USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > Reunions of the Nineteenth Maine Regiment Association, at Portland, Bath, Belfast, Augusta and Richmond > Part 6
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USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Richmond > Reunions of the Nineteenth Maine Regiment Association, at Portland, Bath, Belfast, Augusta and Richmond > Part 6
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There was a king of England once, who believed himself to be by Divine rigln supreme in his realm ; that be could safely invade the liber-
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ties of his people. and disregard the rights vouchsafed to them by Magna Charter. There was a giant among the English people, who asserted and maintained the supremacy of English law, the inviolability of the rights of the English people, and who, in order to preserve the liberities of the nation brought that proud king to the headsman's block. Since then. for more than two hundred years. English kings and queens have set upon the English throne, but none have dared to tread the path trod by Charles the First. Before them all has stood. and still stands. the magnificent forin of Oliver Cromwell, warning king and queen and nobles that the people's rights are sacred. and whosoever dare invade them is a traitor and will meet a traitor's fate. So, after we shall have been forgotton, the War of the Rebellion will live, warning all who may seek to destroy the Union ; saying to them, you may make your lawful contests as fierce and excited as you please-you may threaten perhaps-but do not dare to step your foot over that line which separates lawful means of redress from the gulf' of revolution or rebellion.
The strength. the safety. the permanence of our government is founded upon the regard of the people for sound laws and good order. It is the foundation stone as well as the highest ornament of our grand edifice of free government. Without that we are as weak as a pillar of crumbling sand. ready to fall at the slightest breath. With it the government is strong to protect its every citizen. The arm of the law, sustained by the intelligence and patriotism of a free people. is stronger by far for the pro- tection of the people and their rights. than are all the swords of Christen- dom. In feudal ages nobles and barons could ouly provide for their safety and that of their dependants by castle walls, with moat and draw- bridge, and men at arms. But the stontest baron that ever drew sword in those trenblous times. though surrounded by massive battlements and armed men, never slept half so safely as does our humblest citizen, as he lies in his lowly cottage in the darkness of midnight. surrounded and protected simply by the strong protecting arm of law and good govern- ment. .. I am a Roman citizen," was the proud boast of an ancient time. "I am an American citizen ; true to my country, true to its laws. true to the principles upon which the nation is founded, true to free govern- ment." is our proud boast to-day. The greatest glory of Washington. that which unites him indissolubly with liberty everywhere. lies not 30 much in his services in the field, as in the art of sheathing his sword and submitting himself humbly, like a good citizen, to the will of his country- men. So we, my comrades, who have fought, almost a century later. for The same good cause, will have won for ourselves but staall share of honor unless we shall in all our after life, continue to be good, loyal, faithful citizens of the Republic which we, with our comrades, living and dead, helped to save in its hour of supreme peril.
" What constitutes a State? Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, Thick wall or moated gate; Not cities prond wich spires and turrets crowned ;
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Not bays and broad armed ports: Where. laughing at the storm, rich navies ride ; Not starred and spangled courts, Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. No :- men, high-minded men, With powers above dull brutes endued
. In forest. brake or den. As beasts excel cold rock and brambles rude- Men who their duties know, But know their rights and knowing dare maintain. * * These constitute a State."
At the close of Col. Fogler's oration, Capt. Chas. E. Nash of Augusta, the Historian for the year, was introduced, and gave the following-
REMINISCENCES OF THE NINETEENTH MAINE.
BELOVED OLD COMRADES :-
I was detailed by you
To prepare for this evening, a History true. Of that noble old Regiment in which you and I Enlisted to fight, and, if need be, to die ; But the perilous task I would haste to resign To some one of talents far greater than mine, Were it not the good soldier ne'er flinches nor shirk's In the camp, ou the march, or in storming the works. But with knapsack and mushit. by night or by day. Performs his whole duty, which is -- To Obey,
A History true, you have asked me to write For this happy Reunion of Comrades to-night; But I know I shall fail. for the task is too great- A tithe of your deeds I can never relate .- So many and glorious crowd through my mind That my tongue is all weakness fit phrases to find .- Such annals might rather the genius employ Of the poet who sang us the epic of Troy. Than of such as myself who sooner would run From the cry of " more copy." than the " son of a gun"- Yet since you've assigned me the service so high --- And no sick leaces are granted, good Comrades, I'll try.
