USA > New York > Boots and saddles. A history of the first volunteer cavalry of the war, known as the First New York (Lincoln) Cavalry, and also as the Sabre regiment. Its organization, campaigns and battles > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
COMPANY OR LINE OFFICERS. COMPANY A. Chp'nin-Abram Jones. First Lient .- Thomas R. Leavitt. Scent Livet -Cliff. Thompson.
COMPANY B. Captain-Henry B. Todd. First Lieut .- John Innis. Seront Lieu !. - R. H. Lee.
COMPANY C.
Captain-Wm. H. Boyd. First Lient .- Wm. W. Hanson. Scont Lient .- Jas. H. Steve ison.
COMPANY D.
Captain-Daniel H. Harkins. Forx Lient -Sammel C. Sprague. Soort Lieut .- James A. Dufly. COMPANY E.
Geplant-Lambert J. Simons. Bird Lien !. I. D. Kryniski. Sent Ligt-Adolph Schmidt.
COMPANY F.
Brain-David A. Bennett. First Lient .- Richard P. Thomas. Siegt Lient .- Charles Woodruff.
COMPANY G. Cuplain-Frederick Hendricks. First Lieut .- Emil Coenen. Second Lieu !- F. F. Schmidt.
COMPANY H.
Captain-Joseph H. Stearns. First Lieut-Harry B. Hidden. Second Lieu .- David R. Dishrow.
COMPANY I.
Captain-Count Ferdinand Stosch. First Lient .- Robert H. O. Hertzog. Second Lient .- A. Von Longerki.
COMPANY K.
Captain-A. N. Norton. First Lient -HI. W. Granger. Soont Lieut .- Frank Q. Martindale.
COMPANY L.
Chp'nin -Gustav Otto.
COMPANY M.
Captain -Thomas J. Lord. First Laent -Rich'd G. Prendergast. Sicund Lient, -Frederick A. Nimy,
48
HISTORY OF THE
As soon as the organization was announced, the active young quartermaster set to work to get the regiment mounted and equipped, which, in the then state of af- fairs, was no light task.
While they are getting ready for the field. let us cross back into Virginia and watch General Mcclellan's first move with the Army of the Potomac-the first advance since the Battle of Bull Run.
49
FIRST NEW YORK ( LINCOLN) CAVALRY.
CHAPTER V.
Fairfax Seminary-Franklin's Division-Camp Scenes-First advance since Bull Run-Scene- and Incidents.
N the 28th of August. 1861, the troops under Gen- eral Franklin, consisting of the Fifteenth, Eigh- teenth. Thirty-first and Thirty-second New York Volun- teers, Arnold's battery of regular artillery, and Boyd's troop of cavalry, moved camp from Alexandria to Fairfax Seminary; about three miles towards the enemy's lines.
Close by were the brigades of Kearny, Newton and Slocum, which were soon united with our brigade and formed the " Alexandria Division," commanded by Gen- eral Franklin. Boyd's troop was attached to division headquarters as escort to the general.
Here we had plenty of room for mounted drill. and the troop soon became proficient in horsemanship and in the manœuvres. General Franklin frequently came out to see us drill. and complimented us on the progress we were making.
The Confederates had fortified Munson's, Mason's and Upton's Hills, in our front, only a few miles from where We were eneamped. and the pickets kept up a constant skirmish all along the line. On the 31st of August, General Kearny's pickets had a " bout " with the enemy, and our whole division was ordered under arms.
On the 1st of September our company officers received their first pay. It was all in gold, and we hastened to ". Treastry to get it exchanged for paper money : never mer thinking of " premium."(!) On the 3d, Captain Boyd. Lieutenant C. F. Gillies, of the Third Pennsylvania 5
50
HISTORY OF THE
Cavalry, and myself, rode out to Bailey's Cross Roads to take a look at the Confederates on Munson's Hill. We found the house occupied by our pickets riddled with cannon shot. The Confederate flag was floating defiantly over their fort on the hill, and their pickets had a barricade across the road about half a mile from our position.
The pickets were in a large corn field; ours on one side of this barricade, and the enemy's on the other. They frequently called to each other and had a lively dis- cussion over the merits of the war, and of the respective armies and their commanders, which generally brought about a skirmish all along the picket line.
The weather was fine and the troops were drilling on every available patch of ground for miles in all direc- tions, and practicing target-shooting. It was positively dangerous to ride around while this exercise was going on, and frequently the bullets found their way into our camp, causing no little alarm.
