USA > Ohio > The story of the Sherman brigade. The camp, the march, the bivouac, the battle; and how "the boys" lived and died during four years of active field service > Part 5
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After the camp was in complete running order the daily pro- gram was as follows:
Reveille,
Sunrise.
Roll-call,
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7:00 A. M.
Breakfast,
- 7:30 A. M.
Guard-mounting,
8:30 A. M.
Squad drill,
9 to 10 A. M.
Company drill,
II A. M. to 12 M.
Dinner,
- 12:30 P. M.
Company drill,
- 1:30 to 2:30 P. M.
Battalion drill, - -
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-
3:30 to 4:30 P. M.
Dress parade, -
5:00 P. M.
Supper,
5:30 P. M.
Roll-call, 8:30 P. M.
Tattoo, -
9:00 P. M.
Taps, -
10:00 P. M.
Each company commander and orderly sergeant was expected to have every man under his charge "present or accounted for."
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53
THE ORDERLY SERGEANT'S WOES.
1861.]
After the officers had been elected and the non-commissioned of- ficers appointed, one of the first things impressed upon each orderly sergeant was the injunction to commit to memory the roll of his company, from A to Z, so that he could call it in the dark- est night without a skip. To do this-naming the commissioned and non-commissioned officers in the order of their rank and eighty or ninety privates alphabetically-was no small undertak- ing. There was a rivalry among the orderly sergeants to see who could first accomplish this feat. Most of them mastered the roll in a surprisingly brief time.
It will not be out of place to observe here that the life of all orderly sergeant was little less than a continual martyrdom. He was highest in rank of the enlisted men, so that whatever he said "went." He was the executive officer of the company ; to him directions were given and it was his duty to see that they were carried out. He was a sort of filter through which passed all the orders from the officers, and the growls and complaints of the men. He kept the company books, drew and issued rations, clothing and ammunition and made all details for guard, extra or fatigue duty. He was held responsible for the cleanliness and soldierly appearance of the men and for the neat and orderly con- dition of their tents and belongings. All these and a hundred other things were laid upon the shoulders of the orderly ; besides which he was expected to be, himself, the model soldier of the company, exemplary in all things. The wear and tear upon his mental and moral organism can only be understood and ap- preciated by those who served in that thankless and exasperating position. Of course his administration created continual friction. The boys had to do a good many things they didn't like and their rebellious feelings found relief in swearing at the orderly ; when they were detailed for picket, guard or fatigue duty after a hard day's march, or ordered out to drill under a blazing sun; when rations were scanty, the bacon maggoty or the hardtack more ad- amantine than usual ; when it rained or snowed and we had to lie around in the mud without tents-the orderly was always to blame and upon his unlucky head the men emptied their vials of wrath. The only redeeming features of his existence were the fact that he did not have to detail himself to go on guard, or chop
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A SIXTX-FOURTH PARLOR.
[November,
wood or load the colonel's wagon ; and his chance for promotion when a vacancy occurred among the officers. Then he would clap on shoulder-straps and resign his place as orderly to some other fellow. I speak from experience, for the sleeves of my blouse were decorated with the chevrons of an orderly for a year. A cloud of witnesses will testify to the truth of these averments.
The following were the first to undergo the experience of being ground between the upper and the nether millstones, as orderly sergeants :
Sixty-fourth-Company A, Thomas H. Ehlers ; Company B. Thomas E. Tillotson ; Company C, Jacob H. Shancks ; Company D, Henry H. Kling : Company E, Thomas R. Smith ; Company F, Thomas J. Clark : Company G, Dudley C. Carr ; Company H, David Cummins ; Company I, Samuel A. English ; Company K, George Hall.
Sixty-fifth-Company A, Oscar D. Welker; Company B, Zachariah Allerton ; Company C, Samuel H. Young ; Company D, Asa A. Gardner; Company E, Wilbur F. Hinman ; Company F, Andrew J. Stiffler ; Company G, Dolsen Vankirk ; Company H. Samuel L. Cunningham ; Company I, Philip H. Bader ; Com- pany K, Peter Markel.
Sixth Battery-Aaron P. Baldwin.
Squadron-Company A, John L. Skeggs ; Company B, John Dalzell.
