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 8
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weapon cost $100. In this same fort, later in April, a daughter of Ebenezer Page opened a school in the mess-house at fifty cents per pupil, weekly. Towards the end of the month cer- tain companies were canvassed by cavalry-men seeking those who would like to be transferred. The outlook towards the Capitol from nearly all these forts is fine, and it is easier mak- ing a visit to Washington than it was before the move. Not
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a day was lost in active drill, and if the regiment is not profi- cient in infantry, heavy and light artillery practice, it is not the fault of the officers. Battalion drill necessitates long and occasionally hot marches for some of the companies. May brings with it the consciousness that the North will soon take a new departure, and that for the front. Packing up all that a man thought he could not conveniently carry, was the order of the day, and it was surprising how many things were dispensed with, but two weeks later the reduction of baggage was even greater still. Two Wayne county boys thought to lessen their portable library, and so made up a box to send home, in which they placed their copies of Virgil, Horace, Longfellow (2 vols.). Methodist Hymns, etc., determining to depend on memory for any classical or poetical necessity, and also throwing in two or three bed-quilts and a pair of boots, they sent it northward. How carefully the mother of one of those boys treasured the col- lection, till the close of the war brought home the literary soldiers! On the 7th of May was promulgated an order specify- ing what the soldiers might carry in their knapsacks, viz., one shirt, one pair socks. one pair extra shoes, one pair pants, one rubber-blanket, one overcoat. It did not take long, when march- ing actually began, to get rid of nearly all the above-named necessities.
In the ranks of this immense aggregation of men were hun- dreds who had recently joined. They had come down from northern homes, rallied by the nation's cry for more soldiers; very many, indeed the large majority of them, were lads in their teens, who three years before were too young for enlistment. They represented nearly all vocations, but by far the greater number came from the farm. They represented the same ele- ment that, nearly a hundred years before, had fought for free- dom from Britain's yoke. Many, assigned to companies and taking their guns, essayed the life of an active soldier with no drill at all. What they learned of the use of their weapons in parade or in action, was from observation. That they did not particularly mar the prospects of the regiment is evident in the sequel. Ere many weeks they were bearing their burdens and doing their respective duties with as much ease and cool- ness as the veriest veteran by their side.
May 10th came another moving day; this time retracing the steps across the Branch and through the city to the Virginia
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side of the Potomac. Heavy Artillery regiments are succeeded, largely. by 100-day men, sent in from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, but our immediate successors are, in the main, from the 10th N. Y. H. A., and we ourselves follow other heavy artillery regiments that have gone ahead. For the march. Companies A, B, H, F, and I in part, report at Fort Baker, and the remainder of I, with L, M and K, join at the bridge. There was no special incident in the transit, save that the horses of a coach near the eastern end of the Eastern Branch bridge having no ears for music, became frightened at our band, and bolting short about turned the coach completely over, spilling the passengers, but fortunately not harming any- one. With drums beating and flags flying we marched over the plaza to the east of the Capitol, by the south end of said magnificent structure. and along Pennsylvania avenue, all un- conscious of our destination. Some said we were going back to the old forts, others said "the front." and when we marched out upon Long Bridge, we were quite certain we were to have some experience in Virginia. Company L veterans recall, as they neared Unionville and the band played a lively air. a fine. high-headed horse prancing to the music, but as they neared him, they saw he was moving on three legs only, but in perfect time. The familiar government brand "I. C." on his flank, told of battle-strife and his appreciation of marching music. Though only a horse. preserved for the good he had done, he was greeted with hearty cheers.
