USA > Ohio > History of the three months' and three years' service from April 16th, 1861, to June 22d, 1864, of the Fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the war for the Union > Part 7
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The morning of the 31st was misty and cloudy; after break- fast we were moved to the heights of Centerville, from which we could see our men coming from the direction of Bull Run ; many as they passed us asked why we had not come sooner,
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FOURTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
since they had with inferior numbers contended with the same . force that had beaten McClellan; men of both armies looked for their friends and acquaintances; matters as well as men were freely discussed. Porter and King were severely censured by their own men; remarks like the following were frequent: "Lee and Jackson pull together, our generals don't;" "McClellan wanted Pope to get whipped;" "He thinks he is bigger than Lincoln;" "Our generals are a jealous, incompetent set;" "Banks is a good man, but no general;" "Pope is no coward;" "They ought to give us better generals." The dissatisfaction was almost universal.
A great battle had been fought; Sigel's and McDowell's corps, of Pope's Army of Virginia; Hooker's and Kearney's Divisions Third Corps, and Reynolds' Division of the First Corps, Army of the Potomac, and Reno's Ninth Corps, had driven Jackson from a strong position behind a railroad embankment, when .Longstreet opened from the left flank a destructive fire of mus- ketry and artillery, enfilading the victorious troops, compelling them to fall back to a new position, which they held until dark, when they began to fall back to our rear, because their pro- visions had given out. Jackson attempted to cut off the retreat by falling upon our forces . at Fairfax. To Franklin's and Sum- ner's Corps had been assigned the double duty of resisting a front and flank attack, until all who had been engaged the day previous had started for Washington, whither all the troops had now been ordered by General Halleck; we were just preparing to bring up the rear, when firing was heard to the north of Fairfax, just as a severe rainstorm burst over us and checked hostilities, while night put an end to farther demonstrations; it was Jackson's attack at Chantilly; had it been earlier in the day, our corps would no doubt have come upon his right flank, with good chances of gaining a great victory.
Our brigade was the rear-guard until we reached Fairfax, where we learned the sad news that Generals Stevens and Kearney had been killed the evening previous at Chantilly; the latter especially was well known, and had the unbounded confidence of all who knew him.
Now came the experience that always tried a soldier's patience until many had no more patience left to try; it was the slow marching in the dead hour of the night, moving a few steps at a
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time, then halting a few moments, then onward a few steps more, then standing with knapsack getting heavier and eyelids becom- ing more and more unmanageable, marching while asleep, butting against the load on the back of the man in front; or possibly some weary arm drops the gunbarrel on the head of a comrade, which starts a torrent of epithets from the mouth of the sufferer, waking up everybody within range, some of them just in time to find that they are standing or wading in water over shoe-top deep; occasionally one lies down only to bounce up again, and before he has time to settle back there comes another halt, and he thinks it is of no use to squat this time as they will start in a minute; he stands awhile with gun at a shoulder-shift, until it gets most wretched heavy, he then brings it to an "order," leans upon it, and tries hard for a long time to keep awake, and from blessing somebody, steps to the roadside, bends his weary joints to lie down, when he hears the command, "Forward!" Frequently soldiers become so weary of such marching that they will, either alone or with some trusty comrade, nestle down for the night, and take the risk of being captured or of having to make a forced march in the morning to overtake the regiment. Rapid and continued marches were rather exhilarating, if not too long continued; slow and broken gaits were exhausting, but the fits and starts-no gait at all-could hardly be endured by the most pious. We marched all night, and at breakfast at 9 o'clock on the 3d of September, we were yet in sight of Fairfax, having gone about three miles in twelve hours, and were wet to the skin, and blinded most of the time by burning baggage. At five in the afternoon we made a forced march to Falls Church. On the 5th we marched with the corps beyond Rockville, Md., where the One Hundred and Thirty-second Pennsylvania took our place in the brigade, and our regiment, in compliance with orders from McClellan, marched with its handful of men to near Fort Gaines, in the District of Columbia, to recruit its strength.
CHAPTER XII.
CAMP OHIO-STATEMENT OF REGIMENTAL SURGEON Mc- ABEE, AS TO THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS AND DEATHS IN THE REGIMENT-REJOIN THE SECOND CORPS AT HARPER'S FERRY - MARCH TO LEESBURG-PROVOST GUARD-GETTING READY TO FOLLOW LEE.
