USA > New York > Camp and field life of the Fifth New York volunteer infantry. (Duryee zouaves.) > Part 29
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And ages tremble with the mighty blow-
Beyond the conflict is a glorious dawn, A rapturous birth of Freedom out of woe ! The clouds may gather, and the storm be long, And lightnings leap across the darkened sky, But Freedom lives to triumph over wrong ! It still will live, for Truth can never die ! "
Thus opened the year 1863 with the Army of the Potomac. There was nothing but the calendar to mark the first day of the new year. It was calm, clear, and warm, but the day was dull, uninteresting, and without events. No cooked dinner was provided, and the recruits had a drill as an appetizer for sup- per. A day or two before a few of the men had received boxes from their friends at home with some special remembrances of the day, but the loyal thousands who had come out of one of the greatest ordeals of death and slaughter known to his- tory, in defense of their country, submissively took their ra- tions and their rest, and having tendered their friends at home the gift of their lives, wished them all "a Happy New Year," in the hope that the return would find the wish realized in the enjoyment of peace.
Intelligence had just been received of the death of Captain Cartwright, who died in Washington from his wounds received at Gaines' Mill. He had been previously severely wounded at Big Bethel, when serving as a private, but recovered and returned to duty, until he received the double wound from which he died. He was a young man of great promise, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. At the break- ing out of the war, he was in the employ of Messrs, Lanman & Kemp, the well-known drug-house, by whom he was highly
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esteemed. He enlisted as a private, but rose by good conduct and attention to his duties through the different grades to a Captaincy. When he was an Orderly Sergeant, and mustered his company, which at the time numbered over ninety members, he called the roll from memory, taking no notes whatever at the time, but was never known to omit a name or fail to report an absentee. Had he lived he would no doubt have attained an honorable distinction. His father was Adjutant in the Irish Brigade, and several of his imme- diate kin were officers in different regiments ; one was a Colonel of a Massachusetts regiment ; another was a member of the Fifth, and was honorably discharged on account of wounds. Captain Thomas W. Cartwright, Jr., of Company G, died for his country's sake in his twenty-second year.
There was more or less mortality in some of the regiments ; the 146th New York had a daily average of one hundred on the sick-list. They laid at the side of the Fifth, yet we had not lost one man by sickness in this camp, and but few were sent to the hospital. Captain McConnell, acting Major of the Fifth, resigned his commission on account of ill health, and retired to civil life.
The class of Northern journals known at the time by the political soubriquet of "Copperhead," and their sympathiz- ers, were doing much to demoralize the army and encourage desertion. It was an important, but despicable, element in the political history of the time, and the loyal men at the front were compelled to feel the power of the malign influ- ence thus exerted. The intolerance of the Southern leaders allowed no symptom of disloyalty to their cause to be mani- fested, and no word to be spoken in opposition, while in the North the most intense antagonism to the loyal canse and to the Union itself was continually outspoken, and went out to the country in millions of sheets of either daily or weekly issue. In one exceptional case the publisher of the most disloyal sheet north of the Ohio or Potomac achieved sucht
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fame and popularity that he transferred his chief publishing bureau to the city of New York. These agents of disloyalty were stinging the men who were fighting to protect their property and preserve the Union. They were despised by the soldiers in the army, and more than despised by the Con- federates, who looked upon them with utter contempt. . A soldier could respect a brave, open enemy ; but men who, in the hour of peril, proved themselves so recreant as these, were worthy only of the scorn of all loyal men, and were unworthy of the protection they dishonored and defied.
On Sunday, the 4th, the regiment was inspected by the Division Inspector. The 8th, the 5th army corps was re- viewed by General Burnside.
