USA > New York > Disaster, struggle, triumph. The adventures of 1000 "boys in blue," from August, 1862, to June, 1865 > Part 2
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 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
* Extract from Ontario Repository, Sept., 1862: "The volunteers of the 126th Regiment before leaving camp at Geneva, allotted over $15,000 of their monthly pay to their families and friends at home. This shows pretty conclusively the quality of the men it is made up of."
2
20
THE ADVENTURES OF
THE 126TH REGIMENT.
The regimental and line officers of the 126th, now at Harper's Ferry, are as follows :
Colonel .- E. SHERRILL, Geneva.
Lieutenant- Colonel .- JAMES M. BULL, Canandaigua. Major .- W. H. BAIRD, Geneva. Quartermaster .- J. K. LORING, Waterloo. Surgeon .- FLETCHER M. HAMMOND, Penn Yan. First-Assistant Surgeon .- CHAS. S. HOYT, Yates Co. Second-Assistant Surgeon .- PIERRE D. PELTIER. Chaplain .- T. SPENCER HARRISON, Dundee. Sergeant-Major .- D. C. FARRINGTON, Geneva. Quartermaster-Sergeant .- JOHN STEVENSON, JR. Commissary-Sergeant .- RICHARD MACEY.
Sutler .- J. D. COBB, Geneva.
LINE OFFICERS.
Company A .- Captain, T. N. Burrill ; First Lieutenant, S. A. Barras ; Second Lieutenant, G. D. Carpenter.
Company B .- Captain, W. A. Coleman ; First Lieutenant, R. A. Bassett ; Second Lieutenant, M. H. Lawrence, Jr.
Company C .- Captain, W. Scott; First Lieutenant, T. R. Lounsbury ; Second Lieutenant, A. W. Porter.
Company D .- Captain, P. D. Phillips; First Lieutenant, C. A. Richardson ; Second Lieutenant, S. F. Lincoln.
Company E .- Captain, H. D. Kipp; First Lieutenant, Geo. C. Prichett ; Second Lieutenant, J. H. Brough.
Company F .- Captain, Isaac Shimer; First Lieutenant, Ira Munson ; Second Lieutenant, T. E. Munson.
Company G .- Captain, J. F. Aikins ; First Lieutenant, Fred. Stewart ; Second Lieutenant, S. H. Platt.
Company II .- Captain, O. J. Herendeen ; First Lieutenant, G. N. Redfield ; Second Lieutenant, A. R. Clapp.
Company I .- Captain, B. F. Lee ; First Lieutenant, G. Skaats ; Second Lieutenant, G. L. Yost.
Company K .- Captain, Chas. M. Wheeler ; First Lieutenant, H. C. Lawrence ; Second Lieutenant, I. A. Seamans.
21
ONE THOUSAND BOYS IN BLUE.
The Regiment reached Baltimore, August 27th. Col- onel SHERRILL immediately reported to General WOOL, commanding the Middle Department, and by his orders the troops took the cars at 6 o'clock for Har- per's Ferry, where they were to report to Colonel MILES for instruction and duty.
This place, so often traversed by hostile armies, and the scene of many important events during the war of the rebellion, deserves a brief description. In order to understand a series of military operations, it is absolutely necessary to be somewhat acquainted with the geography of the country in which they take place. And the historic interest of this place and its vicinity, as well as its extraordinary natural features, make its geography well worthy of study. Near it lie Antietam, Winchester, South Mountain, names famous in our annals ; while Harper's Ferry itself was the gateway of that Shenandoah valley through which the rebel hordes so often poured into Pennsylvania and threat- ened Washington. We shall, therefore, endeavor so to describe it that, with the aid of a map, the reader may gain a correct idea of it .*
The Potomac, coming from the west, and forming, for a long distance, the southern boundary of Mary- land, takes, near Williamsport, a southeasterly, and near Antietam (or Sharpsburg) a southerly direction, until at the point called Harper's Ferry it receives the waters of the Shenandoah from the southwest, and, cutting its way through the mountain barriers that opposed its progress toward the sea, it makes a sharp
* See maps, pages 42 and 53.