While new regiments were constantly forming and a man counted for as much in one of them as in the other organiza- tions, there were considerations of locality that frequently de- termined the body wherein the recruit was to serve. If he were not too intent upon getting a commission immediately, if he were only modestly ambitious, he found the regiments already in the service better for him than those whose record was all before them. Hence the numbers that had enlisted in Auburn and in the old barracks there had received an intro- duction to soldier's life. The winter of 1863 and '64, spent in that place, has a considerable space in the memories of many a Ninth survivor. There were some men considerably beyond the age of service, but by discriminating lying and the barber's art, they manage to pass muster. On the whole. the accessions to the Army of the Potomac at the beginning of the Battle
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Summer added much to its strength. At first they met some chaff from the older soldiers, but in the line of duty all differ- ences disappeared, and before Cold Harbor was reached, only the closest scrutiny could have told who were the old and who the new. As usual, our party was a large one, and we could not all stop at one fort, so we were distributed, A, F and M- to Fort Richardson, which became the headquarters; B and I went to Fort Barnard; H, to Fort Garrische; K, to Fort Berry, and L, to Fort Scott. The "boys" of the latter company ever dilate on the terror of rats in this stronghold. They had to sleep in the bomb-proofs, and life, waking or sleeping, was a warfare with the rodents, which stole their food at all times and made nights hideous by walking over the sleeping soldiers, one of whom declared, as between rebs and rats, he preferred the former. The regiment is again as nearly united as it can be in so many forts. The 2d Battalion that came up from Fort Foote on the same day found itself placed with C, D and G in Fort Ward, and E in Fort Reynolds, the former companies making a long detour by way of Long Bridge and not reach- ing the fort till nearly midnight. The distance of Fort Ward from Alexandria is not more than four nor less than three miles, but the men marched twelve miles to get there. One of them tersely remarks in his journal, "Military."
Our move was more "military." The 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery vacated many of the forts as the Ninth moved in. Over the main entrance to Fort Richardson the soldiers had left, in large letters, the Latin motto of the Wooden Nut- meg State, viz., "Qui transtulit sustinct," which some boys just from school were able to render to their fellows as, "Who brought us, will sustain." For once we thought the sentiment quite as good as our New York's "Excelsior." Fairfax Semi- uary was near. Daily picket-guard was maintained, but there was very little stability, since on the 15th, Companies B and L. were ordered to Fort Worth, still further south. The very next day there was an inspection at Fort Richardson, just to see how quickly the men could move. With the exception of men on duty in the forts, and so could not report, this was the first time for the men of the Ninth to assemble in a body. Dur- ing these days active boys are scouring the neighboring coun- try for adventure and sights. The wounded from the Wilder- Ress are filling the Seminary Hospital, and thither many go, 6
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both from curiosity and possibly to see wounded friends from other regiments; when there, few failed to climb to the steeple of the seminary to get the fine view it afforded. This seminary was and is an Episcopal theological school. Arlington is not so very far away, and the building and grounds filled with memories of the Lee family are thoroughly inspected. Many a letter carried to northern homes floral souvenirs from the Arlington flower gardens. Camp distribution comes in for a visit, and Camp Chase, where the first stop was made nearly two years before, is also quite near.
The night of May 17 is a long one to many, for certain cont- panies are under arms or on the march nearly every moment of it, for all have been ordered to report at Fort Richardson very early. Shelter-tents have been added to our outfit, and we are ready to go. It is scarcely more than morning on May 18 when we enter Alexandria, 2000 strong, and go upon trans- ports, the great mass of us quite ignorant of our destination. Steamers John Brooks, Jolin W. D. Prouty and the State of Connecticut bear us away and down the river. Lost sleep is sought upon the deck floors, and those who desire amusement find it in cards and other diversions. The tolling of the ship's bell as we passed Mt. Vernon called up reflections that possi- bly the Father of his Country might not be pleased if he knew in what disorder his children were. Late in the afternoon we reach Belle Plain Landing at the mouth of the Potomac creek, and soon go ashore in the midst of a drenching rain. though to make room for our boat another, filled with rebel prisoners. is obliged to move out. The Jolinnies are dirty and saucy. Some one suggests that these qualities are usually joined. Some of the boys, recruits, pitch their first tents here, and try to dry off by means of camp-fires. There is a hospital transport at the dock, and some of our number are borne thereon to be taken back for treatment.
