USA > New York > Disaster, struggle, triumph. The adventures of 1000 "boys in blue," from August, 1862, to June, 1865 > Part 7
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While here, they were visited by Adjutant-Gene- ral THOMAS, and other officers of high rank, all very curious about the Harper's Ferry disaster. And here the Lieutenant-Colonel of the Regiment, JAMES M. BULL, who had received his commission just before the Regiment left, and had leave of absence to settle up his private business and prepare
for service, joined his Regiment. Dr. PELTIER had been dispatched from Harper's Ferry to Balti- more for medical stores on the 4th of September, had procured them and was returning, when the rebels got possession of Frederick city and cut off all com- munication between east and west Maryland. He had, therefore, been unable to return, and was met by and joined the army at York.
Many soldiers who had been prisoners in Belle Isle were here, in the usual miserable condition of such prisoners.
Among the incidents mentioned in Lieutenant RICH- ARDSON's diary, is the brutal conduct of some paroled Ohio soldiers. A sutler, who had a rude store fifty by twenty-five feet, made of rough boards, kept a large stock of provisions which he sold to the sol- diers, also furnishing them with warm meals, and all at fair prices. These Ohioans, upon a very slight pro- vocation, broke into the store, scattered all its contents among the crowd, tore the store to pieces, and used the lumber for firewood. This is what is called by some lawless Regiments "cleaning out a sutler," but seemed to our New York boys downright oppression and robbery.
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On the 23d of September, the officers of the Regiment received their commissions from the Governor of New York ; time not allowing them to be made out before they left the State; and the following morning the 11,000 troops were marched to the Bay, to take passage in transports for Baltimore. Too few of these were provided, and they were crowded to suffocation, mak- ing the passage to Baltimore exceedingly unpleasant, and somewhat dangerous. After much rolling and pitching, and occasionally stopping the engines, they at length arrived at Baltimore toward evening, and were marched through the city to the Northern Central railway. Their destination they understood to be Chi- cago, where they were to be armed and sent to fight Indians in Minnesota, being forbidden by parole to fight against the southern confederacy.
In passing through Baltimore they had an oppor- tunity to witness the divided feeling which character- ized that city, and the whole State of Maryland. Rebel sympathizers (who were only kept quiet by certain black tubes which frowned ominously down upon the city from Fort McHenry and other elevations around) put as much contempt into their faces as they were capable of showing, which was not a little. Others cheered them heartily, thus showing what spirit they were of. But what especially struck the paroled men, was the solicitude of many professed Unionists to obtain from them an admission that Colonel MILES did his duty patriotically ; that the surrender could not have been avoided. As no such admission could be obtained from the soldiers, the questioners were a good
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deal chagrined and disappointed. Colonel MILES was in fact a Marylander, and no doubt a southerner at heart.
The cars which were assigned to the troops were plain boxes, with rough plank seats running all around. The rations corresponded with the sumptuous cars, and were excessively disgusting to the men who had just had a taste of civilized life at Annapolis. But at Pittsburg, where they arrived at three in the morning, the generous loyalty and kindness of the citizens made them forget the perils and troubles of the way. To be sure the first sight of that city was dismal enough. "Lurid flames from the tops of the tall chimneys served to make the deep darkness visible." But beneath this cloudy canopy they found noble, loyal, generous hearts. The sick were supplied with delicacies, and carried to hospitals, where they were carefully tended by woman's hands until fit to be sent back to their Regiments. Long tables were set in a very large public building, at which 1,000 or 1,200 could be supplied at once ; and the city poured forth its abundance for these hungry and tired prison- ers. While they feasted, the ladies, who waited on them at table, filled their canteens with water for their journey. Thus Pittsburg treated all loyal soldiers who traversed her great thoroughfare during the war. The telegraph would announce their approach; and whether it was day or night ; whether from New England, New York or Pennsylvania, or the far west, the " boys in blue " were welcomed, cheered, refreshed and sent on their way rejoicing. A glorious record for the iron city.
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The feast in the hall was wound up with music, the band playing, and the glee club singing patriotic songs. After looking at some of the enormous guns cast at Pittsburg, and destined for our forts, the troops took the cars (box freight cars) for Chicago.
