USA > New York > The Ninth New York heavy artillery : a history of its organization, services in the defe battles, and muster-out, with accounts of life in a rebel prison, personal experiences, names and addresses of surviving members, personal sketches and a complete roster, pt 1 > Part 2
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Colonel Welling will without delay establish his headquarters at the city of Auburn and proceed in the organization of the Regiment in conformity with the provisions of General Orders No. 52 from this Department.
By order of the Commander-in-Chief,
THOMAS HILLHOUSE, Adjutant General.
The spot selected for the camp on Moravia street, south of Owasco creek, did long and valuable service, during the war period, as a mustering place for regiments and recruits. It was central, conveniently reached, and thousands went thence to the field of strife, many never to return. When last visited there were no traces of the ancient camp, but thistles and other weeds grew rank over the area where erstwhile, begin- ning soldiers learned their rudiments and dreamed of glory to be won in coming days. So near the city, it is not a little strange that building advances have not covered these acres with the abodes of men. They are still bare, and he who will may sit upon the enclosing fence, possibly a war relic, and moralize on the mutability of human plans. By far the greater number of those who here essayed the fortunes of war have, ere this, been mustered into another life.
Camp "Halleck" was a tribute in name to Henry Wager Halleck, an Oneida county man, a graduate of West Point. then gaining some distinction in Washington circles as "Old Brains." but he never won. in the Cabinet nor in the field. the honors that his admirers would have been glad to see him wear. However, places must have names, and the first camp
15
SECOND CAYUGA AND WAYNE REGIMENT.
of our regiment was thus designated. Hither repaired the boys and men from Cayuga and Wayne. The ranks were practically full when the camp was formed, and it is safe to say that no similar organization, in-the Empire State, ever had a more spontaneous nor enthusiastic raising than this of ours.
THE FIELD OFFICERS AND STAFF WERE:
Colonel, Joseph Welling of Wayne.
Lieutenant Colonel. William H. Seward, Jr., of Cayuga.
Major, Edward P. Taft, Wayne.
Adjutant, William R. Wasson, Cayuga.
Quartermaster, Henry P. Knowles, Wayne.
Surgeon, Samuel A. Sabin, Wayne.
Chaplain, Warham Mudge, Wayne.
The first ten companies, ready August 26th, were as follows:
FROM WAYNE COUNTY:
Co. A, Captain, James W. Snyder; First Lieut., James H. Hyde; Second Lieut., Rufus M. Campbell.
Co. B, Captain, Truman Gregory; First Lieut., Nelson F. Strick- land; Second Lieut., William E. Greenwood.
Co. D, Captain, Charles L. Lyon; First Lieut., Anson S. Wood; Second Lieut., Samuel C. Redgraves.
Co. G, Captain, William Wood; First Lieut., William Hawley; Second Lieut., Seymour Woodward.
Co. H, Captain, John L. Crane; First Lieut., Tunis Vosburg; Second Lieut., Daniel B. Harmon.
FROM CAYUGA COUNTY:
Co. C, Captain. Loyal W. Alden; First Lieut., Harvey W. Fol- lett; Second Lieut., Marshall W. Burke.
Co. E, Captain, Selah Cornwell; First Lieut., Seth F. Swift; Second Lieut., George C. Stoyell.
Co. F, Captain, Charles Burgess; First Lieut., Geo. W. Bacon; Second Lieut., Sullivan B. Lamoreaux.
Co. I, Captain, Hugh Hughes; First Lieut., Orson Howard; Second Lieut., Philip R. Freeoff.
FROM CAYUGA AND WAYNE:
Co. K, Captain, Irvin Squyer; First Lieut., Dennis E. Flynn; Second Lieut., George P. Knapp.
. .....
16
NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
The foregoing represent the organization as affected in Au- burn. Later, when the regiment became the 9th Heavy Artil- lery, two new companies were added, as follows:
Co. M, Captain, John D. Numan; First Lieuts., Melanchthon W. Brown and William DeW. Pringle; Second Lieuts., Robert C. Worthington and Edwin J. Clark.
Organized at Lockport as the 22d Independent Battery, it was principally a Genesee county company. Its final disposi- tion, as is seen, was a union with the 9th.
Co. L, Captain, Frank A. Sinclair; First Lieuts., S. Augustus Howe and Joseph W. Jewhurst; Second Lieuts., Wil- liam W. Sinclair and Charles W. Squyer.
