USA > New Hampshire > History of the Twelfth regiment, New Hampshire volunteers in the war of the rebellion > Part 43
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But there were many other ways for amusement in the army beside card playing, and some that were not so pleasing to all concerned. Pranks, tricks, and jokes of every class and kind filled up the leisure hours of some who seemed to believe that a little mischief is the spice of fun. We will give just a few of those most commonly practiced. A suspected " rheumatic," who has been for a long time excused from duty, is frying his pork and steeping his coffee, on the coals in his little winter-hut fireplace. for supper, preparatory to taking a comfortable night's snooze, while some of his company comrades are getting ready to go on guard, where they think he ought to be. Pretty soon there is an explosion, and the pork and coffee, with frying pan, dipper, coals, ashes, and burning faggots, either go up the chimney or chase each other around the poor fellow's head and tent, as he jumps like a scorched cat from the one just in time to receive a shower of hot coffee and ashes upon the other. The next morning there is noticed an extra hitch in his gait, as he cripples along behind the "whiskey and quinine squad" to get excused again from duty, which is especially pleasing to those who have found that a mixture of powder and hot ashes while it gives instanta- neous relief is not a lasting cure for rheumatism.
" Smoking out" was another way of bringing the inmates out of their tents, which though less expeditious was quite as effectual. This was easily done by climbing up the cob-house chimney, covering the top over with an old rubber blanket or barrel head, and then hiding near by and listen- ing for results. Of course this would be done after dark, and the fun came to the ears rather than to the eyes, but was none the less enjoyable
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for those who liked to hear another audibly manifest his utter disregard of the third commandment until the breath that came from his mouth was nearly as blue as the smoke that poured out of the door of his tent.
His boisterous demonstrations of anger would arouse his comrades for half a dozen tents or more on either side of the company street, and prove him so good a subject for that kind of a joke, that he is not allowed to rest long before his chimney plays the balky mule with him again, and then he makes complaint to his company commander, and has the great satisfaction of being assured that just as soon as the offender is apprehended, he will surely be punished ; but that the most liberal con- struction of military law will not authorize him to punish the whole company for the wrongful acts of one or two of its members.
Another chimney trick was to drop three or four blank cartridges down the smoke-flue on some cold evening when there was sure to be a good bed of coals for them to fall upon, and late enough for the tent occupants to be abed and asleep.
As between the wide-awakes and sleepy-heads the latter were naturally the debtors on the joke ledger, in acts as well as words, although the bal- ance was sometimes the other way.
On the debtor side may be mentioned the following : One warm, sunny day while out on picket, one of the boys at the reserve camp fell asleep. After a long, sound snooze he dreamed he had started for heaven, heels foremost, and awoke to find it to be literally true. Some of his comrades had tied his legs to the top of a birch tree, that they had bent down, and strung him up fifteen or twenty feet in the air by his heels.
Another one, caught napping, had a fence of brush wood built around him, and dreamed that he had gone in an opposite direction from the other fellow, and was suffering the tortures of the wicked, when he awoke to find himself surrounded by a circle of fire, not quite near enough to scorch, but altogether too near to be comfortable.
There was, also, no lack of athletic sports, such as jumping, pitching quoits, wrestling, etc., with now and then, in the regiments favorably stationed in forts or on garrison duty, a game of base ball, although this game was not then. as now, the craze of the day.
In the wrestling contests the Twelfth had one boy of whom his regi- mental comrades could say as " Bob " Ingersoll said of General Grant : " There he is, match him if you can."
He was a drummer, and could handle his feet about as quickly as he could his drumsticks ; and this nimbleness of foot, with corresponding quickness of strength and elasticity of body, allowed him to easily jeop- ardize the understanding of his antagonist, while of his own, he was just about as sure as a cat.