On the 7th of September, orders were received to be ready to move at short notice, with two days' cooked rations in our haversacks. Rumors of all kinds were afloat in camp, and a battle was momentarily expected. The troops were being inspected and reviewed constantly. which, at that transition period of their military exis- tence, tended to keep up the enthusiasm of the men, and infuse into them that pride and confidence in themselves and in their officers, which helped to make the Army of the Potomac one of the best.
On the loth our company was paid off, and the camp was soon filled with hucksters of every description. Pie-women seemed to be the favorites, and " hard tack," or, as the boys facetiously called them, " MeClellan pies,"
51
FIRST NEW YORK ( LINCOLN) CAVALRY.
were at a discount. It was evident, too, that the boys obtained liquor, somehow, notwithstanding the stringent orders of prohibition. They all seemed to be in their glory, and anxious to spend their pay as quickly as pos- sible.
A subscription was raised by the officers and men, to send the body of Jacob Erwin home to his relatives, and on the 12th Captain Boyd took his remains to Philadel- phia; they are interred in the Odd Fellows' cemetery in that city.
On the 15th we received orders to dispose of all sur- plus baggage, and get into the best possible condition to take the field, and Kearny's Brigade set out that even- ing. There had been heavy firing all day at the front, and the enemy seemed anxious for a fight. They brought out a battery of horse artillery, and some infantry, in front of their works as a kind of challenge, or " touch me if you dare."
There had been a review of Kearny's Brigade in the morning, which could be seen by the enemy, and no doubt this had the effect of stirring them up. General MeClellan, with his staff. went out to Fort Ramsey, in front of Kearny's position, and sighted one of the guns himself, planting a shell right among the enemy, which caused them to scamper in double-quick time. On the 28th Kearny's Brigade returned.
They had been in the fort on Mason's Hill and found it abandoned. About five hundred of the enemy re- turned, however, and drove Kearny's advance back : but he soon put them to flight. capturing a number of prisoners. On his return orders were issued to be ready to move at 4 a. m., next day, with two days' cooked rations. Promptly, at the hour named, our company
52
HISTORY OF THE
were in the saddle, and took position in rear of Arnold's battery, on the Leesburg road leading to Munson's Hill. In a few minutes the artillery set out at a trot and we followed close behind. The infantry had gone out through the night, and the country around Bailey's Cross Roads was covered with them. We took lunch at the " Cross Roads," and then set out in the direction of Mason's Hill. The sun was just rising, and the infantry, with their glittering bayonets, looked fine. As we ap- proached the hill word was received that our troops oc- cupied the whole chain of Confederate forts ; the enemy having fallen back to Centreville. Cheer after cheer rent the air at the news of the retreat, and we set about returning to our camps at the Seminary.
Our men, as they passed along, made free with property of the inhabitants who had gone with the Confederate army. You could see an infantry man mounted on an old nag, with a rope for a bridle and a feather bed for a saddle, and a variety of household furniture and utensils slung around him in the most fantastic manner, riding along like a traveling tinker. Then a squad would come along hauling an old cart. filled with all kinds of things; some of which were of no possible use to a soldier. Some had pigs under their arms, while with one hand they twisted the poor things' tails until they made the woods ring with music.(?) General MeClellan, hear. ing of these doings, caused the men to be arrested and the property returned. Thus ended our first advance upon the enemy.
Nothing of importance had been accomplished; but the movement itself was of great service in showing us how such a large body of men-cavalry, artillery and infantry-could be handled on the march, and in great
4
53
FIRST NEW YORK (LINCOLN) CAVALRY.
manœuvres, without confusion, and helped to inspire confidence in our officers and men, not only as individ- uals, but as an army.
54
HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER VI.
Meridian Hill-Review at Washington-Ball's Cross Roads-Camp Kearny-Capture of Captain Todd-Description of the - Lincoln Cavalry "-The Bold Dragoon-Two Governors Claim the Regiment- It Becomes the First New York ( Lincoln) Cavalry.
B Y' the 10th of September, 1861, the Michigan troop, and the one left behind in New York, had joined the regiment, and on the 19th they moved camp from Moore's farm to Meridian Hill, which commands a fine view of the Capital.
On the 8th of October, they made their debut as a regiment, in the grand review of cavalry and artillery, by General Mcclellan, on the broad plain east of the Capital.
On the 10th they crossed into Virginia and encamped at Ball's Cross Roads, and on the 14th the Colonel rode over and inspected our troop at the Seminary.
