USA > New York > Dutchess County > The "Dutchess county regiment" (150th regiment of New York state volunteer infantry) in the Civil War; > Part 4
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Details were made from all the regiments to bury the dead. As the dead of the Ist Maryland Confederate regiment, whom Maulsby's men met in the morning of July 3rd, were brought out of the woods, among them I noticed a stalwart six-footer with a heavy, short, black beard. He had, even in death, a look of severity if not of cruelty. Just then a squad of Maulsby's men came along and one of them, a little, stout chunk of a boy, stopped a moment, and, touching the fallen giant with the toe of his shoe, said, " You'll never kick me down the Maryland Institute steps again !" Upon inquiry, I
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BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.
learned that the man just slain had been Marshal Henry's Chief of Police in Baltimore before the war.
A plat of ground was subsequently selected for a Ceme- tery, and much care taken to designate the name of every soldier buried therein, but there are over six hundred graves in the plot marked "Unknown." In 1867, the interments numbered 3,564, showing that nearly 500 of those first reported as wounded had been added to those killed in action. Should any who visit Gettysburg wish to find the graves of our men, the following memoranda will aid them:
Co. A, John Van Alstyne, Grave 20, Section B, New York Plat.
Co. A, John P. Wing, Grave 21, Section B, New York Plat.
Co. A, Levi Rust, Grave 9, Section C, New York Plat.
Co. A, Charles Howgate, Grave II, Section C, New York Plat.
Co. C, Tallmadge Wood, Grave 82, Section B, New York Plat.
Co. G, B. C. Burnett, Grave 10, Section C, New York Plat.
Co. E, Jedidiah Murphy, Unknown.
Co. I, William H. Barnes, Unknown.
CHAPTER V. FROM GETTYSBURG TO VIRGINIA.
By CHARLES E. BENTON.
The Wreckage of Battle-Tragic Scenes-Following the Enemy-Long-Distance March- ing-Topography of the Country-Again Confronting the Enemy - Historic Harper's Ferry-Blackberries, a Feast for the Gods-Sickness in Camp.
The greatest battle of the greatest war of the 19th century had been fought and won. It was the introduc- tion of "The Dutchess County Regiment " to the gods of war, and the friends of the organization had no cause to blush for the manner in which it had conducted itself in the presence of the new and trying scenes.
Foot-sore and wasted by the forced marches and scant rations of the past week, worn with fatigue and loss of sleep during the battle, and without food for forty-eight hours, we awakened on the morning of July 4th to soon hear the welcome news that the enemy had retreated dur- ing the night, leaving both their dead and their severely wounded.
We were on ground which had been plowed from one direction by such of Lee's shells as had skipped over Cemetery Ridge, and from the other direction by the enemy's fire from their line which had confronted us at Culp's Hill and Rock Creek. On every side was the wreckage of battle, and many of the wounded had not received even the first attention of the surgeons. Our
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FROM GETTYSBURG TO VIRGINIA.
long fast was soon broken by the distribution of rations, which, during the whole of our participation in the battle, owing to the fact that the regiment had been so con- stantly under fire, the commissary had failed to supply us with.
One of the first duties to which a detail was assigned was the burial of the regiment's dead, eight in number, who were laid at rest at the skirt of the woods which covered Culp's Hill, their graves being marked by boards on which the names, companies and regiment were cut. But during the year intervening before the bodies were removed to the National Cemetery the boards were prob- ably broken or lost, for only six of the names can be found in the New York Plat of the Cemetery.
Another detail was engaged for some two hours in assisting to bury the enemy's dead, which lay so thickly strewn in front of the line which our brigade held for five hours of the previous day. From this duty they were relieved, by order of General Lockwood, and towards night the regiment was marched some distance to the left, where it went into camp.
On the following day, July 5th, we remained at this place until nearly night, when we received marching orders. It now became the regiment's duty to follow along the rear of the army, and arrest and bring forward the stragglers, of which there were always a dragging trail in the wake of the army. Besides the minority who became detached from their commands by reason of wantonness, there were the greater number who thus lagged solely from their inability to keep up in the army's chase of the retreating enemy. Some were prostrated at the side of the road by sickness; some were completely
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
exhausted by hunger and fatigue; and there were some of the less seriously wounded who were attempting to keep their place in the line but could not.