This company, made up largely of veterans, was recruited in various parts of the state, but to a considerable extent in Oswego county.
Camp life in Auburn or Camp Halleck differed in no essen- tial respect from that in scores of similar places in other por- tions of the country. To a considerable extent, officers and men were beginners together. While Colonel Welling had the title of captain from some local company, Lieut. Colonel Seward had been a private in the Auburn Cadets. Major Taft and Lieut. Wood had served in the militia, and very likely other officers had had more or less of similar service. There were no West Point attainments to which the greenness of newly enlisted boys was almost criminal. Alike learners, all had charity for the defects of each. Field, line, file, and the ranks had need of close study of Casey's Tactics, and nearly every man tried to do his best. Military rigor in the maintenance of camp was not only distasteful. but, to the minds of many of these lively country boys, quite unnecessary. Except for the temporary restraint of school days. there had been few days in their lives when they could not come and go when and where they chose. Hence, guards, passes and countersigns were not over-popular. Indeed, on one occasion, September 5th, just one week before the departure of the regiment, a barn was consumed by fire in plain view of the camp. The boys, many of them. were not used to conflagrations like this, and those who were had been accustomed to run when they liked.
17
SECOND CAYUGA AND WAYNE REGIMENT.
In spite of guards, they went, pell-mell, to the creek which intervened between them and the fire. Nothing but a thorough drenching brought some of them to their senses, and a realiza- tion that they had flagrantly violated the rules of camp. The guards had threatened to shoot with their unloaded guns, but were only laughed at for their pains. In fact, all things con. sidered, said guards are entitled to considerable credit, in that they did not run also. The boys, however, were culpable, and before morning they began to comprehend the nature of their offense. The officers held a council on the matter, but finding fully one-third of all those in camp to be offenders, it was con- cluded to strain the quality of mercy and to let them off for this time. This wise conclusion was all the more readily reached in that punishment for so large a number was difficult to devise. As an offset, it is chronicled that certain soldiers, on their very first Sunday in camp, went to the Episcopal Church, where the Sewards attended, and on that same Sunday organized a Bible class with twelve members. Stephen Reeves, of Company B. was chosen teacher, and the class had regular meetings till active service in the field began. Their first les- son was the second chapter of Matthew. Apparently only the "begat" recital prevented their taking the first chapter, for it is evident they set out with the intention of going through the New Testament if the war lasted long enough.
Perhaps no more ludicrous incident is recalled of the stay in Camp Halleck than that on parade, when Lieut. Colonel Seward's horse, like many of the soldiers, just from the farm, deliberately lay down, so frightened was he at the firing of a cannon. Even military dignity could not restrain the risibles of amused beholders.
Camp regimen and lodging had their day and night of wonder. The secrets of his prison-house, which the ghost of Hamlet's father wisely withheld, could not have been more astonishing than those of the cook-house, whose mysteries few ever had the temerity to penetrate. The preparation of food in large quantities for so great an array of eaters. inevitably produced conditions quite repulsive to boys who, in the main, had known only "mother's cooking," but even they, in time, grew used to "salt horse," potatoes with "skins on," and the entire absence of side dishes, which so bountifully bespread the home table. Crockery and cutlery were not of an extray- 2
18
NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
agant nature, and men soon learned how many seeming neces- sities there were without which they could get along nicely. No feathers nor spring mattresses wooed the drowsy god's embrace, nor were there sheets of snowy whiteness to receive wearied bodies. Three-tiered bunks, with not over-generous supplies of straw, covered with blankets, soon proved a bed on which the sweetest rest could be found. So readily on neces- sity do we part with the veneer of civilization! The very wisest of philosophers do not yet know when we live nearest to nature's heart.
There were amenities in those days worthy of record. Thus, on August 30, Lieut. S. F. Swift, of Company E, was made the recipient, on dress parade, of a sword by his parents and wife. The Hon. Christopher Morgan made the presentation, and it was received for the modest officer by N. T. Stephens, Esq. The same day saw sword, belt. etc., given to Captain Burgess, of Company F, by the North Street Methodist Church, and on the following Sunday, the Sunday-school gave to him, the retir- ing superintendent. a Bible. On this same Sunday Captain Squyer was presented with a sword by his fellow citizens of Ira. Monday Lieut. Col. Seward was similarly remembered. Septem- ber 4th Company I indicated its appreciation of Captain Hughes by giving him a sword; Lieut. Hyde received his weapon from the ladies of Huron and Wolcott, and on the 10th came the presentation of regimental colors.