His name was Libby, but he was never an inmate of that or any other rebel prison, for his nature was too lively, both in muscle and mind, to be captured either dead or alive. His strong hold was " collar and elbow,"
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in which trial he would stand up to the last. and then call for the " next." Though his title of championship was often contested, it was never yielded, within the knowledge of the writer, who has often seen him prove his rightful claim to it.
But the reader must not infer, from what we have written, that all the time not occupied by the duties of military service was spent in mere pastime games and sports. Some found both pleasure and profit in writ- ing many letters to friends and relatives at home. One officer, whose ambition to deserve well of his country would not allow him to stay at home and plead the excuse that he had just been married, used to write his young wife a letter every day while he was in the service, making nearly a thousand letters, longer or shorter according to circumstances, written to her alone. with nearly as many loving replies for him to read.
There was, also, an extensive correspondence by the .. boys" with patriotic girls from all parts of the North, who, under assumed names, would first write in answer to soldiers' advertisements in the papers " solic- iting correspondence with two or three intelligent young ladies with a view to pleasure, profit, and perhaps future acquaintance." This was so extensively carried on. during the last of the war, that thousands of letters were interchanged between the boys in the army and the girls at home ; and thousands of young ladies, many of them of the highest social stand- ing. found a new source of pleasure, springing out of a high and patriotic sense of duty, in writing interesting and encouraging letters, and thus contributing in no small degree to the mental pleasure and profit and the moral elevation of the many happy recipients. So prominently popular did this custom become, before the end of the war, that many newspapers and literary journals freely offered their columns for notices of this kind sent them from the army ; and the " Waverley Magazine " had, at one time, no less than three or four hundred of them in a single issue. One of a few rhyming couplets, written and sent to that paper by a member of the Twelfth in the summer of '64. and given the post of honor by being printed at the head of the first column of a whole page or more of similar advertisements, was answered by nearly a hundred letters from all parts of the North. Most of these were evidently written by ladies of education and refinement : and not a few, coming from those of the " blue stocking " class, were rare specimens of Chesterfieldian type, and abounded in noble, patriotic, and soul-inspiring sentiments that found a ready echo. and made a lasting impression in the heart of the young but veteran soldier who was fortunate enough to receive them. Those he could not find time to answer himself, he gave to his comrades to answer.
Hlad more such letters been received. early in the war, in place of the illiterate, disloyal, copperhead kind from stay-at-homes in the states and runaways to Canada, there would have been less skulking and fewer desertions from, and more victories for. the Union army.
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These epistolary acquaintances did not always end with the war, but were often continued long after ; and, sometimes, where the interest and pleasure were reciprocal, ripened into friendship and matrimony. Many a romantic love story, with more of truth than fiction, might be and doubtless has been written, the first chapter of which would intro- duce the brave soldier boy and his fair but unknown correspondent, many hundred miles apart. Photographs were often solicited and exchanged, and some pictures of rare beauty, and bespeaking as well as the letters the highest type of intelligence and refinement, have long had a place in the family albums of more than one of the once young and happy soldier boys of the Twelfth.
But something more than the amusing and sentimental was necessary to satisfy the active minds of many, who, while they felt that no sacrifice was too great in their country's cause, were yet impatient for the end to come, that they might once more return to the schools and colleges they had left and prepare themselves to win laurels on the broad battlefield of civil life, where merit and not favoritism bestows the badge of honor or the insignia of command.
These sent home and had standard text-books of the schools sent out to them, and employed their leisure hours in storing up useful knowledge. Among these might have been found Wayland's " Political Economy," Locke's " Essay on the Human Understanding." " Plutarch's Lives," and the poetical works of Shakespeare, Young, Pope, and others of American as well as English authorship.
Some of these books still exist, and have a place on the library shelves of ministers, doctors, lawyers, and judges, who were once privates in the ranks of war, and whose names may be found in the general roster of the Twelfth New Hampshire Volunteers at the end of this book.
