USA > New York > History of the 27th regiment N.Y. Vols. > Part 12
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After a few hours' work Sunday morning, the last boat was drawn out ; and we, looking as though we had been buried in the mud and dug out again, were ordered to march back to our old camp at White Oak Church. We reached our cabins about dark ; and, though the men had been allowed to march at will and pick their way, the mud being knee-deep, they were very tired. The officers had ordered that barrels of whiskey should be placed beside the street, with the heads removed, and every man was urged to take a big ration. We then wrapped ourselves in our damp blankets, and lay down on our old beds, without shelter, and awoke next morning with our garments steam- ing from the heat and moisture. Thus ended the march that has gone into history under the name of " Burnside Stuck in the Mud !"
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GENERAL BURNSIDE RELIEVED.
It was the second unsuccessful attempt to take Fred- ericksburg, which still held out against us, while the enemy's pickets would tauntingly call across the Rappahannock to our pickets, and ask, " When are you coming over again ?" "Have you got your mules out of the mud?" But we can quietly bide our time, for we know that eventually the place must fall into our hands,-not without hard fight- ing, however ; but this we are ready for when the weather will permit.
In this last movement Gen. Burnside had acted almost solely upon his own responsibility. The sentiment of his general officers was almost unanimously against it, and some of them freely expressed themselves in opposition. This was a powerful reason for abandoning the plan, aside from the inclemency of the weather.
Gen. Burnside now expressed his intention to either partly re-officer and reorganize his army, or to resign his commission as major-general ; for he had become con- vinced not only that he did not have the co-operation of a large number of his subordinate officers of high rank, but that some of them were doing all in their power to thwart his plans. He accordingly prepared an order dismissing from the service Gens. Hooker, Brooks, Cochrane and New- ton ; and relieving from their commands Gens. Franklin, W. F. Smith, Sturgis, and Ferrero, and Col. Taylor. Pro- ceeding to Washington, he asked the President to approve of this order, or to accept his resignation. The President referred the order to his military advisers, who declined to recommend its approval.
Accordingly, unwilling to accept his resignation, the President relieved Gen. Burnside of the command of the Army of the Potomac, and not long after assigned him to the command of the Department of the Ohio. Gen. Hooker was made Gen. Burnside's successor. At the same time, Gens. Sumner and Franklin, at their own request, were also relieved. and ordered to report elsewhere. These changes were announced to the army January 26th.
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RECORD OF 27TH REGIMENT N. Y. VOLS.
In taking leave of the army, Gen. Burnside issued the following order :
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, FALMOUTH, Va., Jan. 26, 1863. 1
General Orders No. 9.
By direction of the President of the United States, the commanding general this day transfers the command of this army to Major-General Joseph Hooker.
The short time that he has directed your movements has not been fruit- ful of victory, or any considerable advancement of our lines ; but it has again demonstrated an amount of courage, patience, and endurance that, under more favorable circumstances, would have accomplished great re- sults. Continue to exercise these virtues ; be true in your devotion 10 your country and the principles you have sworn to maintain ; give to the brave and skillful general who has so long been identified with your or- ganization, and who is now to command you, your full and cordial sup- port and co-operation, and you will deserve success.
In taking an affectionate leave of the entire army, from which he sep- arates with so much regret, he may be pardoned if he bids an especial farewell to his long-time associates of the Ninth Corps.
His prayer is that God may be with you, and grant you continued suc- cess, until the rebellion is crushed.
A. E. BURNSIDE, Major-General.
President Lincoln's letter to Gen. Hooker. upon his ap- pointment to the command of the Army of the Potomac, was a characteristic document from a remarkable man, and was as follows :
EXECUTIVE MANSION, 1
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 26, 1863. )
Major-General Hooker :
GENERAL :- I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appeared to me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you.
I believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable, if not
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PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S LETTER.
an indispensable quality. You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, docs good rather than harm ; but I think during Gen. Burnside's command of the army, you have taken counsel of your ambition, and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong to the country and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the army and the government needed a Dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command.
What, I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictator- ship. The government will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done, and will do for all commanders, I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their commander, and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you, as far as I can, to put it down. Neither you nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army while such a spirit prevails in it.