In these a quiescent band might have suffocated ; but Yankee freemen love a free atmosphere, and these soon got it by the use of hatchets which let in daylight and fresh air. How the railroad com- pany liked these extemporized windows, we have no means of knowing ; probably they found them less agreeable and profitable than the soldiers did. The worst of their ride was their enforced hunger ; for not even the memory of Pittsburg fare could save them from that; and their rations were uninviting enough. All day they traveled through Ohio and passed into Indiana in the night. In this State they received most unusual and welcome demonstrations of sympathy, and what was almost as pleasing, pies, cake, cheese, biscuit and other dainties which a sol- dier knows how to appreciate, and enjoys without the fear of dyspepsia before his eyes. Saturday, the 27th of September, saw the cars running down by their own momentum, the long, straight incline to the marshy ground south of Lake Michigan, and they arrived at Chicago just one month from the day they reached Sandy Hook on the Potomac. A varied expe- rience had they gone through in four short weeks !
The 126th were marched through the city and out to Camp Douglas, a hollow square surrounded by barracks. Fatigue and the darkness of a cloudy night
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prevented their realizing the condition of things (although one of their senses made them suspect it) ; and when ordered by those who were supposed to know what ought to be done, to lie down, they obeyed, although their bed was earth and their cover- ing the clouds. But the morning disclosed a scene of unexpected horrors. The camp had been crowded with rebel prisoners from Fort Donnelson and else- where, who had been recently exchanged, and left it empty of everything but filth, rats and other vermin not to be named to ears polite, which BURNS called " crawlin' ferlies," and the Union soldiers dubbed "graybacks." How human beings could have existed in such quarters, nobody but a southern rebel knows ; and how the authorities at Washington could con- demn to such a pestilential prison-house paroled prisoners who had been guilty of no crime, seems utterly unaccountable. We boil with indignation at the remembrance of Andersonville, Belle Isle and the Libby prisons, and we cannot be too indignant when we think of them. But some indignation must also arise at the carelessness that would condemn thousands of young men, many of whom had been tenderly nur- tured, and most of whom had friends to love and care for them, to a camp which would have been an unhealthy stable for cattle. But here the parallel, if there is one, between the Chicago barracks and south- ern prisons, ends. Our men were not forced, like the prisoners at Andersonville, Belle Isle, etc., to continue to occupy these quarters in their unclean and unwhole- some state. Nor, being northerners, did they do so.
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They, especially the New York and Vermont Regi- ments and some of the Ohio troops, belonged to a race which thinks it more degrading to be filthy than to work; and to work they went at once. Brooms, brushes, soap and quicklime, were soon brought and put to use. Barracks were scraped, swept, scrubbed and whitewashed. Cook houses were renovated. By a culpable remissness in the commanding officer at the camp, carts were not furnished to carry off the impuri- ties, and they had to be buried on the spot; a most unwholesome procedure. The sandy, saturated soil was strewed with quicklime ; bed ticks were dealt out and, filled with prairie hay, made tolerable beds ; bunks were put up and old ones repaired and cleansed. The men were marched to the lake to bathe ; clothes were washed ; and in a few days the camp was com- paratively decent. But poison lurked in the soil, which was two or three feet of sand resting on "hard pan ;" and the rains and hot sun drew forth the miasm, and strong men began to suffer in health. Doctor HOYT, who was on duty with the Regiment from the 30th of October until the 19th of November, writes in his diary under the latter date : "During the stay at Chicago, the sick list was a large one, and. the mortality greater than at any time while in the service. It would be safe to state that the daily average sick was, 'in quarters,' sixty ; in hospital, forty ; in addition to those in general hospital in the city. On the 4th of November, six Captains and ten Lieutenants were off duty, and this would be a fair average so far as officers were concerned. I attribute
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this great amount of sickness to the condition of the camp, and the lack of proper exercise on the part of officers and men. The parole, also, had a demor- alizing influence on the men."
