USA > New York > History of the Twenty-second regiment of the National guard of the state of New York; from its organization to 1895, pt 1 > Part 20
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history of the twenty: Second Regiment
Cashtown road, to meet and hold in check a force of ours, sup- posed to be 40,000 strong, reported as advancing from the direction of Carlisle.
That Gen. Couch was still nervous is shown by his telegrams.
Gen. Couch to Gen. Meade :
HARRISBURG, July 6, 1863.
Gen. Smith, on the fourth and fifth, received your orders to join him. At I A. M. to-day I directed him to obey your orders, unless he found the enemy in retreat, and could operate effect- ively where he had been ordered to strike at Cashtown or Chambersburg. He should have nearly 10,000 men, but one- half are very worthless; and 2,000 cavalry, with a battery, can capture the whole party in an open country. This is why I put them in, or near, the mountains; there they could do service.
Gen. Smith gives in his report the following sum- mary of the march :
On Monday morning I marched the brigade by three dif- ferent roads, concentrating at Newman's Pass, behind Cash- town. We were, however, too late to intercept the trains which had gone that route.
Tuesday morning, I was proposing to enter the Cumberland Valley, and follow down the mountains toward Boonsborongh, when an order came from Gen. Meade to march to Gettysburg, which order was shortly after countermanded, with permission to do as I had proposed. The command was then marched to Altodale (Funkstown), and an officer sent to Chambersburg, to try and procure supplies, as my trains had failed to overtake me. A small supply being procured, the troops were marched, on Wednesday, to Waynesborough, where I found Gen. Neill, with a brigade of infantry and one of cavalry, and eight pieces of artillery. Here I was forced to wait for my trains to come up. but sent a cavalry scout to communicate with Gen. Meade, west of South Mountain.
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Thursday was spent in waiting for rations to come up, and for instructions from Gen. Meade.
On Friday I was ordered by him to occupy the enemy to the best advantage, and to be ready to join the Army of the Potomac, or Gen. Couch, as circumstances might require. Col. McIntosh was at once ordered, with his brigade of cavalry and four guns, to feel the enemy along the Antietam, below Leitersburg, which he did in the most skillful manner, driving his cavalry pickets across the creek upon their infantry and artillery supports. The cavalry was supported in this movement by two regiments of Pennsyl- vania militia, under Col. Frick, at Ringgold and Smithsburg, and one regiment, Forty-third New York Volunteers, from Gen. Neill's command, posted near Leitersburg.
On Saturday, hearing that the rebels had ordered a miller on March Run to grind wheat all night for them, Col. Brisbane, with two regiments of Pennsylvania militia, was ordered, if possible, to intercept the wagons going for the flour, and destroy the grain if he could not bring it off. These regiments were supported by the Sixty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers, of Gen. Neill's command. From two prisoners captured at the mill, we learned that the enemy had fallen back to Hagerstown.
Col. Brisbane's command was left at Waynesborough, with orders to march at daylight, and the rest of the troops were moved to Leitersburg, excepting the command of Col. Frick, which was ordered from Ringgold to Chewsville.
During the night an order came for Gen. Neill to join the Army of the Potomac at once, and, as no instructions were sent to me, I ordered Col. Brisbane to remain at Waynesborough, to guard my communications, and moved with what force I had with me to Cavetown. After posting my troops there, I reported, in person, to Gen. Meade, and recommended to him to divide my command among the old divisions of the Army of the Potomac before the anticipated battle. Under the supposition that this was to be done, I ordered Col. Brisbane to Hagerstown, and moved with the rest of the command to the Boonsborough turnpike, near Beaver Creek. Gen. Meade declined to distribute the militia, and I remained until Wednesday morning, when I
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received orders to send the New York State militia home, via Frederick, and the necessary orders were given. The Pennsyl- vania militia were concentrated at Hagerstown, under Col. Bris- bane, who was appointed military governor, with instructions to watch the fords at Williamsport and Falling Waters.
Gen. Smith's report fails to give the details of these marches, during which the Twenty-second three times crossed the mountains, of the incessant rains, the hor- rible roads, the want of food, which lasted until after leav- ing Waynesborough. Up to that time one meal a day was the usual allowance, and this generally consisted of bread (usually purchased from the farmers at a dollar a loaf) and apple butter. If the men could get meat once in three days they accounted themselves fortunate, and then the animal was driven into camp, shot, cut up, cooked and eaten in less time than it takes to write about it. Such meat, generally eaten without salt, was not very nourishing. It certainly was far from appetiz- ing.
