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 25
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tions where had formerly stood barracks, since this place suf- fered just the same as we did.
If there had been a thousand years of life before us and we had no definite plans in living, the stay in these forts might have been enjoyed. As it was there was a dull succession of inspection, parades of all sorts and the make-believe guard- duty that was hardly creditable to any one concerned. The constant query with us was, "What are we here for?" "To eat hardtack," says one intelligent soldier. "Don't you see the government has so many boxes of hardbread, and if we don't stay to eat it. some of it will be thrown away." Those conver- sant with the subject assert that the worms found in the boxes this summer, were the largest and fattest they had ever seen. Many men assert that boxes of tack came to the forts in the summer of 1865 bearing the date of 1861. Someone of statistical tendencies once, before opening the box, took it in hand and gave it several severe thumps upon the ground, thus settling any easily moved contents to one corner. Then removing the cover he carefully measured the living, squirming mass so concen- trated, and found a full pint and a half. This may have been above or below the average.
The mess-rooms had not suffered with the general destruction, and from that of Fort Smith the Capitol was plainly visible. Sit- ting there at dinner one day, a man remarks: "I can see the Goddess of Liberty." "Oh, bother," says an unsentimental com- rade, "can you see any soft bread there?"
Here occurred a serious infraction of discipline that earlier in our service would have brought condign punishment upon us. At dinner a company took exceptions to the food, and swept everything from the tables to the floor. The whole com- pany was at once placed under arrest, the next company being put over as guards. At supper, the third company, having a like grievance, just lifted the tables into the air, and turning them over deposited the whole outfit. bottom side up, on the floor. There was no other company to guard this one, so the officers declared "all bets off." and let us begin over again. 'Tis said that table service was thereafter improved.
Were there amusements? To tell the truth there wasn't much else. The facilities for bathing in the Potomac were ex- cellent. Passes could be obtained easily for the exploration of the neighboring country, and trips to Arlington were common.
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Did we tire of mess-house fare, there were numerous restaurants easily accessible where a small sum secured a good dinner, and when night came the cleared-away platforms of some of the destroyed barracks afforded fine opportunities for dancing. Such dancing! There was little of the polish of the schools in it, but it was vigorous. A handkerchief tied to an arm indi- cated a member of the fair sex, who was led out blushingly to the floor in a Virginia reel, or to go through the figures in a plain quadrille. Home talent furnished music, which, if not exactly classical, was understood, and on pleasant evenings "lights out" always came too soon. It was a hilarious company that looked on and that participated, but what possible good were we doing for our country or for ourselves?
Some men wearying of the monotony secured details through General O. O. Howard in Washington and went into the em- ploy of the Freedmen's Bureau, thereby getting an absolutely unique experience in finding out the ways of the former bond- men. They visited Vienna, Leesburg and other places in the discharge of their duties, but in the main were in Alexandria. at the headquarters there.
While the non-commissioned officers and privates were thus fretting over their detention, there were men high in rank in the regiment who were quite content. Of course the general sentiment of the men was well known, for no one made the least secret of his feelings. A Company M man who was doing hostler duties at regimental headquarters almost gave his fel- lows a convulsion on reciting to them the substance of a conver- sation indulged in by the wife of our Colonel Whistler while he was driving her and a friend to Washington. The good lady could not understand why the men were so anxious to go home. saying. "The canals will soon be closed, and there will be noth- ing for them to do. Besides, we are situated so nicely here. The children are in the city schools, and they are driven back and forth each day. I do hope the men will stop their com- plaining and let things go on as they are."
There were men in the ranks who had plans for the future quite as reasonable as those of the colonel's wife-plans. too, that they would have been quite content to carry out at their own expense and not at that of the government. There were future lawyers, doctors, clergymen and business men whom this nonsense was throwing out of a clear year of their respect- ive lives.
