USA > New York > History of the One hundred and twenty-fourth regiment, N. Y. S. V. > Part 5
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At six o'clock the long-looked-for order came; and without · waiting to finish our breakfast, which we were at the time eating, we hastily gathered up our traps, hurried into line, and started off' at a rapid gait toward Washington. A drizzling rain was falling ; the air was muggy ; our wet blankets made heavy loads ; the mud was deep, and ever and anon, as we plodded along, a
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HISTORY OF THE 124TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
man gave out and was left alongside the road to be picked up by the ambulances which were following in our wake.
At eleven o'clock we were halted for a few hours' rest near the entrance to the aqueduct bridge, opposite Georgetown. At noon the sun came out warm and bright, and the men soon covered every fence and grass-plat in the vicinity with their wet blankets. About four P. M. we moved over the bridge, marched through Georgetown into Washington, and halted in front of the Capitol, where we squatted in the street until ten o'clock, when we moved to the depot. After waiting there two hours longer, a train of freight and cattle cars was got ready, and as the clocks of the city were striking the midnight hour, our engine tooted " Off breaks," and we were soon thundering along through the gloom.
At the end of a most uncomfortable eleven hours' ride, we found ourselves at Knoxville, a small village in Maryland, some eight miles east from Harper's Ferry. On alighting from the cars we were conducted a short distance to a steep, open side-hill, where, after stretching ourselves, and partaking of some " hard tack " and coffee, we drove in the ground whatever came handy to rest our feet against, that we might not slide down, threw our- selves on the grass, and, basking in the sun, took a view of what was below, in front, and around us.
The scene was, indeed, a grand one. At our feet was a dilap- idated but picturesque village, with two rather extensive cotton factories ; but we listened in vain for
" The whirr and worry of spindles and of looms,"
for the great wheels had ceased toiling
" Amid the hurry and rushing of the flumes."
Just beyond the factories ran the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal ; and, a little further on, the Potomac came, winding its way through the mountains : along the sides of which, to their very tops, could be seen, through openings in the foliage, the white tents of regi- ments which had preceded us. But, high above all, wheeling to and fro through the air, were scores of turkey-buzzards, waiting for their meal of putrid flesh ; and the ugly thought, Is it to be
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FROM MINERS' HILL TO FALMOUTHI.
brute or human ? swept down upon and destroyed the whole brood of pleasant emotions awakened by the beauty of the scene below. We were stiff, and sore, and tired after our long, sleep- less ride in the cars, and retired early and slept very soundly that night, rolled in our woollen and rubber blankets, lying on our side-hill beds.
Our division had ceased to belong to the Army of Defence, whose principal duties were to hold, under the immediate eyes of the President and of the Secretary of War, the line of works which encircled the National Capital ; and we were now fairly in the field and permanently incorporated with the Army of the Potomac.
Sunday afternoon, October 19, our brigade moved about three miles, and encamped in a large field on the farm of a crusty old " secesh," who, not satisfied with having guards placed over all his movable property, objected even to our drawing the cool water from his well. The men of our regiment, while they failed to discover by what rule of justice they were deprived of the . privilege of drawing water from a well located on the premises of an enemy of their country, simply because that enemy, in the · bitter meanness of his little soul, didn't wish them to have it, as a general thing said but little, and quenched their thirst from a muddy stream. Not so with the older soldiers of the other regiments. They cursed the guards and the general who had placed them there, and swore they would get even with the owner before they departed from his broad acres.
Before we left Knoxville that morning, the strictest kind of orders against trespassing and foraging had been read to each of our regiments, and when taps ceased that night, not a man, save those on duty, was to be seen about our camps. But had any one, pos- sessed of an acute sense of smell, chanced to walk through the brigade just after midnight, he might have detected, especially in the camp of the 86th, what appeared to be the savor of roasting mutton ; had he walked on into the camp of the Pennsylvanians, the air might have seemed to be impregnated with the smell of burning feathers; and, as to the Ohio boys-well, there was a
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HISTORY OF THE 124TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
rumor at the time that in the dead hours of night the air was rent by a piercing squeal, which terminated in a terrible gurgling sound. What this hideous noise was no one ever knew, but it certainly came right out from between the guns of that battery.