22
THE ADVENTURES OF
curve to the east, and afterward winds in a southeast- erly direction to Chesapeake bay. These mountain barriers of which we have spoken, are ranges of the Blue Ridge which traverse Pennsylvania and Mary- land and pass into Virginia. The first, through which the Potomac has cut its way after receiving the Shen- andoah, is Elk Ridge, the towering abutment of which, on the north side of the river, is called Maryland Heights, while the less precipitous elevation on the south side is called Loudon Heights. The next formid- able obstacle which, at the distance of a few miles, was encountered by the stream, was another branch of the Blue Ridge, which seems also to have opened a gateway for its majestic progress, the northern bank being called by the Marylanders (why they best know) the South Mountain range, and the southern the Short Hills. Between the river and its left. or north bank, there is barely room for a railroad, a turnpike and a canal. Between Elk Ridge and South Mountain lies Pleasant Valley, in the southern open- ing of which, on the Potomac, is the village of Sandy Hook, two or three miles from Harper's Ferry.
In the angle formed by the Shenandoah and the Potomac, at their junction, lies Harper's Ferry. This. is a mere selvedge of land on the banks of the two rivers, where, before the war, our government had an armory, an arsenal, various machine shops and exten- sive flouring mills. Back of this margin of land, rocky bluffs rise precipitously one or two hundred feet, to a somewhat level plateau or table land stretch- ing toward the west one or two miles, and bounded
23
ONE THOUSAND BOYS IN BLUE.
at its western extremity by a low, sharp ridge called Bolivar Heights. This ridge, commencing near the Potomac on the east, continues two miles toward the south, then drops down affording a passage for a turnpike to Halltown, Charlestown and Winchester, then, after half a mile, rises into a little hill, whence it slopes in easy undulations to the Shenandoah.
By a study of the map, it will be seen that while the bold bluffs of Maryland Heights descend to the Potomac from the north, the western slopes of the same ridge also look down on the same river, as well as on the village of Harper's Ferry and the heights back of it. This results from the sudden change in the course of the river from south to east. Standing on the table land back of Harper's Ferry, you have thus on your left front the Potomac, beyond which rise the western slopes of Elk Ridge ; on your right hand the clear Shenandoah with Loudon Heights beyond, and bounding your southeastern prospect ; directly in front of you the two united rivers (now one broad and beautiful stream), flow eastward between the craggy steeps of Maryland Heights and the gentler and wooded slopes of Loudon; while behind you rise Bolivar Heights, not comparable to either in altitude, but forming the third side of the equilateral triangle, of which Maryland and Loudon Heights are the other two sides.
The importance of Harper's Ferry, before the war, was not owing wholly to its arsenal and its machine shops, where thousands of stands of arms were annu- ally manufactured ; but to its commanding the entrance
24
THE ADVENTURES OF
to the Shenandoah valley on the south and the valley of the Cumberland on the north, by way of which the Confederates could penetrate into Pennsylvania. Here also passed the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, over which was carried on much of the commerce between the west and the sea-board. This road, uniting with that from Winchester, crosses at Harper's Ferry from the west to the east bank of the Potomac, by a bridge more than a thousand feet in length ; and then fol- lows the Potomac round the base of Maryland Heights, room having been made for it, as well as for a canal and a wagon road, by excavations into the bluffs. Over the southern end of Maryland Heights, a zig-zag and difficult road also leads from Harper's Ferry to Sandy Hook in Pleasant Valley.
The various manufactories at Harper's Ferry had gathered round them a considerable population, which finding little room for building on the margins of the rivers, had occupied the northern part of the plateau above the bluffs, with a village sometimes called Boli- var, beyond which were some government buildings.
Here, in 1859, occurred that strange, mad raid of JOHN BROWN, of Ossawattamie, who with a force of twenty-two men, seized the United States Arsenal con- taining 90,000 stands of arms; not in rebellion against our government, but to aid a few runaways from sla- very. Chivalrous Virginia hanged JOHN BROWN and a few of his followers ; and held on to her slaves three years longer !
Not much better defended was the arsenal when the rebellion broke out in '61. But Captain CHARLES P.
25
ONE THOUSAND BOYS IN BLUE.
KINGSBURY, who commanded there a force of forty men,* had notice of the intended attack upon it; not indeed in time to summon aid, and save to our gov- ernment its priceless stores ; but in time to set fire to the place, destroy many of the workshops and arms, and escape with his men into Pennsylvania. [During the occupancy of Harper's Ferry by the Union forces, the engine house, JOHN BROWN's fortress, was used as a prison for rebels.]
To this post, so interesting and so important, the 126th Regiment were ordered by General WOOL. They arrived by the Baltimore and Ohio railway at the station near the arsenal, on the morning of August 28th ; found the place "looking ravaged, but with beautiful rock and mountain scenery."
By a winding road they climbed to the table land we have described, some of them singing "Old John Brown," in the very scene of his frantic attempt and near that of his martyr-like death.