So much, and much more might be written, in relation to the " boys " - their games, pastimes, and habits of camp life - who took a part in the great Rebellion of 1861-'65.
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New Hampshire Volunteers.
THE RANK AND FILE.
The writer of this history would always feel as if he had not done his full duty, if he should neglect especially to refer to how great a share of merit and praise belongs to the rank and file in our late war : yet it is true that to that great majority, who so faithfully and valiantly served in that great and grand army of Union Volunteers who fought for one flag and one destiny for our Pilgrim heritage, a just measure of honorable recog- nition has seldom if ever been given.
It is the large, uppermost, and therefore visible and nicely chiseled blocks of granite that are usually looked upon as the foundation stones of the vast and imposing superstructure which they seem alone to support and uphold ; and that which is laid with formal ceremony, and therefore attracts the greatest attention, is called the chief corner-stone, symbolizing, in this illustration of an army, the president of the civil government, who, as in our country, is commander-in-chief of the army and navy.
But how few of the vast multitudes who look thereon, and to whom they are pointed out with pride, allow the penetrating gaze of their mental vision to deepen down and examine the equally strong and necessary. though smaller and less symmetrical, that lie below ; or go deeper yet, and thoughtfully observe and consider the small and shapeless cobble or rubble stones, which, though unseen and seldom thought of, are the most important of all, for they underlie the foundation. Upon these, as the true and reliable basis, the whole superincumbent weight must rest though it grind and crush them to pieces and into the earth, for upon their united strength and endurance the fate of both army and nation depends.
Upon those, then, who carry the knapsacks and the muskets falls the great burden to support which they must suffer every hardship and toil, their only privilege being to passively submit and patiently endure.
Such is the necessary subservience of the rank and file in every well disciplined army, that all the non-commissioned men and privates are obliged to move and act upon the low, drag-drill level of the brute, and in many of the armies of the world are but little better treated or more respected.
As a mere tool, sharp or dull, as he may be more or less intelligent, the private, or " enlisted man" ( as all are called in our army not holding a commission ), acts only as he is acted upon through the orders of his commander.
He has no voice, choice, or discretion, not even to decide whether he is sick or well ; but able or unable he must do duty, unless excused by the regimental, or some other, physician, if his commanding officer says so. No matter how apparently unreasonable, hazardous, or sacrificial the order, it must be obeyed, for to refuse is mutiny, and the penalty is death.
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. His not to question why, His but to do and die,"
is the one short couplet that tells the whole truth.
In the rank and file of no other army did there ever exist so high an average of intelligence as was found among the sergeants, corporals, and privates of the great army of the Union, that in spite of official incompe- tence and jealousy saved to posterity the noblest heritage of Freedom.
In their veins flowed the best blood of the nation, and in their ranks could be found honorable and even distinguished representatives of almost every trade and profession of life. They came not only from the farms, mills, counting-rooms, and shops, but they came from our academies and colleges, from the platform, the pulpit, and the bar, and even from the professor's chair and the judge's bench.
In the ranks of every regiment marched men equal to almost any emer- gency, and often far superior, morally and intellectually to him whose eagle-strapped shoulders gave him the authority to command. Many of these served for three years, or the whole war, without a "strap" or " stripe" of promotion : and some, proudly refusing any rank higher than a private, served as such their full term of enlistment, and after the war were rewarded by being elected to Congress, where they faithfully served as honored representatives of the states that elected them and of the great grand army of privates of the whole loyal North.
While an army, however intelligent, without a leader is little better than a mob, it is equally true that the leader, whatever his skill or experi- ence, depends mainly upon the bravery and devotion of the rank and file who follow him, for his victories.
But such was the intelligence of the Army of the Potomac in our late war that had its commanders depended more upon the average judgment of its rank and file, and less upon the advice of their corps commanders it would have been a great deal better for the common cause.