The rain continues, and during the following night our ears are treated to the sound of distant cannonading, a part of that "wild diapason of war" which Grant had inaugurated earlier in the month. and to which our ears were to become so much accustomed. The next day, the 19th. in the morning Companies H. I and L started for Fredericksburg in charge of a wagon- train, reaching there at about 10 P. M. Company D followed in the afternoon and camped east of the Rappahannock. Each
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man wasagain his own cook. On this day a party of rebel prison- ers passed through the camp, and went aboard a boat bound for some northern prison. Draw six days' rations. While we were lying at this point some of us saw Colonel Welling and Lieuten- ant Colonel Seward go aboard a transport and soon steani away towards Washington. Naturally we said to each other, "What's up!" A few days later we learned what it all meant. Those who roamed over Belle Plain came to .the conclusion that it derived its name by the law of contraries, for it was anything but attractive. The shores were composed of con- glomerated shells not unlike the coquina of Florida. Still pleasures were found even there, for the bathing was good, though some roguish fellows suggested sharks. Many a sol- dier will recall how very cheap shad were, and how gloriously he fried them on his tin plate, which became at once griddle and trencher. To their unsophisticated taste, the result of their cooking was every whit as appetizing as were the famous planked shad cooked by Daniel Webster himself.
We were not to march hungry nor unarmed, for all started away from Belle Plain with six days' rations and forty rounds of cartridges, quite a load in itself. Five companies left on the afternoon of the 20th-Companies A and K the following morning, and G at noon on the 22d. This going to the front was a new experience to most of the men, and it did not take long to lessen the baggage which the special order had named as necessary. Hundreds said, "If we only had these blankets at home, how nice it would be, but they are a nuisance here," and off they would go from the knapsacks. The days were very warm and the burden great. Seemingly, there was no mo- ment when some one could not be seen in the act of throwing away something, till our line of march was effectually indicated by tons of cast away apparel. One captain, of a very saving nature, had his feelings hurt by so much wastefulness, and he did his best to carry a part of the stuff thus discarded. and was laughed at for his pains; even he had to yield finally and drop his extra burden. In their extremity, some men threw away, at once, knapsack and all it contained. Others reduced it by degrees, while still others made a roll of what they deemed most precious and. with joined ends, bore it over one shoulder. Every one felt it necessary to sacrifice something, and a New York old-clothes man could have made his fortune on the
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material with which our way was strewn. What we did was done by every new regiment, and the acres between the land- ing and city became the temporary depository of our own and government possessions in fabulous quantities. If those in authority had only told us what we really needed and what we had best leave behind, how much better it had been for all: but the mere waste of property was of small consideration, and our officers were just as inexperienced as their men.
The route itself was through a veritable land of desolation. Whatever it may have been in the past, three years of war had swept off everything that made life worth living. If there were inhabitants, like some rodents they must have burrowed. On our way we met an ambulance conveying wounded from the front to the landing. Among them were many from the 1st Maine, long our neighbors in the defenses. They had had their baptism of blood, and had made a glorious record. While camping and waiting for the other companies, it is said that Captain Gregory of B was bitten in the temple by a rattle- snake, and that this contributed to his death at Cold Harbor more than the wound received there. At noon or a little past, the last company, except G, also guarding a wagon-train, came up and had a sight of the Rappahannock and Fredericksburg. Some veterans who had first gone out in 1861 retained vivid recollections of their long day on Stafford Heights, and it was just a renewal of old acquaintances, but to the majority all was new. The words had long been very, very familiar, and now we were having the realities that went with those words. Head-boards here and there told of the dead in the long days of '62 and '63, when Burnside and Hooker, staking their for- tunes lost.
The noteworthy hamlet of Falmouth is at our right, and oppo- site is Fredericksburg, with its ragged steeples and yawning walls, its ruined bridges and bullet-marred houses. We are standing on land that may have belonged to Washington, and before us may be the very spot, on the river's bank, where the youthful athlete stood when he made that famous throw of : silver dollar across the Rappahannock. While waiting by the river, some of the men crossed over and found the city one great hospital. The Wilderness and Spottsylvania were only a few miles away, and the wounded from these terrible fields were here by the thousands. The scenes of the amputating
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tables were not calculated to inspire the young men, who were to soon experience similar dangers. So absorbed were they in the bloody present, they had little disposition to think of the city's past, but had they been inclined, they might have found the Masonic Lodge room in which Washington was initiated just before he was of age, and the very Bible on which he laid his hands. i. e., if they had been disposed to break in. In the northern part of the city, they might have found the home of Washington's mother, the very house in which she breathed her last, and where her distinguished son often visited her, and a little to the westward her grave with the marble monu- ment by its side, for it was never reared. All this the boys might have seen. but probably no one did. Their thoughts were quite too prosaic and practical for historic reminders, and besides the school-master was not with them.
