USA > New York > Perry's saints; or, The fighting parson's regiment in the war of the rebellion > Part 12
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CHAPTER XIX.
A general review. Change in condition of the regiment. Barrett as provost-marshal. Delicate question. Colonel Coan. Gradual disbandment of the army. Discharge of the 48th. Some personal explanations.
LITTLE remains to chronicle in the history of the 48th. On the 20th of April, during the truce between the two armies, a general review was held in Raleigh by General Sherman. The 10th corps presented no such appearance as when it marched in review at Hilton Head. Few of the old officers and soldiers were left, and the experiences of the past year had been such as to preclude the possibility of keeping up that almost perfect condition and discipline for which we were so long noted. Our regi- ment had changed so much that it bore its share of the censure contained in general orders issued a few nights after the review. But sufficient allowance was not made for the peculiar hardships and exposures of the recent campaign, nor for the addition of so many
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[April,
new recruits, at a time when no opportunity was afforded for their proper training and drill. The work of all the troops was done and well done, and no censure should have mingled with the approval they so richly deserved.
After the surrender of Johnston, our brigade, commanded by Colonel Coan, remained in Raleigh, until sent home to be discharged from the service. Captain Barrett, now commis- sioned major, but unable to be mustered in, on account of the wound of Major Elfwing, which prevented his advancement, was made provost- marshal. The duties of the position were varied and peculiar, but, exercising that excel- lent good sense and kindly disposition which always characterized him, he gave general satisfaction. It must have been a little embar- rassing when he was called upon to settle the question between the negro and his two wives. Having been separated from the object of his early affections, by change of ownership, the negro had found another to solace and comfort him, with whom he had been living some twenty years, and the sudden appearance of wife number one with a request that he should
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1865.]
resume his former relations involved questions too deep for his understanding. The decision of the provost-marshal, that possession for so long a time established the right to hold, and that number one must continue to regard the separation as final, as she had done for so long a period of years, was satisfactory, at least to the negro and wife number two.
The order announcing that Johnston had surrendered, and that the troops would soon be marching homewards, was published April 27; but it was found no simple matter to disband so large an army, and, while no further hostili- ties were feared, there were many questions to be decided, arising out of the war, which required the presence of troops in the South.
The weeks and months which followed brought to the regiment little change from the regular round of guard and fatigue duty, in- spections and parades. Coan, who was a cap- tain of the regiment at its organization in 1861, was now its colonel. Almost the only one of the original officers who remained with the regiment, he had served constantly and faith- fully through the intervening years, and was
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[June,
finally mustered out with it. In every position which he occupied, whether commanding a company, the regiment, or a brigade, he always did his part well, and enjoyed the confidence and respect of every one. He had no enemies, because he always exercised the authority entrusted to him with good judgment and a due consideration for others. Sharing hard- ships and dangers equally with others, he was wonderfully spared, having never suffered seriously from sickness or wounds. His ser- vices on earth are now ended, but his memory is fondly cherished by all who knew him.
June 10, the remnant of the 117th New York State Volunteers was consolidated with our regiment, which became nearly complete in numbers, both of officers and privates. June 19, the 48th escorted the 115th New York to the depot, on their way home to become citizens again, and on the 23d, performed a similar duty for the 203d Pennsylvania Volunteers, which had been brigaded with it for many months.
On the 26th, the regiment was considerably reduced, by the mustering-out of all those whose term of service would expire before
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September. From this time onwards the story of the journals before us is a dull and unvaried account of simple and uninteresting details, which continues until August 31, when the regiment was mustered out of the service of the United States. On Sunday, September 3, it started in the cars for City Point, where it took steamer for Baltimore. September 5, it arrived in New York city, and on the following day was conveyed to Hart's Island, where it remained encamped until the 12th. On that day, the pay roll was signed for the last time, the regiment was discharged, and the men were transported to New York city, free and inde- pendent citizens once more.
This completes the history of the struggles and triumphs of " the Saints," so far as it could be gleaned from the materials at hand. The assistance received from the several journals sent me I have already acknowledged, but while drawing as largely as possible from these, I have been compelled to rely to a great extent upon my own. This was kept with constancy and regularity from day to day, during my whole term of service, and has been useful not
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only in furnishing such facts of our daily expe- rience as it contained, but also in recalling by its perusal much that was unrecorded which has come back to me from the sleeping recesses of memory. If out of this great dependence upon a personal narrative there appears more of the individual than is seemly and proper, I beg, especially from those who participated in the scenes depicted, a charitable construction of this natural if not necessary tendency, and that I be absolved from any intention to give to my own special services undue prominence.