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It must be said that to the soldier who liked to draw his rations when and where he chose, the neighborhood of these forts furnished unrivaled facilities. Fruit was abundant, and vegetables were never better. If the private didn't have all that the glad earth produced, it was because he was too lazy to go and get it or too honest to steal it, though the latter objection was seldom evident at this stage of soldiering in these southern latitudes. What a relief the departure of the last regiment must have been to the farmers of this much ravaged locality! To be able to reap where they had sown and to gather their own fruit must have been a delight indescribable. Says one irate farmer in the presence of the very man who had helped himself to Agricola's potatoes the night before, "Them d-d niggers are stealing me poor." "Perhaps it's the soldiers," says a listener. "Soldiers-not much; no white man could take stuff that way. Why, they just dig the potatoes right out with their fingers. They left the print of them. No, sir, it's niggers every time." One of his most interested listeners was a man who had proved his devotion to the Southern cause by selling all his real estate and investing the proceeds in Confederate bonds. What a house of sand!
If we had been disposed to learn, we might have gained a deal in our instruction while here, for Colonel Whistler was a West Pointer, but what did we care for guns, swabs, caissons, calibre et id omne genus? The war was over. That was the cry forever in the air and on our lips, and we had no use for the knowledge. however prized it might have been had it come months before, when we were intent on making ourselves ready for the trials that might be ours.
During the last of August many of us, particularly those who had been in rebel prisons, were much interested in the trial of Captain Wirz for his cruel treatment of prisoners in Anderson- ville, and we made as many visits as possible to Washington while the case was in progress. We found presiding over the investigation our old commander at Monocacy, General Lew Wallace, and his judicial training had here a good opportunity for display. At the same time it appeared to be a chance to develop the inhumanity of Confederate treatment of Union prisoners, and only incidentally a trial of Wirz, who had simply carried out the orders of his superiors. His fate was sealed from the beginning, but even men who had suffered at his hands
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could not help passing sentiments of pity when they beheld the culprit, so far gone with consumption that he had to repose upon a couch, being unable to sit during the sessions of the court. While his deatlr by hanging the following November was fully merited, it has seemed somewhat strange, in the sub- sequent years, to see those who directed him restored to all their ante-bellum privileges. Again, some of us could never understand how a liberty-loving Swiss, for he was from Helve-
LEW WALLACE, IN WAR TIMES.
tia, could ever have been induced to do such dirty work. It must have been the result of bad company.
A word as to the regiment in which we found ourselves. The 2d Regiment of New York Heavy Artillery had been in service much longer than the Ninth, or better, the original or- ganization was formed in 1861 as a regiment of light artillery. It passed through various changes and vicissitudes, and finally settled down in 1862, like our own regiment, to breastwork mak- ing in the defenses. Of course the two years' enlistment expired
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in 1863, but new and re-enlistments had kept up the organiza- tion. Here it remained till, like ourselves, it was routed out by Grant and sent to the front, reaching that dangerous locality May 18th, about one week before our own advent. Good service was rendered thence onward as a part of the 2d Corps, and like the Ninth, it came back to the defenses in June, 1865. Colonel J. N. G. Whistler and Lieutenant Colonel George Hogg were entitled to our highest respect, and received the same, but we didn't like the order that united us. Those who were entitled to discharges had received them, and their residue had been formed into eight companies, thus making two battalions. The men were principally from Oneida, Herkimer and New York counties, and the record they made was an excellent one, but the first veteran of our regiment is yet to be found who ever an- nounces himself as other than a member of the 9th New York Heavy. His discharge paper may read one way, but he always talks another.
The longest night has an end, and there came a day when the bonds inclosing us were loosed and we were directed home- ward. It came about through Special Order No. 220, Depart. ment of Washington, dated September Sth, 1865. Our dis- charge papers bore date September 29th, but we did not leave Washington till after the 1st of October, going by way of Phil- adelphia, there enjoying Cooper Shop hospitality once more, and thence to New York city, where by boat we were trans- ported to Hart's island in the upper part of East river, having the very quarters formerly occupied by rebel prisoners, thus giving some of us a chance to compare their accommodations with those we had not enjoyed, but endured when in Confeder- ate keeping. The general verdict was that the rebs had fared well.
