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 23
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Since crossing the Staunton river, the negroes travel with us towards Danville. The 27th brings the different lines together at the covered bridge which spans the Dan river, unaccount- ably spared when the rebels departed, and it is like the neck of a jug, for through it all must pass in reaching the city op- posite. Not much of a city to Northern eyes, but such it is. Some of the Ninth were at the bridge at 3 P. M., but they had to wait till all were up, and then passing through, after receiv- ing the formal surrender of the city from Mayor J. M. Walker and the city government, we camped on a hillside two or three miles south of Danville, and very near the North Carolina line. 'Tis said that the Johnny purpose to destroy the bridge was ready enough, but the citizens prevented. Possibly the dis- position to surrender was heightened by the fact that a party of soldiers had already forded the Dan river at the right and had taken 5000 prisoners, with millions of property, while the mayor was doing his part at the bridge. Colonel T. W. Hyde, commander of 3d Brigade, 2d Division, claims the honor of first entering the city. With genuine Yankee curiosity (he was a Maine man) he looked up the office of the Danville Register, and finding forms and type and a part of a page set up, he sent Moses Owens to complete and print, issuing the first number that evening. The Sixth Corps as long as we remained was a regular article at twenty-five cents a copy. It was not much, only a broadside 11x16 inches, but it was funny. Witness some of its facetiae:
"We have the Wright man in the Wright place."
"Treason can not Hyde itself."
"I met with no opposition except the river, which, by the way, was running rapidly."
"The citizens were delighted to see us, and many were seen to cross themselves before our glorious banner." Signed Owen- sisko.
Colonel C. S. Porter of the 1st Maine was appointed provost marshal. Just one-half of the page was given to advertise- ments already set up, including "Two runaway slaves." The
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THE DANVILLE RAID.
M
CITY OF DANVILLE, VIRGINIA.
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
paper was run on a very funny basis. If Editor Owens didn't feel like getting out a new paper, he reproduced that of the day before. The owner of the paper was joined with Owens in this venture, and he got more money out of it than he had ever made before. They faked their Northern despatches, and news agencies were not of the least account. A bit of original poetry on Sedgwick is given in Miscellaneous chapter. The last number issued bore date May 16th, and contained the notice of Jeff. Davis' capture.
Those who liked fun-and who didn't ?- tell wondrous stories of the diversions the place afforded. Certain ones do not refrain from repeating the following, though the joke ap- pears to be on themselves: They found no end of pleasure in
LAST CAPITOL OF THE CONFEDERACY.
attending the dances which the colored people, in honor of their newly-found liberty, were giving every night. Somehow or other the dusky damsels preferred them as partners to the men of their own complexion. After a while this began to rankle in the masculine African breasts, and they determined to rid themselves of their soldier rivals. Accordingly, after due consideration. they sent a deputation to wait upon the white dancers, and to tell them "dat de presence of de white gemmen was offensive to de ladies, for dey couldn't stan' der odor." This turning on the boys their own oft-repeated slur on the negroes' alleged scent, was effectual, and they tripped the
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THE DANVILLE RAID.
light fantastic elsewhere. The last office of the Confederacy was shown, for in the Benedict House on Wilson street. Jef- ferson Davis and his Cabinet established themselves April 4th. and there was issued the last address still breathing confidence in the success of the now lost cause. Here Cabinet-meetings were held, and to this place on the 10th, John S. Wise had brought the crushing news of Lee's surrender, and this place Davis must have left for North Carolina at once. for the 11th of April he writes to Joseph E. Johnston from Greensboro. Subsequent years have given to the plain brick structure a gloss that it did not then possess. It is not strange that some citizens take pride in stating that Danville was the last cap- tured of the Confederacy, for after leaving it the president was intent only on making his escape.
It is also noteworthy that, for a few days, Danville was the capital of Virginia. for on the 10th of April, just as Davis was leaving, "Extra Billy" Smith, governor, accompanied by an aide, Colonel P. Bell Smith and a servant. arrived by the way of Lynchburg on horseback. Repairing at once to the quarters of President Davis. he found him in great excitement getting ready to depart, which he did at 10.30 P. M. From Danville Governor Smith issued a proclamation to the people of Virginia, and he remained here till the reception of the news of Lincoln's assassination. The place also received many of the Richmond stores, which were distributed to the rebel soldiers as they came in. Notwithstanding all these honors, the people. at the time, were not particularly proud over them, for they gave them "heaps" of trouble.