For three hundred thousand, the summons went forth. To the workshops, and studies, and farms of the North,*
4
* The 10th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Maine regiments, were raised under this call.
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To the bravest and fairest of men in their prime, . To stay the wild storm of Rebellion and crime; A race of new heroes was needed to stand For the Union and peace of their own native land ; The Flag was in peril-that Flag of renown- Base Treason was busy in tearing it down ;- Bull Run and Ball's Bluff, and Peninsular swamps- Blunder and ambush and poisonous damps, Had rippled the landscapes with many a tomb, And the hearts of the people were heavy with gloom. When the call from the White House was heard mid the din, And from country and city the Nineteenth fell in.
In yonder old city, * so peaceful and still, We first " touched the elbow." and drilled our first drill ; Exchanged our old costume for one that was new -- Trowsers, and dress-coat. and blouse .- all of Blue; The Corporals and Sergeants, so handsome and gay In their chevrons and sashes, we had to obey. And the Captains imposing, were the pride of our eyes, As they strutted, and blustered. and tried to look wise, And awkwardly flourished their innocent blades. As they gave off' wrong orders on drills and parades,- And the festive Lieutenant. all brilliant with brass- As gems of the tailor, O, what could surpass ! We shouldered the Springfield, and learned to " right dress," In bran-new equipments. all labelled " U. S .; " Learned how to be sentries, so irksone and hard. And called very often for " Th' Corporal th' Guard!"' We practiced on rations that were hard to go down, "And flirted at night with the belles of the town; In running the guard we were quick to excel, And in finding out gardens and orchards as well, And I'm called to record that for want of a moon, We burned down one night an old picture saloon ; t There were Sunday inspections, and I'm fearful that we Neglected the Bible for the Book of Hardee; We had Dress-Parade, daily, and felt very fine, As we all stood erect on that long Color Line, Saluting the Colonel, so gorgeously bright That his eagles and buttons half hid him from sight ; A thousand young warriors. equipped and in trim
* Bath, the rendezvous selected by Col. Sewall, where the volunteers began to assemble about the middle of August, 1802.
f This was an ambrotype saloon on wheels, located within the encampment, and had parlent so many horrible caricatures of the members of the Regiment in their new uniforms, that the motivo in setting it on fire may have been retaliatory rather than michle,ous.
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For the fore front of battle there stood before him, Their oaths to their country recorded on high- Whatever their duty, they would do it or die.
In that early encampment, how little we knew Of the hardships of war we were soon to go through- Of the marches and battles, exposures and toil In the dust and the mud of the old " sacred soil " ;-- Yet suffering and patience were taught us quite soon, By that Drum Corps, which BROWN was just getting in tunc. And we welcomed with gladness the bugles' shrill cry, When we kissed all our sweethearts, and bade them good-bye, And ended our first most eventful campaign. And went to the front, as the Nineteenth of Juine.
Good Comrades. I falter, for who can rehearse That Regiment's service in prose or in verse ? I halt on the threshhold, appalled at the view, And fain would return my commission to you ;- But, alas! I recall, though one gives up the ghost, He must not in the Nineteenth abandon his post ! And so I'll proceed in my own clumsy way, And implore your indulgence for what I shall say.
We reached the great Capital in travel-worn plight, And slept on the station-house floor the first night, Next morning fell in. and, all dusty and grim, Called at Casey's headquarters for orders from him ; We impatiently waited the Red Tape's delay. As we stood in the street on that hot. summer day. And ardently hoped that our lot would be cast Where the battle was thickest, and fiercest, and vast Columns of rebels would rush forth as a flood, For we hungered for carnage and thirsted for blood! And, lo! when the orders came forth. bye and bye, They gave what we wanted-an occasion to die ! For a battle was raging, just then. at Bull Run --- We heard the dull roar of gun answering gun ;-* We felt rather funny for a regiment of braves, As we crossed the Potomac .- toward honorable graves! We struck .. Old Virginy," and the echoes of war Grew louder and clearer from the battle afar, --- We tightened our belts, and thought how we'd be missed. And wondered why ever we came to enlist; And one hard recruit, I have heard people say. Was affected so much that he fell out-to pray !
* This was the Second Battle of Bull Run.
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Then. a tinault increasing. kept nearing us, till It seemed a tornado just over the hill,- When, suddenly, came such a horrible shout That we thought all the people in Hades were out ; And down from the summit, on-rushing, pell-mell, Came the furious enemy, charging like -- fell Demons of darkness, all frautie for gore- And a Regiment ran as none e'er ran before .-- Driven by tactics not taught in the schools, And scattered like sheep by a drove of loose mules !
