never did anything taste so good at the home-made doughnuts and pies.
About the last of December, Lieutenant White was promoted to First Lieutenant, and Quartermaster Sergeant M. C. Kimball received his commission as Second Lieutenant. January 3d. Sergeant Williams was promoted to Quartermaster Sergeant. Corporal Fox to Sergeant sixth detachment, Corporal Friend to Sergeant fifth detachment, Corporal Ames to Sergeant third detachment, and quite a number promoted to Corporals, among others A. C. Bates and James Allen to Corporals of third detachment. Lieutenant Eaton, who had been in ili health for
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LIGHT ARTILLERY, 1861-65.
some time, resigned and on January 17th left us for home. On the 27th. Sergeant Bangs received his discharge on account of ill health. In March Lieutenant Coffin also resigned, and Ser- geant Robertson was discharged on account of ill health. The Ist of April, First Sergeant H. C. Haynes received his con- mission as Second Lieutenant, and Sergeant Freeman was pro- moted to First Sergeant and Corporal Powers to Sergeant. These with other changes that had occurred made almost a com- plete reorganization of the Battery since leaving Maine. Dur- ing the year there had been quite a number of deaths and many discharged on account of sickness and disability, with others still absent in the hospital, and only a very few recruits had joined us. This large loss of members and small addition had left us with rather thin ranks. March 30th, quite a number who had been absent in the hospital returned to the Battery, and with them came several recruits. February 9th, a most wel- come visit was made us by Major Fessenden, the paymaster, whom we had not seen for months, and we received four months' pay, from July ist to November Ist, still leaving three months in arrears. A few days later we were very glad to have with us for a day Mr. Sturdy from Augusta, who was on a visit to Cyrus at the Frederick Hospital and who took a run down to see the boys. At this time Captain Robinson was in Maine on leave of absence and Lieutenant White in command of the Bat- tery. February 17th, the left section, under command of Lieu- tenant Coffin, was on a reconnaissance with a battalion of the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry. We left camp about nine o'clock in the morning, taking only the guns, with eight horses on a gun. Crossing the Shenandoah river, we passed to the east side of the London Mountain and took the road along the mountain in the direction of Snickersville. None of us knew where we were going or what we were going for, but it was generally sur- mised that we were after Mosby's gang, who were infesting that section of the country. Just as we were starting. a heavy snow storm set in and continued through the day, rendering our march most uncomfortable and disagreealle. Our march was rapid and without halt. except to water our horses, and it was evening when we arrived at a little village in the mountains, without catching sight of the enemy, although doubtless they had seen us and knew all about our trip.
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