On the Sth of September all the companies, except Company B, were mustered into the service of the United States for three years by Captain H. DeB. Clay, of the 14th U. S. Infantry. Company B, with the field and staff. were mustered the fol- lowing day, but it was not till the 29th day of the month that the organization was officially designated as the 138th Infantry.
The twenty-four hours immediately following the muster-in appear to have been particularly lively, for again the careful chronicler states that police and guard duty kept him up all night. Possibly exhilaration incident to new obligations was responsible for the pandemonium that ensued. "Many ran the guard; the sutler's quarters were attacked; the barber-shop was burned: one man was put in the dungeon for inciting a mob against the cook-house. His fellows pulled the staple and let him out. An officer, high in command, chased a private around the camp, swearing at him and even threatening to
-----
19
FROM AUBURN TO WASHINGTON.
shoot him. The men were paid, but not in full, two dollars each being retained to be distributed later; reason, a lack of small bills. Citizens were driven from the camp, all of whose approaches were thronged with people. At dress-parade the men were told that no orders to move had been received. Dur- ing the night a party of men went out after water. While away the guard was changed and the new one refused to let the men in.who, nothing loth, proceeded to the city for accommodations." Thus the story runs on, trivial, possibly, to-day, but exciting and interesting then. A peculiar entry is made in one diary to the effect that, September 10th, ladies of the city fix pockets on the soldiers' coats, certainly ministering angels then. Dur- ing all of these days in early September, rumors of departure were rife. Uniforms had been distributed and arrangements made to leave on the 10th and again on the 11th, and on the later date citizens sent in a lunch for the men. This proved to be the last day in Camp Halleck for the 138th New York Volunteer Infantry, or the second Cayuga and Wayne regi- ment.
CHAPTER II.
FROM AUBURN TO WASHINGTON.
The morning of Friday, September 12th, came early, for the camp was roused at 4 o'clock. This was to be the day of de- parture, so long expected and so often deferred. Few thought of it as an unlucky day, since the inherent desire for a change, of whatever kind. overbore all ancient superstitions. Still it was & o'clock before the extra train drew out of the city. Enlisted to its maximum, officers and men were justly exultant over the prospect. The first intentions had been to go south by the way of Harrisburg, but possible troubles on the Northern Cen- tral railroad rendered the New York city route preferable. If the old station in Auburn could only talk, what a recital it might give of leave-takings beneath its somewhat dingy cover- ing. Hearts in the nearby state's prison* could not be sadder.
.The main entrance to New York's largest prison, where several thousands of convicts are confined, is just opposite the railroad sta- tion.
20
NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
though theirs were sad enough, than those which beat with extra emphasis as the hasty good-by kiss was here snatched and hands were finally shaken. Friends, to remain in the now shadowed homes, strained their eyes for a last glimpse of those whom the iron horse bore swiftly away. The latter, though hurrying to scenes of toil and danger, were still to have their minds absorbed by new sights and new interests. The depart- ing ones were to act, and so be diverted from absorbing thought, but those at home, with the monotonous round of daily duties, were to think and think-to consume their souls with carking care, and thus, with wrinkled brows and whitened locks, to grow old before their time.
All this is retrospective. At the time itself the long train sped away towards Syracuse; Oneida was reached at noon, where some may have lunched, but cooked rations of bread and meat were distributed through the train. Again the boys felt the restraint supposed to be necessary when the sovereign American became a soldier. Lest the freely enlisted man should leave the cars without asking, the doors were locked, but budding battle heroes were not to be thus deprived of freemen's privileges, and they proceeded with improvised tools to unserew the locks and to lay them one side, though the way to escape, thus opened, does not seem to have been utilized. As Americans, they breathed more freely when they knew that they were not under lock and key. If those boys used their eyes and their memories as they rode through central New York, there was abundant opportunity to burnish up their country's early history. In Rome they might have seen the site of old Fort Stanwix, repeatedly besieged by hostile for, the last time during the Revolution. At Oriskany, toward the south, some person might have pointed out the place where General Herkimer bravely died in 1777, doing his best to with- stand the Indians' savage assaults, and so advance the Ameri- can cause. Utica could show the site of Fort Schuyler, and, as the train swept along the banks of the beautiful Mohawk, did not more than one boy, with music in his soul, sing:
"Oh, sweet is the vale, where the Mohawk gently glides, On its clear, winding way to the sea."