Foraging parties were sent out on the 29th, chief products being young onions and corn-meal. The soldiers accompanying the wagons were shocked at seeing slave women and girls at work in the fields with not enough clothing to cover their nakedness. The last day of April all were mustered for pay.
May day was observed by another foraging trip with usual results, plus butter, canteens of milk and a large quantity of apple-jack, which has the customary effects on its imbibers. For a few days camp is maintained on the hillside, during which time former prisoners in the city have a chance to revisit the places of their incarceration and to more thoroughly explore Danville. Also, they go to the cemetery, where the poor sol- dier- dying bere were carried. Their names, painted upon small
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boards by John S. Hall of Company A, served to identify the graves of more than 1300 men, and a source of comfort to many a parent's heart .* By the 3d it became evident that some movement is afoot, and the regiment is gotten into shape for departure. A part marches down to the station, and while waiting for transportation gets what comfort it can from the dancing of the negroes, who crowd about in great numbers. Starting away at 11 P. M. slow progress is made northward on the shackley road, taking till 2 P. M. of the 5th to reach Burksville, where guard duty is begun. Other companies fol- low on following days till finally the Ninth finds itself doing duty along the entire road from Danville to Burksville, a com- pany or more in a place, headquarters being at Clover Station.
Our duties were not especially heavy. We were supposed to guard the railroad track to prevent enemies tearing it up; to keep the station or engine tanks full of water, and to see that the neighboring farm-houses were not pillaged by the soldiers. For the latter purpose one or two men would be stationed at a house, and while there lived on the best the same afforded. Witness this resume from one such guard: "Ham and eggs, hot hoe-cake and biscuit, milk, butter, and the unspeakable luxury of a bed." Those who find themselves near the Dan river have bathing facilities not enjoyed for many a day. The proximity of the Yankees prompted many of the colored people to come in, expecting to be fed from the public crib, but by and by when their numbers became excessive, they were made to clean up the camp, and finally to work the pump by which the tank was filled. This, savoring so much of work. constrained them to move back to their old quarters, much to their good and our relief.
In one camp errant pigs were a nuisance, poking their noses into tents and uprooting everything that contained a possible morsel of food. We were on a bluff twenty or thirty feet above the railroad, and we essayed to run these marauders off the bank. No sooner would one of these razor-backed, sharp- snouted individuals make his appearance in the camp than the words, "pig, pig." would be shouted from tent to tent, im- mediately answered by the occupants, who, pouring out, would
*The preserving of these names was wholly owing to the suggestion and care of the Rev. George W. Dame, referred to in a later chapter.
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FROM BURKSVILLE TO DANVILLE.
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THE DANVILLE RAID.
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try to form a line close enough to force the animal off the bluff. In this, however, we succeeded only once, for in spite of our efforts he was able to force his thin body through our ranks. Just once we managed to launch a victim, less agile than his fellows, off the verge, and we had the pleasure of seeing him describe a somersault or two in its descent, accompanied by all the traditional music made by the pig under the fence.
It was while doing duty along this railroad that we picked up Loveless, a negro from Mechlenburg county, of great length of heel and a limberness of tongue that was marvelous. Love- less may not have been his plantation name, but that is what we called him. He had great power in argument among his own people, and it was as good as a circus to have him engage some sporadic darkey who had dared to measure tongues with him. Much that he said had no meaning, nothing but words, but how they did wilt his antagonists! Some soldier usually stood at his elbow and gave him a word if by any means he failed. "Give him unconstitutionality, Loveless," says Sergeant E -. "Yas, dat's it; wat's you got to say to dat now, you nigger, unconstidudinatleley, dat's what I wants ter know!" He paralyzed his adversary, though the word was no more to him than "individual" was to Dr. Johnson's fish-woman of Billingsgate.