On the 21st they moved their camp a short distance to Brown's farm, in order to get out of the sea of mud they were in: but in a few days this camp was in as bad a condition as the one they had left. They then re- moved to within a short distance of the headquarters of General Palmer, under whom they were serving; but they were not destined to remain there long.
They had moved so frequently that some of the men began to think that they were being drilled at the busi- ness, for the purpose of acting as general camp movers for the army.
On the 28th of October. Colonel MeReynolds, with five companies, joined us at Franklin's headquarters: the other six companies having been sent with the
55
FIRST NEW YORK ( LINCOLN) CAVALRY.
lieutenant-colonel to report to General Heintzleman, at Fort Lyon, near Alexandria. About this time the Confederates succeeded in blockading the Potomac, so that we could get no forage, and were compelled to make forays into the enemy's country in quest of that " sine qua non " of cavalry.
On the 9th of November, Captain Todd, with Com- pany B, of our own regiment, went on one of these ex- peditions with Colonel Berry and a portion of his regi- ment, the Fourth Maine infantry. They proceeded in the direction of Mt. Vernon, and bivouacked for the night at Olivit Chapel. On the 10th they crossed the Accotink, and advanced as far as Pohick Church; but no enemy being discovered, and having procured a large quantity of forage, they began to retrace their steps to camp. Captain Todd and a few of his men were in the rear, half a mile or so, and very indiscreetly stopped at a farm house to get something to eat. Having appeased their appetites, they set out at a brisk gallop to over- take the column ; and had just re-crossed the Accotink and entered a dense forest, when they were fired upon by the enemy in ambush. One of the men fell dead from his horse; another was severely wounded; the captain's horse was killed, and a dozen men rushed from the thicket and took the captain and his wounded companion prisoners. On hearing the firing, a squad of the captain's men went galloping back to his assistance, and were fired into by the hidden, foe, and several of them wounded, and three more prisoners added to the list.
Sergeant Peterson had a rifle bullet flattened on his waist belt plate, and the flash of the gun caused his horse to rear and plunge so as to throw him over the
56
HISTORY OF THE
fence into the adjoining field, where he lay, more dead than alive, until the enemy left, and then scrambled to his feet and succeeded in reaching camp in safety.
The prisoners were stripped of everything of value, had to march all night in the rain, and were twenty-four hours without food. On reaching Manassas the captain was an object of great interest, his name leading to the supposition that he was a brother of Mrs. President Lincoln.
Captain Todd never afterwards joined the regiment, having been assigned to a "skeleton regiment," accord- ing to the then existing orders. I understood that he was a distant relative of Mrs. Lincoln's, and, on that account, was afterwards appointed Provost Marshal of Washington, D. C., with the rank of major.
Adjutant Battersby was then promoted to the cap- tainey of Company B. Lieutenant S. C. Sprague was ap- pointed adjutant, Sergeant-Major Wm. Alexander was promoted to second lieutenant. and Sergeant A. C. Hinton was appointed sergeant-major.
The companies under Lieutenant-Colonel Von Schick- fuss, joined us about the middle of November, and the whole regiment was then together for the first time We were encamped in a beautiful oak grove in front of Fairfax Seminary, right along side of General Kearny's headquarters, and in honor of him we called this " Camp Kearny." I will now try to give my impres- sions of the " Lincoln Cavalry."
The regiment was composed of twelve troops; eight of them Americans, Irish and Scotch, and four of them Hungarians. Prussians and Poles, many of whom could neither speak nor understand the English language.
The Germans, as we called them, had officers of their
------------
57
FIRST NEW YORK (LINCOLN) CAVALRY.
own nationality, and for some time there was but little intercourse between them and the other companies; but this soon wore away. and the different nationalities laid aside their prejudices, and looked upon each other as parts of one body of which all were proud.
The regiment was divided into three battalions, of four troops, or two squadrons each, and each battalion was commanded by a major. The battalion was, in fact, a little regiment. so complete was the organization. The major commanding had a "staff," consisting of an adju- tant, sergeant-major. quartermaster-sergeant, and com- missary-sergeant. The four companies composing the battalion reported to their major, and he sent in a consoli- dated report of his battalion to regimental headquarters.
No better material could be found than the men compos- ing the regiment. The Germans were all old soldiers, ac- customed to camp and field; good horsemen and good swordsmen.
