USA > New York > Cayuga in the field : a record of the 19th N. Y. Volunteers, all the batteries of the 3d New York Artillery, and 75th New York Volunteers > Part 9
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February 18th. with hearts elated with hope, the regiment struck camp and left Hancock, escorted out of town by the 46th Pennsylvania, while the 28th New York and 5th Connecticut formed in the streets on either side, and bade their comrades God speed with tremendous hurrahing, as they passed. Fred- erick was reached at noon of the 21st, after three days' march- ing on horrible roads.
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19TH NEW-YORK INFANTRY.
Here, a train of cars awaited the worn out men, procured by Col. Clark, who had interested himself in saving them the rest of the march on foot to Washington. He came out on horse- back to meet them and manifested a good will for which they were deeply grateful. Baggage wagons and teams were turned over to the Quartermaster and at 3 1-2 P. M. the regiment in high spirits was flying with the speed of steam towards Washing- ton va Baltimore. The Capital was reached at 3 A. M. of the 22d, a national holiday, whose joyous character well comported with the feelings of the regiment at this time. Guns and bells, with cheerful clangor, ushered in the day, as the men marched to the Soldier's Retreat, an old railroad warehouse, for rest and refreshment, and forever, faded from present view as the 19th New York Volunteers.
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With this chapter closes the history of the 19th New York Volunteers as a distinct organization. In many respects, it is the most memorable of the histories of regiments in the Northern army during the war. It contains instruction for politicians, statesmen and generals. The regiment had not yet enjoyed the experience of a battle, but that was not its fault. It may be con- sidered, though, one of its misfortunes. Had it been in action, early in its career, had it had one good fight, its members would have been drawn together into that closer union and sympathy men feel in presence of danger. Its wounds would have been healed, its wrongs forgotten. It was, however, a brave, loyal, well disciplined regiment, and when it was formed into artillery those qualities told in creating the splendid reputation it soon acquired. When brought into battle in North Carolina it be- haved with heroic intrepidity, and once received the cheers of the whole army on the battle field, besides winning for its Colo- nel his brigadier's star.
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ORGANIZATION OF THE 3D N. Y. VOL. ARTILLERY.
V.
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ORGANIZATION OF THE 3D N. Y. VOL. ARTILLERY.
The New Companies of the 3d New York Artillery-The Old and New Join- Proceed to Fort Corcoran-The Forts, Camp and Locality-Organization of the Regiment-Kennedy's Battery-Accident-Arresting the Administration -Sick of Porter's Division on Dr. Dimon's ; Hands-The Regiment to go to North Carolina-Marches to Annapolis-Embarks-Arrival at Newbern
During the.fall of 1861, under the supervision of Capts. Ken- nedy and Angell, and afterwards of Capt. Giles, there had been scattered attempts at recruiting the 19th regiment in Cayuga County. But as the 75th New York Volunteers were then being raised under flattering auspices in the County, very little was done for the veteran organization in the Army of the Potomac.
When orders came for the formation of the new artillery com- mand, Col. Ledlie, as we have seen, went home to give his per- sonal energy to the work. Gov. Morgan's promise of aid stood him in to good effect. By the Ides of February he had collected at Palace Garden Barracks, 14th street, in New York city, 550 new men.
Of this number a full battery of 142 men was raised through the patriotic and vigorous efforts of Capt. Edwin S. Jenney, a young lawyer in Syracuse, whose private purse furnished. hun- dreds of dollars for the work. The Captain rented the upper stories of a large building on Salina street. He made Syracuse blaze with his banners and placards, and quickly gathered a band of the very best intelligence and blood. It was his inten-
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3D NEW-YORK VOLUNTEER ATILLERY.
tion to go into the army of the West, into which he had been led by friends to suppose he could be sent. He found, however, that he was required for the army of the Potomac, where, at that time, a rule existed that light artillery should be united into battalions, consisting of one regular and three volunteer bat- teries, commanded by the Captain of the regular battery. This entailed a sacrifice of independence and chances of promotion. He consented, therefore, to an order of the State authorties to attach him to the 3d New York Artillery, as Battery F. As such he was mustered in December 18th, 1861, by Lieut. J. R. Brinckle, 5th United States Artillery, at Syracuse. Shortly after, he repaired to New York and laid at Palace Garden Bar- racks some weeks previous to going to the front. The Lieuten- ants of the company were Alex. H. Davis, Gustavus F. Merriam, Paul Birchmeyer and James D. Outwater.