And now beware of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance, go forward and give us victories.
Yours, very truly, A. LINCOLN.
Notwithstanding some grave defects in his character and habits. Gen. Hooker, as a soldier, had enlisted the confi- dence and won the affection of the men. The plucky qual- ities which had given to him the name of "Fighting Joc," seemed to be an assurance of the activity and energy that were so necessary to the successful endurance of the con- test ; while his kindly nature, and his genial, social temper- ament, won the love and good wishes of all who came in contact with him.
In appearance, when in command, he represented the dashing, chivalrous soldier, of whom we have read in his- tory and fiction, inspiring confidence and awakening our enthusiasm. As he rode along the line while reviewing a corps, mounted upon a snow-white steed, horse and rider seeming but one; erect in all the pride of command; his hair nearly white, contrasting strongly with his ruddy com- plexion, he looked the perfect ideal of a dashing, gallant, brave commander. We soon learned that his skill in organ- ization fully equalled his bravery upon the battle-field ; and
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the results were apparent in the improved discipline and morale of the troops.
And it must be recorded on every page that illustrates the splendid military achievements of Hooker, that he was the commander who knew how to inspire confidence in him- self, by considerately reposing confidence in others.
Gen. Sumner, after being relieved, retired to his home in Syracuse, N. Y .; but his enforced idleness, and the absence of the military surroundings to which he had been accus- tomed during the best part of his life, chafed the veteran soldier, and probably hurried him to his end. He died on the 21st of March following. The words of a brilliant wri- ter, when afterwards speaking of him, were fully merited : "We have had better captains than Sumner, but no better soldiers-no braver patriots."
The words which trembled upon the dying lips of the old general-" May God bless my country, the United States of America"-were the key-note of his life. Green be the turf above his grave.
Gen. Hooker, upon assuming command, immediately be- gan improving the discipline and perfecting the organization of his troops, and with such success that he had, some two months afterward, as he declared, "The finest army on the planet !" He broke up the "grand divisions," which many officers had considered useless formations ; infused his own vitality into the staff and administrative service ; and gave distinctive badges to the different corps. This latter idea was one of the best ever adopted, and the soldiers of the army took pride in the display of the badges of their respec- tive divisions and corps.
These badges were made of flannel cloth, cut into the shape designated for each corps, an inch and a half long, and were ordered to be worn on the top of the cap, or on the left side of the hat.
The Ist Corps was designated by a disk; the 2d, by a trefoil : the 3d, by a lozenge ; the 5th, by a Maltese cross ; the 6th, by a plain for Greek) cross ; the 11th, by a crescent ; and the 12th, by a star. (See next page.)
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CORPS BADGES.
Each corps had three divisions, and the badges, whose form determined the corps, also designa- ted the divisions by colors. The badge of the first division of each corps was made of scarlet cloth ; the second, of white; and the third, of blue. The headquarters flag of each division : was decorated in the same way.
The idea of corps badges first originated with Gen. Kearney, who had, some time before he was killed, directed that the men of his brigade should wear a badge to indicate the command to which they belonged.
By means of these badges, any officer or man could tell at a glance to what command any body of men belonged. The 27th, being in the first division, sixth corps, wore a red Greek cross. When the order to wear badges was first issued, Gen. Bartlett conceived the idea of making a badge that would also indicate his brigade: so he ordered them to wear a cross, with the stand- ard longer than the arms, or a regular " crucifix ;" but this gave rise to so much profane wit, and made the brigade a " butt " for so many irrev- erent remarks from other commands, that it was soon abandoned.
The same day, the 26th, everybody was busy fixing over their cabins, and getting comfortable quarters constructed. Gen. Slocum visited our camp, and we gave him three times three hearty cheers. We now settled down to the regular camp duties, and with the exception of a few individual mishaps, camp life was quite endurable. Occasionally a tent would take fire and burn down over its luckless occu- pant. One man cut off his foot while chopping wood ; and one wrote in his diary as follows :
." Wednesday, January 28, 1863 .-- Snowed all day ; mud knee deep : my fire-place caved in; cold as Greenland; I am in a peck of trouble! My country ! oh my country'
Ist.