Of these, the first class were arrested and sent to their commands under guard, there to be dealt with by their own officers. But the others had to be provided for by means of wagons and ambulances, so far as possible. The supply however was inadequate, and many were left behind, and among them were some of our own regiment, who joined us weeks afterward. This labor lasted until 10:00 P. M., when we arrived at a point near Littlestown, Pa., where we went into camp for the remainder of the night. On the next day we moved but a few miles, and again halted for the night.
On July 7th, we broke camp at 3:00 A. M., and before noon had made a record for rapid long-distance march- ing. Sixteen miles was then accounted to be a fair day's march, in doing which the troops were expected to aver- age about two miles an hour. But in a little less than nine hours from the time at which we had started on this day we covered nearly thirty miles. When it is con- sidered what the regiment had previously undergone, it will be seen that this was a severe strain on the powers of the men. Fortunately we went but a short distance in the afternoon, and early encamped for the night.
It was during this fatiguing day that the news came to us of the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4th, the very day on which Lee had begun his retreat from Gettys- burg. It was wafted along the line like a good omen, as indeed it was, and doubtless added an important factor in sustaining the flagging vitality of the regiment. Yet
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of the full significance of this double victory on our National Day, none of us could know at that time.
In order for the reader to understand the movements of the two armies, I will say a few words regarding the topography of the country in which we were operating.
Western Maryland is divided across, from north to south, by successive mountain ranges of the great Appala- chian mountains, and between these ridges lie valleys of some of the finest farming lands in the East. I remem- ber it as one of the pleasantest pastoral landscapes that I have ever seen, for it was entirely lacking in the dead uniformity of the Western farm scenes. While there were wide stretching fields rolling away in the distance, yellow with unharvested wheat, there were also wooded lands, rocky ridges, uplands, roads winding along pleasant streams, cascades and dells, and comfortable homesteads nestling among the shade trees and orchards.
The mountain range lying immediately west of our line of march since we left Gettysburg, was South Moun- tain, and on its farther side was Cumberland Valley, famed throughout a century for its fine farming lands. In this valley was Lee's army, making the best of its way back towards Virginia, harassed on its rear and flanks by our cavalry, and faced at every pass by the infantry.
On July 8th, we continued twenty miles farther to the south, passing through Frederick City and Middletown, to Burketsville, where we went into camp for the night. July 9th we moved towards the west, passing the moun- tain range through Crampton Gap, reaching Rhorersville about noon, having come twelve miles. We were now in the Cumberland Valley, in which Lee's army was, and in our entrance we were close to its borders, as was indicated
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
by subsequent events. On the following day we moved southward again some twelve miles farther, reaching the village of Smoketown.
July IIth, the regiment moved five miles farther, to the village of Fairplay, at which place there were indica- tions that we were in the near vicinity of the enemy. At one place a line of battle was formed, and skirmishers were thrown out. Several times during the day they were fired upon, but though every one was kept on the qui vive, yet there was no general engagement. At five the next morning there was another forward movement for about a mile, and again a line of battle was formed. In this position the regiment remained until night, when the line fell back a short distance and labored at the erection of breastworks, working all night.
These breastworks ran, a portion of the way, through woods of heavy timber, and where this was the case the timber of trees was largely used in their construction. For a considerable distance in our front also the timber was cut, and falling at random it formed, with its entangled branches and trunks, a formidable chevaux-de-frise, over which it would have been almost impossible for the enemy to attack us. I also noticed that there were convenient gaps so arranged that masked batteries could easily en- filade an assaulting force.
Morning found the regiment still at work, and with only the pauses for meals the labor continued all day. The breastworks thus hastily constructed were said to be some seven miles in length, with the ends resting on the Potomac river, and in their semicircular sweep enclosing Lec's army, which was thought to be crossing the river under difficulties, owing to high water from the late rains.
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FROM GETTYSBURG TO VIRGINIA.
