USA > New York > History of the One hundred and twenty-fourth regiment, N. Y. S. V. > Part 18
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On the 9th we changed direction to the west, moved down the Hagerstown road, over the Catoeton mountain, through Mid- dletown and on, up, and about half way over South mountain. This day's march was decidedly severe, though the distance traveled was but twelve miles. On the 10th we made another twelve miles, halting for several hours at Keedeysville and bivouacking in the evening at Millpoint. On the morning of the 11th we moved forward about one mile and rested until 4 P. M.,
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when with loaded pieces we advanced about two miles, passing by Roxbury Mills ; and when night came on, rested on our arms in line of battle with the assurance from our superiors that a heavy force of the enemy were just ahead of us, though notwithstand- ing our sharp lookout through the day we had failed to get sight of one of them. Here Lieutenant Ramsdell rejoined the regiment, informed us that after much tribulation he had succeeded in delivering the bodies of our lamented colonel and major to their friends, and was directed to resume the duties of adjutant. The following is his report of this most difficult undertaking.
CAMP NEAR WILLIAMISPORT, MD. JULY 11, 1863. CAPT. O. H. WEYGANT., Com'dg. 124th N. Y. Vol. Infantry.
SIR :-- I have the honor to report that after receiving your orders and escort, I succeeded in taking the bodies of our late colonel and major to their friends. The details of the journey I will give as concisely as possible.
The detail of eight men, private Fisher of Company "C," and "Sam," the colonel's servant, constituted my party which left the vicinity of Gettys- burg, at about 103 o'clock A.M. of the 3d of July, and marched about three miles to the farm-house of one Max Lydig, who had a wagon with a covered tilt suitable for our purpose. After trying to hire or buy the vehicle and a pair of horses without success, I ordered the men to put the horses to the wagon, placed the bodies carefully inside, stuffing straw between the stretchers to prevent any shifting, gave Lydig the order and emphasized it with the sharp end of my saber, upon which he took the · driver's seat with alacrity. Posting Fisher by his side to prevent any unpleasantness, we reached the main road about a mile southeasterly. Here, sending the escort back to the regiment, we took the turnpike for Westminster, stopping only a few minutes at a time to breathe the heavy draft horses who were unaccustomed to journeys of this sort. The sun was so hot, and shade being scanty, I covered the bodies and wagon tilt with foliage. The provost guard stopped us occasionally, but gave us no trouble on my showing my orders.
We arrived in Westminster about dark, where Quarter-master Travis found a native carpenter who made two rough boxes, in which we packed the bodies in ice. after dressing them as well as we were able.
I had little difficulty in procuring transportation to Baltimore, as Colonel Berdan, commanding our brigade, had instructed me on this point. " Sam." Isent with my horse and his own to Baltimore, by road. I left Westminster about five o'clock on the morning of July 4th, and
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now my difficulties commenced. The confusion among the railway officials resulting from scare and contradictory orders, caused us to be switched and reswitched ; twice was my charge taken off the car by the train men, and as often replaced-the wounded who were being sent to the hospital on the open platform cars in the scorching rays of a July snn, assisting me. At last an Irish Major whose left arm was broken at the elbow by a musket ball, seating himself on the box containing Colonel Ellis, swore he would brain the very next man who meddled in the matter-and he looked as if he meant what he said. We arrived at Baltimore about four o'clock in the afternoon, and as my wounded allies were gone, my troubles re-commenced. Martial law existed in the city and a general stampede was the order of the day. The rebel cavalry might arrive any moment. Troops were hurrying to and fro, artillery commanded the approaches to the city, and strong squads of provost guard patroled the streets. Trucks, loaded with furniture blocked narrow alleys, carts and wagons commanded any price, and the railway trains leaving the city were crowded to overflow- ing. Many of the houses were ornamented with tiny flags, showing sym- pathy with our army, while many others were shut up and barricaded. The most intense excitement prevailed. There seemed little chance of going any further with the remains of our brave colonel and major, and to leave them was not to be thought of. Placing Fisher in charge, of the bodies I made the best of my way to General Schenck's Headquarters, but access to the general was impossible, the same as regards his adjutant-gen- eral. A gentlemanly aide told me dead bodies were not important, com- pared to live ones, said there was no time to think about such things, and advised me to have my friends quietly buried, if I could. . I was at my wit's ends. I went to a telegraph office, and gave the operator telegrams for Dr. Sam Ellis, for Major Cromwell's brother, for the father of Lieuten- ant J. Milnor Brown, and for Major Cromwell's mother ; all of which had been given me by Colonel Cummins, who I saw at our corps hos- pital just before I started. I was told they would be dispatched as soon as the military business would permit.
