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 6
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The 13th Companies B and K exchanged places, B going to Fort Gains and K to Fort Mansfield. The day before had been promulgated the most important order for many a long month. It was to the effect that Companies C, D. E and G. forming a battalion, the 2d under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Seward, should proceed to a point south of Washington, and there construct a large fort. Accordingly at 5 A. M. on the 14th. accompanied by the regimental band, these companies set forth, and from the wharf at the foot of D street took a boat for Rozier's Bluff, where a landing was made at about noon.
CHAPTER VIII.
FORT FOOTE.
For the ensuing nine months there is to be a pretty effectual separation of the 2d Battalion from the other two, which re- mained in their former quarters. In addition to Lieutenant
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Colonel Seward the detachment is accompanied by Major Taft. The site selected for the fortification is a very steep bluff 100 feet high, four miles from Alexandria, eight from Washington and on the same side of the Potomac. It was to be the only defense between Fort Washington and the District line. It proved to be one of the very largest of the cordon of forts which encircled the city. It was wholly outside of the District and faced the mouth of Hunting creek, on whose south bank was the nearest considerable neighbor, viz., Fort Lyon. Alex- andria became the base of supplies, whence also came a daily mail and other necessities. Corporal E. W. Newberry of Com- pany D, who had pulled many an oar on Great Sodus bay, became the post's ferryman, and with his crew semi-daily he rows to and fro for his comrades. The locality, though elevated, was particularly malarial, so much so that by the neighboring inhabitants it was called the grave-yard of Prince George county. Nor did it belie its name, as the long list of sick and dead from typhoid fever and like diseases bore ample testimony. Assistant Surgeon Dwight W. Chamberlain accompanied the battalion, and by his care of the ailing won the regard of all.
Those who had served so extended an apprenticeship at dig- ging in the northern part of the District were now to have an- other and extended opportunity to develop their muscle and to assist in rendering secure the most talked of city in America. Apparently the new fort is of special interest to General J. G. Barnard, who had in charge the laying out of the majority of Washington's defenses, for on the 21st, just one week after the arrival of our boys, he came down with no less distin- guished guests than the president, Secretary Stanton, Generals Heintzelman and Haskins, with many other officers and citizens. If all that they saw was not in proper order, let us hope that every defect received its proper ascription.
This is the season of peaches and melons. If the men of the Ninth make long marches, by no means forced, all along the Potomac shore of Maryland, it is not on topography bent, but rather to afford a home market for the special products of that favored locality. There is no diary of this period that does not teem with records of luscious fruit and juicy melons, the very recollection of which, to this day, makes the veteran's mouth water. As offered for sale in the camp, everything is surprisingly cheap. A haversack full of peaches costs but
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FORT FOOTE.
twelve and one-half cents, and that receptacle would hold well towards a peck. The weather is extremely warm, but this does not delay the work, a large part of which is done upon the road leading up from the river to the camp and fort. The hours of toil are not made more agreeable by the stories that visitors from Fort Simmons tell of the restful, quiet times they are having there. Early in September, 150 men from the four companies are working ten hours each day, but just how hard some of them labor may be inferred from their taking a stint on the 8th, which they complete before 10 A. M. Men are only boys of a larger growth. About this time the malarial climate began to get in its work, and by the 10th nearly or quite one- half of the officers and men are on the sick list, among them Major Taft, who is so badly off that even drums and bugles are suppressed. As he convalesced ten days later, the major was carried to a neighboring farm-house, thinking that he might improve more rapidly there. On this very day, the 21st, our lieutenant colonel is taken down, and on the following day his father, the secretary, comes and has him removed to Wash- ington; so weak is the colonel he is borne from the camp to the boat upon a stretcher. The hospital record for these autumnal days is a sad one of sickness and death. To unacclimated people the river's shore was often pestalen- tial. In this year, 1898, when so much is said of suffering soldiers in Cuba, it is not amiss to remember that equally great affliction was had along this Potomac river in the years of the Rebellion, and very little note was made of it, the death loss in battle being so much more conspicuous .* The funeral march became the one most often heard. Just before Major Taft was attacked, the camp was moved down the river, hoping thus to find a healthier place. Meanwhile warlike preparations go for- ward. and the earthworks slowly arise for the reception of guns, and on the 25th their carriages begin to arrive. The 25th gladdens many a heart, for on this day the major returns to camp, though he has to ride back in an ambulance.