About a mile in our front we could see the enemy build- ing similar defences, while between us were the two skirmish lines, who kept up a rapid firing during the day.
July 14th, our regiment, with two of the Maryland regiments, formed part of a force which was ordered to make a reconnoissance. A line was formed and skirmish- ers thrown out, but they moved only a short distance, and about the middle of the afternoon were ordered to fall back to the breastworks again. But about 8 o'clock in the evening marching orders were again received, and this time the regiment started on the most trying march of the campaign. The night was intensely dark, and the roads, from the rains and the passing of armies, were but swimming beds of water, and when we attempted to cross the fields the rich soil, if not as deep, made a more adhesive mud. And as if to increase our discomfort, the elements now broke forth in a furious night tempest.
I have not been able to ascertain how far we marched that night, but it could not have been many miles, though it was after midnight when the regiment halted. It seemed to us, still unaccustomed to campaigning, like an irony of military fate that at the earliest dawn we re- traced our steps and marched back to the breastworks we had left on the evening before. But in time we be- came accustomed to such beyond-understanding move- ments. Yet now we did not halt at the breastworks, but continued in a southeasterly direction, following the gen- eral course of the Potomac river, and before night we had covered twenty miles, arriving at Antietam Iron Works. Here the regiment remained until the morning of the following day, July 16th, when it again took up the line
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
of march and before noon reached the vicinity of Har- per's Ferry.
At this point the Shenandoah river, flowing in a north- erly direction through Virginia, joins the Potomac. Here, with united forces, the streams pass through the Blue Ridge range of mountains in a deep and picturesque gorge, famed for its romantic beauty and grandeur. The great mountain bluff which rises on the north side of this gorge is known as Maryland Heights. Following our line of march along the tow-path of the old canal which borders the river, we passed under the towering heights and around to their southeastern face. Here we climbed to a little side valley known as Pleasant Valley, and went into camp near Sandy Hook.
Up to this time we had been brigaded with three Maryland regiments, which were, in some sense, a kind of State Militia, for they were enlisted to serve north of the Potomac only. These regiments were now to be left behind, and in the new organization we became a part of the 3rd Brigade, Ist Division, of the 12th Army Corps. This Corps was commanded by Major-General Slocum. Colonel Ketcham was ordered to report to General Thomas II. Ruger, who commanded the 3rd Brigade, and we thus became an integral part of the Army of the Potomac.
Harper's Ferry is a post village situated on the south side of the Potomac, and on the west side of the Shenan- doah where these rivers join. It seemed as if nature never intended the place for a town, for on this narrow peninsula the village, from very necessity, is crowded together on the steep sidehill, and almost overhangs the water fronts. But insignificant as the place itself may
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FROM GETTYSBURG TO VIRGINIA.
appear, it is connected with a tragedy which is ranked with some importance among the nation's epochs. It was the scene of the only organized stand for liberty which the negro race have ever made in this country.
Some of us visited the old engine house which had served John Brown as a last fortress, and in which he was captured. He had knocked out bricks here and there, forming embrasures through which he could use his muskets. The walls had been mended, but the dif- ference in the color of the bricks showed plainly where the holes had been. The place had passed through scenes of camp and battle before we came there, and the bridge across the Potomac had been destroyed; but there was a pontoon bridge in its stead, which, for all army purposes, was a fairly good substitute.
July 19th, the regiment again broke camp, feeling a little restored by its two days of rest, and marching down the hill, and again under the overhanging brow of Mary- land Heights, we took our place in the seemingly endless stream of men, horses, wagons and munitions which con- stituted the army. We crossed on the pontoon bridge to Harper's Ferry, and skirting along the water fronts, crossed the Shenandoah on the old wooden bridge, and then began the tiresome mountain climb on the southern side of the gorge where the river cleaves the Blue Ridge mountains. After passing over the mountain we skirted along its eastern base until we reached the vicinity of Hillsdale, where the regiment halted for the night. On the following day we moved some eleven miles further and went into camp near Snicker's Gap, where the regi- ment remained three days.