I went again to General Schenck's Headquarters, and this time by dint of perseverance got to the office of Colonel Don Piatt. who was chief of staff to the general commanding. I stated my business to an aide who said I could not see Colonel Piatt, but that he had heard of Colonel Ellis through Captain Ben Piatt, and gave me a detail of men in charge of a non-commissioned officer with a carte blanche as far as concerned the city, and an order to the railway officials to take my cargo and party on the 8.30 train the same morning.
We now took possession of the first truck we met, dumped its load in the street, and adopting the military way of enforcing orders. had no trouble in compelling an undertaker to drop every thing and furnish
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metallic cases in the place of the rough pine boxes, and at half-past eight o'clock were en route for New York.
I arrived in Jersey City early Sunday morning and was compelled to leave the bodies there, as a permit was necessary to enable them to cross the river. So I drove directly to Dr. Samuel Ellis's in Third Avenue and performed my unpleasant duty as gently as I could.
It was now so late I could not get to Cornwall and New Windsor, until the 5 p. M. train via. Fishkill. I sent a telegram to my father who was able to advise the Cromwells of the Major's death the same after- noon.
I arrived in Newburgh late Sunday night, and Monday went to Corn- wall and told the Cromwells all of the sad news that remained to tell. The same day, July 7th, I found Mrs. Colonel Ellis in New York, and delivered some little things the Colonel had spoken of many times during his life, for he had often speculated of his death, and had so instructed me in case anything should happen to him. He had also called my attention to two silk handkerchiefs he wore about his waist, saying how handy they would be for a bandage or a tourniquet, and instructed me in making the latter for different parts of the limbs, making use of a key or stone or stick for pressure on the artery. After having seen Mrs. Ellis, your orders being completed, I returned to Baltimore the same night, and next morn- ing started for the regiment, which I found this morning at 8 o'clock, and reported for duty.
Yours respectfully, H. P. RAMSDELL. First Lieutenant and acting-adjutant.
Early Saturday morning, July 12, four or five batteries which had come up during the night, moved to and occupied the most commanding positions in the vicinity; a column of infantry hurried past and deployed.in battle line about an eighth of a mile in front of where we had spent the night, and the division to which our regiment belonged was ordered to a new position half a mile to the left ; a train of ammunition wagons appeared on the scene with a fresh supply of cartridges, shot and shell, and every- thing indicated that our commander-in-chief expected to fight "another great battle at that point. The storm was not yet over, and considerable rain fell during the forenoon ; but about 3 p. M. the sun came out and we all expected that a general advance would be immediately ordered ; yet hour after hour slipped by without
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bringing the expected " move forward," and when the gloom of night began to gather about us, the men set to work with a will, putting up their muslin shelters, for it was raining again.
The 13th was a most gloomy Sunday. A drizzling rain fell from morn till night. Several times during the day orders came to strike tents, and on each occasion we hurried in line suppos- ing we were to move forthwith against the unseen foe; but no advance was ordered and at dusk we once more spread our blankets on the wet strip of ground where we had lain the pre- vious night, and undisturbed slept soundly until morning. About 9 A. M. on the 14th several mounted Union scouts, who had been sent out at daybreak, came galloping back with a report that the enemy had actually recrossed the swollen impassable Potomac, " bag and baggage." Half an hour later, the so long expected . order reached us, and our division immediately moved forward. After advancing about two miles we passed over and were halted behind a line of earthworks of considerable strength, which had evidently been occupied but a few hours before. The camp fires, over which Lee's rear guard had boiled the last cups of coffee it . was destined any considerable portion of the army of Northern Virginia should ever drink north of the Potomac, were yet burn- ing and, a fresh supply of brush being added, soon blazing away again, under the tin cups of our always dry-no matter how wet they are-boys in blue. About 2 P. M. the commissary wagons of our brigade were driven up with the usual clatter and shouts of " Hli ! ho !- grub, grub, here's your grub," and the familiar reply "Turn out for your salt 'hoss,' sugar, coffee and hard-tack," echoed along the line.