The other companies were composed of the very best kind of men for light cavalry service; being of medium stature, lithe of limb and strong of sinew. Among them were young men from almost every calling, and many who had just left school and had not had time to adopt a calling. You could find in the ranks the law student, the medi- val student. the theological student, clerks, sons of clergy- men, merchants, and farmers, bold young butchers from the Bowery, and the hardy and independent American mechanic.
They possessed both intelligence and patriotism, and had enlisted from the purest of motives; namely, to preserve the Nation which their forefathers had fought and bled to establish as a beacon light of universal liberty, and an asylum for the oppressed of all lands.
58
HISTORY OF THE
The cavalry service had charms for them, and they soon became good horsemen, and well skilled in cavalry taeties and the use of the sabre. A finer body of troop- ers no officer could desire to lead; and to lead them re- quired not only a good horse but a stout heart.
There were some wild, turbulent fellows among them, however, who gave a good deal of trouble to their officers. About pay day they would gamble, in spite of fate, and, worse still, they would get drunk and kick up a row, to the great annoyance of the well- lisposed men in their vicinity.
Excitement seemed necessary to their turbulent natures, and, therefore, when " to horse" sounded they were always ready to mount; the excitement of the scout seeming to take the place of everything else; a brush with the enemy was their chief delight.
Some trouble was experienced at first in getting the men to take proper care of their horses. They would ride them nearly to death. then tie them to the picket line, throw them some hay and oats, and leave them to take care of themselves until the bugle again called them to duty.
Captains Battersby, Jones and myself, were about the only company officers, among the Americans, who knew how cavalry horses shoukl be taken care of, and we got ourselves into " hot water," at first, by our efforts to en- force the regulations.
This carelessness ceased. after we had been in the ser- vice about a year, and the reason why it ceased will be apparent when we reach that point in the story.
I must confess that discipline was very lax at first ; and indeed it never was rigidly enforced, and could not be. on account of the nature of the service the regiment
59
FIRST NEW YORK (LINCOLN) CAVALRY.
was called upon to perform : that of guerrilla or partisan warfare and general out-post duty. It very seldom acted as a unit, and scarcely ever acted with any portion of the army in line, after the Peninsula campaign, until Sheridan found it in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864. It was usually detached, and then seoured the country in which it was located, in small scouting parties of from half a dozen men under a bold non-commis- sioned officer, to a troop or squadron under a captain, or a battalion under a major.
This lack of discipline, and the marauding propensity of a few of the men, caused General Kearny to give us an occasional cursing ; but as fighting men, he always held the regiment in the highest esteem. He used to say, at that time, that the " Lincoln Horse," as he called us, would go through hell for a fight, or for a rail of fence with which to cook their rations.
The officers of the regiment were, for the most part, gentlemen of education and of good social standing. They were all quite young, excepting only Colonel Me- Reynolds and one or two others, and full of patriotism. They took great delight in the cavalry service, and soon became proficient in everything pertaining to their duties in camp and field. They were as jovial a set of fellows as were ever associated together, and many a convivial gathering they had in the house occupied by the colonel as headquarters. On such occasions the old soldiers among them would recount some of the adventures through which they had passed. and others would sing some old time song calculated to arouse the martial feel- ings of the party.
It was at one of these gatherings that I heard Major Ogle sing :
60
HISTORY OF THE
THE BOLD DRAGOON.
The bold dragoon he scorns all care, As he goes the rounds with his uncropped hair; His form in the saddle he lightly throws,
As on the wild campaign he goes.
He camps at night in the dark pine wood.
He makes his fire and cooks his food :
His saddle-blanket around him throws.
As on the ground he seeks repose.
At the merry blast of the bugle horn, He springs from his couch in the early morn ; When the gray mist rests on hills and dells.
And the hoot of the owl through the wild wood swells.
Should an anxious thought disturb his mind. 'Tis of her he loves, and has left behind : Of whom he's dreampt both night and day, When o'er the hills and far away.
He lightly hums some old-time song. As over the hills he bounds along ; He spends no thought on the evil star. That seat him away to the Southern war.
Then courage, boys ! the time will come, We'll see again our friends and home ; And swarthy tanned by a Southern Sun. We'll spin long yarns of the deeds we've done.
The description of the regiment would be incomplete, were I not to mention the sutler. In those early days of the war the sutler was considered a "big gun" among the volunteers. Next to being colonel or quar- termaster, the position of sutter was considered the best.