During the summer of 1861, H. R. White, Esq., of Utica, Brigadier-General of Militia, received authority from the State to raise a regiment of infantry, of which he was to be Colonel, and W. J. Riggs, of Rome, then Lieutenant-Colonel of the 46th Militia, was to be Lieutenant-Colonel. The enterprise failed, owing to the fact that several other regiments were then being enrolled in the same vicinity. Three skeleton companies only were raised. These were mustered in November 16th, at the Rome arsenal, remaining in barracks there until January 9th, 1862, when, by Gov. Morgan's order, they were consolidated under Capt. Riggs, to be attached to the 3d Artillery as Battery H. The Battery was mustered in January 9th, by Capt. W. R. Pease, 7th United States Infantry, officered as follows : Capt. Wm. J. Riggs ; Lieutenants, John D. Clark, Wm. E. Mercer, Charles D. Tryon, Wm. F. Field.
Capt. James V. White, of Cayuta, Schuyler county, in the fall of 1861, raised a company of infantry at the village of Cortland and organized it as Company I, 76th New York Volunteers, Col. Nelson W. Green. At Albany, the 76th regiment was con- solidated with the Cherry Valley regiment. Company I, of the 76th, and two Cherry Valley companies, were left out. By mu- tual consent, these companies consolidated January 16th, under Capt. White, and were, on that day, mustered in as. Battery M, 3d New York Artillery, by Capt. John W. Young, 76th New York Volunteers. The Lieutenants of the Battery were Nicho- las Hausen, Nelson S. Bowdish, Hiram Lehman and Martin Shaffer. A few days after, Capt. White went to New York and lay at the Palace Garden rendezvous till the battalion went to the front. He had 200 men on his rolls, but a large number
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ARRIVAL OF THE NEW COMPANIES.
were young men and their parents took them out by habeas corpus. A full Battery of 158 men was left him, however.
At New York a battery was organized by Capt. Joseph J. Morrison, of that metropolis, formerly Adjutant-General of Col. E. D. Baker, slain at Ball's Bluff. Morrison had taken steps to organize his battery as an independent one for the Army of the Potomac, but at Col. Ledlie's solicitation consented to join the 3d Artillery. His men were raised partly in the metropolis, partly in central New York, and were a fine lot. They were mustered in February 19th, 1862, by Capt. F. S. Larned, 12th United States Infantry, as Battery B, 3d Artillery. The Lieu- tenants were S. Clark Day, Edward A. Wildt, Geo. C. Breck, J. W. Hees.
While at Palace Garden barracks, which they styled Camp Ledlie, the batteries were clad in army blue and fully equipped for heavy artillery service. As in all heavy artillery regiments, whose office it is to garrison forts and serve heavy guns, they were supplied with rifles and drilled in heavy infantry tactics.
Collecting these men, Giles, who had been made Major the 23d of January, brought them to Washington, arriving the 2 1st of February, joining at the Soldiers' Rest, the 19th Vol- unteers, on the 22d. This was the day Gen. Mcclellan, by the President's orders, was to have begun an advance of his splen- did army, then encamped opposite Washington, to capture Ma- nassas, which advance, by the way, he didn't make.