CHAPTER XX.
Special references to some of the officers of the regiment. Remarks upon prominent questions before the country. Finis.
OF some of those who were my companions . during the progress of the war I have made men- tion, but in the final review of narrative I am reminded of many others whom I have omitted, to whose worth I could testify with earnestness and feeling. I am conscious, also, of not having given sufficient prominence to the social life in the army. Our duties were oftentimes severe, trying, and perilous ; but it was not all duty, and my intercourse with many if not most of the officers whom I met was both elevating and stimulating, especially within our own regi- ment. I remember well my first introduction to Captain (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel ) Strickland. He was officer of the day when I made my first application to be admitted to the camp at Fort Hamilton. " What are you here for ?" he asked, to which I replied that I hoped
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to become an officer of the regiment. "Impossi- ble !" said he, " and I advise you to take your- self off as quickly as possible, as every officer has been selected, and there isn't a ghost of a chance for you." Further explanation, how- ever, effected an entrance to the camp; and be- fore the guard was relieved I had been regu- larly mustered into the service, as second lieu- tenant of Company G. Notwithstanding the brusqueness of his first salutation, I found him to be an educated gentleman, and my relations with him while he remained in the service were intimate and most agreeable. Of Lockwood I have already written, but have only faintly ex- pressed the constant pleasure which I enjoyed in his companionship. Hurst and Edwards, both sacrificed at Wagner, although of diverse habits and tastes, contributed their full share to the social life of the regiment, while Carleton, Miller and Bodine are all living to enjoy the memory of their faithful service in camp and field. Among the younger officers was Dr. J. Mott Throop, assistant surgeon. I could not for- get him ; for, while lying in the hospital, stricken down with fever, he brought me the welcome
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papers which made me free again. Better than medicine had been his friendly offices ; but bet- ter than all else combined was the release from army life when there could be no hope of res- toration to health, and consequently no further efficient service. In all the world he could find no lovelier scenes than now surround him in his home among the Berkshire Hills. As he goes his daily round of ministration to the sick and suffering, may the beauty which appeals to him from hill and mountain side and peaceful valley minister to his soul continual comfort and joy, is the sincere wish of his friend and former comrade. Now, having told my story and rendered these forgotten tributes, I seem to hear the patient reader who has fol- lowed me to this point say : Why don't he add the finis and have done. So perhaps I should. But may I not be indulged in a few reflections which seem to claim a relationship with the events herein narrated ? Since the surrender at Appomattox, another generation has arisen, and many of those who were too young to parti- cipate in, or even understand, the questions in- volved in the war have grown to manhood and
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are occupying places in the State and National councils. The war is indeed over, but to these, and to all others who aspire to official positions, -yes, and equally to the people at large,-there remain duties to perform, difficulties and perils to encounter. Not so great, it may be, as those here narrated, but such as shall test the loyalty and patriotism as surely if not so severely as in the scenes herein depicted. The colored peo- ple of the South have been endowed with the full rights of citizenship under the law ; but the task remains of fitting them for the exercise of this great privilege, and protecting them against injustice and wrong. Under the influence of a discontented and vicious class of emigrants from the old world who have brought from its oppressions and want a spirit of rebellion against even the most necessary restraints of society, serious divisions have been created. The poorer and those who call themselves the laboring class have arrayed themselves in or- ganized antagonism against those more sa- gacious and more successful than themselves. The cry of the communist of Paris is being repeated here and must be heeded, or the most
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unhappy results may follow. May we rest, then, in blind security, or shall the men of this and coming generations rather emulate the spirit of their fathers who, with true devotion to principle and duty, freely offered all, even life itself, on the altar of their country ? Let the questions which now occupy the minds of the people be settled on the broadest principles of justice. Let every wrong that now disturbs the peace and well-being of society be met and adjusted, with the fullest regard for the welfare of the humblest and most dependent, and may the spirit which animated the "Saints" be the promise and fulfilment of the hopes and prayers of those who sought these shores whereon to found a government which should guarantee to all men freedom, justice, and equality.
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