The late defeat had somewhat demoralized the new troops (the old ones were used to them), and there were many de- sertions. About the 15th of January a circular was issued * from headquarters to the commandants of regiments, caution- ing them to keep a strict watch on their commands, as the number of desertions had become alarming. General Hooker said that 10,000 had deserted since the battle of Fredericks- burg. At the last review of the 5th corps there were prob- ably not more than 12,000 in line, and about as many more in hospitals and in convalescent and paroled camps, or absent without leave. ·
On Tuesday, the 20th, in obedience to orders, we strack tents at II A.M., under threatening weather, with a chilly wind blowing from the east. At 3 r.M. we marched about two miles, and bivouacked in the woods. The road was so blocked with wagons, artillery, and troops, that it was impos- sible to proceed further. It commenced raining about 5 P.M., and continued all night, to our great discomfort, for we were not only cold, but wet and dripping. In this condition the reveille roused us at 4 A.M. on Wednesday, the 2 1st, while the rain was still falling. Our blankets and clothing being soaked, the load on the backs of the men was very burdensome.
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The exact amount of avoirdupois we never ascertained, by comparing the weight of a dry and a well-soaked outfit ; but if the whole army shared the burdens as we felt them, we had the whole Confederacy on our backs in more than the mili- tary metaphor. At daylight we again took the road-if such it could be called, for it was a sea of mud, and impassable for wagons or artillery. After marching about five miles we encamped, at 2.30 P.M., on the right of the road, in a cedar wood, near the Rappahannock. The distance traveled was short, but the march was a trying one, and about one-half of the men were straggling behind. Only about two full com- panies of the 146th New York came to camp in time. During the night four of the three years' men deserted from the Fifth. In the One Hundred and Forty-sixth about thirty were missing. We had rain all the next day (22d), and the roads were in a worse condition than before. Large fires of logs were built, but the wind, which was strong, blew the smoke in all directions, nearly suffocating every one, and as only half a man could be dried at a time, the other side was wet through again during the operation. But the men bore their discomforts cheerfully, and were enlivened by ballads of the sea, sung by Jack Whigam, who had served an apprentice- ship in the navy, and was at the bombardment of Vera Cruz ; " Butch " and others also contributed their share to the en- tertainment. Our storm continued through the night, and all of the 23d, the army being imbedded in mud, which, by some means, seemed to cover every object, animate or in- animate, in the army. The artillery and wagons could not move a foot ; boxes of hard-tack were, of necessity, carried for a mile or more, on aching shoulders, from the wagons to camp, each box weighing about fifty pounds. Only six crackers were allowed to each man, to last twenty-four hours.
The pontoons were all upset and lying buried in the mud along the roads, while the drivers were absent, trying to make themselves comfortable. Every man that could be spared
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was sent out to corduroy the roads back to the old camp and help drag the cannon out of the sloughs ; they were buried to their muzzles, and ten horses or mules were hitched to each gun and caisson to draw them. The Confederates across the river knew the state of affairs, and their pickets good-naturedly called to the Union pickets, and asked them if they wanted any help. Having had such an ample sup- ply of water, our officers, on the morning of Saturday, the 24th, kindly issued us a ration of whisky, for which we were duly grateful, and at S A.M. the command started back for their old camping-ground, arriving there about noon, after a march of seven miles. This move was known as the " mud march." " Man proposes and God disposes." General Burnside could not control the elements.
On Sunday, January 25th, General Burnside resigned the command of the Army of the Potomac.
Wednesday, the 28th, General Hooker took command of the army ; General Meade, of the center grand division, composed of the 3d and 5th corps, and General Sykes in command of the 5th corps. The men received two months' pay. The next day we awoke to find the country wearing a dreary aspect, with about a foot of snow on the ground.
On Tuesday, the 3d of February, our regiment, with the brigade, went on picket duty, carrying three days' rations. On Friday, the 6th, they returned at midnight, their clothing covered with ice. They had a rough tour of duty during the four days they were absent from camp. It rained, froze, snowed, and the wind blew a gale nearly the whole time. One of the men was sent back to camp sick, and reported to the surgeon. He had been told that he was " a beat." and playing sick. He went into the hospital tent and laid down. In the morning. it was the old story-he was dead.
The next day a shot was heard just outside of the regi- mental camp. The provost guard repaired to the spot and found a soldier lying with the side of his head blown off.
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They dug a hole a foot deep and buried him forthwith, and took his rifle and belt to their quarters. About an hour afterward a Sergeant of the regulars came to them and said that one of their provost guard was missing, and asked for a description of the inan they had buried, which was given ; he proved to be the missing inan. It was a case of deliber- ate suicide. He had fixed a strap so as to discharge his rifle with his foot, after placing it at the side of his head. They opened the grave, lifted the body, and buried their late comrade in the division burying-ground on the hill.