They reported to Gen. Wm. F. Barry, in command of the de- fenses of Washington, and received orders to proceed at once to Fort Corcoran, on Arlington Heights, across the Potomac. The line of March through Washington was taken up at 4 P. M. on the 22d. Georgetown was reached in the edge of the evening. Here the regiment crossed the river on the massive stone aque- duct built for the Ohio and Chesapeake canal, from which the water had been cut off in 1861, to make a military bridge ; and a magnificent one it made, too. From here to the heights, the roads were soft and terribly cut up. The veterans of the regiment waded through six inches of mud, while the rain fell in drench- ing showers, with fair equanimity, and aided to pluck foundering wagons and teams from the mud holes, with a matter-of-course air, that the new men could not aspire to put on. So deep was the mire, that many of the wagons had to be left locked in sloughs on the way. It was pitch dark when a halt was ordered. The fort was no where visible in the gloom, neither were quar- ters of any sort, except a large house forming the headquarters of the post and two or three barns. The order was given to G
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3D NEW-YORK VOLUNTEER ATILLERY.
bivouac. To pitch tents was out of the question. It was no easy task to find a dry place to sleep on that night so memorable for extra Plutonian hue, the chilling rain, and treacherous condi- tion of the sacred soil of Virginia. Yet by close packing, the barns, and cellar, stoops and hallways of the house, were made to furnish until daylight a partial shelter, and then, the wagons coming up, camp was regularly pitched.
Arlington Heights, on the western bank of the Potomac, across from Washington, are a range of thickly wooded hills, from 200 to 300 feet in altitude. They stand a little back from the river, running almost in a direct line from opposite Georgetown to the rear of the city of Alexandria on the Potomac, nine miles below. Near Alexandria they take the name of Mount Ida-Arlington Heights proper being the northern portion of the range. The post of Fort Corcoran was located on the extreme northern end of the range for the pur- pose of guarding the roads and approaches to the canal aque- duct bridge. It formed in military parlance the tete du pont of that bridge. In February, 1862, the post comprehended five forts, viz. : Corcoran, Woodbury, DeKalb, Bennett and Hag- gerty ; and in addition two strong log block houses and some rifle trenches placed at the immediate entrance to the bridge, for security against any cavalry expeditions that might chance to slip by the forts.
Fort Corcoran, half a mile from the bridge, stood amid open fields on a fine plantation, on the south side of the road ap- proaching the bridge. It was built in May, 1861, by Col. Cor- coran's New York regiment. A large, square, massive, bastioned earth work, with a periphery of 576 yards, the side towards the river having no parapet. but being heavily stockaded, it was sur- rounded by a deep ditch ; and outside of the ditch, rows of thick abbatis or felled trees laid side by side, with the ends of the branches sharpened, the butts towards the fort and fastened down. It mounted fifteen 32-pound guns, and was provided with traverses, and magazines, containing 100 rounds of ammu- nition to each gun.
Forts Woodbury and DeKalb lay three-quarters of a mile westward of Corcoran, on a higher crest of the Heights. They were, what are technically called, lunettes with stockaded gorges ; in other words, semi-circular earthworks or redoubts, facing westward like all the Arlington forts, and protected by log stockades at the rear. They stood in the midst of an original forest ; but large slashings had been made in the woods around them, so that now the ground was clear and the fire of their
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IN CAMP AT FORT CORCORAN.
six guns each could be turned immediately upon enemies attack- ing them in front or flank. They were 275 and 318 yards in perimeter respectively, and were built after the battle of Bull Run, in conjunction with other forts thrown up to make a defen- sive line upon Arlington Heights. DeKalb was then the north- ernmost fort of the Arlington line.
Fort Bennett was a redoubt on a bold hill, half a mile north of Corcoran, mounting two eight inch howitzers and three twenty-four pounders. It was built by the 28th New York Mi- litia, Col. Michael Bennett, in June, 1861. Fort Haggerty, another four twenty-four pound gun redoubt, down near the river, south of the bridge, was an auxiliary to the rifle trenches and block houses at the head of the bridge.
Various roads, running out towards Manassas, and up and down the river, interlacing, centered at the aqueduct bridge and were all commanded and guarded by the thirty-five cannons of these five forts.