It is proper to state that the kind attentions of seve- ral ladies in Chicago did much to mitigate the suffer- ing of the soldiers ; those of whom we have the names being Mrs. MILES, Mrs. HORATIO G. STONE, Mrs. STEARNS, Mrs. HOYT, Mrs. WHEELER.
HAPTER yJJJ.
AMP Douglas being the residence of our troops for two months, and the scene of rather memor- able experience, merits a more extended notice. It lay four square, and was regularly, though roughly built, near Lake Michigan, between which and it ran a street called Cottage Grove avenue. The barracks surrounded hollow squares, and the different Regi- ments had each its own range of barracks. Those of the 126th were in the southwestern part of the camp, and with those of the 111th New York, formed the four sides of a square. The whole camp was large, containing seventy or eighty acres ; and, if properly drained, would not have been an unhealthy locality, for it was swept by all the winds of heaven. Lake breezes from the east and prairie winds were enough to purify even rebel quarters, had proper care been taken to remove the accumulations of filth, as well as to cleanse the surface of the ground with lime, before our troops were put there. Why the troops were denied the use of carts and teams, although they earnestly requested them, and the necessity of them was obvious, we know not. Our American way of attending to matters in the gross and neglecting details, was shown in many ways during the war. But we
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were inexperienced, and had everything to learn; and we did learn a great many things before the war ended.
About sixty rebels, mostly sick, occupied a portion of the camp. There were also other hospitals, sutlers' stores, guard-houses, stables, head-quarters of officers ; in short, everything usually found in a large encamp- ment. The quarters were made comfortable with coal fires.
General DANIEL TYLER, who " won his spurs " at the first battle of Bull Run, had command of the post, and his head-quarters were on the side of the camp next the lake. (He, however, found the city a more pleasant and salubrious residence than his head- quarters.)
A war of extermination was declared against the rats, who disputed possession of the barracks (and especially of the cook houses) with the soldiers, and did not cease while the latter remained there. The peltry of these "small deer " would have made the fortune of a Parisian glove manufacturer. This inter- necine war had one advantage, that it furnished excit- ing exercise for the men, which was healthful ; for one cause of the sickness among the soldiers was undoubtedly the want of regular exercise. The line officers and soldiers deemed it a violation of their parole of honor to do any military duty whatever, until they should be exchanged. The terms of the surrender and the conditions of the parole, though understood at Washington, had not been communi- cated to the regimental commanders or line officers.
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This culpable omission was the cause of much trouble. Newspapers stated and reiterated the statement that paroled prisoners were prohibited from doing camp or garrison duty.
Rebel officers, before they left Maryland, had industri- ously encouraged the idea among our troops that their capture absolved them from all obligation to the United States government ; and a set of lawyers in Chicago, of more than doubtful loyalty, did their best to foster this opinion among the enlisted men. Therefore, when orders came from Washington that the men must be drilled and do camp duty, there was a general feeling of resistance. Not that there was any objection to the exercise, for anything was preferable to their enforced indolence ; but to break a parole of honor would be to incur personal disgrace, and put themselves in per- sonal danger. "However, the company officers had a consultation, and decided to obey the order, but under protest to General TYLER that by the cartel, as they understood it, they had no right to do military duty ; but having confidence that the government would not order them to break their parole, they would conform to its requirements, and do all in their power to induce the men to drill ; that they would assure the men that if they again fell into rebel hands the officers and not the enlisted men would be held responsible for this violation of parole, if it were one ; and therefore, if their officers took this risk, the men ought certainly to raise no objections. The men of the 126th were. finally persuaded by such arguments, and although a few in Company H stood out awhile, some timely
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arrests, and the firm united stand taken by the line officers, soon brought order and submission. The feel- ing of the men is expressed in their letters home, written at the time. H. FERGUSON, Sergeant in Com- pany F, in a letter to his father, dated October 20, 1862, says : " Well, father, we have finally commenced drilling. You would have been amused to see our Regiment yesterday, when called out to drill. We were brought out in line, and about half the Regi- ment* swore they would not drill. They were imme- diately taken to the guard house, and kept till this morning, when they agreed to drill, and to-day the whole Regiment has been drilling. I thought, if our officers had no fear of drilling, why need I stand out ?" This military exercise was conducive to health in many ways. It gave the troops exercise ; it gave them a motive to exertion ; and, as one of them says, " It made us feel like soldiers again."+ The frosts, which set in in the latter part of October, did much
* An over statement.
