USA > Maine > The story of the Maine Fifteenth; being a brief narrative of the more important events in the history of the Fifteenth Maine regiment; together with a complete roster of the regiment , embracing the name of every officer and enlisted man serving > Part 19
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Arriving early upon the ground and tarrying about six weeks, the Fifteenth boys were thus given a veritable " pic-nic." The military duty was light and varied and for the most part very congenial. The trial of the conspirators implicated in the atrocious crime of the assassination of Lincoln, was in progress while we were in the city, calling for more or less guard, patrol and "salutation " duty; but this was far from irksome, since a " detail for guard " anywhere along the approaches to the building in which the trial of the conspirators was being held, afforded opportunities for catching a glimpse of distinguished no less than disreputable people, which of itself was adequate compensation for any drudgery attaching to the service. It was quite an honor to " salute " the distinguished generals comprising the court, and none the less so to frown upon the wretched vagabonds attending under compulsion as witnesses and prisoners -- all of whom, as a rule, were in exceedingly bad odor with the Union soldier and loyal people everywhere. Then the numerous opportunities afforded of visiting the public buildings and grounds and the thousand and one attrac- tions in and about the city, and of meeting with people of note in both military and civil life, were privileges very keculy prized.
But the all-absorbing event of this period was the Grand Review of the Union Armies, on the eve of their disbandment. at the practical close of the war. It was the crowning event of that eventful period : and
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thousands, from all sections of the North and West, had flocked to Wash- ington to witness a spectacle at once so grand in itself and so expressive in its. import. The Review occupied two full days, and it is estimated that no less than two hundred thousand veteran soldiers participated. The President and Cabinet, Lieut .- Gen. Grant, and all the notable people of every grade of civil and military life, were upon the various platforms, the stand of the reviewing officers being upon the grounds immediately fronting the presidential mansion. The Army of the Potomac held the boards the first day (May 23d) and from early morning to late in the afternoon the veteran troops moved down Pennsylvania Avenue and by the reviewing stand, receiving, on all hands, the enthusiastic plaudits of the people. The broad avenue, and every house-top, door, window, and nook and corner of the adjacent grounds, were literally teeming with humanity clad in its holiday garb, while profuse and appropriate decorations.lined the way, all combining to produce a festal picture such as Washington has rarely wit- nessed, before or since. Gen. Meade, of the Army of the Potomac, com- manded on the first day, and Gen. Sherman on the second. The troops were formed with their several distinctive corps of artillery, cavalry, in- fantry, engineers, signal brigades, etc., presenting thoroughly organized armies, fully equipped for active field service. The troops marched in column by company. very closely massed, thus crowding a very large body of soldiers into a comparatively small area of territory. The Fifteenth, in Dwight's Division, was an annex of the Ninth Corps, marching well up to the right of the infantry line, and at least preceding the Sixth, Fifth and Second Corps. The column was some six hours in passing the reviewing stand ; the route being from the Capitol Building to the White House. Every inch of the route presented some pleasing spectacle calculated to divert the attention and subject rigid military discipline to a severe test. Filing around the Capitol Building, at the commencement of the march, those soul-inspiring and expressive mottoes of welcome met the gaze ; then the little angelie army of two thousand daintily-clad school-children, on the steps of the Capitol, chanting melodies of cordial greeting ; supplemented by the array of silver-haired men and matrons, ingeniously arranged into striking tableaux-these, and innumerable other attractions, rendered very difficult of observance the familiar tactical routine, " head erret, eyes to the front," especially when it was known that President Johnson, Gen. Grant, Gen. Parker, his full-blood Indian chief of staff, and other notables whom the boys were extremely anxious to see, happened to be located in an cu- tirely different direction.
The Fifteenth, of course. " did itself proud" upon this great occasion, and, assuredly, proved no discredit to the Old Nineteenth Corps, of which it was the distinguished representative. Every officer and enlisted man
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appeared at his best, and exhibited to good advantage the soldierly bear- ing and superb marching qualities which had ever characterized the old regiment.