*Whitelaw Reid, historian of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, says that the 169th, which spent its 100 days at Fort Ethan Allen in 1864, had 200 men in that time die or be permanently disabled through dis- ease alone. More than fifty died. At the same time the 133d, an- other 100-day regiment, stationed at Fort Powhatan, on the James, had 300 men down with fever. If the public knew this at the time, it has certainly forgotten it in the clamor over Cuban malaria.
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October 1st is a memorable day, for then Secretary Seward and friends appear and give the works their name, and those who hear it are not disappointed, for that of Cominodore Foote,* the river hero of Forts Henry and Donelson, was al- ready a cherished one in America. Sickness causing the ab- sence of the field officers, who had been helped from the camp, Major Snyder came down on the 4th and took command. An immense 200-pound Parrott gun arrives on the 13th, and on the 22d has its first trial, at which time Secretaries Chase and Welles (of the Navy), Generals Barnard and Augur with nu- merous others came to witness the event.
The hospital is a very important part of the camp, and has dimensions, 20x100 feet; none too large for the increasing num- ber of sick. On the 31st no less than twenty-two men are furloughed home, that they may vote in the November elec- tions. Persimmons follow peaches, and those who know how to wait for the ripening fruit till Jack Frost has touched them find them a most enjoyable dainty, but the injudicious adven- turer who, lured by their tempting yellow skin, tasted them out of season, has ascribed any subsequent oral difficulties to that early indiscretion.
While, November 3d, voters at home are recording their polit- ical opinions, there is nothing more for soldiers to do than to just express their feelings, which many of them do. One care- ful observer says, "There are few Democrats in the army, or if there are they are ashamed to own it." On the 6th comes the big fifteen-inch gun, which is rolled, not carried, to the fort. The 11th marks the completion of barracks for Companies C and G, and on the 16th those companies with E move in. On the 19th D followed. The 22d, Sunday, Sergeant Devoe of Company G preached in the hospital. The 28th marked the advent of stores for cook-house and barracks, though the quantity is pronounced insufficient; more came later.
December 22d four Russian war vessels are noted moving up the river. Winter settles down upon the men, some of whom reflect that they are not doing much for the war, "but some one must stay here." The mess-house, 16x40 feet, is opened on
*Andrew Hull Foote, born in New Haven, Conn., September 12th, 1806, died in New York city June 26, 1863. Named for one naval hero, served his apprenticeship under Porter, another,-what wonder that he made his own name a proud one in his country's annals.
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FORT FOOTE.
the 10th. Christmas, so lively and jolly at home, is dull enough here for many, though some, having made acquaintances among the near-by citizens, find home sensation in calling, even if there secesh notions abound, for youth ever rises supe- rior to political and sectional feelings. Romeo and Juliet were from opposing houses. Then there were cases of fun and jollity right in camp, since in Company D Captain Lyon ordered ten gallons of oysters and twelve dollars' worth of poultry. Henry Porter of Sodus Point and J. J. Vickery of Lyons went out with guns and dogs and secured a buck deer weighing 200 pounds, all of which served to brighten the surroundings not a little.
1864.
January brings very little variety to the camp, though drill of all kinds is kept up regularly with accompanying inspections and dress-parades. In these quiet days and this secluded place, the officers have an excellent opportunity to study regulations and tactics, which some of them conscientiously seize. Mean- while the weather becomes very cold. and the Potomac freezes so hard that, on the 8th, the boat makes landings on the ice. The next day, men cross the river on the ice to Alexandria. Cleanliness is maintained, and in spite of the weather the bar- racks are regularly scrubbed and kept in the best of order. Those who can obtain permission to visit Forts Simmons, Reno and other old stamping-grounds, just for the maintenance of friendly relations and the return of courtesies, for the officers and men from those parts as often as possible came down to the fort.