Had their reasonable wishes been granted, the door pried open by their bayonets at Malvern Hill would not have closed until Richmond had been securely within its possession. Had their protests been heeded, the need- less slaughter and fruitless sacrifice of Fredericksburg and Cold Harbor would have been avoided, and many thousands of precious lives saved to be yielded up, if necessary, upon a battlefield where there was some rea- sonable prospect of success.
A vote of the rank and file at Chancellorsville instead of a council of war, if allowed to carry out their wish and will thus expressed. would as surely have then and there ended the slave-holders' rebellion as it did the military career of one of its ablest defenders ; for the destruction of Lee's army which he could not have avoided, and the capture of Richmond which must have inevitably followed, would have been death blows to the Southern Confederacy, and two years more of awful strife would never have been added to the sad history of our civil war.
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Again at and after Gettysburg, had those who had there saved the nation, almost in spite of their commander, been allowed to countercharge immediately after Pickett's repulse, or even to follow up Lee's retreat as every man almost was eager to, knowing well their great advantage in attacking a defeated and retreating army far from its base of supplies, and against which the very elements were conspiring and had well nigh cut off its only avenue of escape. the most inexcusable blunder, perhaps, of the whole war, on the Union side, would have been avoided, and Wil- liamsport instead of Appomattox would have been the Yorktown of the Rebellion.
Some, young and verdant, scarcely in their teens, enlisted from the school-room and, before the close of the war, arose to high rank and held responsible positions, commanding regiments and even brigades. One who was enrolled and for several months served as a drummer-boy in the Twelfth Regiment was promoted to a captain. twice had from high author- ity the assurance of a colonelcy, filled the office for some time of general judge advocate, and acted for several days as chief signal officer of the Army of the James. It has been truthfully said that there was no posi- tion in the army below that of a major-general that could not have been safely filled from the ranks at a moment's call, although it was no great honor to many of the non-commissioned officers, or even privates, to be placed on a par with some of the brigadiers during the first year of the war.
It should also be noticed that great injustice was often done the men in the ranks in the selections made for promotion. Friendship or favor- itism often were more potent than merit or ability in procuring a chevron or an epaulet ; and sometimes both, especially the latter, were bought for money that went into the pockets of officers who were not half as honor- able or worthy of respect as their negro servants who blacked their boots. It is also true that the men were quite frequently unjustly punished ; and sometimes. though rarely, unreasonably and cruelly punished. And here, to do full justice to all, can be found the primal cause for not a few of the many desertions in our army, although the number is very small as compared with those who dishonored themselves and their country's cause through the influence and even advice of .. copperheads" at home. " Deserted " is a dark and damaging word to have written after the name of any person who enlisted in the service of his country ; and some would give thousands of dollars to expunge it and would even blot it out with their life's blood if in its place could be written : " Killed on the field of battle." Yet, could the roll-book of the recording angel .be opened to mortal ken, some of those who are marked in the war records as deserters would be found recommended for promotion or honorably discharged. while very many of those who were honorably discharged would be found marked as deserters. And among these last would be found the names of a surprising number of officers of all ranks from second lientenant to gen- eral. For it must not be supposed that because officers are not often
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recorded as deserters on the regimental rolls that they were so far above the moral, rank-and-file grade as never to have been guilty of such a thing. Justice to those who received and obeyed orders from their com- missioned superiors requires that so much of the truth, at least, be told about the latter as shall convince the reader that the number of deserters were as large, proportionally, among the officers, who went out as such, as among the enlisted men : but the same is not probably true of those who were promoted from the ranks.
