USA > Pennsylvania > History of a cavalry company. A complete record of Company "A," 4th Penn'a cavalry, as identified with that regiment in all the campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, during the late civil war > Part 7
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Amissville, Va., and went into camp, doing picket and scout duty, reconnoitering the country in the vicinity of Little Washington. On or about the 15th of August, we moved camp to Cattlett's Station, where the regiment was paid off. We then had a kind of release from duty for a couple of weeks. We encamped in a beautiful grove, where we enjoyed the luxuriance and comforts of the season. We re- mained there until the last of August-in the imme- diate vicinity of roads over which the armies had marched and countermarched so frequently during the past two years. On the 30th of this month, we broke camp, and advanced to Sulphur Springs, Va., cross- ing the Rappahannock at that point, and encamping for a time on the south side of the river. Here we formed good summer quarters, and remained until the middle of September. The regiment was now daily drilled, and a very efficient system of discipline was inaugurated by Lieut. Col. Doster, commanding. Our time was quite agreeably occupied while we stayed at this point. Our colonel instituted a system of sports, in competition for prizes, which were keenly relished by us all. There was wrestling, racing, jumping, climbing, etc., in abundance. It tended to relieve ennui, and to make the time pass away more agreeably. While we were here in camp, the pay and muster rolls were also made out. On them we find the following promotions, changes, ete. :. Corp. Mickle and myself had been promoted to sergeants in the company, and privates Moyer, McClure and Kain, promoted to corporals. We also received here
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a number of recruits, which had been forwarded by Sergt. Boston, who was on recruiting service at Pitts- burg. Their names will be found in the index of recruits. Two of these, shortly after arriving, being apparently men of no principle, deserted, and were never afterwards seen by us again. James G. Loder, having been sick for some time previous, in the United States General Hospital in Baltimore, died on the 9th of August. At this time Lieut. Freeby was in command of the company, Capt. Tombler having been absent on account of sickness since the 18th of June, and Lieut. Andrews being on recruiting ser- vice at Camp Copeland, Pittsburg. Sergt. Robert Boston was discharged by orders from the War Dc- partment, to accept promotion in a six months' Pennsylvania regiment-he being chosen Captain. After the expiration of their term of service, he became clerk in the Quartermaster's Department at Washington. Very many more were absent on de- tached service, and sick in the hospitals, so that the force of the company present for duty was now re- duced to only forty.
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CHAPTER XII.
THE BATTLE OF SULPHUR SPRINGS.
0 N the very ground where the delightful days of summer had passed so pleasantly, a very severe battle transpired shortly afterwards, in which most of the men in our command were either killed or captured. Such is the history of war, and. such its vivid, various, and uncertain incidents. It seems as if in a military campaign, especially where there are earnest impulses on both sides to urge on the conflict, all the ills of humanity, as normally asso- ciated in society, are condensed and sharpened, the events of a whole lifetime being crowded into months instead of years. Its contrasts, sometimes, are start- ling, and its vagaries and freaks wonderfully remark- able. On the 13th of September, we broke camp and marched through Jefferson, crossing the Hazel River, near Oak Shade Church, where meeting the enemy's pickets we drove them in, and steadily pushed forward, our regiment being in advance of the brigade. We met the rebels in force at Muddy Run, our other divisions having crossed at points further down the river. We discovered that we were all