The members of iness number eight, of Company E, Sixty- fourth, put on a good deal of style in their domestic arrangements, as may be judged from the following invoice of their tent equi- page : one hundred and fifty feet of pine flooring, one cook-stove, one table, eight camp stools, one water pail, one wash-dish, one candlestick, one dish-pan, one looking-glass, two brooms and one cuspidor. A bible and a daily paper graced the center-table. Major Granger, as inspector, paid the mess a high compliment for this reform in camp life. Such articles of furniture as were not allowed transportation were sold at auction when the regiment broke camp.
About the middle of November the battery received its guns -four ten-pound Parrotts and two six-pound brass pieces-with caissons and all other appurtenances necessary to a complete out-
1861.]
55
THE BATTERY GETS ITS GUNS.
fit. The men were proud of their guns and entered, with zeal and enthusiasm, upon the work of learning how to use them. The officers studied the tactics night and day, under the excellent tutelage of Captain Bradley, and made such rapid progress that they were soon able to instruct their men in the discharge of their respective functions. Their drill in "going through the motions" of loading and firing was a spectacle of novelty and interest to the .. infantry soldiers, few of whom had ever before seen a battery equipped for war. About the first of December the horses were received, and the mounted drills, as the battery went through the various field . evolutions, were viewed with curious eyes, not only by the denizens of the camp, but by people from town and country, who came from far and near to witness the inspiring scene.
The battery numbered about one hundred and fifty men; of these nineteen were above the age of forty and more than a hundred were under thirty. Twenty-four were mustered as being "eighteen," which meant 1 all the way down to six- teen. Under the regula- GEORGE N. HUCKINS, SECOND LIEUTENANT, SIXTY-FIFTH. Died at Nashville, April, 1862. tions, which were then more or less strictly adhered to, no person could be received in the military service under the age of eighteen. But there were plenty of boys, whose span of life had not reached the limit of youth, who were crazy to go to the tented field, and many of them inan- aged to slip through the meshes of the net and get in. True they had to follow the example of Ananias and tell fibs to the recruit-
56
YOUNGSTERS AND GRAYBEARDS.
[November,
ing officers, satisfying their consciences with the argument that in such a cause deception was justifiable.
It was the same in the infantry. In the ranks of the Sixty- fourth and Sixty-fifth there was many a fresh, sturdy, rosy- cheeked lad, the record of whose birth in the big family Bible at home was greatly at variance with the figures on the muster- roll. When one of these lads wanted to enlist the recruiting officer "sized him up" and if the inspection was satisfactory he winked slyly as the boy gave his age "'Eighteen, sir !" and signed his name to the list. Most of these boys made prime soldiers. They grew and developed rapidly under the fructifying influence of army life. They endured the hardships of the service much better than the average of men above the age of forty. Animated by the fiery enthusiasm and ambition of youth, their courage in battle fairly challenged that of their older contrades.
Later in the war, when the wave of excitement that during the first year swept hundreds of thousands into the army had spent its force, and enlistments were a little slow, the recruiting officers stretched the regulations and received thousands of these youngsters. We all remember the division of the Twenty-third corps, during the Atlanta campaign, commanded by General Hovey. It was composed mostly of new troops from Ohio and Indiana, and contained so many below the age of eighteen that the division was known as "Hovey's Babies."
Some of our officers, anxious to fill their companies, made the mistake of receiving men who were fifty and even sixty years of age. In such cases there was more fibbing, for they had to go upon the rolls as "forty-five," which was the prescribed limit. Most of these old men proved to be but an incumbrance. How- ever great their zeal and patriotismn, they were physically unable to stand the service: Within a few months nearly all of them were left in hospitals and we saw them no more.
During the first few days in camp the members of the two cavalry companies were instructed and drilled on foot, as a starter, but they were as impatient for their "mount" as were those of the infantry for their muskets or the battery-men for their guns. They wouldn't be cavalry until they had horses. These were supplied early in December, together with sabers and everything
57
CROWDS VISIT THE CAMP.
1861.]
else necessary for their complete outfit. Then the boys were in high feather as they began to drill on horseback .. There was the usual awkwardness at first, for many of the men were but little accustomed to horses, and both were equally untrained. Under the zealous instruction of Major Mclaughlin, however, they got on famously, and the troopers were soon charging over the drill- ground in fine style, cleaving the air with their sabers in a way that was quite terrifying and impressive. Each man was especially schooled in the first duty of a cavalryman-to care for his horse, and the animals were daily fed, watered and groomed with punctilious regularity.