The men had plenty of money. In fact, the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac who encountered their for- aging squads and heard their offers to purchase food, inquired with astonishment, "When were you fellows · paid off ?" But partly from the poorness of the country and partly from the ravages of the Confederates, food could not be obtained. In this semi-starvation all the militia, whether New Yorkers or Pennsylvanians, were common sufferers.
Leland says in his memoirs :
Although we had no tents, only a miserable, rotten old gun- cover,* and not always that, to sleep under (I generally slept
* It was brand new.
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in the open air, frequently in the rain), and often no issue of food for days; we were strictly prohibited from foraging or entering the country houses to buy food. This, which was :: great absurdity, was about the only point of military discipline strictly enforced (p. 259).
One afternoon we had to go up hill-in many cases it was terribly steep-by a road like those in Devonshire, resembling a ditch. It rained in torrents, and the water was knee-deep. The poor mules" had to be urged and aided in every way, and half the pulling and pushing was done by us. All of us worked like navvies. So we went onwards and upwards for sixteen miles. When we got to the top of the hill, out of one hundred privates, Henry, I and four others alone remained. R. W. Gilder was one of these, besides Landis and Lieut. Perkins-that is to say, we alone had not given out from fatigue; but the rest soon followed. * But what was worse, I had to lie all night on sharp flints, i. e. the slag or debris of an iron-smeltery or old forge, out of doors- in a terrible rain, and, though tired to death, got very little sleep; nor had we any food whatever, even then or the next day. Commissariat there was none, and very little at any time (Leland, p. 260).
On July 6 the Twenty-second marched until late at night, expecting to cut off the rebel wagon-train at Newman's Gap. It was dark as Erebus, but the numerous lights, and the sounds that were heard as they approached, convinced all that the movement had been successful, perhaps a little too successful. for it was evident that there were more infantry than wagons in their front. The surgeons took possession of a house and hung out their flag ; a few hurried preparations were made, and the regiments moved cautiously up, when the return of one of the scouts disclosed that the supposed enemy was only some
* The battery had horses, not mules.
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of the Brooklyn regiments, who had taken a shorter road, and come in ahead of this part of the brigade. Considerably disgusted at this intelligence, the regi- ment turned off into the fields which bordered the road, hungry and tired enough, and slept in the long, wet grass, till the early gray of the morning when they resumed the advance.
On reaching Newman's Gap, it was found that Lee's rear guard had passed through about eight hours before the Twenty-second got there, and that the fight, so con- fidently expected at this point, was " off " for the pres- ent. But, although disappointed in this respect, they were compensated by obtaining something to eat. In addition, they had the pleasure of having pointed out to them no less than six houses, in all of which Long street had died the previous night, and two others, where he was vet lying mortally wounded.
STATE HISTONLINE OFFICE, ALBANY, N. Y.
CHAPTER XXV.
ALTODALE, OR FUNKSTOWN.
O N Tuesday, July 7, the regiment started at daylight, without ra- tions, and marched three miles to Cale- donia Cross Roads, where breakfast was obtained. It then pushed on over muddy roads, rendered almost imprac- ticable by the march of Lee's army, passing crowds of Confederate prison- ers, brought in from the advance. These MARCHING THROUGH THE MUD. wore shabby, butternut-colored suits. and slouched along, looking not at all like the veteran soldiers that they were. One notable exception was a tall, black-bearded man, with his left arm in a sling, who glared around like a wounded lion as he strode past. The regiment also passed the smoking ruins of a large iron-mill, burned a day or two before by the enemy. The marching was very fatiguing ; the men had had no meat, and were weary and faint when, at 4 p. M., the division went into camp at Altodale, usually known as Funkstown. The place selected was a level piece of ground, in the midst of a beautiful grove. This was intersected by the Little
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Antietam-a rapid, clear little brook .- the whole form- ing an ideal camp, except that the ground was covered with projecting points of rocks, so that it was difficult for a man to find a place where he could lie down with any comfort. Rations soon came up, and when eaten, the men, although directed to sleep on their arms, for fear of an attack from Stuart's Cavalry then in the neighborhood, lay down, in first-rate spirits, and slept the sleep of the just, a heavy grand guard being sent out in advance.