They reached their camping ground, which lay high above the Shenandoah, and from which, as one of the privates records, they had a fine view of the camps on Bolivar and Maryland Heights, and, in remembrance of a kind friend in Geneva, named it Camp Prouty.
But, in order to understand the military situation at Harper's Ferry, it will be necessary to glance back- ward at the events of several months preceding. Of course, in our brief review, we must confine ourselves to the States of Maryland and Virginia ; but it must
* See Rebellion Record, volume 10, page 320.
26 THE ADVENTURES OF ONE THOUSAND BOYS IN BLUE.
not be forgotten that the whole south and southwest was a theatre of war, and that it was our splendid successes in those parts of the country that sustained the courage of our people amid the reverses in Vir- ginia.
.
HAPTER PTE -
N. the commencement of our great struggle, when the fall of Sumter electrified the national heart, such a crowd of enthusiastic, ardent patriots rushed to the defense of the flag and the suppression of the rebellion, that the too sanguine north antici- pated an easy victory, and joined with the civil authorities at Washington in the cry, "On to Rich- mond !" Our commanders, although aware of the rawness and indiscipline of our troops, were forced to yield to the overwhelming pressure of public sentiment, and advanced on Manassas. The Bull Run disaster sank the nation in despondency, deep in proportion to its previous elation. We were taught what our long peace had made us forget, that individual bravery and enthusiasm are no guarantees of success in war, unless accompanied by rigid military discipline. It was found that an army, before it can be used, must be created ; that war is a science and an art; and that the field of battle is not the place to learn its tactics. A leader was wanted who could fashion and organize the vast body of men who had rushed forward at their coun- try's call into an army. For this work no General was probably better fitted than he who was called to it, GEO. B. MCCLELLAN ; and in a few months the nation
28
THE ADVENTURES OF
could point with pride to "the Grand Army of the Potomac."
A grand army indeed, it was; a grand military school, rather, in which one of the very best military teachers was drilling his 150,000 scholars in the rout- ine of military duty. In excellence of discipline, in the arrangements of the camp, in exactness of drill, the army was a spectacle admired by all visitors. The personal magnetism of the young commander, his inspection of each Regiment and Company, and seem- ingly of each individual in a Company ; his attention to the minutia of their dress and equipments when on parade, and to their comfort when sick ; the gallantry with which he galloped about his vast camps giving orders to officers, and marks of flattering attention to subordinates ; all this, with the fame of his exploits in West Virginia, combined to excite to the utmost the enthusiasm of his men, and bind him to them by strong personal attachment. Had it indeed been a school, of which nothing was expected but perfection in martial exercises, it would have continued to be the pride of the country. But unfortunately the very life of the country was menaced, nay, was attacked, by a foe who was increasing every day in strength and dis- cipline. The weather, so unusually favorable that autumn for military movements, would soon change. Soon the rains would commence, and the hard soil be turned to beds of miry clay. In October the troops had been sufficiently disciplined to be able to fight any enemy, but still they lay encamped; yet the nation, taught humility by former mistakes, was
29
ONE THOUSAND BOYS IN BLUE.
patient with delays that seemed to it inexplicable. For the confederate forces had pushed up so near our national Capital as virtually to blockade the Potomac, and put Baltimore and Washington almost in a state of siege. Centreville, Ocoquan and Manassas, were occupied by them, and at Manassas they employed them- selves in fortifying with works of much apparent strength. At length in January, 1862, the forbearance of our "omni-patient" LINCOLN was exhausted, and he issued an order for a general movement of all the land and naval forces of the United States against the confederate forces, to take place on the 22d of Febru- ary. "This order was promptly obeyed in the west ; and followed by the capture of Forts Henry and Don- nelson on the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers ; which led to the evacuation of Bowling Green, the surrender of Nashville and the fall of Columbus, the rebel stronghold on the Mississippi." Fort Pulaski, which guarded the entrance to Savannah, fell in the spring of '62, as did Island No. 10, which commanded the Mississippi. BURNSIDE had effected in February, a lodgment in North Carolina, Western Kentucky had been released from rebel rule, and Missouri was in the hands of the unionists. Nowhere were the rebels so daring during the winter of '61 and '62, as in Vir- ginia, where lay the grandest army of modern times. On the 31st of January, the President ordered that all the disposable force of the army of the Potomac, except what was necessary for the defense of Wash- ington, should be moved to a point below Manassas Junction, on the Orange and Alexandria railway, and
30
THE ADVENTURES OF
thus be in a situation to attack the enemy in the rear. Instead of obeying this order, MCCLELLAN requested and obtained permission to state his objections to it. LINCOLN, of course distrusting his own opinions on military matters, listened to these objections, and finally yielded his own plan. MCCLELLAN had formed an exceeding and fatal over-estimate of the strength of the enemy at Manassas. This estimate must have been based on rumors and on reports of deserters, for he does not appear to have reconnoitred the enemy's position to obtain certain intelligence. The fact was, he had a favorite plan of his own, diametrically opposed to that of LINCOLN. This was, to take up the mighty body under his command, transport it by water to Fortress Monroe, and then proceed by land to Richmond through the peninsula. In discussions and councils of war, the month of February passed away, and also a week in March; when the enemy, tired out with waiting to be attacked, removed quietly from Manassas and thus raised the "blockade" of the Potomac. Instantly MCCLELLAN gave orders for an immediate advance of the whole army toward Man- assas ; not, as he said afterward in his report, with intention of pursuing the rebels, but to afford the troops some experience in marching, and "as a good intermediate step between the quiet and comparative comfort of the camps around Washington and the vigor of active operations."" So, after what the Prince DE JOINVILLE calls a "promenade " to Man- assas, and an inspection of the guns (wooden and
* General MCCLELLAN's Report, August 4, '63.