+ General TYLER sent to Washington and procured a copy of the terms of capitulation, which we here insert, and which, on the 26th of October, were communicated to the men. There is nothing in them forbidding mili- tary duty by the paroled troops. It is very strange that the terms were not made public at once. As to the cartel between General DIx, United States Army, and General HILL, Confederate States Army, see Rebellion Record, Vol. 5, Doc. 103, page 341. Article 4 is the one we supposed applied to us.
COPY OF ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION OF HARPER'S FERRY.
" HARPER'S FERRY, Va,, Sept. 15th, 1862.
"Terms of capitulation this day entered into between Brig .- Gen'l JULIUS WHITE, of the United States Army, commissioner on the part of the United States, and Maj .- Gen'l A. P. HILL, of the Confederate States Army, commissioner upon the part of the Con- federate States :
" I. The garrison of Harper's Ferry, including all the troops at present under command of Col. D. S. MILES, with all munitions of war, will be surrendered to Maj .- Gen. A. P. HILL, commissioner appointed by Major-Gen'l JACKSON, of the Confederate States Army. The
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for the health of the camp, by killing the miasma, and by November there was a decided improvement in the appearance of the men.
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But to go back a little. The situation of the 126th at Chicago, in the first part of their stay there, was in no respect more trying than in having to bear the imputation of cowardice on Maryland Heights. Every newspaper they saw libelled and slandered them, and screened their superior officers. They knew that no Regiment did its duty better there, or suffered more than theirs. To quote from a letter written by Lieu- tenant LINCOLN at the time : "It is plain that our Regiment did all that was required of it, and in a perfectly satisfactory manner, for there were several Regiments who had had a year's experience in war, and yet we, a green Regiment, who had only had our guns a few days, were taken across the river and put in the advance, where fighting was thickest and the position most important. We found no fault with this, for we were ready and willing to do anything required of us ; but after doing it, and doing it well, to be robbed of the credit of it by slanderous reports
officers and men to be paroled not to serve against the Confederate States until regularly exchanged. The officers to be allowed to retain their side arms and personal property.
"II. It is also agreed, upon the part of the two commissioners, that these terms of sur- render do not include those soldiers of the Confederate States who, having been regularly enlisted in the service of the Confederate States, have deserted the same and taken service in the United States Army.
" A. P. HILL, Maj .- Gen'l, C. S. A. " JULIUS WHITE, Brig .- Gen'l, U. S. V.
" Brig .- Gen '1 WHITE proposed the following, which is not admitted, viz : Provided that no person shall be considered a deserter whose prior service against the United States has been compulsory. Brig .- Gen'l WHITE therefore protests, in the name of the United States, against any construction of the terms of this capitulation, other than as proposed by him.
" A. P. HILL, Maj .- Gen'l, C. S. A.
" JULIUS WHITE, Brig .- Gen'l, U. S. V."
8
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circulated by Regiments (and officers) who had not courage to do their duty in time of danger, seems to us unjust and unreasonable. There may have been individual instances of cowardice, but that any consi- derable portion of the Regiment behaved disgracefully is utterly false. Captain PHILLIPS discharged his duty satisfactorily to all. Always cool and ready for any emergency, he is peculiarly fitted for command," etc. These false reports had preceded the Regiment to Chicago. The Fair grounds, near Camp Douglas, were a rendezvous for volunteers, and many Illinois recruits were gathered there. When these recruits taunted our men with the epithet, "Harper's Ferry cowards !" it was more than flesh and blood could . bear. They took the redress of their wrongs into their own hands, hands which had strong sinews and hard knuckles, as the taunting Illinois boys found to their cost, and soon taught them better manners. The Illinoisians complained to General TYLER, who, on learning the facts, dismissed the complaint, and jus- tified the New York men. But the Illinois boys revenged themselves by circulating in their own State the report that the 126th were disorderly and quarrel- some, a report which spread far beyond Chicago. We have carefully examined the diaries and letters describing camp life at Chicago, and find no evidence of lawlessness on the part of the 126th, except this rough handling of those who insulted them. The con- trary is shown by the fact, which can be proved by the regimental order books, that the 126th was con- stantly called out to patrol the city, gather stragglers
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from the camp, and to guard those under arrest for mutiny and disorder. We have before us a letter dated Chicago, October 25, 1862, and marked " confi- dential," addressed to Lieutenant-Colonel BULL, of which the following is a copy :
SIR : I have detailed the 60th Ohio Volunteers to do guard duty to-morrow, but have great doubts whether they will turn out, though they may, as it is their turn. Will you hold your Regiment in readiness to take their place if they should fail. I write this by direction of General TYLER.