On the following day the veteran army of Sherman was reviewed. It was substantially a continuation of the programme of the preceding day, somewhat diversified by the manners and customs of the Western soldier as contrasted with those from the East. The "free and easy " order of march was a distinguishing characteristic. The " banner " feature, too, was everywhere conspicuous, the " confiscated" pigs, turkeys, chickens, etc., with the inevitable " contraband" in family groups, being ingeniously sandwiched among the troops in a manner strikingly suggestive of the march of an army through an enemy's country. The battle-scarred vet- erans, the banners tattered and torn in storms of leaden hail, illustrious generals and corps and detachments which had made a national reputation on account of especially meritorious services, all received special recognition from the multitudes thronging the line of march from morning until even- ing. The dramatic scene upon the reviewing stand, where Gen. Sherman, in the presence of his army and of the assembled thousands, hanghtily withdrew his hand from the proffered courteous greeting of Secretary of War Stanton -- his superior officer, and against whom he had a grievance, not wholly without reason-was one of the decided sensations of the occa- sion, in the vicinity of the reviewing stand.
The Great Review was in all respects a grand success ; and the Fifteenth's historian has ever taken great pride in the fact that the dear old regiment " was in it."
But, " After the Great Review. What ?" Ah! that was not quite so satisfactory. The Review was typical of " the close of the war," to be sure, and the boys had already been chanting the sweet refrain, " When Jolmnie Goes Marching Home ;" bat, somehow, the Fifteenth " Johnnies " didn't seem to march in that direction. In one sense the war was at an end and our contract with the government had been fully discharged : but in another, and a vital one, "the end was not yet." And while of the nearly one million soldiers borne upon the rolls of the army at the close of actual hostilities, a very large proportion were at once mustered out of ser- vice, or dispatched to their several States for that purpose, it was reserved for the Maine Fifteenth and a number of other regiments of the Old Nine- teenth Corps, to return to the Far South, and take a hand in the solution of that difficult and intricate problem, " Reconstruction." Yes! there was murmuring, and a deal of it, too ; but, all the same, there seemed no other course than to patiently submit to the inevitable, and, like good soldiers, to obey orders as cheerfully as possible, under the circumstances. We had put in three years or so of good service in the Gulf States, and were probably
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good for an additional three years if the government really required it. Towards the latter part of May a general order was issued instruct- ing the immediate muster-out of all enlisted men whose term of service expired prior to October 1st, 1865; and these were the only members of the Fifteenth which seem to have been favorably affected by the much-her- alded " close of the war." The men thus discharged were the 1864 one- year's recruits. They had enlisted in August and September for the most part, and, but for the generosity of the government, might have been re- tained three and four months longer. About one hundred and eleven were mustered out in this detachment, materially decreasing the membership of our regimental family and depriving us of the company of some "right down good fellows" on our Southern expedition.
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE FIFTEENTH SPENDS A YEAR IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
THE FIFTEENTH TAKES THE NORTH STAR BUT SAILS SOUTHWARD. - AT SAVANNAH, GA. - THENCE TO GEORGETOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA. -- A UNIQUE SITUATION AND VERY PE- CULIAR SERVICE DEVOLVING UPON THE MILITARY. - VARIOUS EXCITING INCIDENTS. -- THE FIFTEENTH MOVES FROM POINT TO POINT AND COVERS A GOODLY PORTION OF THE PALMETTO STATE. - VERY EXCITING INCIDENTS IN WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA. -- THE THRILLING STORY GIVEN ONLY IN OUTLINE. - THE MUSTER-OUT OF THE IS65 ONE-YEAR RECRUITS. - THE FIFTEENTH ORDERED TO CHARLESTON, S. C., FOR FINAL MUSTER-OUT.
NLIKE almost any other volunteer regiment of the Union Army, the Maine Fifteenth boasts an exceedingly rich experience in the Far South during an entire year following the close of the war-so varied, so adventurous, and at times so exciting, that it seems more · like a thrilling romanee than an unvarnished record of regimental history. We are able only to present a brief sketch of the more salient events of the year's experiences.