It is at this point due the many comrades who had far sooner laid down their lives on the bloody field than to be sent to any hospital, and there waste to death with loathsome disease, as well as to those who in part recovered, that the following from the pens of Colonel Mason and Surgeon McAbee, is placed on permanent record :
"Decimated as we have been, without having been slaughtered in battle, it is due the public as well as the men who have campaigned it through two summers and one winter in the mountains, that the facts as to our condition should be published. When the regiment disembarked at Harrison's Landing, Virginia, with only their haversacks, ammunition and arms, to help cover the left front of the retiring Army of the Potomac during the first night, to skir- mish all the next day the regiment numbered over eight hundred men, present for duty. But a fortnight had hardly passed until more than five hundred of that number were put hors du combat by that scourge of the Peninsula which has cost us more by far than the audacity of Davis, the cool, quietplanning of Lee, or the far-reaching flank movements of Jackson.
When called in from the front, attached to Sumner's Corps and ordered into camp along with the rest of the reserves, it happened that our camp was located upon a low, flat, sandy triangle, of the most recent diluvia or drift, which was washed on the south and east by a little streamn into which the filth of more than a city was daily emptied, and which was held at bay by the rising tide twice in twenty-four hours; and skirted on three sides by a wood where an army stepped aside every day "to corner their feet," and where lay in putrescent death, horses, mules and horned cattle.
The only water sources in such a soil were a little below the surface, or it lower down, they were filled by direct and easy percolation through a very open sieve, which let the surface drainage through, with all its stains of filth, to be dipped up and drank by thirsty men, as poison, for water.
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CAUSES OF MUCH SICKNESS, STATED.
Soon a diarrhea of the meanest kind attacked vigorously the right wing of . the regiment, and swept across it to the left, cutting down men by platoons. In three or four days after its approach but one medical officer was left fit for duty, and he had the snug little task of prescribing for from three to five hun- dred men daily. From the Colonel down every shoulder strap and chevron bowed to the hateful thing, until literally every man was victimized."
SURGEON'S OFFICE, FOURTH REGIMENT O. V. I., CAMP NEAR NEWPORT NEWS, VA., August 24th, 1862. 5
SIR :- I have the honor to represent the following facts connected with the sanitary condition of the regiment which you command, viz:
Ist. Of ten companies numbering nine hundred and nine enlisted men, there are not to exceeding three hundred in good physical condition, present for duty.
2d. During the three months ending June 30th the regiment reported a daily average of seven hundred and forty enlisted men present for duty.
3d. The marked depression of the strength of the regiment is due to the prevalence of a prostrating diarrhea, which attacked alike the officers and men of the command, on or about the Ioth of July, and while occupying a camp near Harrison's Landing, Va.
4th. During the continuance of this endemic there occurred more than six hundred cases (without being associated with a single death from whatever cause), and although its violence has now materially abated, its victims are still haunted with leanness, great muscular prostration, and remarkably feeble digestion.
In view of the foregoing facts, it becomes my duty to recommend and to urge, so far as may be warranted, that the regiment be allowed to remain in camp for a period of not less than thirty days, as being necessary to restore to their accustomed vigor and efficiency the men who since June, 1861, have been constantly engaged in the most active campaigning both summer and winter.
The regiment having been recruited in Central Ohio, it is suggested that their early recuperation will be facilitated by locating their encampment not materially south of Washington City.
Very respectfully, Your obedient servant,
(Signed)
H. M. MCABEE, Surgeon Fourth O. V. I.
To Colonel JOHN S. MASON.
Commanding Fourth Ohio V. I.
The above communication was endorsed as follows :
Respectfully referred to the commanding General for such action as may be deemed necessary.
This regiment has, until its arrival on the James river in July, been quite as efficient, and probably has seen as constant service since its organization in June, 1861, as any regiment in the field. I only hope that some step may be taken that it may again, at the earliest possible moment, be able to take the
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FOURTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
field in a condition to render efficient service, with its full strength and vigor, which it is not now able to do, and consequently must necessarily bear the reproach of being classed amongst the poorest of the service-a position which it has not deserved, nor is it one it desires to attain.
(Signed)
JOHN S. MASON, Colonel Fourth Regiment O. V. I.