During the night it rained heavily; but, too tired to wake up for any ordinary shower, the men sheltered themselves and their guns as best they might, and slept on. At about 3 o'clock it seemed as though the very fountains of the great deep had been broken up. The rain came down in solid sheets, compelling the most tired to rise. As one of the men remarked, "A common rain wasn't anything, but when the water got so deep where he was laying as to run into his cars, it really disturbed his sleep."
What a sight presented itself when daylight rend- ered objects visible ! The beautiful grassy plain, level as a billiard-table, on which the regiment had lain down so cheerfully the night before, was now a lake, beneath whose surface their guns, canteens and other paraphernalia, were slowly disappearing. The little brook had become a torrent, almost equal to the far- famed Yellow Breeches, which a few Brooklyn troops were vainly endeavoringto ford in order to rescue a pile of knapsacks and equipments which were being carried away by its sudden overflow. The smooth grass had vanished. On every side nothing was to be seen but mud,
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water and wet and muddy soldiers and horses, the men leaning against the trees, or looking unavailingly for stones or something to sit upon, for no man, no matter however wet or tired, will ever sit down in water or mud if he is able to stand.
From 3 to II o'clock. A. M. the rain continued with una- bated vigor. A few fires were started un- Imaking a fire at der the shelter of rub- Pa ber blankets, and coffee made, which put new life into the limbs of the men, and they became quite jolly. It is a noticeable fact that where things "become perfectly awful," when the mud is deepest and the rain the heaviest, their spirits appeared to rise with the difficulties of the situation (except when they had nothing to eat). In fact, they apparently enjoyed them- selves much more than when they were suffering from a slight annoyance, and accommodated themselves to really serious circumstances as though it was rather funny than otherwise. Nevertheless, the order to march was joyfully welcomed. This camp was noticeable as the place where many of the shoes of the men gave out, rendering it impossible for them to keep up with the column, although they did their best to do so.
STATE HISTORIAN'S OFFICE. ALBANY, N. Y.
CHAPTER XXVI.
JOINING THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
A FTER the regiment had eaten a light breakfast of hard-tack, the rain ceased and the skies cleared up. Leaving Altodale, Wednesday, July 8, the division followed the course of the Little Antietam, in a southwesterly direction, to Waynesborough, most of the time wading in mud over their ankles, and some- times to their knees, and went into camp in some Camp in the woods woods on the Waynesborough and Hagerstown pike, about two miles beyond, having marched about eleven miles. Here it became a part of the Third Brigade, Second Division of the Sixth Army Corps, whose white cross, artistically carved out of cracker, was at once adopted by a number of the regiment. In the subse- quent manœuvres it became a part of the Army of the Potomac.
Waynesborough was a pleasant little place, with many pretty and patriotic girls, the prettiest the men had seen since leaving Carlisle. The town, however,
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had been so cleaned out by the enemy that one could not even buy a tin cup. The foraging parties of the regi- ment scoured the country both in and outside the pickets with untiring zeal, but the results were meagre enough. During the three days they remained there, the Twenty-second had almost nothing to eat the first day and but a bare sufficiency afterward. Fortunately, there was nothing to hinder their sleeping, washing the mud out of their clothes (which they had to do piece- meal, having no others), and watching them while they dried. The Confederates were near by, and in strong force, their pickets being but two miles distant; and officers and men were required, by special orders, to be always on the alert. No passes whatever were permitted to be issued.
Gen. Meade, in his report of the battle of Gettys- burg, makes the following allusion to the arrival of the brigade, though he erroneously makes Boonesborough, instead of Waynesborough, the place where the division first joined him :
It is my duty as well as my pleasure to call attention to the earnest efforts at co-operation on the part of Maj .- Gen. D. N. Couch, commanding the Department of the Susquehanna, and particularly to his advance of 4,000 men under Brig .- Gen. W. F. Smith, who joined me at Boonesborough just prior to the with- drawal of the Confederate Army.
The following report of his arrival was made by Gen. Smith to Gen. Williams, Assistant Adjutant-Gen- eral of the Army of the Potomac :
WAYNESBOROUGH, July 8, 1863.