On Tuesday, the roth, the regiment was thoroughly in- spected by Lieutenant-Colonel Webb, Assistant Inspector- General, and pronounced to be in the highest condition. Thursday, the 12th, we learned that General Warren had been appointed Chief of Topographical Engineers, on Gen- eral Hooker's staff. Colonel Garrard, of the 146th New York, a regular officer, was placed in command of the brigade.
While the provost guard were making a tour on the 14th, they stopped at what had once been an elegant mansion, but at this time was dismantled of almost everything. A Corporal and two men were stationed at the house per- manently to preserve it from further destruction, their orders being to prohibit any one from taking away even a brick. Their dnties were also to arrest any soldier they found out of camp without leave. Accordingly they were in the habit of hiding and watching for stragglers, and as the land was cleared of trees for many acres in extent around their covert, they seized many a luckless victim. When the Sergeant and his squad came up to the house, he found the Corporal and his two men in an altercation with a Captain from one of the regiments, who had several men and a wagon, which they were loading with bricks. Sergeant Jack Taylor, who was in command of the detail of the provost, and was one of the best duty-men in the regiment, ordered the Captain to stop his work and unload his wagon. The Captain
Camp near Henry House.
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refused with an oath, and the Sergeant was about to arrest him, by force, if necessary, when an officer rode up on horse- back, alone and unobserved until quite near. He halted, and it being discovered at a glance that he was Major- General Meade, Taylor had his squad in line in a moment, right dressed, etc., with as much ceremony as if he was in command of a battalion, and presented arms. "What is the trouble here, Sergeant?" inquired the General. The Sergeant informed him, and also explained the orders under which he was acting, when General Meade turned to the Captain with a severe frown and reprimanded him. He asked his name and regiment, and told him that an officer that presumed, by reason of his superior rank, to browbeat those who were not his equal into disobeying their own orders, was not fit to be an officer, informing him that he could return to his regiment and report. The officer left, evidently feeling very much mortified. He then commended Taylor and his squad for doing their duty, and rode on.
At another time Sigel's 11th corps encamped about the house overnight when on a raid. The demolition would have been immediate had not the Corporal of the provost (Powell) gone to General Sigel and told him what his orders were ; when he promptly sent an order for a guard to be sta- tioned around the house. In the morning they had disap- peared as suddenly as they came ; but when Sergeant Taylor arrived there in the afternoon on his rounds, he found a couple of German soldiers sitting comfortably by a fire they had made in one of the fire-places in the lower story of the house, engrossed in a game of cards, with a corpse lying near tied up in a blanket. They were detailed to carry their deceased comrade back to their old camp, as the raid would last only a few days, and they were glad to have the opportunity to do so, and thus avoid a long tramp and perhaps a fight. The Sergeant, on being informed of the facts by the Corporal, notified the intruders that he would be compelled to arrest
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them, corpse and all, if they did not move. They thereupon collected their traps, grumblingly shouldered their burden, and left. These incidents illustrate the duties of the provost, who were, in fact, the police of the army.
On Monday, the 16th, a heavy detail from the regiment were employed in throwing up earthworks to protect the rail- road bridge across Potomac Creck. The 17th it snowed all day, reaching a depth of four inches, and the next day it rained. The working detail returned at night, wet, tired, and miserable. Nicholas Hoyt, a Sergeant of Company C, was buried on the 19th. He was a sailor before he entered the army, and was one of the old Fort Schuyler men, a man of the true stamp. He remained faithful to the last. For months he had been wasting away from a troublesome con- plaint, which only a change of diet and rest could cure ; but he would not yield, doing duty day after day, until he became so weak that he could not stand, and was carried from his own to the hospital tent, where he died a few days afterward. His funeral was attended by Colonel Winslow, Lieutenant- Colonel George Duryea, and the greater part of the officers and men.
