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 9
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On the 17th some of the men, having assisted in the burial of our dead, brought back word how our fallen comrades had been stripped of their clothing, making it the more difficult to identify them. In camp there was an irrepressible gloom, so much so
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FOURTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
that comrades wept as they talked of their beloved brothers who had so uselessly laid down their lives. Some of the log huts that had been begun had not a man return to occupy them ; every hut had less men to finish it. On the 22d, when the huts were all ready, there were only twenty-eight men present for duty subject to detail. Surgeon Morrison was with us and was kept busy. Dr. McAbee was still at Camp Ohio with the con- valescents. The baggage for officers and men now began to be brought to camp. Lieutenant Dickerson was Quartermaster of the regiment and Lieutenant Underwood of the brigade. On the 24th we were reviewed by General Sumner, and in the even- ing, it being Christmas Eve, camp was once more lively for the first time since the battle. Major Carpenter was in command of the regiment, and Mason, now a Brigadier General, com manded the brigade.
On the 29th, 30th and 31st, we were ready, with three days' rations and sixty rounds of ammunition, to march at any moment. Burnside had determined to retrieve his misfortunes by an at- tempt to flank Lee's position. The cavalry had moved down the river to be followed by the infantry, when President Lincoln sent him word that no movement should be made before he had been notified. The forces returned to camp and Burnside went. after some hesitation, to Washington, and there learned that he had been preceded by some of his general officers with com- plaints of lack of confidence on the part of officers and men in their General in Chief.
On the 14th the officers of the regiment at a called meeting passed suitable resolutions in respect to their fallen comrades, and also for Lieutenant Lippett, who had died at his home a few days previous.
The following is a list of killed and wounded as taken from the Roster :
Company A-J. B. Woolverton, wounded.
Company B-Lieutenant George Brophy, C. Bergan and O. L. Stoughton, wounded.
Company C-George Torrence and George Ropp, killed; T. C. Warner, wounded; Watson Mccullough, died of wounds.
Company D-J. G. Baily, H. Heater, F. Herbert and M. McCan, wounded.
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LIST OF LOSSES.
Company E-Lieutenant Brighton and D. Hummer, killed; A. Dice, wounded.
Company F-L. D. Hane, killed; Captain Wallace and F. Sell, died of wounds; F. B. Hane and S. P. Sylvester, wounded.
Company G-F. Brant, killed; F. Beck, D. Griner, G. Jones, A. W. Jamison and J. S. Philbrick, wounded.
Company H-J. B. Walker, killed; J. B. Kearfoot, died of wounds; Capt. Pritchard, N. Durfee and T. C. Likens, wounded.
Company I-Captain Ferguson, P. Akum and T. Plant, died of wounds.
Company K-T. Mccullough, wounded.
CHAPTER XV.
"BURNSIDE STUCK IN THE MUD"-IS RELIEVED AT HIS OWN REQUEST-HOOKER TAKES COMMAND AND RE- ORGANIZES THE ARMY-WINTER QUARTERS OF 1862-3 - FURLOUGHS GRANTED - PREPARATIONS FOR THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN.
Very few returned to us from the hospitals, so that we were but little more than a corporal's guard when Burnside reviewed his newly shod and clothed troops on the 17th of January.
After a vigorous division drill by General French, Division Commander, we were dismissed with the exhortation to "be ready to march at a moment's notice." Some of us were engaged in constructing corduroy roads, over which Hooker's and Frank- lin's Grand Divisions were beginning to pass, with pontoons, ammunition trains and artillery. Most of the troops were in high glee, whilst confidence in the commanding general was rapidly being restored, for "he is going to make the right move this time, flank Lee's position and make him get out of his breast- works." We had taken the shelter-tents from the huts, where they had served as roofs, packed our knapsacks, while the winds were getting chilly, the clouds growing denser, and night came with its pitchy darkness and mist, then rain followed by torrents, that continued with but little intermission for several days, in spite of which a hunchbacked-looking mass of humanity waded and staggered on toward the upper fords, until the evening of the 21st found the "Grand Army stuck in the mud;" and such mud, like " Burgundy pitch and plaster," the more one tried to pull out of it, it only stuck the faster. Desperation again seized the "now-or-never" Burnside, who in defiance of the elements determined to put down his pontoons by hitching not only teamn to:team,; but also men by the scores to his boats; horses, mules,
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CAUSES FOR COMPLAINT.