In this service, too, many of us saw for the first time instances of snuff-dipping. The practice seemed well-nigh general among the women, black and white. A line of femininity seated on a depot platform with a pine stick projecting at a common angle from each one's mouth was not calculated to inspire much ad- miration of the fair sex in a Northern man's mind.
The time of our stay along this road was marked by the ripening of early fruit, and the presence of the first vegetables. Few men complained of our life along this line of railroad. The 22d brought our duties to an end, and taking cars we rode up through Burksville, etc., to Manchester, reaching the same on the 23d. being prevented from entering Richmond by the burning of the bridge on the rebel evacuation April 2d. Our halt was in Manchester, and here we remained till the 24th. The brief interval was improved in visiting the rebel Capital. and in looking up the places that had become famous in the preceding four years. Some of the companies had come up early enough to pretty thoroughly "do" the city; "I"' for instance.
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RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME.
The trip was so slow that we had an excellent chance to study the land impoverishment wrought by tobacco-raising. We wondered that the country held out as long as it did.
CHAPTER XXIII.
RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME.
We had an early start on the 24th, and marched down to a pontoon bridge spanning the James, near where, in the pre- veding February, some of us had taken the steamer down the stream, for Libby prison with all its horrid memories is at our left, and further up the river is Belle Isle, the most infamous
CAPITOL OF VIRGINIA.
bit of land in all the national geography. The rank and file had no premonition of the pageant in which we were to bear a part; but the day was to be a red-lettered one in our annals. We entered the rebel Capital by 17th street, thence filing into Broad, which we traveled in company front, and at shoulder- arms. There is a steep incline as the street nears the rear of the State House, which, by the way, has a "front-in-rear," and that soldier who, forgetting Lot's wife, looked backward, saw the sight of his life. for from curb to curb, the street had be- come a stream of burnished steel, glistening in the rays of the morning sun. Those weapons had belched fire and death from
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Cold Harbor to Petersburg, through a hundred miles of the Shenandoah valley, back to Petersburg, and thence through Sailor's creek to Appomattox. The men who carried them had the proud consciousness that they had done their part in driv- ing Davis and his government from this very city, and that the stately edifices which they were passing, for more than four years by Stars and Bars surmounted, were now crowned by the Stars and Stripes, long to float over a reunited people.
Some of us even fancied that we detected an approving smile upon the bronze features of Crawford's Washington,* which had darkened in the gloom of secession, and that the faces of his Virginia associates lightened at sight of national blue and of the Fathers' flag. Generals H. W. Halleck and E. O. C. Ord reviewed us in passing, but we had few eyes for shoulder-straps. Our thoughts rather were on the late Confederate Capital and the men who had led their fellows to ruin. We remarked the shut-up appearances of its houses, and we wondered whether the playing of our bands did not bring to their closed shutters many a fair face to take "just a sly glance at us," though the people may not have rejoiced that the
"Flag had come back to Tennessee."
The Ninth never marched better nor with firmer step than on that memorable review. From Broad street, we crossed by way of 9th into Clay, and finally emerged from the city by Brook avenue, and took up our usual form of marching through a section every foot of which had been exposed since 1861 to battle fire. Though we are under no stress, we have to step off with almost active hostility alacrity, and more than twenty miles are back of us when we go into camp near Hanover Court House, where we had our first shaking up, only a few days less than a year before.
The 25th is a trying day even for old soldiers, for the heat is intense, and the dust is everywhere. Prostrations are common, and in this year of grace 1899, the government is paying, in the way of pensions, for many cases of permanent disability this day
*Near the State House, itself a tribute to Jefferson, is an equestrian statue of Washington by Thomas Crawford erected in the early fifties, sometimes called his masterpiece. At the apices of a six-pointed star stand statues of Patrick Henry, John Marshall, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, Thomas Nelson and Andrew Lewis.
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incurred. The brief halts where "dust-brown ranks stood fast," or lounged by the roadside, were moments of restful bliss never equaled elsewhere in life. If he remembered the hymns of his boyhood, many a man thought:
"My willing soul would stay, In such a frame as this, And sit and sing herself away, To everlasting bliss."