The men found the climate at this time as changeable as the people of that section of the country. The condition of the army was improved, for with temporary rest and more liberal supplies they had enough to eat. The cry of the soldier cooks was heard occasionally, " Fall in for your ex- tras," on which summons the men rushed out, each one try- ing to be first on the line, with tin cup in hand, scrambling and pushing to the infinite diversion of the crowd, some of whom were draining what remained in their cups to make room for the fresh supply. The old hands at one time played tricks on the new ones, when they were not up to the " ways that were so childlike and bland." When there was a stew for dinner, at the given signal every one rushed out as usual with cup in hand. The "old ones," although apparently in
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a great hurry, took good care to be on the end of the line ; the cook being a two years' mian, and consequently sympathizing with the rest of us, would be careful not to dive very deep with his ladle into the kettle when serving the recruits, and the "old ones " coming last, had the substantial part of the stew. The law of gravitation was not suspended in camp- kettles even in Virginia, and the solid parts, consisting of chunks of meat and potatoes, obediently sank to the bottom, and "last come, last served " found us well contented with our share.
A soldier is never supposed to have enough, but an excep- tion was found one day in the case of a nian who, after dis- posing of a couple of quarts of stew and six hard-tack, to make himself, as he said, " a solid man," actually admitted that he had enjoyed "a good square meal."
Sunday, February 22d (Washington's birthday), it stormed without cessation, and by nightfall the snow in some places was two or three feet deep. A number of convalescents from hospitals reported for duty. Salutes were fired in honor of. the day.
On Wednesday, the 25th, the cavalry pickets had a skir- mish with three brigades of the enemy's cavalry, resulting in some loss on both sides. Reinforcements and artillery were sent out. The fight occurred about two miles to the front of the infantry pickets, and the cavalry came flying in through their lines, some of them without their arms and bareheaded ; the men expected that they would have a brush with the enemy. The reserves were in arms, but the enemy did not approach us. About fifty of our men were taken prisoners. The brigade returned from picket on the evening of the 27th, where they had been doing duty for four days. It stormed nearly all the time, and they passed through many disagreeable hours. The brigade was again on picket duty during the 14th, 15th, and 16th of March, and were re- lieved on the morning of Tuesday, the 17th, St. Patrick's Day.
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The day was celebrated in the 9th Massachusetts (the Irish 9th). They had a greased pole, twenty-four feet high, on top of which was a furlough and a canteen of whisky. They also tried to catch the greased pig. There was a horse-race for quite a large wager, but the horses came into collision, killing both of them, and the drivers were picked up insen- sible. An amateur prize-fight was also witnessed. Heavy firing was heard all the afternoon, and it was supposed that the cavalry had encountered the enemy. On the 18th the cavalry returned and marched by the camp. They had at- tacked Fitz Hugh Lee near Culpepper, and after quite a spirited fight had routed him and taken fifty-five prisoners, with their horses in addition, killing and wounding many others. The loss on the Union side was about twenty. One of our men asked a fine-looking prisoner, who had on a good overcoat, how he would swop, when he was answered that his "was not the right color."
The provost guard, on their rounds, arrested a suspicious character, in citizen's dress, prowling about a deserted house. He was questioned, and acknowledged that he came from the South, and was once in the rebel army ; he was taken to camp and put under guard, and afterward turned over to the Provost-General, as it was suspected that he was a spy.
One day the guard halted at a log cabin occupied by some poor whites (three women), the husband and brothers being in the Confederate army. They saw the women standing outside of the cabin with arms resting on their hips, gazing at their chimney, from which and the doorway · came thick volumes of smoke. The Sergeant thought at first the house was on fire, but soon ascertained from the mother that the chimney only smoked; "it was the - chimney she ever seed," and she "wished that the man that built it was lying dead, stiff, stark and naked on the battle- field."
The mother was not very strongly secessionist, and was
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only anxious that the war was over, so that her "old man" could come home. The young women, however, were the strongest kind of rebels ; one of them was very pretty and smart, and the provost often stopped to stir up her rebel spirit.