At Schenectady, sharp eves might have caught glimpses of Union College, where still presided Dr. Eliphalet Nott, who,
.
21
FROM AUBURN TO WASHINGTON.
more than forty years before, had affixed his name to the di- ploma of William H. Seward, now secretary of state, and the father of our young lieutenant colonel. After all, it is proba- ble that Old Sledge, rather than old places and events, absorbed the regimental mind, and pictured cards, rather than pano- ramic nature, filled the soldier's fancy till, at nightfall, the train rolled into Albany, the capital of the state.
To dine at the Delavan House in those days was, through- out the Empire State, considered pretty near the climax of luxury, and just this honor was to be done the 138th, at the expense of the good people of this ancient Dutch city, though it must be stated that the supper was not served in course, nor a la carte. A fall of rain rendered the event somewhat moist, and standing in the mud was not over pleasant to the compa- nies that had to bide a bit for those who ate first. However, everything comes to him who waits, and, finally, through the back door, our boys filed into the capacious dining-room, were regaled with sandwiches and coffee, and their canteens were filled with water. To banquet a thousand men, even in this simple manner. was no trifling task, and some, towards the end, had to eat rather hurriedly, but all marched away through the mud and the rain to the ferry, for this was long before the days of Hudson river bridges. It is claimed that Colonel Welling found freight cars in waiting to take his men to New York. To this the colonel stoutly objected, saying that his soldiers should not leave their native state like cattle, and that unless better cars could be found he would camp right there. His persistence prevailed, and railroad resources soon devel- oped better facilities for transportation.
At 10 o'clock P. M. the regiment was again in motion, but even cards yield to the influence of Morpheus, and beds are made upon the floor, space there for the same being found. since the seats were arranged around the sides of the cars. Only in dreams are seen Sir Henry Hudson and his ship. the Half Moon; West Point, the nursery of heroes, and the Pali- sades, rivaling in grandeur the shores of the Rhine. Were the games of Rip Van Winkle's bowlers a hundredfold louder. all their din had been drowned in the noise of our train as it swept through the Catskills. Tarrytown scarcely evoked a single memory of Revolutionary cow-boys, for the soldiers slumbered on till, at daybreak, New York was reached.
22
NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
Thereupon followed on this, the 13th day of September, a short march to City Hall park, where quick Wayne and Cayuga eyes detected the printing offices of the Times and Tribune, papers that, in many homes, were rated next to the Bible. Some of the boys fully expected to see Horace Greeley step forth, white overcoat and all, to receive them. To some, the barracks were not agreeable, and the open air was preferred as a camping- place to the somewhat suspicious interior, where, to put it mild- ly, excessive neatness did not reign. At 9.15 breakfast had not been served to at least some of these early rising boys from the country, whose gastric condition may readily be imagined. With mingling of bitter and sweet, the day passed till, at 6 P. M., objectors to the first proffered barracks were marched to better ones opposite the Astor House, now the site of New York's great post-office. There were all sorts of ways to pass the time; one writer says he spent the day at the Astor House, but had to go on guard at night. Surely his purse must have been supplied from some other source than his soldier's wages. a whole month of which would not have paid three days' living in what was then America's most famous hostelry. Central Park was just beginning its career of splendor, and many sought its beautiful walks. Barnum's show was close by, and it had many a visitor from the 25th Senatorial District, to whom Barnum's name had long been synonymous with all that was curious and wonderful. There was no trouble in passing a day in New York, if only one could get out.
Sunday found the regiment ready to go or stay, as pleased the authorities. Among other diversions of the day, a party of fifteen. under charge of a sergeant, was made up to eross over to Brooklyn to hear Henry Ward Beecher preach in his own Plymouth pulpit. He had just returned from his vacation, and the uniformed visitors were promising themselves a brilliant treat, when, in the midst of the preacher's prayer, they were summoned by special messenger, Lieut. Greenwood of Company B, and ordered to return at once to camp. for the regiment was about to move. So out they went and hurried back to City Hall park, but not to march away, only to receive the remainder of their military outfit. Their guns were the obsolete Belgian rifles with sabre bayonet, and. with the accompanying cartridge- boxes, they became soldiers indeed. But they were not to be deprived of a sermon, though he was not Beecher who talked.
23
FROM AUBURN TO WASHINGTON.