The locality is not a " gap " in the ordinary sense, but is
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
a dip in the mountain range, where a road leads across to the Shenandoah Valley on the other side. The point is a place of some strategic importance, and there were evi- dences on every hand that it had been camped upon many times before our arrival.
This rest was a most fortunate one for the regiment, in the condition the men were reduced to by the hard- ships of war, and into which they had been so suddenly plunged. It seemed to us that Dame Nature had espe- cially provided here, in advance of our coming, a healing balm for our woes. On the old fields and hillsides of the abandoned plantations had sprung up a marvelous growth of blackberries, and they were just then in their fullest prime of ripeness. As may readily be imagined, this delicious fruit, with its well known healing and nour- ishing qualities, was to us a veritable feast of the gods. The men roved over the fields, eating unlimited quanti- ties; in fact they almost lived upon them for a few days.
We were now at the western border of that great undulating slope which, beginning at the base of the Blue Ridge mountains, stretches away eastward to the Poto- mac river and Chesapeake Bay, and over which so much active warfare had already been conducted during the previous two years. On the morning of July 23rd, the regiment again took up the line of march, and passing to the westward of Upperville, went towards Ashby's Gap; then returning, came back through Upperville, and after much marching and countermarching at last halted, about midnight, a few miles from Manassas Gap.
But our rest was short, for by four in the morning we were again on the road, and halted for the next night near White Plains. On the next day, July 25th, we
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FROM GETTYSBURG TO VIRGINIA.
marched through White Plains to Haymarket, and on the following day to Warrenton Junction, where the regi- ment was detained for five days. July 31st we moved about sixteen miles, reaching the Rappahannock river at Kelley's Ford, and on the following day crossed the river on a pontoon bridge. But on August 2nd the troops were moved to the north side of the river again, where the regiment established a more permanent camp.
The site selected for this camp was a most unfortunate one, for there were no good springs in its immediate vicinity. Though not close to the river, it was upon the low lands adjoining it, and it was peculiarly subject to the malarial fevers which infest the river districts of Virginia during the heated term of summer. This first campaign of an unusually hot summer was a very trying one for the men, and in their reduced condition they fell an easy prey to malaria, typhoid fever and dysentery, and the many kindred diseases.
Some conception of the extent of the sickness may be formed when it is stated that of the thirty-eight commis- sioned officers of the regiment there were presently but seven who reported for duty, the others being disabled by reason of sickness; and a like, or probably greater, pro- portion of the enlisted men were in a similar condition. The hospitals held about 250 of our members, but they were full to overflowing. As for the others, they were cared for in the camp by their comrades as best they might be.
Our duty here consisted in guarding the ford. The river at this place has a strength of current which made rapid and easy fording by a large force somewhat difficult,
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
hence it formed a natural front for our army there encamped.
After a month's experience with these malarial low- lands, during which we drank bad water most of the time, the regiment was removed a mile to the rear and placed in a new camp situated on a little hill of pines. It was also, at about this time, excused from the most of the army duties. The sanitary conditions of this camp were much better, and there was soon a perceptible improvement in the regimental health. But on September 15th there was another forward movement of the army. The regiment again crossed the Rappahannock, and passing through Stevensburg, marched to Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan; again encamping on low, swampy ground. It was now engaged in doing picket duty until September 24th, when it was again marched northward, reaching Brandy Station on the 25th, where, for the first time since leaving Balti- more, the regiment was paid.
CHAPTER VI. FROM VIRGINIA TO TENNESSEE.
By PLATT C. CURTISS.
Traveling in Freight Cars-Mountain Scenery --- Patriotism on the Way-A Winter Guarding the Railroad-Murders by Bushwhackers-Taxing the Citizens to Suppress It-More Murders-"The Simple Life"- Consolidation of Army Corps -- "Fighting Joe."
At this time great national events were being enacted in the West. After Grant's triumph at Vicksburg some of his troops had been moved towards Lower East Ten- nessee, but before they had arrived, there had been fought, just at the time when the "Dutchess County Regiment " was doing picket duty on the Rapidan, the battle of Chickamauga. It resulted in a defeat to our army there engaged. Yet while the victory was nomi- nally with the Confederates, it had cost them dearly, and proved to be a barren victory.