As soon as muster-out and pay-rolls could be prepared, the men were paid in full and allowed to depart. The record was completed, and October 10th those who had been left behind in that July separation were as free as their fellows who had been enjoying three full months of liberty. It did not take long for steam to transport the boys to western New York and to what all of them prized most highly-their homes.
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CHAPTER XXV.
MISCELLANEOUS.
INCIDENTS.
First One Killed .- The first person in the regiment to be killed by gunshot was a woman, Mrs. Chauncey Hale. She came to the company during the winter of 1862 and 1863, and was de- tailed as laundress for the company. The captain of Company F built a house for the Hales at the foot of the company street, and here Hale, his wife and two children lived happily until the sad accident occurred which ended the life of his wife. One morning after Hale had been on guard-duty and had come to his quarters for his breakfast, and while he was yet at the table. the call for guard-mount was sounded; he hurriedly arose from the table and hastily putting on his equipments, his wife assisting him, and as she buckled his belt she gave him a push, saying playfully, "Hurry now, or you will get pricked and put on extra duty for being late." He held his gun in his hands, his thumb on the hammer, and in the same playful manner answered, "Take care or I will shoot you." The gun was a Belgian rifle and went off half cocked, his thumb slipped and the gun was discharged, the large bullet passing through her head, scattering her brains over her motherless children. Hale was nearly distracted with grief. The company had the re- mains embalmed and sent home. The children were placed in the Orphan Asylum at Auburn, N. Y. Hale was never himself after this sad occurrence, but seemed broken-hearted and de- spondent. He remained in the service, however, till the end of the war. Tide page 52.
The Shell Burst .- Soon after this sad affair, another accident. if it could be called an accident, happened in the same company. A man by the name of Moody found a 30-pound shell, and brought it into camp. This was just after the company had moved to Fort Bayard. He took out the fuse, and emptied part of the powder out and then went to Conrad Bostler, a little German that was detailed to assist the company cooks, and told him that if he would drop a coal of fire in the shell he would see some sport, as it would make a great squib. The shell was near the head of the company street and near the
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captain's quarters. So Conney, as the litttle Dutchman was called, dropped the coal of fire in, and there was a great ex- plosion. Two boys, Chauncey Runyan and Alpheus Long, were badly wounded, Runyan losing his foot; Long's limb was saved. Several more of the men narrowly escaped with their lives. Moody made his escape during the excitement of caring for the wounded, and was never captured. Vide page 53.
He Got Left .- The boys of the old 138th will remember that Company - had a fine-looking lieutenant; his mustache was coal black, and he took with the ladies, and although he was a married man, he delighted in a little flirtation with the girls when the opportunity presented itself. On the trip to New York after leaving Auburn on the way to Washington, the train stopped at Schenectady. The girls as usual flocked to the station to see the soldiers, and the dashing lieutenant lost no time in getting up a flirtation. So absorbed was he with the fair ones, he did not hear the warning whistle, or the "all aboard" of the conductor, and the consequence was the train pulled out without him, and he did not catch us till we got to New York city. The boys took in the situation, said nothing. but waited for the proper time to come. Now the lieutenant was an expert drill-master, one of the very best in the regiment, and he delighted in drilling; he was ambitious to put Company F at the head, as one of the best drilled companies. He would march backward before the company with the hilt of his sword in his right and the point in his left hand, and as his left foot would come to the ground he would call out "Left, left, left," when one of the mischievous boys who had become weary, answered back "At Schenectady." The drill for the time being was suspended, and never more did the lieutenant call out "Left, left," but after that day he was very careful to keep the cadence of the step by calling out "Hep, hep, hep."