The health of the men was generally good at Camp Bucking- ham and the doctors did not have much to do except to stand around in their new uniforms. Death began his inroads upon us, however. Second Lieutenant John T. Hyatt, of Company D, Sixty-fifth, died December 10th, after an illness of but two or three days. He wasa young officer of bright promise, greatly beloved by his comrades.
On pleasant days, and particularly on Sundays, the camp was visited by throngs of people. The evening dress-parade was the crowning feature of each day's exercises, and was usually wit- nessed by hundreds of spectators. The imposing lines were never again so long. A year later neither regiment could muster half so many men. When the weather permitted, divine service was held each Sunday in camp. Some of the companies attended church in town, morning or evening, in a body. The chiaplains gave each man in the brigade a testament, some of which-only a very few- were carried to the end of the war.
From the day we received our arms and were fully equipped for the field there was a constantly increasing desire to get away and be
"Down among rebels and contraband chattels."
Our impatience for marching orders became excessive-very much greater than it was in after years. We wanted to go down south and have a fight, and a big one, right off. We yearned to shoot somebody, eager to take the exciting chance of being shot ourselves. After the first of December rumors that we would go to the front floated constantly through the camp. Friends came
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58
COLONEL SHERMAN'S FAREWELL.
[December,
from far and near to bid us God-speed and many were granted short leaves of absence to go home and say farewells.
On the Ist of December Colonel John Sherman bade adieu to the brigade. It had been his intention, as it was his earnest desire, to take the field with the troops he liad labored so zeal- ously to prepare for active service, and the secretary of war had tendered him a commission as brigadier-general. President Lin- coln, however, placed a veto upon this, declaring that Colonel Sherman could not be spared from his seat in the senate.
"I can make a brigadier with a stroke of the pen," said Mr. Lincoln, "but I can't make a statesman and a financier! Mr. Sherman must remain in the senate."
There was as great need for good men in congress as for good soldiers in the field. None can doubt that Colonel Sherman would have won distinction in arms, as did his brother, General "Tecumseh," but his path of duty in the crisis seemed so plain that he yielded to the many urgent solicitations and reluctantly sheathed his sword. When about to leave for Washington, to re- sume his duties in the senate, he resigned his commission as colo- nel and issued the following farewell address:
The colonel commanding deems it proper, in taking leave of this force, to express his grateful acknowledgments to all the officers and men composing it, for their prompt response to the call of their country in its time of need. He will ever remember with the warmest feelings of gratitude, the assistance rendered in recruiting this force by every man connected with it, and will take pride in its achievements. He feels as- sured that they will reflect honor upon the state from which they come and upon the country they serve. He leaves them with more confidence in that they will have the active service of experienced officers, who, he is certain, will temper military discipline by the forbearance due to citizen soldiers, voluntarily assuming the duties of military life. He also takes this occasion for himself, and, as he believes, for this entire comniand, 10 return his acknowledgments to Major Robert S. Granger, Fifth Infantry, U. S. A., for his valuable services in organizing this force.
JOHN SHERMAN.
On December 12th, a beautiful silk banner was presented to the Sixty-fourth by the citizens of Mansfield. After the entire brigade had marched in review, it was formed in a hollow square, within which the presentation took place. The speech in behalf of the donors was made by Hon. T. W. Bartley, and was re-
1861.]
ORDERED TO THE FRONT.
59
sponded to for the regiment by Adjutant Wilbur F. Sanders. The latter said in his remarks :
"If you hear that this flag has been trailed in the dust, you may know that you have given the parting hand for the last time to every member of this regiment."
These be brave words, but they were justified by the record of the Sixty-fourth. Its flag was more than once shot down in battle, but it was never "trailed in the dust."
CHAPTER III.
OFF TO THE WAR.
MARCHING ORDERS AT LAST, WHEREAT THERE IS GREAT REJOICING- THE SIXTY-FOURTH STAGGERING UNDER PONDEROUS KNAPSACKS -WHIRLED AWAY TO LOUISVILLE-THE SIXTY-FIFTH AND THE BATTERY FOLLOW-DOWN THE OHIO RIVER-AT CAMP BUELL- A GOOD TURN THAT DESERVED ANOTHER.