Though as good as the average soldiers, all of the Ninth's men were not angels and court-martials were not unknown. though it would puzzle some, after this lapse of years. to tell what they were all about. However important then, they have been forgotten in the hurry of later living. The ice reign con- tinues in the river and boats have to break their way through.
Officers are responsible for the care of company funds aris- ing from the use of government appropriations for rations. Instead of dealing out to each man his portion. all combine and live in common, thereby saving so much that luxuries otherwise impossible are obtained, and, besides, the individual is spared the necessity of preparing his own food, certain ones from each company being quite willing to serve in the capacity
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
of cooks for all. Whatever there might be over and above the cost of rations could be applied to the purchasing of better equipment for the mess-tables. A strict accounting was re- quired from the officer in charge, and while no scandal ever arose in our regiment there were those, during the war, whose officers had no end of trouble in making clear their relations to the respective funds.
Captain William Wood made out on the 16th no less than ten discharge papers, for disability incident to the situation is great. Fever germs still linger, and there are few men at the post, notwithstanding the cold weather, who do not use a deal of quinine. To crown all these disadvantages, on the 19th of January Post Adjutant Redgraves is taken down withi the small-pox. But there are diversions for those who call themselves well, and catching rabbits in the snow is great fun for the boys; the feelings of the victims are not recorded.
February 1st was made noteworthy in Company D by the change from tin dishes to earthenware, all through the hus- banding of the company fund. The other companies were likewise equipped, then or later. As Chaplain Mudge had re- mained with the larger part of the regiment, preaching was had on Sunday by different men, the Christian Commission occasionally sending a minister. There are some indications of home life, for several officers and men have their better-halves with them. and calls on St. Valentine's day are on record. On the 17th there is ice three inches thick on the river. Wash- ington's birthday marks the taking command of Company D by Captain Bacon. Captain Lyon having resigned. The latter de- parted for home on the 27th, and in going away made a good speech, which the boys cheered to the echo.
The great Rodman gun is still a curiosity, and has to have a drill of its own. The 27th two shots were fired from the 200. pound Parrott and three from the 15-inch Rodman, solid globes of iron weighing 433 pounds. Crowds of visitors beheld the trial. To take the places of the many discharged and to bring the companies up to the maximum limit, numerous recruits come in during these weeks, occasionally to be stigmatized as "small boys" by those longer in the service; some even say. "No good." Time will tell whether such judgment is right or not. Lieuten- ant Colonel Seward returned to his duties on the 19th. and his hand is soon evident in every direction. His illness had in
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FORT FOOTE.
no way impaired his vigor. On the 29th, Leap year's day, the battalion was mustered for four months' pay.
Another March is not without the expected characteristics of the month. The biggest snow-storm of the season came on the 23d, and New York boys were reminded of their own Lake Ontario region. In addition to the regular physical ills of this locality there came an epidemic of sore throats. The 18th of March brings forty-two recruits to Company G. Secretary Sew. ard does not forget his boy, and frequently drops down the river to see him and the latter's men. On the 13th he came with cer- tain foreigners as guests, possibly Prussians. In his honor the big flag was hung out, but the strong wind with so much sail was too much for the staff, and it broke above the upper splice. Then the soldier carpenters had to repair it, which they were abundantly able to do as well as to build docks at the river's edge, and to make anything that ws needed. Officers main- tain an evening class to perfect themselves in military knowl- edge. The 24th a target was set up across the river, the dis- tance having been ascertained by computation, for the Ninth was ready for any sort of exaction.
As it has ever done, whiskey gets men into trouble, and the army was a particularly fine field for evidencing its power. One of the battalion, noted for his love of the intoxicating cup. gets drunk, makes a raid into the neighboring country, and winds up his carouse with a musket ball in his leg, sent there by an irate countryman, whom he had most grievously offended. This same soldier was noted for his range of tricks and pranks: he was the man who once smuggled a quantity of liquor out of Alexandria by putting his flasks in a child's coffin and then with a sad face, such as a bereaved father might be expected to wear. he bore his spirits, by no means departed, across the river and into camp. The closing incident of the month was the adventure of a Company E drummer, who rowed a boat to a low island in the river, and leaving it unfastened, with the rising tide it floated off; and he on account of the same tide had to spend the night in a tree, an experience he never forgot. though he had an unexampled opportunity to reflect on' the Darwinian theory which ascribes to early humanity traits that were decidedly arboreal.