Our first sutler was a Long Island man, who had very vague ideas of his position; and labored under the hallucination that he was a kind of staff officer. He could not find any uniform prescribed for the sutler in the army regulations, so he applied to some of the officers for information. They waggishly told him that he surely ranked as high as the doctor, who was a
61
FIRST NEW YORK ( LINCOLN) CAVALRY.
major, or as the old chaplain, who was considered a captain ; so he procured a field officer's uniform, except the shoulder straps, and a MeClellan cap, with a staff scroll in front, and his elerks called him captain.
One day while returning from Alexandria, mounted on a fierce-looking charger, with full set of field officers' housings on his military saddle, he met General Kearny going into town, accompanied by an orderly. Now, the general was very particular about officers wearing shoulder straps, and seeing that this one was without them, he hailed him and inquired what regiment he be- longed to, and what his rank.
The sutler very innocently told him who he was, and the orderly says the scene that followed beggars de- scription. Kearny fairly frothed at the month, and the atmosphere almost turned blue, and seemed to be sur- charged with brimstone, as he poured out a vocabulary of oaths newly coined for the occasion.
He dismounted the poor sutler in the mud, which came up half way to his knees, and made him foot it to camp, threatening to have a ball and chain placed on his leg. and have him set to work on the fortifications. Next morning the sutler was missing. He had taken "French leave" in the night, and returned to "Long Island's sea-girt shore," from which, it is said, he never ventured again until he heard of the death of Kearny at Chantilly.
When first called into service. it was understood that the regiment was to be known as the First United States Vol- unteer Cavalry, and that the officers would all be commis- stoned by the President. as Colonel Me Reynolds had been. No State official was to have anything to say, as the reg- iment had been recruited in several States of the Union.
62
HISTORY OF THE
The officers had not yet been commissioned, and now that we were all together, the question was agitated. On applying to the Secretary of War, however, we were very coolly informel that the War Department would have nothing to do with the organization or commission- ing of volunteers. That was a matter for the several States wherein they were recruited.
A controversy then arose between the Governors of New York and Pennsylvania, as to the proprietorship of the regiment. This was decided in favor of New York, as a matter of course, she having furnished ten out of the twelve troops composing the regiment.
Boyd's troop were much chagrined at finding them- selves in a New York organization, as if by fraud of the Government. and efforts were made to obtain a transfer to some Pennsylvania regiment ; but, when they came to know their own regiment, nothing could have induced them to leave it. Pennsylvania persisted in claiming Boyd's troop as the loth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and never had any organization to fill that place, other than that troop. From that time forward our regiment was known as the First New York ( Lincoln) Cavalry.
63
FIRST NEW YORK (LINCOLN) CAVALRY.
CHAPTER VII.
Review at Bailey's Cross Roads-Seout to Burk's Station and Fairfax Court House-Captain Boyd appointed Provost Marshal-First Military Execution.
0 Y the 20th of November, 1861. we received ordersto be in the saddle at 7 a. m .. next day, with great- coats strapped on, and twenty rounds of ammunition in our pouches. This looked like fight, and the boys seemed in high glee at the prospect of a brush with the "Johnnies," as they called the Confederates I never saw our troops look finer than on that occasion. The artillery wore their over-coats with the capes buttoned back, showing the red lining, and everything about the horses and guns was burnished and polished in good style. The infantry turned out in their best, and their muskets and bayonets shone like glass in the sun light. The cavalry also were looking superb. Boyd's troop had their boots polished, and wore white cotton gloves. Each man had just been fitted out with a new uniform, and the company tailor. Tom Hitchens, had altered every suit to fit the owner as if he had been melted into it. The other companies were looking their best. In a few minutes after our arrival on the Leesburg turnpike, the order to march was given, and we set out towards Mun- son's Hill. On arriving at Bailey's Cross Roads we noticed that all the fences had been removed, as far as the eve could penetrate, and the country was one vast common. Here we found the whole Army of the Poto- mac assembled, and we began to wonder what was going to take place.
.
64
HISTORY OF THE
For miles in every direction we could see the lines of the army extending, and the place was illuminated with flashing swords and glittering bayonets. There must have been twenty-five thousand cavalry and artillery, and seventy-five thousand infantry. It was the grandest military spectacle I had ever beheld.
We had been in line some time, wondering what was to be the upshot of it all, when of a sudden a tremen- dous roar of artillery burst from the right of the line, followed by a similar roar in the centre. and then a battery on the left " belched forth its thunder." This was repeated seven times, and then we knew it was the President's salute of twenty-one rounds, fired by battery.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.