If the commanders in our army, who had the power to accept or reject the proffered resignations of their subordinate officers, could have read between the lines the true motive and real purpose of " Yours very respectfully," etc., a much smaller number of these plausibly written and obsequiously addressed requests for an honorable discharge from the service would have been returned " approved," and many less of the col- onels, majors, captains, etc., would be found to-day in the ranks of the living. He, though an officer, was none the less a deserter, because his rank or official position gave him a better chance to cover his cowardly tracks to the rear on the field of battle, or privileged him to leave the serv- ice upon some flimsy pretext or false representation when he no longer cared to serve his country. Yet officers of this kind could be found in every regiment, and the Twelfth cannot be claimed as an exception. Although the general roster shows but one officer " dishonorably dis- charged," a true and impartial record would place the negative prefix before several other "honorably discharged" officers of the regiment, two or three of whom would now bear the stigma, as they ought to, but for the intercession of relatives and friends. And in behalf of the rank and file let it be known that the same true and just record would strike off and out forever any and every dishonorable word or syllable concern- ing many true and brave soldiers against whom has been written the words " deserted," " reduced to the ranks," etc. Many of these discredit- able markings were originally made through mistake, ignorance of the facts, or official stupidity, and having since the war been proved unjust and erroneous have been stricken out. As illustrative of the last named rea- son for such inexcusable blunders may be mentioned the case of Arthur C. Newell, of Company B. By some little irregularity in the order or return of his transfer from the Twelfth to the Sixth New Hampshire, he was not properly accounted for on his company book, and the adjutant, being in some doubt how he should be reported, asked instruction of the assistant adjutant-general who happened to be standing near by. "Put him down a deserter, sir," quickly responded the pompous assistant adjutant-general, without even a single inquiry into the merits of the case, and thus through gross, if not criminal heedlessness and ignorance a good man and soldier was written down as a deserter, and so stood disgraced for more than twenty years upon his country's record, and was only obliterated, after much trouble and expense, when
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he, who had patiently borne the great wrong for many years, had gone with his case to that Higher Court
" Where every wrong is righted,"
.
and his poor widow was left alone to get the records corrected, or go with- out the pension that she was justly entitled to, and which he, but for this excuseless error, might have enjoyed the benefits of while living.
They may sing of our generals of great renown, And compare them with Jackson and Lee, Of Sheridan's ride " from Winchester town," And Sherman's great march to the sea,
But who to each one gave a deathless name, And saved us a country the while? Their names are not found on the scroll of fame, For they marched in the rank or file.
And though few and faint are the words of praise For them in song or in story, Yet their bones lay thick in those life-giving days, And paved Grant's way to glory.
Then blessings untold of a grateful world Be their monumental pile ; And wherever our flag of hope is unfurled There's honor to the rank and file.
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HIEROISM AND TERRORISM.
When the mind desponds the body correspondingly suffers, and, unless the cause be removed, will soon sicken and die; while if the soul is cheerfully resolute and brave, the physical energies are strengthened and sustained to combat and overcome both danger and disease, and some- times almost defy death itself. Marked illustrations of this fact-the power of mind over matter -often occurred in the army, no regiment of any considerable service being without well authenticated instances.
The sad record of death at Falmouth during the winter of 1861-'62, as mentioned in the first part of this history,* may be referred to in this connection, where, the cause continuing, the results to so many were fatal, for medicine had no virtue to strengthen the pulsations of a desponding heart. "Camp fever" they called it, for want of a better name that would not proclaim the fact that nothing ailed many of them but homesickness.
But sometimes the mind-brooding gloom of anticipated death was broken by unexpected rays of hopeful light before the sombre shades deepened into the endless night of the tomb : and then how quickly a marvelous change for the better, and how soon as well as ever, let the following truthful incident relate :
A Vermont chaplain had caught the camp fever, and concluded he must die. Doctor Fowler, whose reputation as a skillful manager of this disease had reached the chaplain's friends, was sent for to see if the sick man, who was daily growing worse in spite of his regimental surgeons, could not be saved. Doctor Fowler knew the disease of his patient before visiting him, and was well assured, from what he had learned of the case, that it required heroic treatment. The chaplain received him with an expression of impatience that his friends should think it any further use to fight against the decrees of fate, for his time, as he said, had come to die, and no mortal power could save him.
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