The Southern expedition only comprised two brigades, having no connection with each other. The First Separate Brigade was commanded by Gen. Geo. L. Beal, and comprised the 15th and 29th Me., Ist Me. Battalion, and the 30th Mass. In the Second Separate Brigade, moving Sonthi at the same time, was the 30th Maine, with which had been merged the re-enlisted men of the 13th Maine. Old corps and division designa- tions had been broken up, and nearly all the old regiments ordered home for final muster-out. The two brigades left Washington June Ist, with
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orders to proceed to Savannah, Ga., reporting to Maj. Gen. Q. A. Gilmore, commanding the Department of the South ; the Fifteenth embarking on steamer North Star. After an uneventful voyage the troops concentrated at Savannah and disembarked. The Second Brigade was distributed about Georgia ; while after tarrying a week or ten days, the First Brigade was dispatched to Eastern South Carolina, Georgetown being the point of . dobarkation -- where the Fifteenth arrived, by steamer Ariel, June 15th.
The city of Georgetown was a most uninviting and dilapidated ap- pearing place, situated on Sampit Creek, some dozen or fifteen miles in- land from the sea. Though a thrifty lumber business centered here, the general surroundings savored of poverty and desolation, and were so sug- gestive of " the fever and shakes" that even the buildings gave evidence of having partaken of the epidemic-having " shaken " themselves entirely free of paint, clap-boards and shingles.
Gen. Beal had come clothed with authority as commander of the " Military District of Eastern South Carolina," as well as of his " First Separate Brigade. " His command embraced all the territory of the nine eastern counties of the State, with headquarters at Darlington, over two hundred miles distant from Georgetown. To effectually cover this vast territory with one small brigade of troops, necessitated not only a very " thin spreading " of the soldiers but considerable tact in the assignment of oficers. The Fifteenth was given the populous counties of Georgetown and Horry, which comprised a separate Sub-district, with Col. Dyer as com- manding officer ; headquarters at Georgetown. Gen. Beal, as soon as the assignments had been made, moved or. up the Pedee River, with all the other troops ; and also taking along with him Lieut .- Col. Murray as Prov- ost Marshal General of the District.
The territory occupied by the Fifteenth was a populous rice-grow- ing region. the negroes outnumbering the whites three to one in George- town District ; while in the adjoining county of Horry the .. poor-whites, " or " Crackers, " largely predominated. The aggregate population was not far from forty thousand-ignorant and vicious as a general rule-the in- telligent element of property holders numbering not much over one thous- and; and this thickly-settled population was absolutely without the protec- tion of law, save as it was provided by the military authorities. Civil law and all the ordinary machinery of civil government had gone down with the rebellion, and could only be re-established by the organization of state governments, un ler the supervision of the authorities at Washington. It was a very peculiar situation, and but for the intervention of the military chaos must have held high carnival.
We had hardly arrived at Georgetown-and this was but six weeks after the surrender of (ien. Joe Johnston's rebel army -- when a large dele-
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gation of rice-planters came to the commanding officer at Georgetown, in great consternation, to beg for military protection. They represented that property, life, and family-security, were in jeopardy in the interior, on ac- count of an impending up-rising among the negroes on the great planta- tions along the river. The freed people, they claimed, were thoroughly imbued with the idea that, under the new order of things, " the earth be- longed to the saints-and they were the saints. " The lands and property of the whites were to be taken possession of and equitably divided among the negroes. The head of each negro family was to have a one-hundred- and-sixty-acre farm, a house, a pair of mules, and necessary seed and farm- ing implements. Secret meetings were being held, these doctrines freely discussed, and plans consummated for " dividing the spoils." The matter was investigated, and it was found that there really was some occasion for alarm ; so much so that it was deemed necessary to send a -special messen- ger to the scene of the difficulty before the troops took up their stations, with the purpose of dissuading the negroes from any attempt to take the law into their own hands. The writer was detailed upon this delicate mis- sion. Taking with him two trusty non-commissioned officers, he canvassed the entire cluster of great rice-plantations on the river, spending nearly a week upon the tour. It was an exceedingly rich experience ! The whites had fled in consternation and the negroes possessed the land, plantation- houses and all. Rich furniture, clothing, books from the library, etc., adorned the negro cabins, with marble-slabs from the centre tables in use as door-steps in front of the quarters of the colored people. It was a pic- ture of desolation -- sad yet so flavored with the ridiculous as to excite lev- ity. The " missionaries " were received with very great consideration, giv- en a royal reception, courteously listened to, questioned, and implicitly be- lieved in as the bearers of the genuine message as to the meaning of Eman- cipation. The negroes had been cruelly deceived and shuddered some- what at the demolition of their air-castles, but shouted joyously and enthu- siastically as they were assured that the relation of master and slave no longer existed in this country. When the speaker went from one planta- tion to another, the negroes followed in crowds, " cutting across lots," giv- ing the missionaries some very large congregations further down the river. Such shouting, singing, and joyful demonstrations, are rarely listened to. There was, it is needless to say, no " uprising " or " insurrection," the col- ored people implicitly obeying every order issued by the military authori- ties. And this could hardly be said of all of their former masters.