Monday afternoon we left the grounds of this old chap, mu- tually disgusted with each other, and marched off some two and a half miles to a more congenial spot near Burkettsville, where we spent several happy days. The farmers from round about brought us apples and potatoes, and even pies and milk, which they sold at reasonable rates; and as a few "greenbacks " and " shin- plasters " yet remained with the men, they lived for the day, taking no thought for the morrow. Here, too, the country was well stocked with game, and roast bird and rabbit stew were not unknown luxuries.
Captain Travis, who was then our quartermaster's sergeant, tells me that while the regiment lay at this camp, he and a certain lieutenant procured shot-guns from a friendly farmer, and started out early one morning in quest of birds for a game dinner. About a mile from camp they entered the woods at the foot of the moun- tain and began clambering up the sides. "Presently," says the captain, " we discovered, bobbing about on a plateau just ahead of us, an immense flock of wild turkeys, and creeping cautiously up, so that we could get a good range, we blazed away both to- gether, and as the flock raised we let them have the contents of our second barrels. Then we moved out and picked up six fine black fellows, and tying their feet together, we shouldered our guns, slung our birds over them, and hastened back to camp, as proud as cuffies. We knew Colonel Ellis was exceedingly fond of wild game, and concluded to select the largest pair and present them to him. Ou entering the Colonel's tent I found him busy writing, and without saying a word I laid the birds down beside him and walked quietly out ; but before I was twenty feet away Iheard him shout, 'Come back here !' On reentering the tent he looked first at me and then at the birds, and asked, ' Travis, what -- does this mean ?' ' Well, Colonel,' said I, 'we had good luck this morning-captured half a dozen wild turkeys, and- .
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FROM MINERS' HILL TO FALMOUTH.
' Wild turkeys ! wild turkeys! Turkey-buzzards, you - Take away the carrion!' he shouted."
!
South Mountain battle-ground was not far away, and one day several of us visited it. Nearly two thousand Federal soldiers were wounded, and General Reno and about four hundred others had been killed there on the 14th of September. Arriving on the field we came to a board fence near a road. This fence was pierced full of bullet-holes ; in some places they were so close to- gether we covered seven and eight at a time with the palm of one hand.
The Federal battle-line must have stood just behind this fence, . for the graves of our men were thickest there; and pieces of cracker-boxes, with the names of those who slept beneath them written, sometimes in ink, sometimes with pencil, and occasionally roughly cut in, were sticking from the ground in all directions. But all the mounds we saw that day did not cover the bodies of Union soldiers. Getting over the fence, and moving across an open space into a piece of woods, we came to the graves of our enemies-not so thick, but spreading over a larger space. It was not a pleasant sight, that battle-field, with its new-made graves. . The thoughts it awakened were not of a kind we loved to dwell upon, and our return to camp was a gloomy walk, devoid of the mirth and jokes which enlivened our journey over.
When our division left Miners' Hill, its wagon trains were started across the country. During the trip quite a number of wagons broke down, and some of them were left along the route. Friday morning, October 24, we had a division drill, and in the afternoon Sergeant Travis came riding through our camp on a rather smooth-looking, but wonderfully long-eared mule, and noti- fied us he had just received orders to " dump " all the company officers' mess-chests, and turn over the wagons in which they · were carried to the ammunition and supply train. Company A's officers had paid fifty dollars for their mess-chest and its contents; but it was not a dead loss, for we succeeded in trading the whole kit to a crippled Virginia Yankee for a pair of very lean fowls, which I have no doubt he stole from some neighbor, who charged
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HISTORY OF THE 124TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
the theft to the Union soldiers. We were satisfied, in that we had done the very best we could under the circumstances; but I am inclined to think the old fellow grieved some over his part of the transaction. for when our brigade moved off they left him a score of similar chests without demanding a simple thank you, and he might have had ours at the same price.
While at supper that evening we received marching orders, and at half-past nine left this land of milk and honey, and marched, with an occasional short halt, until midnight, when we bivouacked near Berlin, a station of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, on the banks of the Potomac, across which a pontoon bridge was being laid.