31
ONE THOUSAND BOYS IN BLUE.
other), that had so long held them in check, the army "promenaded" back to Alexandria. So little esti- mate had this excellent disciplinarian of the value of time .*
At length, in the early part of April (instead of 22d of February), came the grand movement, when more than 100,000 men were transported by water from Washington to "the peninsula," a name given to the tract of country lying between the York and James riv- ers, and through which flows the dismal stream of the Chickahominy. But now the commander proved that if he had over-estimated the difficulties in the Presi- dent's plan, he had under-estimated those in his own. The unfavorable climate, with its terrible rains ; the swampy nature of the ground, easily rendered impas- sable ; and the fortified positions on the way from Fortress Monroe to Richmond, seem all to have been overlooked in his estimate of difficulties. His first check was at Yorktown, which he presumed to be defended as Manassas was; and for the siege of which he prepared with consummate skill; but the enemy repeated his Manassas trick, and quietly abandoned the position. Time and space will not allow us to fol- low the army through the dread peninsula. The details of its battles are familiar to us all. Williams- burg, Fair Oaks, Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill, Savage Station, Malvern Hill, names which have only to be mentioned to call up pictures of sanguinary contests
* A lady in New England who was at school with MCCLELLAN when he was a boy, says his nickname among his school mates was, "Tardy GEORGE."
32
THE ADVENTURES OF
with insignificant results, left our army, or rather the remains of it, at Harrison's Landing, no nearer the conquest of Richmond than when it first entered the Peninsula. Still, such was the attachment of the army to MCCLELLAN, that they kept their faith in him through all reverses, and many in the nation shared their enthusiasm. And disastrous and disappointing as was the Chickahominy campaign, there were many beside the army who were unwilling to cast the blame of its ill success upon the pet commander.
The recall of the army of the Potomac from Harri- son's Landing to Acquia Creek, was highly distasteful to MCCLELLAN, and has been much censured by his admirers, but seems to have been actually necessary. The climate, at that season, of that part of Virginia, is deadly to Northerners. MCCLELLAN reported between 10,000 and 12,000 on his sick list, besides 38,000 ! absent on furloughs sanctioned by himself. The bat- teries and fortifications at Fort Darling and Drury's Bluff were to be reduced before Richmond could be attacked. He, himself, estimated that in order to do anything effectual where he was, he must have very large reinforcements, one dispatch asserting that "100,000, rather more than less," would be necessary. He contended that the true defense of Washington lay in keeping the enemy engaged at Richmond, * and that all the forces in Northern Virginia, and even BURN- SIDE'S in North Carolina, ought to be dispatched to
* To show that MCCLELLAN's operations near Richmond did not keep all LEE's army there, we give an extract from Gen. POPE's testimony : "LEE did detach STONEWALL JACKSON (from the army at Richmond) with a large
33
ONE THOUSAND BOYS IN BLUE.
him. £ But there certainly had been nothing in the Yorktown and Chickahominy campaign to inspire such confidence in the young general, as to warrant uncov- ering the whole country to furnish him the means of experimenting at Richmond. Looking at the question dispassionately, it seems that by following HALLECK'S plan (withdrawing his forces quietly and speedily, masking his movements from the enemy) he might have reached a new and healthy base of operations near Acquia Creek, a little northeast of Fredericks- burg, where the Northern forces could have rein- forced or co-operated with him without uncovering the Capital, thus preventing any advance of LEE's army toward Maryland or Pennsylvania, and compelling him either to remain inactive or to attack our undi- vided army. But MCCLELLAN, thwarted in his grand plan of capturing Richmond by siege (his favorite mode of warfare), entered with so little spirit into HALLECK's views, that the command to move North, issued on the 2d of August, was not complied with until the 14th, and the troops did not reach their destination until the 26th. Of this delay, and the publicity given to the movement, the enemy availed himself with his usual promptness and celerity.