The following is a fair presentation of daily routine, the same being from notes made at the time:
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
Reveille at day-break.
Breakfast at 7 o'clock.
Fatigue from 7.30 to 11.30.
Dinner at 12 M.
Fatigue from 1 to 5 P. M.
Supper at 6 o'clock.
For those who were not laboring there was drill from 2 to 4 P. M. In the evening, there were whist or other diversions till 9 o'clock; then came taps, and sleep till the next reveille called to wakefulness and work. With plenty of quinine to keep off the chills, there was no trouble as to appetite.
April, the month of budding hopes, finds the battalion still preparing. On the first, or All Fools' day, a large party comes down from Washington to witness the workings of the big guns. The great Rodman is fired at 25 degrees elevation, three miles' range. On the 6th comes the first skirmish drill here, of which there is afterwards frequent recurrence. Scarcely a day without some additions to the ranks by way of recruits. The 17th, Sunday, Episcopal service is conducted by an army chaplain, not ours.
The event of the month was the presentation. on the 23d, of an elegant sword costing $350 to Lieutenant Colonel Seward. This amount was raised by his fellow soldiers. and was made an inspiring occasion by the presence of many friends, includ- ing ladies from Washington, the regimental band, etc. In the presence of the battalion, Captain William Wood of Company G spoke eloquently as follows:
"In this time of peril, of suspense, and of doubt, when the shifting fortunes of war, and the stern duties upon every citi- zen in consequence, render it uncertain whether those who, as comrades in battle stand shoulder to shoulder in the defense of their country to-day, may not, by the relentless decree of fate or the imperative necessity of their country's good. be separated to-morrow, to meet again, never; if it is fit for them to give expression to their affectionate regard. especially is it fit for soldiers to give expression to their devotion to their commander; and that which in the quiet times of peace would be a tame and meaningless ceremony is big with interest and earnest feeling. Colonel Seward, reluctantly, because con- scious of my inability to perform in a befitting manner the com- plimentary office assigned me, I appear, in behalf of the 2d
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1
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FORT FOOTE.
Battalion, to say to you that the officers and men, that every officer, and every man, now or recently connected with it, un- less so recently attached as to have been deprived of the privi- lege, have an interest in making the request of you, that you will accept this steel from donors who are happy and proud to bestow it, as a memorial of their high appreciation of your impartial justice, their confidence in your unflinching courage and their admiration of your exalted leadership. Take it, and join with them as they know you do in reverential trust that the Omnipotent Disposer of all things will give success to our finance, and success to our arms. Take it and join with them, as they are sure you do, in the firm and fixed resolve that the stars and stripes shall never permanently cease to float over one inch of territory where it ever waved. Take it and be assured that with it, you have, without dissimulation, the hearts ever true of the officers and men of the 2d Battalion. It is from zealous and willing men to their energetic and effi- cient chief."
To these words Colonel Seward made fitting response, touch- ing feelingly on the cordial relations so long existing among them, and all felt that the day was a precursor of one when the regiment might reverse the Scriptural sentence and so transform their picks, shovels and other instruments of hus- bandry into those of war.
The next day drill was resumed as usual, and one man records four roll-calls. Obviously, no man guilty or otherwise was to be allowed to escape. In firing a 200-pound Parrott the 26th, a shell exploded at the muzzle of the gun. Luckily no one was hurt. The month ends with a large party of men building a road through some neighboring woods.
May is to end the stay of the battalion in Fort Foote, a place in which its members had been so long that some of them actually began to refer to it as home. Coming events were making themselves felt, if not by forecasted shadows, at any rate in more drill in the extensive assortment that was dealt out to all heavy artillery regiments. May 7th Companies E and C left for forts across the Eastern Branch, a long way around by water, but only a little distance had there been means of communication by land. Extensive preparations are making in all the companies for an active campaign. Extra clothing is packed for storage, or is sent home. On the 10th D
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
and G take their departure, going direct to Alexandria. The battalion had done well the duty assigned, and now a new field was opening before it and the remainder of the regiment.