My command arrived here to-day, and finding Gen. Neill here have encamped so as to render him all possible assistance
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till definite instructions are sent to me. My command is an incoherent mass, and, if it is to join the Army of the Potomac, I would suggest that the brigades, five in number, be attached to old divisions, and thus disperse the greenness. They cannot be manœuvred, and, as a command, it is quite helpless, except- ing in the kind of duty I have kept them on in the mountains. I have here about. 4,000 men, and, I suppose, 2,000 have strag- gled away since I left Carlisle .*
Gen. Knipe is the only one I have with me who is at all serviceable, and he is anxious to get back to his own brigade in the Twelfth Corps. I am utterly powerless, without aid, and in the short time allotted to infuse any discipline into these troops, and, for the reasons given above, make the suggestion as being for the best interest of the service.
This suggestion of Gen. Smith was a wise one, at least, as far as the New York troops were concerned. The trouble with them was the inexperience of their brigade commanders and the want of confidence the men felt in them. If mixed with the veterans of the Potomac, and put under experienced officers, their effi- ciency would have been doubled.
The following official communications show the situation at this time.
Brig .- Gen. Thomas H. Neill to Gen. Williams :
HEADQUARTERS LIGHT DIVISION ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
JULY 9, 1863.
" Baldy " (W. F.) Smith is here with his command. Col. Gregg, with a brigade of cavalry, who leaves for Boonesborough, will send this. A scout brings information that Lee has one corps intrenched on the Williamsport pike from Hagerstown, another on the Boonesborough pike, and Early is said to be up toward Middlebury (quien sabe ?) between Newcastle and Hagerstown.
* Mainly from illness, poor food and worn-out shoes.
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The news of the capture of Vicksburg is confirmed. Have sent a cavalry reconnaissance toward Hagerstown this morning. It has not returned.
Since writing the above, have felt the enemy's pickets, with a regiment of cavalry, at a bridge four or five miles from Hagerstown. They are stubborn. We drove them away, but they returned as we retired.
Gen. Smith is in with his mixed command. . Am delighted to have the benefit of his counsel and advice. We are all right, but watch Early's division on my right toward Middlebury.
Asst. Adjt .- Gen. Williams to Gen. Smith :
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, JULY 9, 1863.
The army will occupy the line from Boonesborough to Rohrersville to-day. The army (men and animals) is very much exhausted, and cannot advance as rapidly as desired. Although the information respecting the position of the enemy is not very definite, yet he is believed not to have crossed any large part of it over the Potomac, but is concentrating it between Hagerstown and Williamsport. Under these circumstances, definite instructions cannot be sent to you. You will look to the security of your command; join this army when you can do so with security, unless the operations of Gen. Couch require you to unite with him. Definite instructions will be sent you as soon as practicable. Although highly desirable that Gen. Neill should join his corps, yet he must be governed by your instructions.
Gen. Smith to Gen. Couch :
WAYNESBOROUGH, July 9, 1863.
I am here awaiting orders from you or Gen. Meade, and am much in want of shces, and will be happy to ride over and see you when you arrive at Shippensburg.
Gen. Smith to Gen. Williams :
WAYNESBOROUGH, July 10, 1863.
I had proposed to move the command to join the Army of the Potomac to-morrow morning, but, in consequence of your
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dispatch, shall await orders, and do my best here. The cavalry made a scout to-day, and found the rebels strongly posted on the right bank of the Antietam, below Leitersburg. I fear, if I am kept here to make a long march, I shall not be able to get into the fight.
On July 9 (Thursday), the division was greatly fatigued and very hungry. The commissary reported:
We shall have no rations to-day, as the Government train from Harrisburg has not been able to reach here, roads so bad and bridges washed away.
A little bread was obtained and a slice issued to each man. On July 10, the rations had not arrived, but some food was obtained at the houses. The men bathed in Antietam Creek and found it a great relief as some of them had not had their clothes off for over two weeks. That night the Twenty-second had dress parade, the first since leaving camp at Harrisburg.
The following general order was read in front of each regiment of the brigade :
HEADQUARTERS FIRST DIVISION, DEPT. OF THE SUSQUEHANNA,
WAYNESBOROUGH, July 11, 1863.