A T THE middle of December it was noised through the camp that we had been ordered to Kentucky immedi- ately. Official notice to this effect soon confirmed the rumor. For two or three days the hot blood leaped through our veins and our hearts were thumping with excite- ment. The generous people of Mansfield and vicinity gave the brigade a sumptuous farewell dinner. Long tables were loaded with everything conceivable that was good to eat, and a multi- tude of fair maidens and matrons, with ready hands and smiling
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SIXTY-FOURTH BREAKS CAMP.
[ December,
faces, ministered to our robust appetites. The memory of that dinner remained with us for many long months.
Quartermaster Brinkerhoff, of the Sixty-fourth, was sent in advance to Cincinnati to provide transportation from that point, and to Louisville to make the necessary arrangements there He had recently received from the president a commission as captain and assistant quartermaster of volunteers, and in that capacity was soon afterward assigned to duty as post-quartermaster at Bardstown, Kentucky. He was not again directly associated with our brigade.
The authorities seemed to fear the effect of launching such a body of enthusiastic volunteers all at once; so we were sent for- ward by installments-the Sixty-fourth and the cavalry one day; the Sixty-fifth the next, and the battery bringing up the rear the day following. On the morning of December 17th the long roll sounded in the Sixty-fourth and that regiment was ordered to break camp immediately. It took half a day for the men to strike tents and pack up their mountains of regimental, company and personal baggage, for each man was determined to take along everything he had. As we of the Sixty-fifth looked on we al- most turned green with envy, because our comrades of the Sixty- fourth were to enjoy one day more of actual soldiering than we were. We thought it wasn't fair.
All things being ready, at tap of drum the men formed in company and then regimental line, staggering under their enor- mous knapsacks, each of which was enough to break the back of a mule-but that was the way all the soldiers started out. The mounted officers pranced around, cleaving the air with their swords and shouting their commands with tremendous veliemence. With arms at a "right shoulder shift" the regiment, amidst a tempest of yells and shouts, bade adieu to Camp Buckingham and filed out upon the road. At the railway station there was a great crowd of people to see the boys off. As soon as they and their baggage could be stowed in the cars the train rolled away. The boys yelled and swung their caps from the car windows while the crowd cheered and wept and waved hats and handkerchiefs. The
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1861.]
THE SIXTY-FIFTH ON THE WAY.
61
Sixty-fourth was off to the war! The squadron followed, the trans- . portation of both requiring two trains of twenty cars each.
An incident at the station will illustrate the patriotic feeling which prevailed. As the aged father of Harrison Lawrence, of Company C, bade him farewell, he exclaimed, as the tears flowed freely down his cheeks: "Harry, don't be shot in the back !" Young Lawrence was very severely wounded. but not "in the back."
At Cincinnati the command embarked on the fine mail- steamer Jacob Strader and the next morning reached Louisville. After the debarkation the column was formed and the Sixty- fourth, keeping step to the tune of "Dixie" by the band, marched through the city and about a mile south ward to the place assigned for its camp. As the men stepped proudly along the streets they were the constant target of questions fired at them by the people that thronged the sidewalks. "What army is that ?" "Whar'd ye come from?" "Whar you-all gwine?" The camp was at cheerless spot, very different from the one at Mansfield, but as soon as the baggage arrived the men fell to, pitched their tents and made themselves measurably comfortable.
On the 1Sth the Sixty-fifth left Camp Buckingham, duplicat- ing the wildly exciting scene of the previous day. Our knap- sacks were just as big as those of the Sixty-fourth, and before we started we were just as confident as the other fellows that we could "tote" them to the ends of the earth. But even before we had finished the short tramp to the town our shoulders ached as they never ached before. Hercules would have groaned under one of those knapsacks. We consoled ourselves with the idea that it would be easy enough after we got used to it. It was nearly night when we got away. The most tumultuous hilarity pre vailed. At every station the greetings of the people were answered by shouts and cheers, and the waving of a flag or a kerchief from a farm house never failed to evoke a vigorous re- sponse. The boys yelled till they were hoarse. About midnight we passed through Camp Dennison and exchanged shouts with the soldiers there.
We reached Cincinnati at one o'clock in the morning, and marched directly to the steamboat landing. As we passed
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[December,
THOMAS J. WOOD, MAJOR GENERAL COMMANDING DIVISION.
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DOWN THE OHIO.