Chaplain Mudge here preached his first sermon in camp, and was followed by Capt. Gregory of Company B, also a clergyman. A stranger who had been in the South also tried to make up the Beecher loss, and small hymn-books, then given out, served as tangible mementoes of the day and hour. Company B's Bible class had a short meeting, and the evening diversion was an address by Parson Brownlow of Tennessee in the barracks. As many chroniclers mention his remarks in close connection with their recollections of Barnum, it is not difficult to infer what kind of impression the sulphurous sentiments of the Knoxville preacher made on his Cayuga and Wayne listeners. No one doubted his intense loyalty and thorough bravery,
SAL
UNION
VOLUNTEERS
From "Hardtack and Coffee," by permission.
THE UNION VOLUNTEER SALOON.
though some must have recalled sundry punishments, received in their boyhood, for using language far less emphatic. From the foregoing, it must not be inferred that all members of the 138th were on church attendance bent, for there were those who were given to excessive imbibings at gardens, more or less re- mote, and whose resultant condition rendered their return more peremprory and also more noisy than that of the men who had endeavored to remember the fourth commandment.
Monday morning begins at 4.30 with some of these men, but it is fully half past ten before they march to the Hudson river and cross by ferry to Monmouth Point. N. J. Thence by rail the regiment is again flying southward. Western New York eves note a wide difference in the respective localities. Huckle-
24
NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
berry bushes, scrub-oak and pines take the place of more stately trees in their own more favored section. In this barren land, two misguided men desert, and when their captain reports the same, he is consoled with the reply, "Let the d-d fools go, they will have the worst of it." All the afternoon and evening are passed in their New Jersey ride, and it is nearly midnight when Pennsylvania's chief city is reached. But it made no difference in Philadelphia at what hour soldiers arrived, early or late, from the 27th of May, 1861, till the last weary boy in blue had returned to his northern home, the good people of this City of Brotherly Love fully exemplified their name. Nearly 1,200,-
COOPER , SHOP
VIM COUPER &
VOLUNTEER
REFRESHNEW
SALON FREE
!"
CO ID BAPTIST BETHELINE
SOLDIERS HOSPITAL
Wr.M.COOPER&0
From "Hardtack and Coffee," by permission.
THE COOPER SHOP.
000 men, first and last, had occasion to call down blessings on the heads of these women and men who fed in their Cooper Shop and Union the hungry brave. Note the bill of fare, "Bread and butter, ham and cold beef." Is there any wonder that many a boy entered in his diary, after his account of the feast, the words, "First class"? The northern soldier who does not remember the hospitality of Philadelphia lacks something in his war memories.
One day dies and another is born while the boys are eating, and their start for Baltimore is very early, since they are loaded into freight cars at 3 o'clock, and are off for the Monumental City, on this the 16th day of the month. It is noted that Dela-
25
THROUGH WASHINGTON.
ware and Maryland are wanting in New Jersey's enthu- siasm, but on reaching Baltimore at about noon the flags are flying gorgeously. Our farmer boys continue to notice the dif- ferences in soil and crops from those familiar to them, and, also, they see their approach to military rule, in that for sixty miles north of Baltimore guard duty is done along the railroad by companies of the 110th New York, an Oswego county regi- ment. The stay in Baltimore is short, though it rouses memo- ries of the assault on the Massachusetts 6th on April 19th of the preceding year. Naturally our boys viewed the city apprehen- sively, but Colonel Welling had given strict orders against load- ing guns without command. Still, there were few unloaded pieces by the time the march was half over. The regiment, as yet, knew very little of discipline, and there would have been a "hot time in the old town" had the citizens in any way mo- lested the line.
At 6 P. M., or thereabouts, the men still in freight cars are steaming towards Washington, long the desired goal of these thousand embryonic soldiers. In passing the Relay House. friendly eyes detected familiar forms among certain paroled prisoners, just from Harper's Ferry, where they had fallen into the hands of Stonewall Jackson. They are, like ourselves, boys from Cayuga and Wayne, members of the 111th and the 8th Cavalry, victims of General D. S. Miles's cowardice, or worse.
At 11 o'clock we go supperless to bed in city barracks, some- times misnamed "Soldiers' Rest." Some, however, prefer to spend the remainder of the night on the depot floor. Certain officers sally forth for a sleep at Willard's Hotel, which a few verdant ones think they find in the Capitol's majestic front. There is scarcely a member of the regiment who does not feel he is more of a soldier now that he is actually in the same city with Abraham Lincoln.
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