How He Got Out .- When the regiment was in the old camp at Auburn, and was full, ready to march, the discipline was very strict; passes were granted only in exceptional cases; the guards were doubled to prevent any of the men from getting outside of the lines, but there was one man by the name of He was called by the boys, even at that early day in the life of the regiment, "Whiskey Bill." This slippery fellow would elude the vigilance of the guard, and would go and come at his pleasure. But on the last days of the regiments remain-
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ing in camp, a close watch was kept on Bill, but on the last afternoon of the last day, word came to the captain that Bill had gone. The police guard were hustled out at double-quick, Colonel Seward's private carriage had just come on the grounds, and the captain sprang into the carriage by the side of the lieutenant colonel. The driver put on the lash, and away they went towards the city, to intercept if possible the escaping sol- dier. The guards had got the start of the officers, and by the time they had arrived at the intersection of the river with the street the guards had captured their man, and were bringing him back to camp. Colonel Seward and the captain turned their carriage and drove alongside of the guard and their pris- oner. Now the corporal in charge of the squad was unarmed, as arms were not over-plenty nor over-effective, and as the un- armed corporal walked by the side of his unarmed prisoner, some one in the great crowd of people that was thronging the street remarked, "Well, you have got a prisoner, sure; what did he do? what caused his arrest?" etc., and Bill, the prisoner, grasping the situation, quick as a flash, answered back, "Oh, the mean cuss was trying to desert, but I nabbed him," and the poor corporal hung his head; was so dumbfounded he could not make an explanation. Bill's head was up in the air and the poor corporal easily passed as the prisoner. The guard marched their prisoner to the guard-house, which stood on the side-hill, the front level with the ground, while the back was five or six feet above the ground, and for this reason no guard was sta- tioned at the back where there was a window. Bill saw the open window, turned to the officer of the guard, made a low bow. saluted him in military style, ran to the back window, sprang through to the ground and was soon lost in the great crowd. The mystery of his getting through the guards was found out. He would go to the cook-house, which was situated on the bank of the river, inside the lines of course, and the water to supply the cook-house was all carried from the river by men especially detailed for this purpose. Bill saw his op- portunity, and taking advantage of the same, he would go to the cook-house, take two of the pails and start for the river; the guards thinking he was one of the detail would let him pass without challenge, and when he got over the river bank, he wonld throw away his pails, go to the city, get drunk and have a general blow-out.
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Poor Bill, though he was wild, never thought of deserting. but was one of the bravest of the brave, and on many a hard- fought field he would sing, "Rally round the flag," and other lively songs, to cheer on the boys. He served to the end of the war.
He Didn't Put It In .- Some of the men who enlisted to defend the flag in its hour of peril were not possessed of a college diploma, not even the educational ability to write a letter to the dear ones at home. This disability was hard to bear, especially when there was a young girl at home connected with the cir- cumstances. What can not be cured must be endured, so they did the best they could under the circumstances, These young men would find some one who could spread ink well, and they would lay in with him to write letters to Mary Ann and Susan Jane at home.
Charles Greenfield was an experienced school teacher before enlistment, and he was selected to do much of this correspond- ing where so many tender lines were needed. Charley was conducting a love correspondence for an Auburn boy and was doing his level best for his patron. As he was gifted with the faculty of writing poetry as well as prose, he got this corre- spondence up on high G, and he put in so many high-sounding words, expressive of so much love, he was sorely puzzled how to get down to earth once more and properly end this red-hot love-letter. He has told me in confidence, since the war, that he could see no way to properly end that letter but to pop the question, fair and square. But for this he hardly dared to take the responsibility, so in his perplexity he called the man he was writing for, and privately asked what more the man wanted to be put in that particular letter, thinking that the man would suggest something that would help him out, or at least ease him down from the high and lofty perch on which he now was, for Charley had just filled that letter with high-sounding love words and phrases. The man says, "Read the letter and let me hear what you have wrote to her," so Charley read the letter, the big words nearly choking him, and the lines were so ten- der they would hardly hold together. The man listened with all earnestness, hearing every word and comprehending but a few of them perhaps, until the last one was read. "And now," said the writer, "what more shall I say to her?" The man turned his head on one side, scratched it for a moment, and
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slapping Charley on the shoulder said, "You just put in agri- culture. and let that letter go." Of course "agriculture" was Greek to him, but he thought it was a large word and was a fitting finale to his higlr-toned love-letter.