CHAPTER IX.
SOLDIERING IN THE DEFENSES.
The 2d Battalion having betaken itself to Rozier's Bluff, the other seven companies were left to their accustomed diversions in the forts which they had so largely themselves constructed. During the ensuing summer and winter they were disposed as follows: Companies A, I and M, under Colonel Welling, were at Fort Simmons; H and K, at Fort Mansfield, under Major Snyder; B, at Fort Gains, and F, at Fort Bayard. Ex- cept for personal incident, there was very little in the follow- ing months to distinguish one week from another. The general health of the men was good; drill with attendant fatigue duty kept their appetites up to the size of their rations. Large and roomy barracks were constructed, into which the several com- panies moved in due time, and there a degree of bodily comfort was had quite unknown in their former experience. The repu- tation of the Ninth as a fort and road builder with its hold on distinguished Washington circles insured for it many guests on parade occasions, though Secretary Seward, at present, is turning his face toward Fort Foote.
Many of the officers and men had their families with them. a practice prevalent among all the regiments doing garrison duty about Washington, thereby permitting pleasures quite rare in a soldier's life. Small houses were built near the bar- racks, thus admitting a condition of privacy otherwise impos- sible. When men kept house in this manner, they did not live in commons, but drew their rations, adding thereto such other articles as their needs demanded. Frequently they fur- nished table-board for officers who were unmarried or who had not brought their partners to the fort. So comfortable was barrack-life that occasionally young soldiers became almost lazy, but woe to the boy who thought to take daylight naps undisturbed. In Company I a lad of rather indolent nature had become a sound sleeper, even in the daytime, and roguish
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COL. WELLING'S HOME.
Fort Simmons.
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SOLDIERING IN THE DEFENSES.
comrades determined to break him of his habit. Accordingly they tied to one of his ankles a strong rope and to the other end of said cord a heavy stone, and this they dropped through a gable window, near which the sleeper's bunk was located. -
Whenever he moved in his dreams, as his tormentors took good care that he should, the weight drew him outward and gradually upward till at last he was footed, not headed, for the window. Waking and finding himself thus inverted, he yelled in terror till his captain, responsive, came and cut him down. The ac- companying jeers of his comrades effectually ended midday slumbers for him.
During the long summer months. morning came early and the bugler held no sinecure. He sounded the reveille at day- break. The company-cooks had been up a long time, for break- fast-call came at 5.30, with the surgeons' following hard after at 6 o'clock; company police at 6.30. Then he continued to sound thus:
Artillery-drill, 7 to S. Battalion-drill, 4 P. M.
Fatigue, 6.30 and 11.30.
Dress-parade, 6 o'clock.
Guard-mount, 7 o'clock.
Dress-parade, S'days, 5.30.
Infantry-drill. 8.30 and 10.
Supper, 7 o'clock.
Orderlies' call, 10.30.
Retreat at sundown.
Dinner, 12 M.
Tattoo, 8.30.
General police, 1.30 P. M. Taps, 9 o'clock P. M.
The man who responded to his share of the foregoing routine came pretty near earning the stipend that the government al- lowed him.
To every phase of camp-life the average man speedily adapts himself. His love of the ludicrous, his power of invention and his never-failing fund of variety suggest diversions that in mem- ory, at least, are delightful. There were few to whom that day- break bugle-call was not unconscionably early, vet fear of extra police duty made them get into line. in some shape, before the final notes of fife and drum had died away. Can the man be found who first gave the rhythmic interpretations of these calls? Some would hardly bear rendering to ears polite, but there were those that were clean and bright. The liquid notes of reveille were seldom ended without some one shouting in tune words that just fitted the bugle sounds:
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
"I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up this morning; I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up, I S-A-Y.
The corporal's worse than the private,
The sergeant's worse than the corporal,
The lieutenant's worse than the sergeant, The captain's worst of them A-L-L."
Then as the final note died away in melodious attenuation, the fife and drum took up their part, and did mortal ears ever catch more inspiring music than that which . they afforded, most often that never-wearying "Girl I Left Behind Me," and many a lad ran, buttoning his clothes as he hurried into line, humming to himself,
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