During an active campaign there is nothing of frequent occur- rence so universally appreciated by all concerned as the issuing and receiving of rations. One week of " soldier life on the march " seldom fails to develop in the majority of men a habit of obeying literally the injunction " Take therefore no thought for the mor- row; " and if on the first day of the week you issue to the men of an old regiment rations for five days, you may count with certainty on finding the haversacks of fully one-third of them
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empty, before the end of the fourth day. But the fact of the refilling of the empty haversacks with government rations was not all that made these occasions enjoyable. The mule drivers -a class of non-combatants never particularly noted for over- strict adherence to the truth, nor yet for their conscientious scru- ples aginst borrowing from strangers they never expected to meet again-generally brought to their especial friends in the ranks some article of food not issued by Uncle Sam, but which of course they had paid some southern farmer a " mighty big price " for. The quartermasters, and their assistants too, were in nine cases out of ten, whole-souled, good-natured fellows who seemed to think that one of their chief duties was to " wake up the boys " and make everybody feel good whenever they visited their regiments; and they generally had some daring personal exploit to talk about, new joke to crack, or a wonderful story to tell.
Our commissary sergeant (afterward quartermaster) Ellis Post was now the heaviest man in the 124th. He had been growing fatter and fatter ever since the date of his enlistment, and was almost always-when not studying over some contemplated mis- chief, or bent on carrying out some piece of devilment already planned-exceedingly jolly. But on this ' occasion, when the company commissaries came to his wagon and asked for about half the number of rations that had formerly been called for, he was so forcibly reminded of the many brave ones who had been wont to welcome him, but who, alas, would never greet him again, that he was obliged to depend almost exclusively on the sense of feel- ing to determine what the barrels in front of him contained. He had visited the regiment but twice since the terrible battle at Gettysburg, and when a newly appointed sergeant ventured to remind him that he was dealing out double the quantity of rations asked for, Post hurled at the innocent honest fellow's head a huge rib piece of salt pork which he had just hooked from the brine, called him a worthless, brainless, galoot, wondered that such a fool had been sent to draw rations, declared that the rest of the boys were out with Ellis and Cromwell on picket, and that
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he could whip any worthless vagabond who dared say they were not.
While Post was dealing out at least a hundred more rations than we had men in the regiment, quartermaster Travis, who had come up with the wagon but did not find it convenient on that occasion to superintend the work of his assistants, related to a group of attentive listeners the following particulars of a grand charge he had led in person during the recent battle :
"When the fighting commenced at Gettysburg, the Third Corps wagon train was ordered to park at Westminster, which you know is located abont thirty miles southeast of Gettysburg, and is the terminus of a railroad which runs into Baltimore. Well, when the order reached us we were about five miles from the place. There was only a very light guard with the train, and for several hours we had been doing our level best to keep out of the way of Jeff. Stuart's cavalry, squads of which were hovering around our flanks and ever and anon making a dash at some weak point, and cutting loose and driving off a team of mules, and of course the wagons from which the mules had been driven, not only partially blocked the road but had to be aban- doned." At this point an attentive listener broke in with the question "I say, Lieutenant, did Jeff's fellers gobble the mule louts too, or did they ride off in an opposite direction on "- Here Travis in turn broke in on his interrogator, with a "shut up your mouth until I get through," and resumed his story.