2d.
3d.
5th.
6th.
C
11th. 12th.
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would that my patriotism had been less! so that I had never fought for thee!"
" January 29 .- Snow ten inches deep ; made a new 'she- bang ;' snow all melted before night."
We now had plenty of time to write letters, and some of these, with their answers, will show better what a soldier was doing or thinking, than any other line of history :
CAMP OF 27TH REGIMENT N. Y. VOLS., NEAR WHITE / OAK CHURCH, Va., February, 1863. 1
MY KIND FRIEND :- It is a bright, beautiful day, and not unlike the one you described in your letter, received two weeks ago. But what changes have we experienced during these two weeks : Cold, rain, snow, and mud, have been the order with us ; and, I assure you, we know how to appreciate pleasant weather now. As I apprehended, our regiment started on the march the day after my last was written. We had to leave our comfortable quarters only to experience a week of the most extreme cold and exposure that it has ever been our lot to endure. It being a " variety," the men bore it without a murmur, but were thankful enough to get back to our old camp, which we reached Sunday night.
You have already read the particulars of the last move, in the papers ; so I will not write them, only to say that our division had it much harder than the rest of the army, having been left behind to guard and drag the pontoon train out of the mud. But it is all over, and for the past week we have been busy building up our huts again, and we are now even more comfortable than we were before ; and can enjoy it, without any fear of another move at present. For the last attempt has clearly demonstrated the fact that a winter campaign in Virginia is out of the question.
Gen. McClellan learned this long ago, but the new generals and the people have only just found it out. Your letter came straight. as you charged it, and it met me when returning to camp, at just the right time to revive iny spirits ; for I was very weary with the fatiguing march. That was a Sabbath long to be remembered, but now that we are settled com- fortably in camp, we try to forget by-gones, laugh at our discouragement, and keep in the best of spirits.
There is beauty even in war, but how hard for us to see it. Yet God's purposes will be accomplished. The day of good may be near at hand, or it may be far away, and we may not live to see it ; but what are our lives
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A SOLDIER'S LETTER.
compared to the existence of the Nation ? At present our cause looks par- ticularly dark. There has been another change of generals, but no more satisfactory. Still, " Fighting Joe " has gone to work with a will, and he may yet prove to be " the man :" but we look for nothing till the tried and worthy " Little Mac" is returned. We grieve much at the loss of Sumner and Franklin. We know them to be gallant and brave, and hope that Franklin may be returned. Our old Colonel-now General-Slocum is in a fair way to rise still higher, and will probably take Franklin's place. He came to visit his old brigade one day last week, and made us a nice little speech. He is a favorite with all who know him. Our division commander-Brooks-has never distinguished himself, but is liked quite well. He had some difficulty, during the late move, with Gen. Burnside and Gen. Smith, and is now in Washington, under arrest. And our fav- orite, Joe Bartlett, is now in command of the division. He, too, is bound to rise, and will soon get the other " star." The boys are now all looking anxiously forward to the time of our discharge : only three months more, and we shall be free. This is now all the talk in camp, and there are some rumors that we are to be discharged before. For if there is to be no move till spring, we can hardly see the object in keeping us ; but I do not look for a premature discharge.
(Evening.)-I think if you were to look into our tent to-night, you would almost envy us our situation. We are seated beside a good warm fire. Our tent is much better than it was before we moved : we have dug down deeper in the ground, and built the logs up higher on the sides. We are each writing letters by the light of a tallow candle. We have just finished our supper, and have had an excellent meal of potatoes and pan- cakes, with butter to eat on them. Yes ; as good as you can get up at home. The butter, mother sent me in a box ; the flour and potatoes we buy of the commissary. I won't give in to any woman on getting up a meal. If you don't believe me, step in and take breakfast with us in the morning, and I will prove it. To-day there has been an inspection of our brigade, all the men being called out : I, being on duty, did not have to go, but I shall have to be up a good part of the night. Discipline among the old troops is about " played out." Excuse my soldier phrase.