Yours very truly,
FRANK J. BOND, A. A. A. G.
This shows the confidence that was placed in the 126th by the superior officer. We have also the con- solidated daily morning reports of the 126th, and find under the head of arrests and confinements from Sep- tember 29th to October 14th, but six arrests reported in the 126th. After this came the disturbance about drilling, and on one day twenty-nine are reported as arrested or in confinement, but on the following day only six.
But it has been said that many of the paroled pri- soners deserted while in Chicago. It is true that many men went home,* and among them several from the 126th, but not with the intention to desert, as was proved by the fact that most of these so-called deserters returned to their Regiments after they had been exchanged. In fact, when we read the accounts
* It was the mistaken idea that the parole forbade their drilling, more than the unhealthiness of the camp, that made many go home.
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of the sickness which prevailed in camp, the wonder is, not that several left, but that so many stayed there to fall victims to it .* Most of our men, how- ever, felt like Sergeant FERGUSON, who wrote : "You need not expect me home until I can come honorably, and not afraid to look a man in the face." So they stayed, and many never left, for they sickened and died there. In the consolidated morning reports we find that on the 19th of October, 180 (officers and pri- vates) are reported as sick in the 126th alone.
During the three weeks that the men were idle in camp, they resorted to various amusements to keep up health and spirits, playing ball, sparring with gloves, pitching quoits, jumping and wrestling, and dancing in the evenings. The 126th entered much more into such amusements than their neighbors, the 111th, and in consequence suffered much less from dis- ease. Another exercise was putting out fires. Incen- diarism was rife among the Illinois and Ohio troops, who thought it fun to burn barracks, regardless of consequences. Night after night the New York troops packed their things, and had guards posted to watch for fires. We find by the "order book" that detachments of the 126th were often detailed to watch for and arrest incendiaries. The old Regiments, espe- cially the western ones, were also constantly tearing down the fence that surrounded the camp, rendering it easier to stray to the city (a forbidden privilege). "They pulled down most of the high board fence around the camp-grounds, and 200 men were detailed
* Dr. PELTIER remembers prescribing for 500 patients in one day.
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to put it up again." No sooner was it up, than the lawless rowdies tore it down again, split up the boards and set the barracks on fire, which burned thirty rods of them before the engines from the city could come to put them out. One entry in a Sergeant's diary says : "Our Regiment received orders to-night for all to stand guard." This looks as if they were confided in. Indeed there is much evidence that by their clean- liness, and obedience to orders, they were gaining the favor of their officers. General TYLER noticed the New York camps, and complimented them ; and a pass to visit the city was scarcely required by one of the 126th. But to receive peculiar favors from officers is not a way to make a Regiment popular with the insubordinate. We mentioned, page 103, that some of the older troops liked to indulge in what they called "cleaning out a sutler," and explained what this term meant. Two or three sutlers had opened stores in camp, but the Ohio troops had made raids on them and "cleaned them out." But when one who had established his store between the 126th New York and the 60th Ohio was attacked, the officers of the 126th ran, armed, to his rescue, but in their turn were attacked with clubs and brickbats, most of which passed over their heads and hit the rioters on the other side. The sutler was saved, but the rioters vowed vengeance against those who aided him, and swore to burn out the New York troops, obliging the latter to keep a constant watch against fires. In spite of all vigilance, a great many rods of barracks were burned down.
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