Very soon after the incident above recorded Co. B was stationed permanently at Plantersville, covering this vast negro population, its quar- ters being in a house in the " piney woods " settlement. Co. A was sent to Coawaysboro', in Horry District : Co. E to the Waccamaw sea-shore ;
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Co. G to McLellansville ; the remaining companies going into camp some four miles out of Georgetown village, under the immediate command of Maj. J. H. Whitmore.
The duty devolving upon both officers and soldiers was unique, adventurous, and oft-times quite exciting, and so diversified that it was difficult to determine whether we were civil or military rulers. We were as absolute in power as Russia's Czar, though always tempering justice with mercy. At first law and equity were administered off-hand, without the aid of judge or jury ; later provost courts, with their judges and marshals, were established, with military commissions to try the higher grade of of- fences ; when at least the semblance of legal forms was maintained, though justice was meted out with tolerable celerity and certainty all the same. Nearly all of our officers, first and last, became judges, marshals, etc., and so familiar with the legal forms and procedure of the courts that almost any of them might easily have gained admission to the "bar " upon their return home. Included in the scope of our work were the administering of the amnesty-oath-of-allegiance to (un)repentant rebels who were allowed to subscribe to it-and these embraced the entire white populace, with few exceptions ; the supervision of all contracts made between the whites and colored people for working the plantations, generally " on shares ;" the adjudication of all disputes of whatever nature; the supervision of the laborers and the enforcement of a " fair deal " between employer and en- ployed ; the equitable division of the crops, when harvested ; and, in short, every conceivable duty growing out of this peculiar situation. Among the most amusing and ridiculous of these was the attempt to establish a code of marriage and divorce laws among a people who had hitherto known as lit- tle of the existence of such relations as the cattle in the planter's stock-yard. By general order all colored people living together as man and wife at a date specified, were declared to be inan and wife as fully and lawfully as if regularly married ; and a system of complicated divorce regulations were prescribed, which the provost marshals were required to administer. This involved the very delicate and intricate problems of classification and gathering into family groups of offspring ; the custody of children in case of separation, etc. Of an entirely different character was the disagreeable task thrust upon one of our officers in his capacity as provost marshal -- that of erecting a gallows and publicly hanging two men convicted of conspiracy and murder by a military commission. True Grover Cleveland once had a similar experience, yet it was a revolting duty nevertheless. But to enumerate a tithe of these experiences would require a volume double the size of this ; which has already grown to unseemly proportions.
No material change was made in the location of the several com- panies until the first of August ; when D, H and I, were moved two hundred
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miles up river and located, respectively, af Cheraw and Chesterfield in Chesterfield District and at Bennettsville iu Marlboro' District ; Asst. Sur- · geon Holmes accompanying in medical charge. At about this time Col. Dyer succeeded Gen. Beal in command of the Military District of Eastern South Carolina, headquarters at Darlington. With the exception of D, H, and I. all the Fifteenth companies remained in and about Georgetown District until the latter part of October.
While at Georgetown the Fifteenth was compelled to part company with one of its most popular officers of the old line, and more recently pro- moted to the field-Maj. James HI. Whitmore. By reason of impaired health, incident to his long service in malarial sections, he was compelled . to tender his resignation, and was discharged in July, (1865.) Maj. Whit- more had been with us as a commissioned officer from the earliest organi- zation, serving faithfully and gallantly for three and a half years, in the various grades of lieutenant, captain and major, and performing considera- ble staff duty, as acting adjutant, assist. adjutant gen., etc. "Little Whit." was a universal favorite, and his old associates parted with him with very keen regret. Maj. Whitmore was succeeded by Capt. John R. Coates, who was mustered as major Sept. 29th, 1865.