1861.]
through the streets, by the dim gaslight, our band seemed to take delight in blowing its loudest notes, arousing the people from their sleep. All along the route forms clad in white appeared at cautiously opened windows, and night-capped heads were thrust out to see what it was all about. Some patriotic citizens, notwith- standing their condition of dishabille, waved handkerchiefs and little flags in welcome, and shouted words of kindly greeting, to which the regiment responded with tremendous cheers. The people evidently felt that, the Sixty-fourth having already passed, now that the Sixty-fifth had come, all danger was over, and the country might be considered safe. We embarked on the steamer Telegraph, with our enormous heaps of baggage, and just at day- light cast off our lines and steamed down the river.
The day was fine, and the trip was enjoyed as much as could be expected under the circumstances. The boys were in good spirits-and, to some extent, in more senses than one, for a care- ful inspection of canteens would have detected in not a few the presence of a beverage many degrees stronger than water. Laugh and jest were freely indulged ; but there were some who sat sober and thoughtful, casting anxious glances toward the "dark and bloody ground," along the border of which we were passing. To most of us it was our first sight of southern soil. It seemed like being upon the confines of "that undiscovered country." And how many were to realize the fullest meaning of the remainder of the quotation -- "from whose bourne no traveler returns!" The occasion was certainly one to afford food for saddening thought, to one who might be disposed to yield to his emotions. But it was best, perhaps, that the great majority flung all such reflections to the winds, and conducted themselves as though upon a pleasure excursion. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" was a good text for the soldier.
The boys cheered on the slightest provocation. Every Union flag that appeared on either side of the river-and there were many of them-every hat or kerchief that was waved in greeting, elicited the most vociferous volleys. The trip fully proved that 'there would be no lack of lung power in the Sixty-fifth, whatever might be its yet unwritten record in other respects. Groups of young ladies were saluted with prodigious cheers. Gallantry
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64
ARRIVAL AT LOUISVILLE.
[December,
comes naturally to the soldier; military display has an irresist- ible fascination for the gentle sex ; and the feeling is generally mutual. Two or three years later, when sometimes we did not look upon a woman's face for months at a time, the sight of one in any degree comely or attractive never failed to arouse the great- est enthusiasm.
At one place, only, a group of men on the Kentucky side de- fiantly waved a rebel flag and shouted for Jeff Davis. Some of the boys manifested their indigation and zeal by asking permis- sion to try their muskets on then, but it was not granted.
We reached Louisville just at dark. As we had not yet learned to pitch a camp in the night, it was thought best for us to remain on the boat until morning. Guards were posted to allow no one to go ashore-except some of the officers-and we dis- posed ourselves for sleep, of which we had been wholly deprived the night before. We filled the state rooms, and covered the floor of the cabin and the lower deck. Wherever there was room for a man to lie down, there was one rolled up in his blanket.
At an early hour we debarked and were drawn up in line be- fore a curious crowd of people who had assembled to witness our "invasion." They did not greet us with much warmth; in fact, most of them looked as if they thought we ought to have stayed at home. Colonel Harker's eyes flashed with martial pride as he shouted :
"By platoons, right wheel-March! Right shoulder shift- Arms! Forward! Guide right-March !"
And away we went through the streets of Louisville. The band played patriotic airs, and the soldiers cheered whenever the slightest token of recognition by any of the people gave them an excuse for doing so. We halted several times, and did not reach camp till past noon. We found the Sixty-fourth already settled, with tents pitched in order, and looking as natural as they did at Camp Buckingham. The whole regiment turned out to welcome us. They cheered and so did we-as to which cheered the loudest, the honors were easy. The officers and men of the Sixty-fourth did us of the Sixty-fifth a kindness that was never forgotten, and which we were glad of an opportunity to repay some weeks later.
1861.]
THE "SIAMESE TWINS."
65
Anticipating our arrival, they had prepared a bountiful supply of coffee, and as soon as we had stacked arms, each company re- ceived an invitation to a picnic, as the guest of the corresponding company of the Sixty-fourth. Bread and meat in abundance completed the bill of fare. With grateful hearts-and stomachs -we ate and were filled As each company arose from its repast it testified its appreciation by giving three cheers and a "tiger-r-r-r" that would have aroused the Seven Sleepers. This cemented the ties, formed at Camp Buckingham, which linked to- gether the Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth. They grew stronger and stronger, month by month and year by year, as these regiments stood side by side through
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