men and boats were simply stuck; it was far easier to pull than to walk; men in stocking feet made lunges for their disappearing boots; night came again, the troops squatted down into the mud; those that had not left camp spent the night wet and shivering on their soaked bunks. Early on the morning of the 23d the troops were straggling and struggling back to camp; roads were blockaded, wagons upturned; wagons, guns and caissons were in to the hubs; whips were cracking, mules whinnering, teamsters cursing; after several days all was again quiet on the Rhappa- hannock, and the sun once more beamed upon men and things that had settled down in camp. Burnside again made a trip to headquarters, now to request of the President that his order to dismiss Hooker and others, and to relieve Franklin and certain. others, should be immediately seconded or his own resignation accepted.
At the close of January General Mason was granted "leave of absence, on account of ill health," and Colonel Snyder, of the Seventh West Virginia, was in command of the brigade. Many untoward circumstances conspired to bring about a gloomy state of affairs. Many of our comrades had been "slaughtered;" the "peace party" in the North seemed to aid the enemy by their large majorities; our mails came loaded with their docu- ments, and doings; the idea of freeing the slaves was obnoxious to many; the heavy fatigue and picket duties, with the seemingly useless regimental guard, the exchange of coffee, tobacco, ideas and feelings with the "Johnnies" on the picket lines, the resig- nation of officers, and the refusal to grant "leave of absence" to officers and furloughs to enlisted men, whilst they were being granted in Lee's army, helped in the general discontent. Many men conceived the idea that an officer-who had enlisted under the same conditions as an enlisted man, and even as such, but had in some cases by mere fortune, fortuitous happenings, through friends or otherwise, been given authority to put on shoulder- strap, and too often permitted himself to lord it over his betters, it was strenuously held-had no more moral right to resign than a private. That all had enlisted as privates, and that promotion did not set aside the original contract to "serve for three years or during the war;" again, there could be no move made within three months, and many were already at home and the authori- ties did nothing to bring them back, and since friends at home
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FOURTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
were so many of them threatened by their neighbors that called us "hirelings," asked us by all means to come home, and that when there were so many that did absent themselves without leave, more could, and no one would be punished, and all could soon return in case they were needed, and there would be a saving to the government, and everybody would fight better after he had seen the loved ones at home, were among the many plausible things that men set before themselves, and some, many. (but few in our brigade) in the army. took "French furloughs," and thus swelled the number of absentees on detached duty, sick, with and without leave, from the Army of the Potomac, to nearly three thousand officers and about eighty-two thousand enlisted men, when General Hooker took command on the 25th day of February. He at once ordered companies and regiments to send him the descriptive list and whereabouts of every officer and private; this he followed with an order for every able-bodied man to return to his command immediately or be treated as a deserter; he at the same time granted leave and furloughs for two weeks at the rate of two men from each company. This was fair dealing, and appreciated by the men, who were now willing to swear by "Joe" Hooker, and fight with him, after all had returned to their commands. In a few weeks hundreds of men, cleanly dressed, could be seen coming into camp, ofttimes amid the most vociferous cheering by those who had borne the brunt of battle, and endured the hardships of camp-life duties in winter. The entire army was reorganized; the cavalry was made efficient; huts were built for the pickets; these had no longer to stand, as ofttimes before, for an hour, even in several instances for two hours at Corps Headquarters, in the cold, awaiting orders or for some disgruntled officer to head the column, if he was sober enough to do so; incompetent and disloyal officers were removed. Corps badges were adopted; to our division, the Third, was assigned the blue treefoil. After this, for a year, we wore the blue treefoil on our caps, but at the reorganization, in 1864, we changed to the white treefoil.
In March the mud began to dry up, when drills and reviews were more frequent; camp wore a more cheerful aspect, as men were almost daily going home, whilst many were returning with greetings and numerous tokens from the friends left behind us nearly two years agone. We were constantly assured by the
IO5
DOINGS IN WINTER QUARTERS.
returning ones that most of the people were as loyal as ever, and .as much determined as at first that the rebellion must go down. Men told us that they were anxious to return as soon as the two weeks were up, and showed by their willingness to do duty that furloughed men enjoyed their huts and put up with the monotony of camp life with more patience than ever.