The Chaplain .- All of the old boys well remember Chaplain Mudge, and how well the good man loved to hunt quails. When the regiment was guarding Washington, building forts, making roads, etc., the staff officers had a picnic, but when we went to the front, the long marches came, sometimes lasting all night. It was after one of these long and dusty, weary night marches the regiment was filing into a field for breakfast. The colonel and his staff sat on their horses as the men filed in; the good chaplain was covered with dust, nearly dead for want of sleep, his eyes filled with sand, and as Company F passed in, one of the boys saw the forlorn condition of the preacher, and perhaps to encourage him, or to put him in remembrance of the happy days now past and gone, he called out, "Hello, chaplain! do you find any quails down here?" laying emphasis on "quails." The boys shouted with laughter, and for the time being forgot how tired they were; even the chaplain smiled.
"For Your Coffee."-In speaking of the boy who saluted the chaplain as narrated above, I am reminded of another instance, which furnished quite a lot of fun for the boys. It was at the Battle of Cedar Creek when Sheridan was twenty miles away, as the boys well remember the old Ninth and the 6th Maryland were thrown out as a forlorn hope to stay the awful tide of on- coming rebels. We lay on the ground waiting for the gray host, which was coming on double-quick. The order is, "Hold your fire, men, until you are ordered to fire." It was a trying time for the men-the stragglers from the two broken corps rushing over them, the heavy fire of the on-coming Johnnies; but not a gun was fired until the order came, "Attention, fire!" This boy, who was from Auburn, and had a habit of beginning every sentence with "And say," sprang to his feet, brought down his musket with a slam, and said, "And say" as he pulled the trigger, "put that in your coffee, and before that is cold I will give you another one."
The President's Quid .-- While the regiment lay at Camp Mor- ris, D. C., President Lincoln and Secretary W. H. Seward visited the regiment, and the officers were presented to the president and the secretary after the dress-parade. While the presiden-
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tial party was looking on the parade, Mr. Lincoln threw out a chew of tobacco onto the parade-ground. One of the boys of - Company saw it, and when the parade was dismissed he went and picked up the old- chew and, wrapping it carefully in a paper, prepared to save the same as a souvenir, but the boys teased him so unmercifully and put other old chews with the president's, that the poor man threw away the whole outfit. What a relic that would be to-day! Fit companion to Washing- ton's false teeth.
No Rest Even in Death .- The body of Lieutenant Stoyell had not been beneath the sod of the cemetery of his own Moravia a month when the severest freshet in the history of the town swept through the village, not only destroying buildings, but actually wiping out parts of the cemetery through undermining it. We are told that about an acre of ground was thus washed away and the landmarks effectually destroyed. Among other bodies thus disturbed was that of Lieutenant Stoyell. As the coffin was swept down the stream, it was followed by a strong swimmer, who succeeded in grasping one of the handles and finally swam with it to a clump of willows, near which he secured it till the waters subsided and the casket could be again interred. The man who thus risked his own life for the body of a friend was Alonzo Arnold, a discharged soldier of the 111th New York.
Cold Harbor .- June 3d as the regiment was moving up to the charge, Sergeant Jefferson L. Martin said to his comrades, "I shall not come out of this alive." Of course he was rallied for his forebodings, but the company had not gone far in the woods, with the bullets flying like hail-stones, before Martin was shot through the body. There on bended knees he gave his watch, pocket-book and other keepsakes to John Hutchinson to be delivered to his mother and sister in Cayuga. Good-by was said, and the line moved on. The watch was loaned to Dr. Chamberlain, and when he was captured, was taken by the rebels. The other items with the dying message were taken to the loved ones as requested.
Monocacy .- "I left by the railroad-bridge, and I could feel my heart thump my vest every step at the sight of the poor boys in the river, some wading, others floating by, some wounded, slowly climbing the banks, and all the time the air was full of lead and iron. On getting across, I saw four men carrying an
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