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making a simultaneous advance, and that the enemy was likewise in motion. We pursued the rebels to the Rapidan. In the evening our squadron was detached from the regiment, to guard prisoners in the Court House at Culpepper-those whom we , had captured during the day. It is a remarkable coincidence that a month after this time the majority . of us were being guarded ourselves by rebels in this same building. At Muddy Run, it might be still further remarked, the enemy had made preparations for a vigorous defence. They were firmly posted to dispute our passage at this point. We routed them, however, in quick style. Maj. Young, of our regi- ment, made a dashing charge, crossing the Run at the head of our Company and of Company B., and, breaking their lines, advanced, and drove them before us into and through Culpepper Court House. Ilere we found the other divisions of the cavalry corps, engaged with Stuart, Fitz Hugh Lee and Hampton-they having crossed to meet the rebels at points further down the river. We had a num- ber of casualties in our Company. Private Michael Cochlin was mortally wounded, and died the same day. Corporal Kain was severely wounded, and was sent to hospital in the North. Cochlin was buried in Culpepper. On the morning of Septem- ber 14th, we were relieved by infantry-the Army of the Potomac having come up, and entering now into camp in and around Culpepper. We consequently again rejoined the regiment, which we found near Rapi- dan Station, and after remaining here two days marched
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under orders to Fox Mountain, and there encamped. We did picket duty here, on the right of the army, in the vicinity of James' City, scouting as far as Madi- son Court House. In Virginia, every town or city of considerable size is called a Court House-for the reason that it is generally the county seat, and the only town or city. The principal part of southern counties are mere stretches of dense wilder- . ness, with here and there vast farms or plantations. We remained on this duty until the 1st of October, when we were relieved by a brigade of Kilpatrick's Division. We then proceeded to Rappahannock Station, and there encamped, fixing up very comfort- able quarters, and expecting to remain for some time. About this time Governor Curtin's re-elec- tion took place, and as we had no vote then as sol- diers, the regiment was called together by Col. Covode, with a view to obtaining an expression of its judgment on the result. It unanimously endorsed the decision, which had already been made by the ballot-box. Covode succeeded to the colonelcy of the regiment, by a little wire-pulling and political chicanery. He afterwards fell at the head of his regiment, and, throughout, had proved himself a very reliable and efficient officer. He was not, however rightfully entitled to the position at that time. IIis father, Hon. John Covode, of Pennsylvania, having considerable political influence, succeeded in ousting Lieut. Col. Doster, in his just claims to the post. As an offset, Col. Doster was tendered the colonelcy of another regiment, which, with a proper manly
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spirit, he scornfully refused. He at once retired from the service. He had borne himself, throughout, with that firm bravery and fine sense of honor which so richly adorn the soldier and gentleman. There was no stroke of misfortune, to which the regiment had been subjected for a long time, which was so keenly felt as this. But "Republics are ungrate- ful," and their ingratitude ramifies, and extends far down into the service, both civil and military. Prob- ably, however, this was again one of those inscrutable designs of Providence, which, while visiting roughly for the time, are intended as a reward to the faithful and the just. Certain it is, that if Col. Doster had fought at the head of theregiment on an after occasion, he would have taken the chances of Covode, and very likely have perished. The company regretted the change particularly, because they were now isolated. They were the only little force from the Eastern portion of the State, and now had no advo- cate in the staff, whose local pride and interests were identical with their own. They were, as it were, placed under the command and guidance of utter strangers, and some of the vacancies thereafter occurring were not filled from its own ranks, but from other companies, on account of this foreign weight against them. On the 8th of October, we broke camp at Rappahannock Station, and marched to Bealton. Here we encamped on the morning of the 10th, and marched to James' City, where we found Kilpatrick heavily engaged with the enemy, who were advanc- ing. We lay in line of battle all night, holding our
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horses by the head, ready to mount at a moment's notice. In the morning early we fell back before the enemy, through Culpepper, and in the direction of our old encampment at Sulphur Springs. The enemy followed, and the whole Army of the Potomac retired in the direction of Washington. It was dis- covered that the rebel forces were making a flank movement on the Capital-hence the manœuvre of our army without endeavoring to check the enemy's advance.