CHAPTER XI.
REACHING THE FRONT.
Though we are standing on the margin of the river, though the city before us was filled with dead and wounded, and though the sound of distant artillery was frequent. we were not as yet at that ever movable point known as the Front. For several days we were to continue to be only an isolated regi- ment guarding a wagon-train, which some of the boys confi- dently asserted was forty miles long. There were several hun- dred wagons in the train. At 2 P. M. we march down and across the river. for the first time, in hundreds of instances. on a pontoon bridge. We almost envied the natty sailors who sat in several of the boats doing some kind of guard-duty; they looked so clean and neat when contrasted with our soiled uni- forms, and we were only beginning. We had hardly more than passed through the city when we were halted near Marye's Heights, once flaming with rebel fire, and in time to be the cem- etery of so many loyal dead. and waited a while. During the interval a thunderstorm coming up, some of the boys put up their shelter-tents, and then was shown just how many per- sons could get under that diminutive canvas; "seven or eight" is. one record, and one of those men insisted on keeping his
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feet dry also. That night we had our first specimen of march- ing in the dark. There were no "taps" for us, though at mid- night or thereabouts we were halted and permitted to lie down. Of course when eleven large companies were strung along sev- eral miles, the same hour would not apply to all. The grass was very wet, and we had thrown away that which would now make us comfortable. Happy the boys who have retained their rubber-blankets and shelter-tents, for two men could place a poncho, rubber side down on the ground, then lay one-half the shelter on that, making with knapsack (when saved) for pillow, a fair "shake-down." For covering, the order of tent and blank- et was reversed. By lying very closely together, two partners could get along very well through a Virginia night, but alas for the lad who had nothing, whose improvidence had left him overcoatless and blanketless!
For him there was no refuge but the camp-fire, and then when was he to sleep? That first night developed many a case of latent rheumatism, and the ambulance bore several away to- wards Washington the next day, among them one whose first night in this campaign was very near his last, for he returned to his company in the valley, only to fall the following day at Cedar Creek. However sad to the sufferers themselves, to those comfortably ensconced between their rubber-blankets; the fretting and fuming, not to say swearing, of the poor men so dolefully moving about was extremely funny. Sympathy is a queer characteristic, and like love the subjects are unex- plainable. Day and night we were in expectation of attack from some quarter. That ubiquitous leader. Moseby, was fan- cied to be near us; indeed, he seemed to partake of the super- natural quality of omnipresence, and we tried to be correspond- ingly alert. One chronicler claims that a guerrilla attack was made during the march on one part of the train. and 215 of the army were captured, but our train was a long one. whatever the story. The morning of the 22d found some of us again trudging our weary way, but we were not too tired to appre- ciate the beautiful sight afforded by our white-topped wagons as they wound sinuously along the tree-bordered, crooked Vir- ginia roads. As far as the eye could reach there were wagons loaded with comforts and necessities for the soldiers in the trenches. If all the swearing done by the drivers of those wicked mules was taken down by the recording angel. the
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record must have been far longer than that made by our "Army in Flanders." We caught only the "yea mules" with accom- panying profanity that was exploded in our immediate vicin- ity. The land itself had been thoroughly impoverished by to- bacco culture. While we did not march very far on the 22d, the hot weather and our want of experience made the distance seem long.