This bridge was made of sixty-two scow-built boats, anchored . some twenty feet apart, and connected by large beams, across which were laid strong planks. It took the place of a costly structure which had not long before been destroyed by Stonewall Jackson's troops, and of which nothing now remained save a long line of massive stone piers. These formed, as. they towered in bold relief from the rippling waters, striking monuments of the terrible devastation of that civil war which, ere it terminated, was to shake our social system to its very foundation, rob our country of hun- dreds of thousands of her noblest sons, and bring the whole peo- ple to the very verge, while it hurled thousands over, the preci- pice of financial distress, bankruptcy, and despair, and burdened their children with a monstrous public debt, which must for long years turn back the tide of emigration, and press the hitherto swift-running wheels of our national prosperity deep down into the ruts and stiff mud through which many of the old nations of Europe had long been toiling.
As soon as this bridge of boats was completed Pleasonton's cavalry dashed across, followed by our entire army, which was then over a hundred thousand strong. From Saturday morning until five o'clock Sunday afternoon they moved past us, infantry "after artillery and artillery after infantry, in one unbroken stream. Then our turn came, and in a drenching storm we crossed over; and once more polluted Virginia's sacred mud, which was ankle
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FROM MINERS' HILL TO FALMOUTH.
deep. A cold, disagreeable march of three miles brought us to Lovettsville, where we halted in a muddy corn-field, not far from the scene of Tuesday's skirmish, early enough to admit of the men getting up their shelters before darkness set in.
Our wagons did not come up that night, and nearly all the officers-Ellis, Cummins, and Cromwell among the number-lay down on the muddy ground without any protection save their wet blankets. The rain continued and the wind increased, blowing down most of the tents the men had put up; but all were thor- oughly soaked before they turned in, and it really mattered but little whether their tents were up or down. About midnight the rain ceased falling, but the wind blew up fiereer and stronger than ever, and before morning we all realized to the fullest extent what actual suffering was-wet to the skin, standing or lying in the mud and water, no fires, a violent wind piercing us through and through. When the sick call was sounded the next morning some thirty of our number were found to be unfit for duty, and were packed in ambulances and sent back to a hospital which had been established at Berlin.
We remained in the vicinity of Lovettsville until nine o'clock Thursday morning, October 30, when, with three days' cooked rations in our haversacks, we started off on a road which " intelli- gent contrabands " informed us led to Winchester. After march- ing about eight miles we bivouacked near Hillsborough. On the the march we passed a squad of prisoners. They were the first " Johnnies " many of our boys had ever seen, and consequently attracted considerable attention. Our division remained in the vicinity of Hillsborough until one o'clock Sunday afternoon, Novem- ber 2, when we resumed our march, advanced twelve miles, and pitched our tents for the night near Snicker's Gap.
For several days there had been frequent skirmishes between . McClellan's advance and the enemy's rear-guard ; and on Satur- .. day, while lying at Hillsborough, we were entertained for several hours by the incessant booming of artillery, a weird sort of music with which we had not yet become very familiar. The enemy was evidently either falling back or being driven before our advance.
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HISTORY OF THE 124TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
On the afternoon of the 3d we moved forward about five miles, and bivouacked near a cluster of buildings called Bloomfield. There was no infantry force moving ahead of our brigade that day, and when midway of our march a heavy cloud of dust suddenly arose about half a mile to our right, and nearly parallel with the head of our column, General Piatt, supposing it was caused by a body of the enemy's cavalry, ordered a halt, hurried us into battle line, and sent forward several mounted men to reconnoitre. Then the order "Load at will-load," was given, and obeyed, after which, save the slight noise made by the occasional smiting together of a pair of weak knees, we stood in perfect silence await- ing the result. Presently the mounted men came jogging their horses back, and informed the General it was simply another column of our troops moving on another road. This report suddenly loos- ened every tongue, and as we continued our march, those who, a few moments before, had been trembling at the prospect of a fight, told of the mighty valorous deeds they would have performed had the foe actually appeared in front of them. . But they were soon ridiculed into silence by comrades, who began jotting down the names of the loud talkers under such headings as " A correct list . of members of the 124th who skedaddled the first time a bullet whistled within ten feet of their empty' heads," or advised them to throw away their guns and get their tongues ground to a point.