Camp was pitched on the plateau, across the road from Fort Corcoran and north of it, about two hundred yards distant. The ground was above the ordinary malarial level of the Poto- mac, well drained and healthful. The men encamped in Sibley tents, floored with plank and supplied with stoves, sixteen men in a tent. Wide company streets were laid out through the camp, and ditches were dug on each side of them, conducting surface water rapidly away into a neighboring ravine. The spot was evidently a lovely one in the summer months, and even then not unattractive in many respects, although the rival of Han- cock for mud. Hills, forests and plantations surrounded it on every side, of great rural beauty. At the base of the heights was the broad blue river. Directly opposite to Fort Corcoran, sat Georgetown, her warehouses crowding down to the water's edge. Two miles to the east and south, Washington lay in plain sight, decked with domes, pinnacles, colossal public buildings and monuments. In the pride of summer's verdure, and soft summer haze, the scene must have been of rare beauty, though dreary enough in that bleak March. Near by Fort Corcoran, toward the river, was the famous Arlington house, a fine large mansion, occupied in former times by Lord Ross. Before the war it was the residence of the rebel General Lee, and was in splendid con- dition and surrounded by elegant grounds. But everything fades where armies camp, and the old mansion was looking somewhat soiled. It constituted the headquarters of the post and as such was occupied by Lieut .- Col. Stewart.
The 3d New York (Seward) Artillery was organized, on paper,
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3D NEW-YORK VOLUNTEER ARTILLERY.
as such, February Ist, 1862, and took its title from that day. It first united, and began to act, as an artillery regiment, February 22d. That date has, therefore, been selected as the epoch of its actual organization and proper commencement of its history.
Company B of the old 19th was consolidated February 22d, with other companies, Capt. Kennedy being then on the Pen- insula in command of an independent battery, and Lieuts. Polson and Day having resigned. The condition of the regi- ment, as taken from the monthly report, with the names and date of rank of officers, were as follows :-
Colonel-James H. Ledlie, Nov. 18, 1861.
Lieutenant Colonel-Charles H. Stewart, Dec. 23, 1861.
Majors-Henry M. Stone, Dec. 23, 1861.
Solomon Giles, Jan. 23, 1862. T. S. Kennedy, Jan. 23, 1862.
Adjutant-J. Fred. Dennis, Dec. 23, 1861.
Quartermaster-John H. Chedell, May 29, 1861.
Surgeon-Theo. Dimon, May 20, 1861. Assistant Surgeon -Wm. H. Knight, Oct. 17, 1861.
Chaplain-Wm. Hart, Nov. 14, 1861.
Commissary Sergeant-George E. Ashby.
Sergeant Major-Frank G. Smith.
Company A, Capt. Charles White, 85 men ; Company B, Capt. J. J. Morrison, 101 men ; Company C, Capt. James E. Ashcroft, 63. men. Company D, Capt. Owen Gavigan, 95 men ; Company E, Capt. Theo. H. Schenck, 64 men ; Company F, Capt. Edwin S. Jenny, 142 men; Company G, Capt. John Wall, 89 men ; Company H, Capt. Wm. J. Riggs, 102 men ; Company I, Capt. John H. Ammon, 96 men ; Company K, Capt. James R. Angel, 96 men ; Company L, -; Company M, Capt. James V. White, 145 men. Total, 1,091.
The new men of the regiment all enlisted for three years.
On the 23d of November, 1861, Capt. J. C. Peterson, 15th United States Infantry, mustered in at Auburn a company of men enrolled by Capt. C. J. Kennedy, of the old 19th, as the Ist New York Independent Battery. December 11th, Gen. Mc- Clellan issued his Special Order, No. 326, converting the 19th Volunteers into artillery, which contained this clause : "Any companies of the regiment, which may now be serving as light artillery, will be detached and mustered as independent batteries, and their places in the regiment will be supplied by other com- panies." This, in effect, detached Kennedy's battery, and left it an independent command. Col. Ledlie procured a revocation of the order. Special Orders, 190, afterward issued, provided as
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KENNEDY'S BATTERY.
follows :- " Pursuant to instructions from the General-in-Chief, from the Headquarters of the Army, so much of the order as directs that companies of the 19th regiment New York State Volunteers, serving as light artillery, be detached and mustered as independent companies, is suspended for the present." Ken- nedy's battery, restored to the 3d Artillery by this order, which, as far as we can learn, was never revoked, was designated on the regimental rolls as Co. L, and ordered to make its regular re- ports to the headquarters of the 3d. It made two or three, but no more. When. Capt. Kennedy left it, in the spring of 1862, Capt. Cowan, relying on the muster in as the Ist New York In- dependent Battery, refused to report to the 3d Artillery, and never acted in obedience to its orders. It was carried on the regimental rolls until near the end of the war, and then, at Col. Stewart's request, by letter of the War Department, it was quietly dropped. It was, in the intention of Government, a bat- tery of the 3d New York Artillery, but its history being apart and distinct from the regiment, and it having been mustered as independent, it will not be considered a part of the 3d Ar- tillery in these pages.