Sherman was now hurried forward from Vicksburg towards Chattanooga, Tennessee, with reinforcements, while arrangements were being made to send the IIth and 12th Corps from the Army of the Potomac to the same destination. In accordance with this plan for the dis- position of forces, on September 27, 1863, the " Dutchess County Regiment," then at Bealton, Va., some twelve miles north of the Rappahannock, loaded itself on a freight train which had been provided, and began its journey to its new field of achievements, in the West.
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
The cars were of the box type, much smaller than the cars of to-day, and furnished with fixed board seats run- ning transversely. About sixty men were allotted to each car, and by judicious stowage there was almost room enough for each man to have a seat. These were the conditions during our waking hours. Our route was via Washington and Harper's Ferry and across the Alle- ghany mountains westward.
The exhilarating and bracing effect of the mountain air and bright sunshine of late September soon dispelled the malaria from our systems, and we felt like "Giants refreshed with new wine." And the magnificent moun- tain scenery ! I shall not attempt to describe it. Some- times we skirted along the brow of a precipice where one might look down a sheer thousand feet into a sea of foli- age of variegated hues, and anon we plunged into the mid- night darkness of a tunnel, and then again into the bright sunshine.
We were not making schedule time, and often would be on the side-track for hours, thus having an oppor- tunity to boil coffee and fry bacon. Of course our com- missariat was looked after as well as human foresight could provide for, and Colonel Ketcham, whose first, last and constant thought was the welfare and comfort of his "boys," was constantly on hand to cheer and encourage us by his genial presence ; yet there were many deficiencies, even in our limited bill of fare.
As I stated previously, our space in the car allowed nearly room enough for each man to breathe in, provided all did not breathe simultaneously, in which event the sides of the car would have been unable to withstand the press- ure. Then, to revert to a subject which I dread to
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FROM VIRGINIA TO TENNESSEE.
think of, even after the lapse of more than forty years, I will endeavor to convey to your minds an idea of how we slept. We just had to sleep. Even mountain scenery and rarefied air were not everything.
Tired Nature's sweet restorer must have her innings, and we found by actual experiment that the average man required about two and a half or three times more space when sleeping in a recumbent position than he did when awake and sitting up. We also discovered that when we slept in layers more than two deep, the lower strata showed symptoms of discomfort, and was disposed to kick, and it was no figurative "kick" either.
Something had to be done. To the roof of the car! That's the idea ! Along the centre of the roof of the car was a plank, raised a couple of inches by blocks. Those of us who did not like the accommodations of the dormi- tory inside, could come up to the roof and have quarters on top. Such of us as went to the roof to sleep (about half of that car load I think) took the precaution to lash ourselves fast to the plank of which I have spoken, by canteen straps and gun-slings, so that Uncle Sam would not lose one of his good soldiers during the night. The government owned us for three years, and we had no right to jeopardize "Government property !"
As nearly as I can remember, we were two or three days and nights in crossing the Alleghany mountains, which is sub-divided into Blue Ridge, Shenandoah, Poca- hontas and Laurel Ridge ranges. Finally the mountains came to an end, and now we were gliding down the west- ern slope of the Alleghanies into the Ohio Valley. In due time we arrived at the Ohio river, and crossed at Benwood, four miles below Wheeling. Our journey
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
through the states of Ohio and Indiana was marked by such spontaneous manifestations of patriotism and loyalty that we felt as though we were really back in "God's Country " again.
From every farm house, hamlet and town, "Old Glory " greeted us, and more than ever before taught us that we were soldiers of a country well worth fighting for. The vast cornfields of these states, sometimes thou- sands of acres in extent; the flourishing cities and towns, with apparently uninterrupted traffic, and the evidences of material prosperity everywhere visible, broadened our view of our country's greatness, and proved to our minds that the resources of the North were practically unlimited.
At several places we were tendered receptions by the citizens en masse; notably at Xenia, Ohio, where the pupils of a young ladies' seminary, arrayed in red, white and blue, sang patriotic airs and waved flags, and, best of all, gave us all we could eat and drink; and at last they seemed really disappointed that our capacity had a limit.
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