Not much blood in this, our first action, was shed, And it did not take long to bury our dead; We had straightened the files, when orders came down For the regiment to countermarch back to the town ; It crossed the East Branch and ascended the Ridge By the way of the Washington Navy Yard Bridge; It halted at nightfall. and bivouacked, where Our first night was spent in the chill open air ; With knapsack for pillow and the ground for a cot, We mused on the Battle that just had been fought, Whose deep, sullen roar had for hours increased. Till the darkness of night. when it wearily ceased. We wished from our hearts we could only have been There in the midst of the wild, stirring scene, And stood with old comrades, and taken a hand In breaking the lines at the word of command ; We wondered which army had carried the day, And which in the darkness skedadiled away ;--- We thought of the dead. and the groans and the cries That on the night air did that hour arise,- Such thoughts and reflections the Nineteenth possessed, At the close of that day as it lay down to rest.
And now for a month it befell us to man Fort Greble. Fort Baker. Fort Ellsworth, Mahan, And Snyder and Carroll; we learned how to aim The thirty-two pounders. and fire the same,- " Out Battery !" and ". In." Handle Rammer, and Vent. And look o'er the terrace to see where it went ! We all had "A" tents, lived high. and you know Were very much given to glitter and show; But, the fortunes of war, so accustomed to bring Such wonderful changes to everything. Save orders one morning to . Fall in." and then We turned from artillerists to infantrymen. The forts were abandoned, the guns left to rust ; We inarched to the town in the heat and the dust, ---
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At night took a train, and were whirled far away, And assigned in LITTLE MACK'S ARMY, next day, At Frederick, the city where glorious dame Barbara Frietchie had just got her fame.
We crossed at the Ferry, from the Maryland shore. To find our new place in the old Second Corps, In the Second Division, -- brave HOWARD'S, O. O .. And in GORMAN'S Brigade, the First,-as you know. We will never forget our emotions that night. As we filed through the gorge in the dim, broken light Of the moon, that fell like a gossamer pall On the harsh, seamy face of the wierd mountain wall. And thoughts crowded fast as we neared the charred town. Of noble, heroic, and martyred JOHN BROWN. Whose spirit stands sentry ou Loudon's stern height. And came down to meet us and cheer us that night.
At Boliver Camp, active service we saw, And followed it through to the end of the war; We marched. and paraded, and skirmished and drilled. And tried to be soldiers efficient and skilled ; To watch for Reb Greybacks on picket we went. And still harbored greybacks in every man's tent : Here grew up that story of Company "A." Which made the whole army so merry one day, When 'twas said some recruits. inexpressibly green .* Who had never a cannon nor cannon-ball seen, Had found an abandoned old twenty-pound shell That was left there when Miles surrendered and fell. And. while cooking their supper. to hold their dish higher, Had put it right into the company fire !- When lo !-- so surprising !- a ball seemed to fall, And skyward went frying-pan, supper and all !
In the fullness of time, with nine hundred strong. We broke camp and marched with the army, along The green Loudon Valley, of memory sweet. That gave us such pigs and nice chickens to eat.t
* Col. Spaulding, in " The Volunteer's Story," gives on page seven, a different ver- sion of the origin of this incident -- "all of which he saw and part of which he was." Ilis account is of course the correct one, but nevertheless, the Nineteenth was long afterwards known as the " Frying-Pan Regiment."
+ Maj. Gen. MeClellan reproved Gen. Gorman, our brigade commander, for allowing his men to forage upon the inhabitants of Loudon Valley. Gen. Gorman, a gruff, wageich officer, while starting from the rebuke of the army commander, and in a State of hetvous impatience, rode up to Col. Baxter of the Pennsylvania Zouaves, when the following eoluquy occurred :-- GEN. GORMAX -- " Colonel, did you ever see a regiment that would forage like the Nineteenth Maine?" Cot. BAXTER-" No, General, I never did." GEN. GORMAN-" Then, Colonel, as your superior officer, I command you to get down on your knees and thank God."