That war is not Sunday-school was forcibly evidenced re- peatedly this day through the pillaging of private houses, al- ways on account of provocation given, at least it was so claimed. Sometimes articles of value were carried a long dis- tance only to be thrown away at last. "If I only had this at home," rang through many a man's head, and he accordingly added to his burdens by carrying for a ways a prized piece of booty, but he would soon tire of it. In this way a big family Bible was thrown down and picked up a dozen times by as many different soldiers. If Napoleon's men threw away treasure- chests in the retreat from Moscow, there is little wonder that ours retained little else than what they could eat. Our camp was near Guinea Station. The first noteworthy place encoun- tered was Bowling Green, reached on the 23d, the county seat of Caroline county, to be made famous for all time in the com- ing April. for there on the 21st, in one of the barns we are now passing perhaps, Boston Corbett would shoot the assassin, Wilkes Booth.
However sad to the antiquarian, many exceedingly valuable papers long treasured in the court house were that day by thoughtless men given to the wind, or as widely scattered as the next mail to the North could send them. Said M- --- of Company K: "I saw to-day the signature of George the II affixed to a grant of land in this county. It ought to have been saved, but it wasn't." Some houses were entered and furniture was injured. but mainly on account of what the boys termed "rebel sass." The Confederates had left only the day before. and we saw their signal-station in a tree. One Yankee of inquiring mind finds that flour here is worth, in Confederate script, $300 a barrel, and corn $60 a basket. Near here we passed a regiment of colored troops, the first many of us had seen. There was a great deal of good-natured guying as we marched along, some of our men being inclined to doubt their soldierly qualities. Later all learned better. Among the offi-
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cers of these troops, Company B boys found a former comrade, Andrew J. Raynor, now a lieutenant commanding a company.
Lieutenant Fish of B compelled a secesh citizen who had offered some insulting remarks to retract and apologize. This was near nightfall, and for some distance we marched by the light of burning houses, destroyed by the colored soldiers in revenge for an insulting answer made by a man to a polite request for a drink. "I won't give anything to a damned nigger." He had fared better if he had held his tongue and granted the request. At night we camped near Milford station, and it was claimed that traces of the departed enemy were only too prominent, for they had failed to take all their "Gray Backs" with them. This is a station on the Richmond & Fredericksburg railroad forty miles from the former city and twenty-one from Fred- ericksburg. During the night our rest was disturbed by the arrival of Colonel Seward, band and drum corps, who had left Belle Plain on the 22d, reaching Fredericksburg at 9 P. M.
The next day, pushing along, they were at Guinea Station at 2.30 P. M., and in Bowling Green at 11 o'clock. making only a short halt, till 12.30 A. M. On the 24th, at an early hour, our new colonel and his musical staff caught up with his regiment. There is no record of the bands making any music on the march other than with their chins. They saved their wind for locomo- tive purposes. Company G was also on the way, and the march of the 23d wore so severely on the men that the captain re- marks, "Good men fall out," and he, too, remarks the conflagra- tion in Bowling Green. Instead of advancing with the regi- ment on the 24th, this company was obliged to rest, marching only four or five miles.
The 24th of May beheld us again advancing, but at 9 A. M. or thereabouts we were halted, and Colonel Seward took formal command of the regiment, announcing that Colonel Joseph Welling had resigned, and that he, William H. Seward, Jr., had been promoted to fill the vacancy. His address was not long. but it was direct. and all felt that there would be no flinching, so far as the head of the column was concerned. We are enjoined to do our duty faithfully and manfully, and then came the "Forward, march!" for the first time from Colonel Seward. Notwithstanding this gracious send-off, the day was not comfortable. Rain fell, but we were not permitted to put on our rubber-blankets, so there was nothing to do but plod
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and splash along. That we are becoming experienced soldiers is evident in some of our boys shooting and skinning a pig, the first bloodshed of the march, thus affording fresh pork to a favored few at our first hatt. We ford Pole Cat creek, charmed neither by its name nor waters, though there were times during the day when we would have gladly welcomed the latter, so intense was our thirst. Though the rain was falling in torrents, there was none for our satisfaction. As with the Ancient Mar- iner, there was water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. Some were fain in this extremity to dip up the liquid, more mud than water, between the hills of corn, and thereby lessen their thirst.
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