" Well, the wagons of our brigade were in the center of the train, which was several miles long, and just as we reached West- minster, word came in that Jetl's troopers had been called off from the flanks, and were making things red hot at the extreme rear of the train, whereupon I was ordered to get together the mounted teamsters, arm them with such weapons as could be found in the brigade wagons, and hasten out to the assistance of the guard and teamsters, and help bring in the hindermost por- tion of the train. I soon got together a company of about twenty men mounted on the very best mules in the brigade, then ran- sacked the baggage wagons and succeeded in finding a carbine,
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rifle, pistol or sabre for each of them, and placing myself at their head, led them off at a lively jog toward the scene of action. As soon as we had passed the last wagon, which, by the way, was being brought in by two leaders and one tongue mule on a dead run, without guard or driver, I halted and deployed my command in a heavy skirmish line directly across the road. Our sudden and bold approach caused an advance sqnad of the enmay which had just before our arrival made a dash for and nearly captured that last wagon, to fall back into a piece of woods. After that, for a few minutes everything was serene -- not a Reb in sight, and the only noise that reached our cars was the clattering thunder of our wagons, which, safe behind my protecting line, were, being hurried farther, and yet farther away -- then suddenly there came a rustling clattering sound from that piece of woods in front, and out of it came a squadron of Jeff's troopers, making directly for us on a keen jump. I immediately ordered my gallaut boys to open fire, but somehow nobody's ammunition fitted his piece. There was now nothing left us to do but make a counter charge. Just then several bullets whistled among us and one of our mules was wounded in the tip of his right car, at which-though my men without exception displayed the most admirable coolness and waited patiently for the order " Charge, my hearties, charge " which I was just in the act of shouting -- his brother mules with one accord dropped their tails between . their legs, rested their under lips against their breasts, settled back on their haunches, wheeled about, stretched out their necks again, defiantly shook their natural weapons of defence at the foe and, as if partaking of the noble impulse which actuated their riders, the brave brutes, unable longer to restrain themselves-charged ! yes, boys, boldly charged right through the solid lines of a-a-Union cavalry regiment which was advancing from the village to co-operate with us." " Well, Lieutenant, what did you do then-if I may now be permitted to ask a question "-put in the sergeant whose first inquiry had been so unceremoniously cut short. And the answer came, " Why, you ass, the cavalry commander ranked me and I
FOLLOWING LEE BACK TO THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 205
turned over my forces to him and hastened to the rear for addi- tional reinforcements."
The report of the enemy's escape across the Potomac, which our scouts brought in that morning, was found to be correct in every particular, and at early daylight on the 15th the advance brigades of Meade's army were moving down the northeastern shore of the Potomac, on the roads leading toward Berlin. Our division started at 6 A. M., marched across the country in an easterly direction until it struck the Frederick City pike near Fairplay, moved down the pike about four miles and then,- changing direction to the right-passed over the battle-field and through the bullet-scarred forests of Antietam. We reached Sharpsburg about noon, bivouacked on the outskirts of the village three hours, and then moved on down the Harper's Ferry road four miles and pitched our tents for the night.
At 5. P. M. on the 11th, after a well conducted march of ten miles, we bivouacked in a piece of woods three miles west of Knoxville. On the 17th, we crossed the Potomac on a pontoon bridge at Harper's Ferry and spent the night three miles beyond the river. On the 18th, we moved eight miles, and ate our even- ing meal and spent the night at Hillsborough.
Early Sunday morning (the 19th) we heard distant thunder- ing of artillery, which appeared to come from the direction of Snicker's Gap, and were hurried off in that direction for about seven miles. Then a halt was sounded, and after resting half an hour on the sides of the road, we were directed to file into an adjacent field and pitch our tents. About noon a Union spy, dressed in the uniform of a Confederate cavalryman, rode into our lines. The fellow attracted considerable attention, and his pompous, lordly bearing, as he rode through our camp on his way to head-quarters, caused a vast amount of merriment. During the afternoon there was preaching or other religious services in nearly every regiment in the division.