This communication brought the order from McClellan to go into camp near Fort Gaines; on the 19th of September he sent an order for the regiment to report for duty; this brought a statement from our Surgeon that there were only 185 men fit for duty, and that in his judgment it was a "serious question whether the majority of those ordered to duty are in great danger of early and permanent disability, by being taken into the field before they are. permanently restored." That the sequela which is so much to be dreaded, in case the men are now overtaxed and exposed, is typhoid fever, which, when superadded to such a condition, will in a large number of cases result in death, or at least in a complete wreck of health."
The following are additional extracts from Surgeon McAbee's reports :
September 20th. "Of the 635 men belonging to your regiment, but 135 are fit for duty."
November Sth. "There are of the regiment in this camp (Camp Ohio) 140 invalids ; there are at Harper's Ferry 350 non-effective men ; there are in the field ready for duty but 120 ; the remainder, almost 200, are scattered in hos- pitals."
November 23d. "There are in this camp 387 enlisted men, the Chaplain and one Lieutenant."
Camp Ohio was placed in charge of Dr. McAbee, who did all in his power for the welfare of those under his care; three days of each week he devoted to the examination of such as were probably entitled to furloughs or discharges. At first this camp was only intended for the Fourth, but soon many other Ohio men were sent here for treatment. This arrangement ceased about the middle of March, 1863.
From the 8th of September until the 28th, there were two camps near Fort Gaines, the one the hospital, and the other the regimental camp. It was especially desirable to be a member of the regimental camp, where one could eat all the fruit he wished, bathe when he pleased, and stroll to the city when- ever he took the notion. On the 14th and 15th heavy firing
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WITH BRIGADE TO LEESBURG.
was heard west of us. On the 28th the able-bodied took the cars near the Capital. Among these were a large number who were hardly able to march two miles, but were determined to try it, rather than remain longer inactive in a monotonous camp ; one such, Charles Gray, a noble, intelligent and much beloved comrade of Company C, fainted soon after the cars were in motion, fell out and sustained injuries that eventually proved fatal. Harper's Ferry, and our place with the old hrigade on Bolivar Heights, was reached on the morning of the 29th. It seemed necessary for a large part of the army to remain here to prevent a raid into the north.
At early dawn on the Ist of October came the order to be ready to march immediately. General Kimball at the head of his brigade, with Frank's Battery (G) First New York, ten- pounder Parrott guns, and one squadron of the First United States Cavalry, crossed the Shenandoah, marched between the river and Loudon Heights, then up Pleasant Valley, through Waterford, where the Star Spangled Banner was flung to the breeze by several ladies as we approached. Milk, cider, cakes, pies and apples were furnished free. At Lovetsville there were like demonstrations, but at Hillsboro this was reversed, as a woman of some forty summers urged a little three-year-old to curse "Lincoln's hirelings."
The cavalry reached Leesburg before dark ; captured several prisoners. The infantry camped some two m les from the town. We started early the next morning to return, halted near Hills- boro at three, moved again at ten, and reached camp at three on the morning of the 3d, having made the distance of fifty-two miles in less hours, through an intolerable heat that caused many to fall out by the way.
On the 4th, we accompanied the Corps on a reconnaisance to Halltown and beyond, and returned on the 6th, having had a little picket skirmishing.
On the 12th camp was changed. From 16th to 19th we were on picket, and thoroughly drenched. Entire regiments went on picket instead of having the picket force composed of a small detail from each company of several regiments.
From the 8th to the 20th quite a number of the regiment enlisted in the United States Regular Artillery.
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FOURTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Ham was 25 cents per pound, cheese 30, eggs 35 per dozen, a can of fruit one dollar, and potatoes two dollars per bushel.
Several of the companies were on provost guard for several days. One day while the provost were enjoying their wormy hardtack and salty pork they spied a neatly dressed woman tripping down street. Many were the demonstrations and numerous the expressions of admiration, and tossing of kisses, and " Oh honey," "Darling," "Tulip," " Rose," were heard, and a score were gazing after her. She turned, and horrors, phew! a face as black as midnight, teeth like toe-nails, "eyes like peeled onions," and a "grin like an alligator," the ugliest visage the boys had ever seen ; she stared at them for some time- charmed, fastened to the spot by what she had heard-but.could hear no more, and with a kind of scare-me-again expression she moved on, followed by prolonged applause on the veranda of the hotel, and the chorus "Oh the girl, the pretty little girl I left behind me."