In the meantime General POPE, who had com- manded in North Missouri, and whose splendid suc-
force, which he continued to reinforce, before Gen. MCCLELLAN began to evacuate Harrison's Landing at all ; in fact, before he had any order to do so. * * The battle of Cedar Mountain was fought on the 9th of August, 100 miles from Richmond, five days before MCCLELLAN had with- drawn a man," &c., &c.
34
THE ADVENTURES OF
cess at Island No. 10, and subsequently, had given him a great reputation for dash and bravery, was called to Washington to take command of the three departments and armies then under FREMONT, BANKS and McDOWELL, the whole to be styled "The Army of Virginia." POPE's orders were to cover Washing- ton, and protect the Shenandoah Valley from incur- sions. He assumed command on the 6th of June, the united armies amounting to about 50,000 effective men. We have no space for the various movements of the armies, although they form an exciting chapter in the history of Virginia campaigns. The 21st of August found POPE behind the Rappahannock, with the enemy in strong force on the south side of that river. STUART'S adjutant-general had been captured, with
important papers showing it to be LEE's design to destroy the army of Virginia before it should be rein- forced by MCCLELLAN's army. HALLECK's dispatches directing MCCLELLAN to hasten to POPE's aid became urgent and imperative. Should the army of Virginia be conquered, Washington and Maryland would be at the mercy of the rebels. MCCLELLAN claims that rein- forcements were sent to POPE as fast as was possible. We need not go into the controversy except to say that there could hardly be a hearty co-operation between two commanders whose ideas and plans of warfare were so diametrically opposite. MCCLELLAN respected the slave and other property of the rebels so far as to employ squads of soldiers to protect it from our own army ; setting guards around rebel resi- dences ; sometimes preventing our troops from entering
35
ONE THOUSAND BOYS IN BLUE.
their grounds for water, or taking a rail from their fences to cook their food. POPE, on the contrary, was of opinion that the army should be unincumbered with vast wagon trains; that the soldiers should sub- sist on the country they traversed, paying the peace- able and civil for what was taken, and avenging sum- marily any outrages or insults to our army or their flag. In a word, POPE was for treating the rebels as enemies, who were to be overcome at any cost ; MCCLELLAN regarded them as misguided citizens, who might be won back to allegiance by tenderness and respect.
1740450
POPE however, at length received reinforcements, not, as he claims, to the extent required; many bat- tles were fought with varying results ; but our armies fell back nearer and nearer to the Capital; till at length, on the 30th of August, on the old Bull Run battle-field, a sanguinary battle was fought, which, like that of July 21st, 1861, on the same ground, ter- minated unfavorably for us; and the remains of the combined armies, including many of those who had fought through the bloody fields from Yorktown to within sight of the spires of Richmond, as well as those who had gone through the fifteen days fights from the Rapidan to Centerville, were withdrawn within the lines of Washington. The field of Bull Run, with its wounded and its dead, was left in the hands of the enemy. The confederate commander transmitted to JEFF. DAVIS an account of his great victory over the combined armies of POPE and
3
36 THE ADVENTURES OF ONE THOUSAND BOYS IN BLUE.
MCCLELLAN, which called forth from DAVIS a pro- clamation to the Confederate Congress in a strain of triumphant jubilation, not forgetting to note that the field was the scene of a former success. LEE, flushed with victory, seemed at liberty to advance upon Washington or into Maryland.
HAPTER JJJ.
E must leave the 126th Regiment in Harper's Ferry a little longer, while we go on with the history of the armies in Maryland.
Great was the excitement in all parts of the country as the telegraph spread the news of the second Bull Run disaster, and of the vast numbers of wounded and dying left on the field so near to Washington. The authorities of that city gave permission to citi- zens to visit the battle grounds at Bull Run and Centerville with necessaries and comforts; and this being known, vast quantities of medicines, cordials, food and clothing were sent over the railroads to the Capital from all parts of the country. Little was
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.