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We were ordered, at Ashby's, up into the Gap,- Where we cheered LITTLE MACK, and he took off his cap ; We marched as rear guard to the army, then lay At Warrenton Village, a night and a day, -- Where our Army Commander * rode in Review, To bid bis loved army his last sad adieu ; Then forward to Falmouth and Fredericksburg. led By BURNSIDE, and SUMNER, and HOOKER, we sped.
In the grey of the morning, snowy and damp, The guns of St. Mary's awakened the camp. And the rattle of musketry lively and clear Announced the pontoons at the LACY HOUSE. near; Ere died those first echoing rebel alarms, The whole Union army fell in under arms ! The Heights must be scaled and a victory won. For the long dreaded battle at last had begun. We filed to the valley, to cross to the town .- The rebels had shot our brave pontoniers down ; We halted. and stood in our places, that day. For the deafening, tempestuous. artillery play, That tore the fair town with shell and fierce flame. Till the shadows of night-as if peacemaking-came ; Then we crossed the stained river, to strike the first blow. And stood at the front in the face of the foe !
Who forgets that wild hour when we crossed the canal Mid the z-z-zipping of bullets and bursting of shell.i Resolved every one to dislodge the firm foe By taking the stone-wall beyond the plateau .--- Then. carry the Heights before we would stop, And plant our good colors "way up on the top !
" Major General George B. Mcclellan. Thousands of his soldiers gazed on their Podar commander for the last timo through eyes dimmed with tears as he rode along f. line and disappeared in the distance from their view forever. There was a gene- ral feeling of depression and loneliness throughout the army for days.
+ As the regiment was filing from the city towards the Heights-expecting to assail thein-through a street that was swept every few moments by a rebel battery, the Men would instinctively dodge or cringe as the shells in close proximity howled through the air or crashed into the buildings; this obeisance to the missels annoyed sien. Howard, who, half-scoldingly, commanded "Attention," and said :- " Don't delze, men! the danger is all past when you have heard the noise." In less than a lente after a well-aimed shell exploded within a rod of the General, who, quicker Man thought, bent forward and lay flat upon his horse, which became frantic and i'mneed wildly. The involuntary pantomime was witnessed by the boys, who, with , pod humor which never long deserted them under any circumstances, wed with that Tal, familiarity with high superior officers which is tolerated only in the midst of jori !. cried out in chorus :- " Don't dodge, General; the danger is all over if you have "if it." The general's smile was visible through the powder smoke, for he took the Joke as good-naturedly as it was given.
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We remember the battery that peppered us so,* As we waited in line for the order to go; And how the fierce missiles around us would play Furrowing the earth in their wild ricochet, Till the shattered brigade in our rear had to yield, And left, panic stricken, the terrible field !
*
* *
All worn by the battle and faint with its blood. We filed back to Falmouth, one night, through the mud, Along with the army, that silently wound From Fredericksburg back to the Old Camp Ground.
Ilow vivid and sad is the memory still. Of our old Falmouth Camp on that cold. windy hill. Where hardships and sickness blanched all of our cheeks, And long was no name for the days and the weeks! ·We were detailed full often on picket to go, Wading knee-deep through the slush or the snow ; Through long. starless nights, in rain or in sleet, We paced to and fro the lone sentinel beat, Or fitfully slept on the wet, chilly loam, Or dozed by the picket-fire. dreaming of home; At camp it was drudgery, drill or review. Or muskets to scour and make brighter than new ; We can hardly recall without suffering. again. That wet, weary march which we made to Belle Plain, We think of the aches that were caused by the damp, Of those long, weary hours in that bleak, dismal swamp -- When we longed for the morning, and left our abode To lay down for BURNSIDE & corduroy road, And as sturdy Maine woodsmen, skilled with the axe, Worked out our first highway-Virginia-tax. That unsheltering guard-house up on the knoll Still canses a shiver to run through the soul ; We were drenched and benumbed by the chill winter flood That stuck General BURNSIDE thigh-deep in the mud,- There were painful exposures, and illnesses. too, And. O! how our own little burial-place ; grew !
* One shell killed twelve men in the Regiment behind the 19th. + No subject so solemn but that the soldiers would have their joke about it. There was cheering in the Nineteenth camp one morning which attracted the attention of adjoining camps. " What is it for ?" asked a Baxter Zouave. "O, the Nineteenth Maine are going to have a railroad built over to their grave- yard, and it tickles them," replied a comrade.