On the 20th we received marching orders about 3 A. M., had breakfast before daylight, moved eighteen miles and encamped before dark in a piece of woods near Upperville, where we rested
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undisturbed until about noon on the 21st, when an order detail- ing the 124th for a tour of picket duty reached our camp. Blan- kets and tents were soon rolled and strapped, and a staff officer -who had brought the order and remained in camp while we were packing up -- conducted us to the picket line which had been established about two miles beyond where our division was lying. Nothing of especial interest occurred that night, and the forenoon of the 22d was passed very pleasantly, but while eat- ing our dinner, we heard the sound of bugles, and presently an order reached me which stated that our division was moving southward on the Warrenton pike, and directed me to withdraw my regiment from the picket line, move rapidly forward and join it at the earliest possible moment. An hour later we came up with the rear of our brigade and took position in the moving column. About three P. M. we changed direction to the right, and it became very apparent that the ground on which we were to bivouac, lay in Manassas gap. After an afternoon's march of at least fourteen miles, the 124th filed from the road into the same field where the regiment, on that bitter cold night nearly nine months before, had, hungry and blanketless, shivered the dark hours away. But few tents were pitched that evening and not a few of our number lay awake for hours, rolled in their warm blankets, looking off toward that dark steep mountain side which had been the scene of our regiment's first skirmish- thinking of the then and now, and of events that had intervened. Then the regiment numbered for duty over seven hundred rank and file, and had a full field and staff, and twenty-five line officers-now, though Captain Silliman with Lieutenant Crissie, and about thirty convalescents had recently rejoined us, there were present in the battalion less than two hundred, all told. Where were the absent ones ? Several times during the night there came echoing through the gap the sound of one, two, and "sometimes three or four rifle shots, fired in quick succession, which told that the videttes of the opposing forces were not far apart, and caused me to wonder what the morrow had in store for us.
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On the morning of the 23d, it was rumored that General Meade had resolved to push a large force through the gap and attempt to fall upon an isolated corps of Lee's army which was reported to be lying at Front Royal, on the opposite side of the mountain. Our corps, the Third, was now commanded by Major General French, and had, since the battle of Gettysburg, been strengthened by a division of new troops nearly eight thousand strong. We were a day's march in advance of the other corps of the army, and for that reason I presume General French was selected as the leader of this bold and apparently hazardous undertaking, the success of which evidently depended on its being commenced immediately and prosecuted with the utmost vigor. Our division, which was yet commanded by General Ward, had led the corps to the gap and bivouacked several miles in advance of the other divisions.
When the rumor referred to reached us we were eating break- fast, and before we had finished, the attention was sounded from brigade head-quarters. The 124th was soon in line, but after standing to arms ten or fifteen minutes without noticing any further indications of an immediate movement, I ordered them to stack arms and break ranks, at which not a few of the boys hur- ried back to their camp fires, bent on having another cup of coffee before they started.
General French had, it appears, decided to have the three divisions which composed his corps, move through the gap in the same order in which they had advanced to it; but for some, to me, inexplicable reason we did not leave the fields in which we had spent the night until the sun was four hours high. General Ward and staff had moved up and planted the division flag only a few rods behind our gunstacks, and Captain Jackson had just remarked, " It is five minutes past ten," when I heard the General order his horse and say to one of his aids, who was in the act of mounting, " Let my old brigade take the lead-tell Colonel Ber- dan to move forward immediately." In five minutes our column was formed and under way. We soon reached and passed through a light line of cavalry pickets, and there were then no
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Union troops ahead of our brigade except a company of mounted men, which acted as an advance guard and with very little diffi- culty forced back the enemy's scouts, which had spent the night in front of our pieket linc.
We moved slowly and cautiously, and all went well until about noon, when, just after we had passed the little village of Lynden, the crackling of musketry, not more than an eighth of a mile away, caused a halt to be ordered.
The clatter in front lasted but a minute or two, and while we stood there waiting for orders to move on, a man in company " G" began reciting in school-boy fashion, Campbell's " Hohen- linden." At every pause he was greeted with some such remarks as " Choke him off, give him a hard tack, or see his knees shake." But the fellow good-naturedly kept on till he came to, " Then shook the hills with thunder riv'n," when a bullet went whistling past within a few feet of his head, at which-in obedience to an irresistible impulse every truly brave soldier understands-he first dodged and then, as if to make it appear the dodging was done as a joke, shouted in a loud voice, "I say, master, I didn't mean any harm-I-I won't do so any more." But his remarks were unheeded. The time for joking and mirth-making had passed. There was evidently stern. work close at hand.
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