On arriving at Fort Corcoran, the 3d Artillery found the 13th New York Volunteers in charge, under command of Col. Pickell, of Maj .- Gen. Fitz John Porter's division of the Army of the Potomac. The division lay in camp four miles west ; head- quarters on an eminence of considerable strategic importance, called Hall's Hill. Post Corcoran formed part of its jurisdiction. The 3d Artillery relieved the 13th New York Volunteers from duty here. Its commanding officer, Col. Pickell, who had been ordered to turn over all papers and orders concerning the post to Lieut .- Col. Stewart, managed after considerable search to rake up an old ordnance manual, and Stewart having given him a receipt for that valuable document, he marched off with his regiment and rejoined the division.
The 3d at once applied itself to study and practice in the management of artillery. The officers obtained a supply of manuals, divided their companies into gun squads, and all threw themselves into work with a heartiness and zeal that soon pro- duced the most beneficial results. In pursuance of Gen. Porter's orders, Company E encamped and drilled at Fort Bennett, Com- pany G at Fort Woodbury, Company C drilled at Fort Haggerty, and the residue of the regiment at Fort Corcoran. The men learnt everything pertaining to the service of guns. They drill- ed in loading and firing ; learnt to measure distances with the cye; informed themselves as to matters pertaining to range and
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3D NEW-YORK VOLUNTEER ARTILLERY.
elevation ; learnt to wheel the guns in any direction ; took care of carriages, ammunition and bomb proofs, and many of them studied the science of constructing earthwork.
The weather was very bad during a part of this time and open air exercises were in the early part of March rather restricted. But the officers did not neglect to turn every day not positively stormy to good account. On pleasant days, battalion drill took place under Lieut .- Col. Stewart. The regiment made a splendid show on these occasions. Having received, during March, 222 additional recruits, it turned out on parade 1,350 strong, and the spectacle of so magnificent a regiment going through the showy maneuvres of the battalion in the open fields arrested a great deal of attention. Officers and newspaper correspondents often stopped to watch it for half an hour at a time. Gen. Porter and his staff happened to be riding by one day when the regiment was out and reined up their horses in front of the camp to enjoy the sight. Forming front, the regiment saluted and presented arms. The friends of the old 19th would hardly have recognized in the backbone of this handsome, well-clad, dashing corps, the celebrated tatterdemalion jayhawkers, whom, in 1861, Patterson cheated out of the good fight they thirsted for in the Shenandoah Valley.
To hard drill, the regiment added the performance of heavy guard duty. Detachments mounted guard day and night at the five forts, the aqueduct bridge, a ferry near by across the Poto- mac, and some block houses at the bridge where the prisoners of the regiment and Porter's division were confined. Companies also went out occasionally to do guard and provost duty at Hall's Hill.
Bad weather and hard service produced its usual effect, and sickness prevailed to a large extent. Most of the invalids were from among the new men. When the old 19th was first joined by the battalion of new men, the latter exhibited a strong pro- , pensity to look down on their rusty looking, weather beaten, travel stained comrades, and seemed disposed to consider them · the recruits of the 3d Artillery. The lugubrious experience of the first two weeks weakened all exalted notions on this subject astonishingly.
Before the men had acquired any very clear notions on the subject of ordnance, a serious accident one day occurred. A private of Company H, named Perkins Wellington, found an un- exploded Parrot shell in the ravine back of the camp, and brought it up. Discovering the leaden plug, or fuse, in the aperture of the shell, he undertook to melt it out in the cook's
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CAPTURING THE ADMINISTRATION.
fire. ' It soon exploded and mangled one of his legs so seriously that Dr. Dimon had to amputate it. Two or three others were wounded by flying fragments of the shell. Wellington died.