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*
* *
The long winter passed ; and one morning in May Fighting JOE HOOKER at Chancellorstille lay, Determined this time to annihilate LEE, And .. Onward to Richmond." if so it might be. Alas for our hopes ! and the blood shed in vain, -- For he blundered back over the river again !
From army headquarters to Fredericksburg's spires, Our regiment guarded the telegraph wires : And some of us stood in that brave little fight, When the Sixth Maine assailed and took St. Mary's Height, And held it victorious till close of the day, When LONGSTREET flanked SEDGWICK and drove him away.
*
With tears for the comrades who suffered and fell, We gave to old Falmouth a joyous farewell, And took the route step for another campaign Of battle, and skirmish. of hardship and pain ; We marched and we forded in storm or fierce heat, Along through the country. with sore, aching feet, From Stafford to Bull Run. * and Thoroughfare Gap Where HAMPTON'S artillery gave us a rap ; And then through fair Maryland, smiling and sweet With orchards and gardens and rich waving wheat, f We followed our file leaders. league after league. "Till we halted at Gettysburg. pale with fatigue .- And rushed to the reseno when StickLes gave way Before the fleree onslaught of that Second Day ; Our line met unwavering the desperate for.
It was in the " First California Regiment" -- eneamoped near the 19th --- that a burial s pad, finding at the appointed place a ready-made grave prepared by another party, 1.aly buried their departed comrade in it with the usual military ceremony. Soon, The other funeral appeared upon the scene, and found the grave had actually been salon, which in the hard clay it had cost no little labor to prepare. The Nineteenth, with all its propensity to forage, was abashed at such rare stealing as this.
" The old battle fields of Bull Run which the Regiment crossed on the way to Thor- ughfare Gap, bore melancholy traces of the bloody conflicts which have made them betorie. Shallow mounds through which the bleached bones of soldiers of both armies : - trud.d, were painfully numerous; vagrant skulls were by the roadside, their eye- " sockets peering up through the grass and weeds and wood brush at the passing column. One of these, once the invaluable summit of some nameless hero who fell on the field of honor-whether Union or Confederate cannot be known-was handled and playfully toved with by the soldiers while marching, and was finally tossed into a "ump of bushes, where probably it afterwards remained undisturbed. At one point " to a hodge by the road, the naked skeletons of five poor fellows lay side by side, at where, after being wounded, they were tenderly placed by their comrades, in the Yea hope that friend or foe might find and remove them to a hospital, if alive, or bury Bom if dead.
! " Fair as the Garden of the Lord."-Barbara Frietchie.
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As they charged up against it, and shortened it so ! "Till, wild with disaster, they about-faced and fled Right back o'er the scene of their dying and dead ; Then, the Nineteenth charged after, retaking a gun, And the hot, bloody fight of the day had been won!
On that memorable Ridge, with the town to the right, And Round Top to lett, we passed the sad night ; The groans and the wails and the cries of despair Of the wounded and dying burdened the air, Yet. on our ears hourly fainter did fall, 'Till the Angel of Death had solaced them all!
At daybreak a detail to skirmish was made, And long, weary hours with sharpshooters we played,* Striving never to fire too low. nor too high, And he was the best man who feared least to die !
All at once, right before us the signal guns roared, And fifty fell batteries their shot and shell poured On the brave Union army that held the Ridge fast, While batteries behind us returned blast for blast !
O. that long dreadful hour! When the sun's blazing light Was obscured by the smoke of the cannoniers' light,- When shells close exploding so shortened the breath. And the air was all crowded with missels of death .- When we faced in suspense the wild tempest, and knew There soon would be something for each man to do !- At last came a silence. when into his place Fell every good soldier, with soldierty grace, And looked at his musket to see if 'twas in plight For sixty good rounds in the imminent fight, Or counted his cartridges hastily o'er .- Or stepped from the ranks to dead bodies for more!
And. lo! there they come! the Battalions in Grey! Up over the rise to the Ennettsburg Way: They pause, -- then advance, double-quicking so fast. Column on column in close order massed- Across the smooth field. with their colors in air, . Aiming straight for the Ridge, and the boys who are there.
Now. Steady !- Stand Steady! All Comrades in Blue! For the dark wave of Treason is surging on you ! And with you alone, as you falter or stand
* Companies "D" and "F," of the 19th, commanded by Captains Fogler and Star- bird, respectively, were thus detailed. The latter officer was wounded, and also Lieut. Rich of his Company, while on tho skirmish line.
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