It was their very brevity that made them so enjoyable, and the bugler was far from popular when his marching call rang out, as it always did many minutes too soon, followed by the
1
From "Hardtack and Coffee," by permission.
A ROADSIDE HALT.
inevitable order of the officers, "Fall in, fall in, men!" Was there ever such a halt when some voice did not interpret the bugle-notes thus?
"I know you are tired, but yet you must go, So pack up your knapsack and march along s-l-o-w."
When the day is done we camp at Chesterfield, another re- minder of that southward march of May, 1864. We appear to be taking the route of that year in reverse. There are no sus- picions of a storm when we pull our tents and ponchos over us for the rest to be found so sweetly in the pine spore-covered hol- lows of an ancient corn-field, now overgrown with vigorous trees, but before morn the active pattering of rain-drops and the slow but sure gathering of water in those same comfortable de- pressions warn us that a rainy day is before us.
U
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"Rocked in the cradle of the deep." has its compensations, and in this case induced early rising and the preparation of break- fast overa sputtering fire. "Will we march to-day?" was on many a lip, and we had the answer when, at 8 A. M., we saw General Wright and staff, poncho-protected, and with the 6th Corps flag ride by. We also were soon paddling along in the mud, which by constant agitation became deeper and thicker, and nearly impassable to those who brought up the rear. Oh, how wet! We forded Polecat creek, the water of the same soaking the contents of our blouse breast-pockets, at any rate those of men of average stature. We are not getting over much ground. though we seemed to be going through a deal. For wagons and artillery the way finally became utterly blocked. and a camp was necessary. Says one youthful diary-keeper. "The worst day ever passed, anywhere, at home, or in the army." yet the writer received his military baptism at Cedar Creek. It is ever the latest evil that is the worst. It has no perspective. Such straggling! Is there a soldier living who can truthfully say, "I never fell out of line under any provocation"? It was much easier marching in the field than in the highway. Many took advantage of this fact, and for a time, keeping the column in sight, became voluntary flankers. Then came the tempta- tion of a farm-house, negro quarters, barn or tobacco-shed, and ever since Eden man has been yielding.
It is late in the afternoon; the army thoroughly bedraggled is moving slowly, and much further progress is clearly impos- sible. 1 party of men has built fires along the back side of an old tumbled-down, log tobacco-shed. Only the gables and roof remain, but the latter is entire, and the Indian weed within has been drying since the war began. Coffee is drunken on the lee side of that structure, hardtack nibbled and the usual amount of profanity indulged in, but the rain does not abate. Our regiment is a long way ahead. Though they wear the Greek cross, the men passing now are personally strangers; why not crawl under that inviting roof and, getting dried out. sleep comfortably till morn! Perhaps the rain will have cleared by that time. It does not take long to decide, and several blue- clad forms disappear through the aperture made by pulling off several lower boards. "No smoking allowed," is the order for a variety of reasons, though material abounded: first, per- sonal safety; second, the provost guard will soon be along, and
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RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME.
the odor would excite a search for the same; and third, and most important of all, there are no smokers in the party. How- ever, they are all grateful that the Old Dominion, through rais- ing tobacco, had afforded them such comfortable beds, for they speedily worked themselves down into the very heart of the husky mass, inviting dryness, comfort and sleep.
Never were mice more whist than were these boys when they heard the provost guard forcing along the stragglers who in turn had halted at the inviting fires for coffee and food. They hardly breathed when they heard the same guard making a cursory examination of the nearest end of the tobacco pile, but when the last footstep had splashingly disappeared in the army's rear, there was nothing left to hinder repose. The patter of the rain upon the roof, scarcely an arm's length away, re- minded the soldiers of similar nights in far-away Northern homes in attic chambers, when
"Every tinkle on the shingles has an echo in the heart,
And a thousand dreamy fancies into busy being start;
And a thousand recollections weave their bright hues into woof, As we listen to the patter of the soft rain on the roof."
The rain is still falling, with no sign of cessation when with slowly recurring thoughts of the corps and a wonder as to how much further the boys had gone on, grateful sleep pins the eye- lids down.