There had been quite a lively cavalry skirmish at Bloomfield the day before we arrived, in which the rebels had been worstel; and their friends-especially the females-in the village, were out- spoken and very bitter in their denunciations of the "nigger- loving. Yankees."
On the 4th we moved some six miles to Upperville, and bivouacked on groands where the camp-fires of the enemy, who ·had been there the night before, were yet smouldering. Wednes- - day, the 5th, Whipple's division had the advance again, and left Upperville about nine A. M. At two P. M., having marched twelve miles, we halted near the village of Piedmont, where the regiment unslung knapsacks, and after a breathing spell of some thirty
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FROM MINERS' HILL TO FALMOUTH.
minutes, started off in light marching order for Manassas Gap, which was yet ten miles distant. '
Just after dark our brigade reached the foot of the mountain, where we were ordered to throw out a light line of pickets, and sleep on our arms. The enemy was close at hand, and we were not permitted to build fires, though it was a bitter cold night. During the afternoon rain had fallen at intervals, our clothes were wet, and as our blankets as well as tents had been left behind, we suffered terribly. We had certainly moved in light marching order, for we were not only without tents and blankets, but our haversacks were empty, many having eaten their last " hard tack " before we left Piedmont. Officers and men were all in the same boat this time ; no one had anything to put in his empty stomach or on his shivering frame. To sleep was to freeze, and we spent the night running back and forth, jumping and stamping our feet, thrashing our chilled bodies with our benumbed arms, blowing our fingers and slapping our naked hands. Slowly the hours wore by, and as morning approached many began to feel within them the gnawings of hunger. I remember one of my men finding in his haversack a piece of dry, raw salt pork, about the size of a silver .dollar. He cut it in two and gave me half; and ah ! what a sweet morsel it was ; never before had I tasted anything which gave me half the satisfaction I derived from eating that piece of pork.
At an early hour the next morning we resumed our march, and had gone but a short distance when we were joined by Captain Clark, with a portion of Company I. This company had not moved with the regiment for a number of days, having been de- tailed as provost-guard for the division; but during the night the captain had learned that the regiment was off on what. it was hoped would be a successful expedition, and not wishing to lose any of the prospective glory, obtained permission to fol- low us. He left Piedmont about three o'clock in the morning with some forty of his men, and after a forced march of eleven miles (division head-quarters was a mile in rear of the point the regiment had started from), they, without even a halt, took their regular position in the line; and breakfastless we, in single file,
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HISTORY OF THE 124TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
began climbing up the side of the mountain, ever and anon lend- ing a helping hand to some artillery-men who were hauling along with us two light long-range guns.
At ten A. M. we were on the summit of a peak of the Blue Ridge, looking off on a landscape of peculiar beauty. The guns referred to were kept near the head of our column, and the moment the men of our leading company were able to look over into the valley beyond, the artillery-men hurried their pieces into position ; seeing which, Major Cromwell, who, with the centre companies of the regiment, was yet some distance down the moun- tain, hurried Companies C and H into line for a charge, supposing the guns to belong to the enemy ; and it was several minutes before he could be assured to the contrary. As Company K reached the crest, Captain Jackson, enraptured with the scene, involun- tarily threw up his hands, and turning to Ellis, cried out, "Grand ! Magnificent !" But the Colonel, who was sweeping the surround- ing peaks with his glass, replied only with a sharp "Get your com- pany into line, captain," and turning leisurely to the commander of the guns, pointed to a clump of trees not far away, with the remark, " A grand place for a masked battery-look out for your- selves."
There at our feet, or rather away down below us, stretching off for miles and miles, was the fertile valley of the Shenandoah, with its little serpentine river threading a course along through its centre. The shores of the river were dotted here and there with little clusters of buildings, from several of which single church spires glistened in the morning sun. Near the foot of the mountain were groups of white tents, in which dwelt squads of the enemy's cavalry. To drop down among them a few shells from our long-range guns, was but the work of a moment. It was like throwing stones in hornets' nests. They didn't stop to
fold their tents like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away,"
but at the very first shell, which burst right among them, they mounted their saddled steeds and dashed away in every direction, as if " Old Nick " was just behind them.