As to the style of the huts, "deponent is at a loss to give it; some huts reminded one of pictures of heathen temples, others of a Yankee woodshed; some of an Indian wigwam, many not unlike the Dutch cow-barn; others of a woodchuck's hole; but the Hottentot style seemed to predominate." Before the month of April all the forests with the exception of a few trees had been cut away, and the camp surroundings were cheerless enough to give the most vivacious soldier the blues; the chim- neys of red clay and cross-sticks, bordered by the dirty brown shelter-tents used as roofs, added their somber associations to the now desolate scene. The fireplace was generally in the center of the twelve by twenty to thirty-foot hut; the bedstead usually extended the entire length of it; when first built the roof gave a mild, pleasant light, but now the accumulations of vapor, smoke and grease brought darkness, nearly total, on a rainy noon day; of these we had enough to satisfy the laziest hireling that ever steadied the April plow. Says one: "It seemed as if the rains would wash away our dirty continent."
There were rumors and sensations. Occasionally a chimney would be on fire, which gave the fire brigade a chance to halloa itself hoarse; sometimes fifteen or twenty men would "make a brigazee " for the door, and "vamoosed the ranch" as if the deuce were after them, but it was only the smoke, when the wind was the right way and filled the domicile, that caused the scatterment; some showed their knowledge of Bible by quoting the wise man's sayings concerning a brawling wife and a smoky house; others had forgotten the admonitions of the Book, as they heaped curses upon the already tottering chimney; but when the hut was full of smoke, and the rain poured through the roof and filled the remainder, whilst twenty men with weep- ing eyes and howling throats all tried to cuddle on to one possi- ble dry spot, and no one could do the thing justice by a new set of imprecations, than the whole "menagerie" was "on its ear." Yet how strangely different when, with smoke and rain,
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FOURTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
midnight darkness also filled the ranch; then there was a lying . closer together, blankets drawn over the head until toes were to the weather; meek as a March lamb, shaking and shivering, men waited for the joy that might come in the morning; ere the early dawn some one crawls out, starts "a tremendous smudge with the wet and green pine," and again buries himself in his blanket, woos sleep and comfort until a roaring fire lures and an all-goneness at the stomach compels another venture when it is nearly noon. The days are spent in reading, writing letters, posting the diary, or possibly in a friendly game of "seven-up," or dominoes, sewing on buttons, mending and patching, burnishing guns and bayonets, and watching the pot; in the evening the games may continue, stories are told, "yarns spun," campaigns planned, officers praised or blamed; at "Tat- too" all are expected to quiet, and at "Taps" to have gone off to sleep.
After the Ist of February Colonel Brooks of the Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, was in command of the brigade for some time, then a Colonel Robinson; afterwards, on the 13th of April, Colonel Carroll gladdened everybody by taking charge of the men who best knew his worth. General Couch was in command of the corps, and reviewed it on the 5th of March, when our regiment was augmented by a large number who had now returned from the hospitals for duty; officers and men appeared in their new clothing with the blue treefoil on their caps.
On the night of the 9th we were routed out and formed into line of battle, and again on the night of the blustering 12th of March, to guard against a cavalry raid. On the evening of the 15th the lightnings flashed and the thunders rolled. The 17th turned out to be a holiday for officers and men of the corps, as the majority spent the day in witnessing the hurdle races, and ludicrous scenes in commemoration of St. Patrick. The non- sense closed with the order to fall in, for the rebel cavalry was making a raid to our rear. During the greater part of the 18th there was firing to our rear. On the 19th it snowed nearly all day, and on the 20th it snowed and rained, ending in rain for the 21st and 22d. On the 27th, Major General French, com- manding the division reviewed our brigade of six regiments, in the presence of the Governor of New Jersey, and on the 30th
.
IO7
ADOPT THE BLUE TREFOIL BADGE.
most of the men listened to speeches from Governor Morton and General Meredith to the Fourteenth Indiana.
On the morning of the 31st the ground was covered with snow and slush. On the 6th of April "Honest Old Abe" reviewed the troops near Stoneman's Station; the President rode at the head of the cavalcade, followed by Hooker and Staff, these by corps and division commanders, a detachment of Lancers bringing up the rear, all having moved at a gallop.