One day some lovers of sport filled six large wine bottles with water, corked them neatly, took them just before dark to several officers in command of a battery, and sold to them the entire lot at one dollar a bottle. From some bushes in a ravine that leads into the Shenandoah gorge they watched the proceedings; in less than an hour seven chums were on hand, the corks drawn, the wine sampled, and night made hideous with the uproarious laughter that followed; explanations were in order, and duly made; again and again they wished that they had only asked the men that sold them where they belonged. They never found out.
Our camp was delightful for situation. From an eminence near at hand one could get a view of the town, with its principle street leading up a steep hill, and ancient houses, one above the other on the brow of the hill, with the third story and roof on a level with the pavement; yonder are the chimneys of the old arsenal, and the low engine-house where Old John Brown defended himself; in the river are abutments of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad bridge; scattered about are the pontoons; right up against and under overhanging ledges of Maryland Heights is the railroad, and within range of a six-pounder are the Loudon Heights; between them, in this transverse valley of the Blue Ridge, thirteen hundred feet deep, the waters of the Potomac and Shenandoah rush together over mighty boulders, in a head-
JEFFERSON ROCK.
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GRAND OUTLOOK FROM JEFFERSON'S ROCK.
long race for the ocean; up the Potomac are the now historic Falling Waters, South Mountain and Antietam; on yonder heights Miles might have kept the entire force of Jackson at bay, and insured the utter rout of Lee before he reached Antie- tam, instead of showing a white flag and surrendering eleven thousand men that were eager to honor their country with the sacrifice of their lives, if need be.
Many of the boys clambered upon Jefferson's Rock, stood upon the same spot where Thomas Jefferson once stood, and viewed the same grand scenery which he said was worth a jour- ney over the Atlantic to behold; near at hand, but down in a deep gorge, the Shenandoah leaps, rushes and foams against the massive abutments of the Blue Ridge, and over huge granite boul- ders that had thundered down the mountain side ages agone. All this magnificent scenery did not satisfy; it would do well enough in times of peace, when one with loved friend, in stately drawing-room and not box cars, could take his time along the entire route. We had been here long enough; Lee had been granted abundant time to gather the entire harvest in the very productive Virginia Valley; rains would soon fall and then he would get nearer to a safe base of supplies. The soldiers as well as the government were getting out of sorts with McClellan. Some said he would move just as soon as the rains began to pour. Our camp was getting very filthy; many were sick, not sick enough to go to the hospital, nor well enough to march; officers and men, since the Leesburg forced march, did a "rush- ing business," night and day, until the diarrhoea had threatened to turn them inside out, so that when the order came to be ready to march, every soul was glad save those that were so reduced that they were not able to carry a gun nor endure the cartridge-box or belt buckled over the stomach; because of this a large number of sad boys were left behind; some fifty could not be moved, and over two hundred were taken to Camp Ohio.
CHAPTER XIII.
LEAVE HARPER'S FERRY -SNOW STORM - MCCLELLAN RELIEVED-BURNSIDE ASSUMES COMMAND-MEN OVERCOME BY THE HEAT-CAMP AT FALMOUTH -SUMNER'S THREAT TO BOMBARD FREDERICKS- BURG.
At four on the morning of the 30th of October came the order to be ready to march, followed by the consequent hurry aud bustle that attends the taking down of tents, cooking three days' rations, cleaning guns, filling cartridge-boxes with ammunition, packing the wagons, going to the doctor's call to find out who is well enough to march and who is sick enough to go to the hospital, where he is likely to get sicker. At five in the after- noon we crossed the Shenandoah, were soon rounding the Loudon Heights, moving up Pleasant Valley, and went into camp several miles from Hillsboro, tired out with the fearful load of bulging knapsack, bursting haversack, sixty rounds of ammunition, heavy gun, woolen blanket, rubber blanket and shelter tent, with possibly the additional articles of canteen and frying-pan. We laid down to sleep as soon as the guns were stacked, having satisfied our hunger by an occasional raid into the haversack whilst on the march, taking out a morsel of cooked beef, or a piece of hardtack with a pinch of sugar, in case the latter had not already mixed itself through everything. True, a cup of strong coffee would have tasted so good; most of us would be willing to testify that there was nothing that gave such tone, strength and vitality to a weary, sleepy, "done gone" soldier, as a black quart cup full of foaming hot coffee, and it also added to the variety; coffee, tack and meat for breakfast; tack, coffee and meat for dinner; meat, coffee and tack for supper, varied occasionally by scorched beans, or rice, or even spring chicken, and possibly roast pig, as opportunities for foraging did abound. Such an opportunity presented itself this night, for just as we
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WITH THE ARMY UP PLEASANT VALLEY.