While in camp at Fort Corcoran, the 3d Artillery entertained a party of distinguished visitors on one occasion under peculiar circumstances. Orders had been issued that travel over the aqueduct bridge should cease at 9 P. M. The 3d Artillery which posted a strong guard of thirty-nine men there rigidly enforced the mandate. One night a heavy carriage came across from the Maryland side and tried to pass on the plea that distinguished personages were inside. The officer of the guard was summoned and promptly arrested the party and sent it, carriage and all, up to Lieut .- Col. Stewart under guard. The Lieutenant-Colonel, like a good soldier, was studying away at the tactics, when a soldier came in to announce the capture, when, looking up, Stewart, with considerable astonishment, saw Gen. McClellan, President Lincoln and Secretary Seward file into the apartment one after the other with a perspective of bayonets and a dis- gusted driver through the open door. "Well, Colonel," said one of the official party, "you've captured the administration." Stewart did the honors and learning the object of the party was to go to Gen. Porter's headquarters, he informed them of the strictness of orders, and sent them on under guard to Col. Averill of the cavalry, who in turn escorted the distinguished prisoners to Porter's Division. The occurrence was often smilingly alluded to afterwards.
On the 8th of March, Gen. Porter marched out with his divi- sion several miles towards the enemy at Manassas.
On the 11th, Surgeon Dimon received unofficial notice from a surgeon in Martindale's brigade that twenty of the sick of his command were about arriving at Fort Corcoran. Also, that all the sick of Porter's division had been ordered to report to Surgeon Dimon, by order of Dr. Lyman, Medical Director of the division. On the 12th, the sick began to arrive. A mile and a half from Fort Corcoran there were general hospitals. 'At the fort there was scarce more than the bare ground for them. Under this scandalous order, 500 sick men arrived at the fort, re- porting to Surgeon Dimon, pale, emaciated fellows, some on foot, some in charge of ambulance drivers, with no report of cases, and, in a majority of instances without report of anything but their names, without stating rank, company, regiment, or disease, or even the name of the surgeon sending them. They continued to come for seven days, the principal number arriving after dark at night. By dint of great exertion, these men were at length
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3D NEW-YORK VOLUNTEER ARTILLERY.
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covered with tents. Some abandoned cooking utensils were found, the Quartermaster supplied fuel and rations, and the sick selected the stronger ones among them to cook for the rest. As far as possible, medicine was given in the worst cases. Surgeon · Dimon reported the disgraceful condition of affairs to the Sur- geon-General, who referred him back to the Medical Director, Dr. Lyman. Dr. L. referred him to the Quartermaster and finally directed him to turn over the men to Gen. Wadsworth, commanding at Washington, who, having, as Dr. Dimon foresaw, nothing more to do with them than the Governor of Oregon, refused to take them. After this experience in circumlocution, nothing more was done for some days, The consequence was, the men remained in the camp of the 3d New York up to the 24th of March, when the regiment was ordered away, exposing them to be left without even a medical officer who knew their condition. The execution of the order was fortunately delayed. Surgeon Dimon remained by the men faithfully, working nearly . twenty hours out of the twenty-four, some of the poor fellows, however, having to be neglected by necessity, the Surgeon being without nurses, unable to get a sufficient supply of medicine, and without even a Quartermaster's clerk to see to their rations, fuel and utensils. Finally commissioners from Pennsylvania visited the hospital camp, having discovered that the sick of four Pennsylvania regiments were there. They immediately returned to Washington and made such remonstrance that it finally brought over an Assistant-Surgeon to take charge of the con- veyance of the men to general hospital at Georgetown. When the regiment marched through Georgetown, on the 25th, on its way to Annapolis, the sidewalks of the town were covered with these sick men, sitting and lying on them, awaiting admission to the hospital. There was no necessity for this procedure. The Medical Director had authority to send the sick men at the first to general hospital ; a regimental Surgeon had not. He, how- ever, sent them to the camp of the 3d New York, thinking, doubtless, to save himself trouble. He might almost as well have turned them over to the ditches of the fort.
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