Another house the provost occasionally visited, was occu- pied by a poor cripple and his family. He was a shoemaker by trade, and appeared to be quite an intelligent man, and opposed to Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy. He said that he had escaped conscription so far, on account of his lameness, but he did not doubt when our army moved away from the neighborhood that the Confederates would make him go into their army anyhow, as they were in want of re- cruits badly. He also said that Jeff Davis would rather have a man die in the army, whether he was of any service or not, than let him remain at home. He said that the poor whites were worse off than negroes, and were not allowed to own any good land, as that was all monopolized by the rich slave-owners, and they were obliged to cultivate some barren patch, from which they could barely raise enough to exist ; therefore it was of no advantage for them to fight for the rich man's negroes, but they were compelled to do so. This was an epitome of the whole of the controversy, and of the facts of the war in its most practical form by one of the sufferers. Southern orators, ex-rebel chieftains, and statesmen of the "State Rights" school may protest now that the war on the part of the South was a struggle for "constitutional liberty and the social rights transmitted by our Revolutionary fathers," but the underlying fact will re- main on the pages of history that they attempted to destroy the Union in the interests of slavery, and it perished in the attempt. When the bitterness of the disaster to the South shall have passed away, and the authors of the wur shall have all laid down in the grave, it is to be hoped that then, if not before, we shall have a moral reunion all the grander
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and greater, that our land is uncursed by the tread of the slave.
On Friday, March 27th, which was a very pleasant day, one of the few which had favored the army for weeks, the division was reviewed by General Sykes-an occurrence which put the men in good spirits, reviews under fair skies having been for some time quite rare. One of the correspondents for the press reported it as follows :
" March 28, 1863 .- On our way to the race-ground we en- countered the division of Major-General Sykes, out for a review and inspection. Sykes' division looked well, and will evidently give a good account of itself in the coming struggle. The 5th New York Volunteers elicited the admiration of all, and, with due deference to the regulars, it must be admitted that this regi- ment has a military standing not exceeded in the army. Its present commander is evidently following the excellent example and instruction of its former Colonel (now Brigadier-General), Warren."
General Hooker, at this date, was in command of a fine army, in good condition and discipline; the camps were never cleaner, or the food better; the introduction of soft bread was a beneficial and humane act. Nevertheless, about one hundred men in the division had died since we had encamped on this ground. It was evidence that death by the bullet was not all that the soldier had to contend with.
The month of April opened with a driving gale, cold and fretful. A great mania sprung up among the men for the manufacture of laurel-root pipes, and some of them succeed- ed in carving and finishing numerous specimens in an elegant and artistic manner. They were wrought out entirely by the penknife ; an offer of $25 was refused for one of them.
The weather was almost trying enough to drive an army mad, situated as the men were in shelter-tents, which were
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of such limited proportions that when taking refuge in them they must either lie down or sit up with their blankets over them all day long in stormy weather, if they wanted to keep from freezing. They were not over four feet high. Some of the men dug pits from four to six feet deep, and covered them over with their shelters ; they also built fire-places in them with a chimney leading out to the ground above. Much ingenuity was displayed in making them comfortable, although their materials and tools were very limited.
Whatever they made was from wood, earth, and mud, their tools consisting of one axe to a company, their jackknives, and a borrowed spade. Nevertheless, many a happy hour was spent in these burrows, increased by the certainty that there were neither rent or taxes to pay to the collector.
Sunday, April 5th, the snow was six inches deep in drifts, and the wind blew a hurricane. During the month of March there had been only one really pleasant day, and the mien looked forward to April, hoping for a change. The roads were all sloughs, and it was impracticable for the army to move until they dried and hardened. Thus far the change had not come, and having lost their patience, they arrived at the conclusion that the sunny South was a myth. The day being Easter Sunday, and the boys not having any eggs, were obliged to put up with bean soup, and were very thank- ful to get it, although the cook failed to give us a very good exhibition of his skill in its preparation. The cooking, of course, was done in the open air; and sometimes when the wind blew strong, the kettles would be hanging three or four feet from the heat and flame, although supposed to be hang- ing directly over where the fire ought to be. Some of the mien occasionally stood in a row. to keep the wind from the fire as much as possible, being rewarded with, to them, the rich aroma that arose to their gratified nostrils from the boiling bean soup.
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