On the 14th orders were received to be ready to march at a moment's notice, with eight days' rations in knapsack and haver- sack, to which was to be added sixty rounds of ammunition. Of course none of the generals were to carry any such amount, and very likely never had, but it did seem to the boys that these dignities had an idea that they were in command of a lot of pack-mules; there was but little complaint, for there was now to be "no more monkeying around," and everybody felt that "Fighting Joe " meant business, and if the rations could not be carried they could easily enough be thrown away when the load became too burdensome; stringent orders were given with refer- ence to the economical use of the sixty rounds of ammunition ; the boys believed in less ammunition and more bayonet, and with " Brick-top" as their leader, they were ready to engage an equal number of Louisiana Tigers," or to scoop the "Stonewall Brig- ade," which they afterward did at Gettysburg, at the point of the bayonet; "Go in on your muscle," was the motto of the "Gibraltar Brigade." Very many of the men would not carry more than forty rounds, because they would not be made pack- mules of for the sake of any general.
The 14th and 15th were rainy days, very much interfering with the movements of our cavalry on rear and flank of the enemy. The week ending with the 24th was very rainy, cold and blustering, making any forward movement entirely impracti- cable, but the few fine days that followed brought a renewal of the order to be ready, and on the 27th started Meade's, Howard's and Slocum's Corps, the Fifth, Eleventh and Twelfth respec- tively, up the Rappahannock.
CHAPTER XVI.
BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE.
On Tuesday morning, April 28th, 1863, we were routed out at four, and at six started in the rain up the river, out of sight of the rebel pickets, and reached the United States Ford at eleven and bivouacked, with twenty-one officers and three hundred and forty-five men present for duty.
Early the next morning, April 29th, we relieved the Sixty- ninth New York from picket. The pontoons came up late in the evening, and the Pioneer Corps at once proceeded to put them down, stopping not for the darkness nor the heavy rain of Thursday morning, April 30th. We were mustered for pay. The Eighth Ohio relieved us from picket. About four in the evening we moved with the advance across the river, sent out skirmishers, marched over breastworks, halted until the entire corps had crossed, and then about sunset started into the dense forest ; soon met a number of prisoners; continued for several miles, and about ten bivouacked where our road emerged from the woods and crossed the White House plantation, about three- quarters of a mile on the hither side of Chancellorsville.
Chancellorsville was simply a fair-sized brick building, at a cross-road, the intersection of the north and south United States Ford Road with the east and west Turnpike and Orange Plank Road. The plantation was about one mile long, some fifty rods wide at the eastern end, and gradually widening toward the western to about one hundred rods, and lay in a northeast and southwesterly direction, with Fairview Cemetery forty rods south of the plank road in the western center, Hazel Grove, half mile south, and Chancellor House at the cross-road, near the eastern center of the plantation. The plank road passed just south of the house, then entered the woods some seventy rods west,
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109
GETTING INTO POSITION.
passed down and over a ravine of about sixty rods from crest to crest, by the brow of the western slope where Jackson was wounded, then west one mile to Dowdall's Tavern. For the past hundred years much of the timber throughout this entire region had been cut down for use in mining operations, and had also been burnt over, so that which remained was mostly of a scrubby nature, making a jungle of scrub and burr-oaks, scrub- pines, whortleberries and brambles, in places almost impenetra- ble, especially to the soldier loaded down like a pack-mule with eight days' rations, sixty rounds of ammunition, blankets, shel- ter-tents, haversack, canteen and gun; especially would these catch in the hard and spiny branches, hold one to the under- brush, while spines, leaves and branches would take him in the face, head and neck; the haversack was frequently torn from the shoulder, and one must halt to secure his "all," in spite of imperative orders to " Forward."
Friday, May 1, 1863. Every man that had left camp with the regiment answered at roll-call this morning. We retained our position during the greater part of Friday forenoon, while Han- cock passed us, drew up his division in line of battle nearly two miles east of the Chancellor House, on the turnpike, with the Twelfth Corps to his right on the Orange Plank Road. About noon these forces were ordered to fall back a mile nearer Chan- cellorsville. About the same time our brigade had orders to march, passed the White House along the Ford road, and took position sixty rods east of Chancellor House, while heavy firing was going on east of us. After an hour, Carroll, in accordance with orders, massed his brigade in the woods immediately south of the turnpike, and on a slightly easterly slope, where it re- mained for several hours; the firing in front came nearer, but soon slackened to mere skirmishing. About 4 o'clock, just as the brigade had been ordered to fall back to its old position, the enemy sent shot and shell near the place we had just left, strik- Ing consternation among cooks and camp followers, who at once made a "brigazee" to the rear, to the supreme delight of the boys that carried the muskets. The guns were soon silenced by our batteries, and skirmishing continued. By 9 o'clock firing had mostly ceased, and we lay down to rest feeling certain that the morrow would quite likely be a bloody day. The men looked well to the condition of their ammunition and guns,
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FOURTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
thinking that the booming cannon would doubtless sound the reveille that should wake us from slumber to slaughter. Naught disturbed us during the night.