We encamped for the night on October 11th, on our old grounds at Sulphur Springs, where, on the eventful morning of October 12th, 1863, a truly memorable day for some of us, we crossed to the north side of the Rappahannock, halting between Sulphur Springs and Warrenton. We were just pre- paring to go into camp in the afternoon, and in fact had already erected some of our tents, when we re- ceived orders to pack up immediately-the familiar " toot of boots and saddles," being sounded. We were soon on the march back to Sulphur Springs, and crossing the river procceded to Jefferson, two miles south of the river, where we found the Thirteenth Pennsylvania, of our brigade, engaged lightly with the enemy. We supposed they were making recon- noissances, at the time, in force. The different squadrons of our regiment were soon deployed on the line, and engaged with the enemy, who not appearing in our front very strongly did not alarm us any. But towards evening they closed in on us, on all sides, infantry and cavalry, the whole of Ewell's
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THE BATTLE OF SULPHUR SPRINGS.
Corps being present. They had been forming their plans all day, and simultaneously came rushing upon us from all sides, in frontand on both flanks. They came charging and yelling down in every direction, their batteries opening on us from all imaginable
having no force but our own two regiments, the points. We had no artillery with which to respond,
Fourth and Thirteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, the remainder of our brigade being on the north side of the river. As an unavoidable and inexorable con-
sequence, we were driven back and hemmed in on
nearly all sides. But I am proud to record the fact, that our small force fought with desperate resistance against such tremendous and overwhelming numbers. Ewell's whole corps, as we soon afterwards discovered, by being captured, had been present on this occasion,
along with Stuart's Cavalry and Gen. Lee in person. We stubbornly disputed every inch of ground, re- treating, like the lion, with bristling mane and defiant eye; were broken and reformed many times, under very heavy fires, and made the most desperate series of charges after charges. We were all at first
mounted, but before long, very few were on horse- back. The enemy made desperate efforts to cut us off' from the river, towards which we were gradually retiring, but they effected this only partially. A large portion of our force succeeded in reaching the river, in dashing into the water, and crossing at different points. Many more of us, however, were not so fortunate. In order to keep the road open to the river, those of us who were mounted, had to make
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successive and repeated charges along its banks. While in the act of making the last of these, I was severely wounded, being shot in the head with a rifle ball, which entered my right ear, and, as I after- wards learned, came out at the back of my head. I dropped insensible from my horse, and was left there for dead by the few of our own men, who happened to be present at the moment. I did not awake into con- sciousness again, until the enemy an hour or two after- wards began to rifle my person. They took my boots and hat, all that was in my pockets, and relieved me of my arms. During this operation I began to regain my senses. With the assistance of a little water that the rebels gave me, and a little rough handling which they were more ready-handed in yielding, I was raised to my feet and dragged back a short distance, where I found nearly 300 of our men whom the enemy had captured. Thirteen of these were comrades of my own Company. A few of the wounded were there, but the killed were lying scattered all over the field. They were, unfortunately, left there.
When I came to consciousness at first, I felt so - extremely exhausted that I was sure my last hours were at hand. I thought the ball was still lodged in the head. I remained in this condition for three days, and could not secure any attention. I would have given a fortune then for the prompt services of a surgeon, for an hour's attention by a Gross or Pancoast, or one dressing of the wound, from an elegant and cultivated manipulator of the scalpel and lancet, like Charles E. Cady, Potteiger, Krebs
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or Kerchner, and of which our noble army at the time, could proudly boast even more than these faith- ful representatives of the healing art. I felt that mine was a fatal case if the ball were not removed in good time, and that it was as certainly curable if the foreign substance were promptly extracted. Under this impression I was naturally a little solici- tous and apprehensive. Out of all that small band of captured soldiers, I am almost the only one alive to-day-the rest having all died at Libby or Ander- sonville. Several of the Company who were wounded were not taken by the rebels. Among these were Sergt. Gaumer and Corp. Garvy.
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CHAPTER XIII.
CAPTURED AND ON OUR WAY TO LIBBY.