had taken a good nap a sleepy lieutenant came with an order for a goodly number to go on picket. "Where? How far?" was asked. "Oh, not far," came in a tone of pity from the noble Dolbear, that showed the feeling he had for his weary comrades. It was but a short distance: some twenty rods away, at a cross- road, where troops and trains were passing all night; where crowing roosters, quacking ducks and noisy geese had their necks wrung, and carcasses plucked and roasted; where shoulder- straps and chevrons counted themselves in with the boys, so that when morning came the nasty-smelling, new haversacks (now "called de groats") were heavier than ever, and the belt buckles had to be let out a notch or two. These little episodes made marching desirable.
The next morning we moved several miles further up the valley, taking time to club the persimmons, picking up the solid as eagerly as the mushy ones; some were so nice about it that they would not even touch the "nasty, smashed things;" soon there was as much expatiating as in an ordinary town council; the solid things puckered and double-and-twisted the lips, cheeks and tongue, so that it was difficult to talk or swallow; some remarked that "they would so pucker their 'innerts' that they could not keep goose and duck from spoiling;" others concluded that a peck of persimmons ought by all means be sent to the convalescents at Camp Ohio, as "they would just do the busi- ness better than quinine or blue-mass pills."
At ten the next morning, November ist, the march was re- sumed, and enlivened by the firing at the front; shortly after noon some Confederates were seen in Gregory's Gap, and the order was at once given to form in line of battle; Lieutenant Colonel Godman, in command, led us rapidly forward until we were even with the skirmishers; in an orchard some excellent apples slackened the pace for a short time; presently the Gap was reached, but not a sign of the enemy remained, but east- ward on hills and plain was the magnificent spectacle of over one hundred thousand men, with their camp fires and thousands of white, canvas-covered wagons; night came on, when in the mild breeze groups of men from jutting cliff and huge rock gazed upon the inspiring scene, in the meantime arguing con- cerning the merits of commanders, maneuvers and campaigns, or having a social chat.
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The next day was occupied in easy marching and the Fourth deploying as skirmishers into Snicker's Gap; several squads of the left flank, clambering over rocks, found their way far enough through the Gap to enable them to see that quite a force of Con- federates were in the Shenandoah Valley. Captain Jones went over into the valley, where he came in short range of the cavalry, and not returning until late at night it was thought for some time that the daring man had been captured. General Mc- Clellan came along at evening, as we were going into camp near the town of Snickersville, and was most heartily cheered by men who had in the weeks gone by done considerable growling at his expense; General French, our division commander, had the implicit confidence of all.
On the 3d the army marched in several parallel columns, halted frequently, and went into camp between Ashby's Gap and Upperville, where most of it remained, having most de- lightful weather until the 6th, when by a rapid march Rectortown was made by noon, where Colonel Mason, on his return to the regiment, received a most hearty greeting from officers and men ; the afternoon was spent in marching over rough, stony roads to Piedmont, where we went on picket, and returned the next morning to the brigade in a heavy snow storm; in the afternoon some of us went on picket on the farm where the Confederate General Ashby had been raised, by his uncle; on the morning of the 8th the pickets were hurried back to their regiment, and then all rushed forward toward Salem, through melting snow, going into camp several miles southeast of the town, from which we moved at nine the next morning, going into camp in the afternoon, where wood and good water was abundant. The next day, the roth, McClellan, in reviewing the troops, was greeted with tremendous cheers all along the line, but before night it became generally known that he had been superseded by General Burnside, which was condemned on all sides as a most ungracious act; complaints were bitter and criticisms severe, but when it was learned that the President had made the change at his own option, and although the confidence of the men in McClellan was great, in Abraham Lincoln's honesty and judgment it was unbounded; they believed he had had good and sufficient cause to warrant the change, even at this time, so that before the day had passed criticisms ceased and general
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