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FROM MINERS' HILL TO FALMOUTH.
The object of our movement had been to get around in rear and cut off the retreat of a force of the enemy's infantry stationed in the gap; but they had got word of our intentions and retired long before we reached the top of the mountain. We, however, completed the circuit by moving down the opposite side and back through the gap, exchanging occasionally, as we went, a few ran- dom shots with their scouts. At six P. M. we halted again on the site of our former night's bivouac.
In the meantime other troops had moved in and taken posses- sion of the gap, and we were ordered to return to Piedmont. After resting a few moments we started off-oh ! how tired and hungry. We had not gone far when we were gladdened by the sight of Sergeant Travis and his mule, for we were sure a wagon with food was close at hand. After halting just long enough to draw our rations and cook some coffee, we resumed our march, moving at quick time all the way. It was past midnight when we reached our knapsacks, but once there blankets were soon unrolled, and before many minutes had passed the ground was covered with sleeping men. When we awoke next morning there was spread over us all a white blanket of snow.
During the forenoon (November 7) all of our men who had given out on our return march the night before, rejoined the regi- ment. and at three p. M. we were moving forward again. After a march of five miles we halted in a piece of woods near Salem. It had stormed all day, and we were obliged to clear away the snow before pitching our tents. Everything was wet; the cold air chilled us, and we passed a sleepless and most dreary night. At eight o'clock next morning we were off again ; pushed on, with but one or two rests, until two p. M., when we reached and were halted at Orleans. For a number of days our principal diet had been hard bread, and short rations at that, and so thoroughly ex- hausted were many of our men at the end of that day's march, that they truthfully expressed themselves as caring but little whether the following morning found them dead or alive.
We remained at Orleans three days. It was during this halt that General George B. McClellan was removed from, and Am-
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HISTORY OF THE 124TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
brose E. Burnside assigned to, the command of the Army of the Potomac.
On the 10th, Colonel Cummings went out, with a small squad of men, on a foraging expedition, and brought in twenty-three sheep and a bull. The sheep were soon dressed, and issued to the regiment. The bull was tied to one of the supply wagons over-night, for we were to move at an early hour in the morning, and it was thought best to keep and kill him at the end of our next day's march ; but he roared, and tore up the ground, and pulled the wagon around to such an extent that night, that some- body deemed it expedient to cut his lordship loose, and at an early hour in the morning he elevated his tail, shook, and then lowered, his head between his fore-legs, gave us a farewell roar, and struck a bee-line for his home, or some other place, carrying away, as he bounded through the neighboring camps, a dozen or more tents-the feelings of the occupants, at being so uncere- moniously aroused from their morning slumbers, can better be imagined than described.
On the 11th we moved forward about six miles, and encamped near Waterloo. On the evening of the 15th, a body of the enemy's scouts made a dash at, or accidentally ran into our pickets, strik- ing the line at a point where the detail from the 122d Pennsyl- vania was joined by that of the 124th New York, which con- sisted of twenty men under command of Lieutenant W. E. Wey- gant of Company B. Just what occurred I was not at the time, nor have I since, been able to learn. The result was the loss of three of their own men, and the capture of three Confederates by the Pennsylvanians, while Lieutenant Weygant and his men, with- out loss on their part, captured and brought in two of the enemy.
At five o'clock on the morning of the 16th we started again, but instead of moving to the front, changed direction to the left, and at the end of a four hours' march, found ourselves at Warren- ton, where Whipple's command joined, and became a part of, Hooker's Grand Divsiion.
Warrenton was one of the largest villages we had passed through since our entry into Virginia. It was the county-seat
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FROM MINERS' HILL TO FALMOUTH.
of Fauquier county, and had evidently been a place of no small pretensions. Its public buildings-consisting of a court-house and three churches-had all been rather imposing structures, but they were then almost in ruins, and showed evident marks of recent vandalism. A number of dwellings, and two large tents which were yet standing, had been used by the enemy as hospi- tals, and were found by Pleasonton's men, who, a few days before our arrival, had entered the place at the heels of a body of retreat- ing Confederates-filled with the enemy's sick and wounded.
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