Oh ! what a sick lot of men the new troops are. They do not seem to understand how to make themselves comfortable : so that they suffer very much from exposure, and just sit down and complain. One of our boys made a visit to the -- - regiment to-day. They are in camp fifteen miles from here. He says "they have not fixed up their camp at all, but have their tents pitched on the ground, the same as we do in summer.
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RECORD OF 27TH REGIMENT N. Y. VOLS.
They are already very tired of the service. It is amusing to hear them talk. I reckon they will get enough of it before their time is out."
I hear that my brother has entered the service. It must be quite lonely at home, but mother, judging by her letters, seems to keep quite cheerful. I hope you will do all you can to comfort her.
Yesterday, Sunday, we had no service in camp. Our Chaplain does not seem to exert himself much in the line of his calling. Very few of the men have any regard for religion, and Sunday is disregarded and pro- faned, to a great extent.
Last evening we spent quietly in our tent, but were disturbed until midnight by a lot of men and officers of a regiment camped near us, who had collected in a tent near by, and spent the evening in drinking, and singing religious and profane songs alternately. They held a mock prayer-meeting, some exhorting, and others cursing in a most profane and vulgar manner: while, in our tent, we read one of Beecher's sermons, from the "Independent." Awful good boys, aren't we ?
Colporters and exhorters are numerous through the camps, and there have been many conversions among the men of the Sixth Corps. I must relate another incident, to show the tone of some of the officers in relation to religious things :
Zealous Col. -- , having been informed that seven men in a neigh- boring regiment had been baptized, ordered his sergeant to detail fifteen men to be baptized,-adding that he did not propose to be outdone in anything by Col. -, of the -- regiment !
I had a good joke played on me one day last week, by a comrade from another company. He was in my tent a short time, and proposed (for sport) that he should write to some young lady of his acquaintance whom I did not know, and sign my name ; and I was to do the same, and sign his name. Of course I agreed. Anything for fun here in camp. But to-day I learn that he has written to an old acquaintance of mine, and has got me into a bad box. So the fun is all on one side. It is getting late, and I must retire so as to be ready to get up at three in the morning.
Orders have just come for our regiment to go on picket to-morrow, to be gone four days. How provoking ! but never mind-all for variety ! Many thanks for your sympathy and kind remembrance. Please write soon to your true friend.
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A GOOD FRIEND OF GEN. M'CLELLAN.
A Woman's Answer.
HOME, Feb. 10, 1863.
MY DEAR FRIEND :- Welcome was your little white-winged messenger, as it dropped in on us last Friday evening, just when "the candles were lit in the parlor." We had a great many fears that, on account of your marching, our letters had failed to reach you, and had gone to swell "Uncle Sam's" already long list in the " Dead-letter Postoffice." I some- times think your letters do us as much good as ours can you. In our lonely winter of watching over the sick-for sister E. is gradually wasting away-it bring's us much cheer to hear from our friends.
Your invitation to breakfast with you I certainly would accept, if there were not se many ifs in the way. I would love to visit my old acquaint- ances in camp, and well imagine the good visit you and Major W. must have enjoyed. But now, just as you are nicely settled again, the papers say the Army of the Potomac is to advance ! How provoking. Variety, to be sure, is the spice of life ; but too much spice is as bad as none at all. I can appreciate your feelings on returning again to your old camp. You almost felt like singing "Home, Sweet Home," when you saw it again, didn't you ?-- (I had forgotten you never sing)-for it was your soldier home.
I do think you have had a regular splitting up time among your gen- erals, and hardly know how to understand it. Those whom I have always supposed to be the best of all, are censured and dismissed. How strange ! Yet perhaps I do not know, being only a woman ! When Burnside took Mcclellan's place, I prophesied a short term of service for him, -that he would soon be dismissed, and Mcclellan eventually returned. Not that I disliked Burnside, for I have thought well of him, judging from past events. And sure enough, he is relieved ; and, strange as it may seem- I hope it is something more than rumor-yesterday's papers said the Pres- ident wished to return MeClellan, but, the cabinet objecting. postponed it for the present. Yet the papers added, that it was thought in two weeks he would be returned. Can you imagine that I said I would not go back, if I were he? 'Twas a quick thought that prompted it, but I hope if he does, his accusers will all own his blamelessness, and be convinced that he knows, more than they what ought to be done. Oh, when that time comes, and he rises pre-eminent above his detractors (as I almost feel con- tident he will). as high as the tallest trees mne above the lowest shrubs on the hillside, won't we shout aloud and clap our hands for jey !