Morning reveals the rain active as ever, with not a sound of departed comrade. Being now thoroughly dried and unwilling to waste the desiccated results of the preceding night, the speedily convened council of war decides that punishment if inflicted at all would be no worse if the halt were prolonged till the storm were over, a hastily prepared breakfast is fol- lowed by a resumption of the tobacco siesta. Before noon the clouds broke away, the sun shone out. and, when the roads seemed passable, the 6th Corps was sought. Luckily the rain had prevented much further progress on the preceding day, and less than a two miles' walk revealed the flags and tents of an army in camp, and how wet the soldiers were; where possible they were taking sun-baths by way of compensation for the in- voluntary ducking of yesterday, while the dry and merry stragglers were the envy of those who had sozzled through the day and night, for the ground had been too wet to lie down upon.
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The 27th and 28th are spent in camp, a necessary fact for securing dryness and preparation for the further march towards Washington. It was while anchored here that Loveless, our Mech- lenburg sable acquisition, had his confidence in his whilom pro- tectors rudely shaken and at the same an introduction to some of the qualities of gunpowder. He and a diminutive Ethiopian who had fastened himself upon us as we passed through Rich- mond were taking a comfortable snooze, face downward, lux- uriating in the sunlight. Removing the bullets from a number of cartridges the powder was distributed between the legs of the dusky sleepers. The results of applying a match to the same produced shouts of laughter from the mischievous boys, but the poor Africans fairly turned white with terror. There- after they had an eye out for possible fireworks.
The march of the 20th is another famous one with us, for we start away very early in the morning, and at 9 P. M. we are en- camped near Marye's Heights of Fredericksburg, said to be upon the very ground over which charged Burnside's men in that fatal fray of December, 1862. On our way thither we had forded the Mat, Ta, Po and Ny creeks, which united made the Mattapony river, making in this little more than half a day a distance reckoned all the way from twenty-one to twenty-three miles. It was while taking this speedy march that General Seymour, always so insistent on order and military decorum, encountered a certain member of Company H. No one in the regiment had lost more weapons, nor was there any one who cared less for tradition. As he was taking his gunless, go-as-you-please gait, he fell under the general's eye. At once the latter exclaimed, "Who are you, my man, and where do you belong?" The immediate reply, "Private Harris, Company H, 6th Corps, by G-d," must have paralyzed the West Pointer, for he made no further effort to secure information. Few men in the 2d Brigade have forgotten the donkey which bore some part of the headquarters cooking outfit, nor his exceedingly musical voice, which was louder and stronger than a fog-horn. Have they forgotten how they used to locate the brigade when they straggled into camp at the close of a hot day? "Just wait till we hear General -'s jackass, and that'll tell us right where the boys are."
It is sunrise of the 30th when we start away, passing through Fredericksburg, with its many traces of savage war. Surely
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RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME.
the ball and shot riddled houses are the best ventilated struct- ares we have ever seen. We cross the Rappahannock on a pon- toon bridge with far less anxiety than did our brothers in 1862. The entire way to Aquia creek is marked by the hand of devas- tation. Sentinel-like chimneys indicate where happy homes have been. There is very little indication of cultivation of the soil, and the section is rapidly lapsing into its primitive condi- tion. The soldier, however. is not a reflecting being, particu- larly when on a rapid march, and we were already talking of reaching Washington, just then the 6th Corps' Mecca. The last day of May has a forenoon's march to the vicinity of Center- ville and an afternoon's rest, the heat being so intense that even our leaders advise a halt.
June 1st saw the Ninth at the right of the line and stepping off briskly. before the sun was up. Much of our distance was accomplished before the others had started. We went into ramp near Fairfax Court House soon after noon, while the 2d Division, which held the left, did not arrive till nightfall. The last day's march, that of the 2d. carried us to the left, but our brarts were light, for our journey's end was almost in sight. There were tall men among us, and they were used to such queries as, "George, do you see any signs of rain up there?" or. "I say. Jim, hand me down a chaw of terbaccer." This day the popular bit of chaff was, "Oh, John, stretch up your neck, and tell me when you catch a glimpse of the Capitol." All this with the interlocutor's face looking skyward.
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