Saturday morning, May 2d. Morning broke quietly upon the contending forces, that seemed loth to begin the fray, for not a gun was fired before sunrise, when shots were sent after a mov- ing column near the furnace, and a demonstration was also being made to our front and left. At eight we were drawn up in line of battle, one-quarter of a mile to the right and rear of the White House, nearly at right angles to the position just occupied, and skirmishers were thrown forward toward the southeast, on our front. We now joined Hancock's position on the right and Sykes' on the left. About this time Couch, Hooker and others were inspecting the Union position. During the afternoon we felled trees to form an abatis, and dug rifle pits and occupied them until the next day. There were many rumors that the enemy was rapidly retreating, which were generally traced to orderlies and aides, but not believed by the men. Says one "Don't fool yourself; Lee isn't asleep; you'll hear from him soon enough, when he's got a good ready." "Why don't Hooker go for 'em, if they are skedaddling?" asked another. Several hours of quietness having prevailed, greater credence was given the reports, causing considerable laxity, as men left spade and the stacked guns to look about, or were taking a nap. Camp followers, cooks, clerks, post-orderlies, commissary sergeants, quartermasters, hospital stewards and musicians felt assured that it was perfectly safe for one to be with his command.
The sun had already run his course sufficient to begin to hide himself behind the tops of some tall oaks, when the remarkable order of Hooker announcing that the enemy must "fight or ingloriously fly," was wafted by the winds to thousands of ears, and thousands of throats responded with deafening cheers, whilst a band struck up "Hail to the Chief;" scarce had its first echoes died away when ominous sounds were heard toward the setting sun ; it was the cannon's boom, and the peculiar rever- berations of distant volleys of musketry ; soldier looked at soldier in astonishment; we were not left to guess as to what was up. for in a moment more there was the fierce scream of shell in our very midst; men flew to their stacked arms; every man rushed to his post of duty; camp followers scampered for a place
III.
CHECKING THE STAMPEDE.
of safety; the "bass-hornist," not instantly perceiving the fleet movements of his scared comrades, for a moment played a solo, took in the situation, tore the last note into shreds, grasped frantically the big horn and leaped toward the rear. It was now seven minutes past six ; orderlies and aides were hurrying to and fro; shot and shell were straying among us; our guns at once replied; the ground was now cleared, and every man was with his company, awaiting orders ; soon a number of troops hurried to our right and front ; we expected every moment an order to follow ; the rattle of musketry toward the right and west came nearer ; skirmishing on our front was getting to the proportions of a battle, whilst some of the enemy's guns seemed to have been silenced; soon men with and without arms, mules, teams, crowds of men, came rushing from the west and south, over the roads and through the woods; we were drawn up in line to stop the panic that had set in; in spite of threats, and soon of fixed bayonets, some poor fellows, with eyes starting from their sock- ets and the expression of maniacs, rushed through our lines, which had been drawn up athwart their direction of retreat ; among them it was evident there were some who had had enough presence of mind to tear off their chevrons and shoulder-straps ; the panic had not yet stopped, when guns to the right and front of us opened vigorously upon the enemy, and added confidence to the feeling that we should be able to more than hold our own, fo: the disaster that had overtaken the Eleventh Corps was now known. Night came on, and for a while to the soft, pale light of the moon was added the cannon's vivid flash, and the fire of bursting shells; by 9 o'clock quiet reigned. We occupied the breastworks during the night, slept but little, while troops were constantly moving; some of us had visited friends in the Elev- enth Corps, and were asked to tell the story of their misfortunes. At about midnight there was sharp firing to our right and front ; both cannons and muskets soon ceased; it was considered as as only a midnight scare of some nervous pickets, and as of no importance, but it happened to be a sad affair to the enemy, for some three of those shots that had disturbed our rest ended the earthly career of Stonewall Jackson.
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