But I am getting rather demonstrative, am I not ? Never mind ; the
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RECORD OF 27TH REGIMENT N. Y. VOLS.
case calls for it. I am so-wicked, some would say, that I ask no greater enjoyment than to see his accusers as deeply sorry and humbled for the injustice they have done him, as they have been abusive against him. All the powers of earth combined can never convince me that he is wrong. as long as his conduct is as Christian and upright as it ever has been. He wrong ? No! When the sun withdraws its light, and the stars forget to shine, then it will do to talk of his faults ; but till then, let all be sat- isfied to talk no more ; and while time lasts, as there is no danger of being deprived of these lights, so there will be no opportunity of talking against him.' But you must think my letter is a panegyric on Mcclellan, but when I get to writing about him, I hardly know when to stop.
You wrote that you were to start next day for a four days' picket ex- cursion (?) Did you have as extreme cold weather as we had, these days? You must have had a tedious time, for it was the most severe cold here that has been known in a long while. I always think of our soldiers at such times, particularly for fear they suffer. I have been so little versed in the arrangements of the army, that I have never known just how your letters are carried to you. Have you a postmaster connected with your regiment, who attends to such matters? Some have, I know. Also, are your tents arranged together, with the headquarters for a center guiding star? and are yon in the " woods," or on a plain ? I try to imagine your situation, but feel, when I have finished my sketch, it is nothing but imag- ination after all. You must miss Sabbath privileges, but I cannot see why your chaplain does not hold regular services. Sabbath after Sabbath, as we gather in our church and listen to Mr. B-, our dear, good pastor. my thoughts involuntarily turn to those who once met with us, with the wish they could enjoy his discourses too. But, though away, he always remembers them, and craves heavenly blessings for them, and the protec- tion of llim who gives Ilis angels charge concerning them.
And now good-night. May sweet slumbers and pleasant dreams be yours to-night ; and when the home feeling will creep over you, and you sigh for the "leeks and onions of Egypt," and wonder if they think of you at home, just draw the long sigh that betokens homesickness, sit down in one corner of your tent, and write to your true friend, in her far-away Northern home.
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LOOKING AFTER A RABBIT.
March 2d to 13th .- But little doing in camp. Occasional details were made to build corduroy roads. These roads would sink so deep in the mud that others had to be built over them, and it was with the greatest difficulty that our supplies could be brought over from Aquia Creek. "An- other mule lost in the mud," was a common phrase in camp.
March 15th, we started out on a four days' picket tour. with cooked rations. We were relieved by the 95th Pennsyl- vania, and when we returned to camp, orders were read in regard to more thorough police duty. For the next few days police duty was in full operation, and the camp put on its former cleanly appearance.
March 22d, there was brigade inspection by the Inspec- tor General, which is thus recorded in a comrade's diary : "General inspection-didn't get to our company until dark. We were just as well satisfied, whether the Inspector was or not. Our company shows to the best advantage in the dark. In fact they love darkness rather than light, be- cause-their breeches are dirty !"
It was a favorite pastime for some of the men to slip past the regimental guards and stroll out over the country for the purpose of hunting rabbits, which were very numer- ous about the old fields and swamps. As the country was thickly studded with camps, it was rather dangerous sport, and an order was issued forbidding any soldier going out of camp with his musket, except on special duty. Bob Way, the "famous jumper" of Co. "C," and "Pony Blair," his tent-mate and inseparable companion, had been out on an excursion of that kind, and, returning, passed near division headquarters. Unfortunately for them, they came upon Gen. Brooks, who commands the division. The boys saluted and marched steadily on, but the General was not so easily fooled. "Halt !" he roared. "What are you men doing here with your muskets, and without an officer?" The boys saw they were in for it, and knew the old General well enough to quickly determine that they had better make a clean breast of it; so they meekly
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