The brigadier-general commanding calls the attention of the command to the certainty of an early engagement with the enemy, and it is strictly enjoined upon brigade, regimental and company commanders to attend at once to the condition of the arms and ammunition of the men under them.
No time is to be lost in putting the arms in perfect order and seeing that the boxes are filled with cartridges.
The rations on hand must be cooked and put in haversacks, so that no detention will ensue when the order to march is given ; and also that the men may not suffer for food when it is impos- sible for the supply trains to reach them.
By order of
BRIG .- GEN. W. F. SMITH.
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This was very necessary. The incessant rains, the fording of streams and sleeping on the wet ground had kept the men's guns (muzzle-loaders) in horrible condi- tion. They had nothing with which to draw the charges. Consequently every day or two it was necessary to dis- charge them, and, to do this, from ten to fifteen caps would be expended. Even 4. W.W. the suffer - Pa. then the bullets would Cleaning sometimes not go twenty feet.
Once the regiment formed in line to fire a volley and not twenty rifles were discharged at the command, and fully ten minutes were spent before the greater part of the wet loads could be fired.
The following was the strength of the command, (which was known as the First Division, Department of the Susquehanna), on July 11, 1863:
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN.
8th New York
257
28th Pennsylvania 499
11th
510
3Ist 402
13th
310
32nd not stated
22nd
482
Gray Reserves 765
23rd
66
416
Blue Reserves 894
28th
3Ir
Pennsylvania Cavalry (two
37th
66
307
companies) 120
52nd
180
Miller's Battery 94
56th
324
Philadelphia Battery S7
68th
(not reported)
Com. officers, etc. 402
7Ist
66 450
27th Pennsylvania
696
Aggregate, 6,723
.
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This shows that the Twenty-second had kept well together. .
The gray uniforms of a number of the regiments of the division were not approved of by the veterans of the Army of the Potomac, and those wearing them were advised that their health would be improved by their exchanging them for blue blouses before they got into action, as there was great danger that they might get fired on from the rear as well as from the front.
CHAPTER XXVII.
MARCHING THROUGH MARYLAND.
O N Friday, July 10, the Twenty-third and Seventy- first went out two or three miles on the Green- castle pike, where they remained for the day. During the afternoon of Saturday, July 11, distant cannonading was heard, caused by Gen. Meade's feeling the enemy at Williamsport. Reports were current throughout the division of another battle in which Lee had been worsted, and the excitement was great, although such matters had got to be such an old story that the feeling was less than would be supposed About dusk, on the IIth the division marched for Maryland in high spirits. On the way, the Twenty-second marched and counter-marched a good deal, losing three hours' time and its temper, in consequence of Gen. Ewen hav- ing forgotten that in going through a strange country he could not get on well without providing himself with a guide. Consequently, it was not until after dark that it reached the Antietam, at Scotland's Bridge, although this was only about two miles out. The bridge had been burned, and was still smoking, and the men were ordered to ford the stream. As no one knew the depth, the men took off their trousers, or rolled them
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up to their hips, only to find the water not two feet deep. Once across, a pleasant moonlight march over a first-rate road soon brought the column to the border ; and when the officers announced, "That house marks the line, boys!" it was with no small gratification that the men shook off the dust from their feet, singing, with great impressment, the Union version of " Maryland -- my Maryland," together with a number of parodies not very complimentary to the " men we left behind us." It appears from the records that some objection was antici- pated on the part of a portion of the troops to their being sent out of Pennsylvania. Nothing of the kind ever existed in the New York regiments, and they heard of nothing of it among their Pennsylvania associates.
A few miles from the line, the regiment camped by division in a large field. Many, in reading of a camp by division, imagine a most picturesque scene, of long lines of snowy tents being pitched, while trees are felled for firewood, and all sorts of poetic things take place. Nothing of the kind occurs. On arriving at the selected spot (generally a large field), the regiments file in one after another, taking their places in the order in which they marched, and break to the rear so as to form column by divisions. The orders are given: "Halt! Stack arms! Go for rails !! " Every man simultaneously drops his traps where he stands, and makes a bec-line for the tall worm-fences, which are vanishing in every direction, as if by magic. One of these rails must be contributed to the company fire, and happy is he, who, in addition to procuring his quota, can secure a couple more for himself ! Serenely reposing on their sharp edges, covered by his rubber blanket, if he has one, he
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