During the carlier period of the Fifteenth's service in Eastern South Carolina the ex-Confederates-more especially the soldier element- were on their good behavior, and, as a rule, cheerfully co-operated with the military in the preservation of order. The rebel soldiers had but just reached home and were very modest in demanding any rights and privi- leges except those stipulated in their paroles. They frecly fraternized with the Union soldiers, and, generally, rendered themselves exceedingly agree- able. The author recalls one noble fellow-a captain of cavalry in the rebel army and a chivalrous gentleman everywhere -- who extended many cour- tesies to our officers in Georgetown District and who even lost his life while generously contributing to our entertainment, by means of a typical South Carolina deer hant, with trained hounds, drivers, unique hunting calls, etc. The poor fellow -who was master of ceremonies-was thrown from his horse while riding close by the writer's side, and never spoke after he fell. But, as will appear later on, the demeanor of the people was considerably changel upon the gradual development of President Johnson's unfortunate reconstruction policy.
From a sanitary stand-point the Fifteenth's summer sojourn amid the Georgetown marshes was extremely unfortunate. Our sokliers-more especially the unacclimated recruits-wilted under the depressing heat and malaria-impregnated atmosphere, like grain before the sickle. The debil- itating effects of the climate, with an unusually pestiferous crop of annoy- ing insects, served to render life a burden ; and woe betide he compelled to
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make a trip for any purpose after night-fall, during the season of the flow- age of the rice-fields. Poison was in the air, and to inhale it was perilous. Quinine, with its inevitable whiskey accompaniment, was prescribed in allopathic doses, even the well regarding it necessary to regularly partake of the vile compound as a precautionary measure. The sick list was excep- tionally large. Many deaths occurred and numerous disability discharges were rendered necessary. We had brought South with us (June, 1865) about five hundred and forty-four men-over three hundred of the aggre- gate " present and absent " on the regimental rolls (849) being absent, sick, prisoners of war, or on detached service. Of the total present there were at one time, at Georgetown alone, over three hundred down with malarial fever of a severe type, while from sixty to seventy-five deaths are reported during the summer months. The Fifteenth's medical corps at this time comprised Surgeon Higgins and Assistant Surgeon A. A. Holmes : the last mentioned officer having joined us just prior to our departure for South Carolina, at Washington. This medical corps were required to attend the several detached companies, as well as those at Georgetown, and their la- bors were severe and arduous. At one time, when very much needed, the quinine-supply was exhausted, and, upon urgent personal entreaty, af- ter a trip of two hundred miles for that purpose, Surgeon Higgins was able to procure only two ources of the precious drug, though a little later his requisitions were more promptly filled, and with decidedly beneficial re- sults. Of about one hundred deaths and seventy disability discharges in 1865-6, a very large proportion are to be attributed to the atmospherical conditions in and about Georgetown District. Rarely, during its entire term of service, was the Fifteenth so unfavorably located. The three com- panies which left for Chesterfield and Marlboro', in Augast, found a deci- ded improvement as to climatic conditions. Co. A, at Conwaysboro, and Co. B, at Plantersville, was somewhat less exposed than other companies.
About the middle of September the Old Fifteenth sustained a sore affliction in the departure of its idolized commander, Col. Isaac Dyer-the " father of the regiment " for nearly the entire period of its history, to the date of discharge. The three years' term of his commission as Colonel had expired, and. the regimeut's ranks having again become so depleted as not to admit of the re-muster of an officer of so high grade as Colonel, there was no alternative but for him to retire. There is no need to reproduce the Colonel's record, inasmuch as it runs parallel with the history of the old regiment from the date he assamed command as Lieut .- Colonel in 1861 to his final muster-out. September, 1865. He was universally beloved alike by officers and enlisted men, and ever commanded the respect of his superior officers. Exercising many and responsible command- at varions times, including that of brigades in the field, military posts, districts, etc ..
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