W E will now leave our regiment and Company in their movements and adventures for a short time, and proceed to narrate the events which occurred to us as prisoners. After be- ing collected together we were marched under guard to Jefferson, near which place we were huddled together for the night. My wound after a time became very painful. Nothing, however, had been done for it vet, except what our own boys per- formed, with rough bandages. The members of our Company who were captured on that day were as follows : - Orderly Sergt. Welton ; Commissary Sergt. McLaughlin ; Privates Boyd, Fritz, Schultz, Moyer, Stahler, Ward, Smith, and myself. On the 13th of October, we marched in the rear of Ewell's Army Corps, across the Rappahannock, at Sulphur Springs, and onward to Warrenton, Va., where we saw along the road some of the bodies of our com- rades who had fallen the day before. They lay where they had fallen, but were entirely naked, the enemy, from the impulses of avarice or necessity, having stripped them. Ewell's Corps being massed
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between Warrenton and Sulphur Springs, we were moved along in the direction of the former place. We haltel for awhile, under guard, alongside the road. During this time, the corps was again put in motion, and we, thus, had an opportunity of viewing the whole rebel corps, cavalry, artillery and infantry, as they marched by in the direction of Warrenton. It was an awful sight-a dusty, tattered-looking gang of wretches, more like the accumulated outpourings of penitentiaries and poor-houses, than like soldiers in a civilized country, supposed to be fighting for their liberties and their homes. As far as the eye could reach, was the same innumerable array of dust-like hordes, sweeping onward to yet further contests, and
" thick as autumnal leaves, That strew the vales of Vallambrosa."
It was to us a truly novel and interesting spectacle. We had never witnessed anything of the kind before on quite so extensive a scale. Personally, though, I had had the pleasure before, while performing secret scouting services-having seen this very corps when it invaded the Keystone State. At the head of their columns the stars and bars, yellowed with dust and battle-pierced, were carried proudly and victoriously, while all the other paraphernalia of war was equally characteristic, making a tout-en-semble very different from what we had been accustomed to regarding. There was a prevalent look of terse determination, and of sinewy endurance, about the personnel of the rebel troops-and a general air on this occasion of
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stern cheerfulness and of deep-seated confidence in their own strength and valor. As they passed, the more decided scoundrels of the gang made insulting remarks about us, and exclaimed offensively, to which, however, we replied in appropriate style. They would cry out, "Halloo ! Yanks! you are out of luck now !" Much army slang was used by both. We would call back, "Don't crow ! Johnny ! you will be brought back this way before many days !" The worst of them, however, acted with good humor. Neither party became much incensed by the remarks made, except some of our guards. Sometimes a whole regiment would give a yell and cheer as they saw us. There was visible a slight jealousy against us ; and behind all their fierceness and treason, there appeared to be a lurking sense of respect for the old stars and stripes, and for the soldiers who were arrayed under its ample folds. This, of course, did not amount to anything practical, but it was there, and had been planted there by the teachings of years gone by, in the happier days of the Republic. We could discover a difference on this score, in the vari- ous regiments. There was much less antipathy among some state troops, than among others. What we had always supposed to have been the bitterest rebels, the most inveterate foes to the Union cause, seemed to evince the most sympathy and regard. On the night previous, when we were hungry and weary, some of our prisoners from sheer necessity, actually condescended to beg the hard-tack from the rebel soldiers that were passing. Very few responded, but
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when a South Carolina battalion came along, com- posed entirely of South Carolinians, who if they were rebels, proved themselves to be also men, they liter- ally threw their whole supply of rations to us, cutting the sacks of hard-tack off the tops of their caissons, and throwing them wholesale into our midst, along- side the road. We thus had plenty for the time . being. There were so many of us, though, that it did not last long. We received no more during the next two days.
This act of the South Carolinians, was prompted by a pure spirit of humanity and generosity. The evening previous, too, while I lay with several others, who were wounded, and while I could scarcely move, a Lieutenant of rebel infantry came and offered reli- gious consolation. Ile actually knelt in prayer, and asked Divine mercy and aid for us all. This was a beautiful trait in the stern soldier, behind whose weather-beaten features, were the pulsations of a warm and Christian heart. It was the fruit of reli- gious training in pleasanter times-the moving power of those gentle words which fell from Him who spake as never man spake, and who wore the scars the thorns had made. The remarks of this Christian Southerner were not at all insulting to the cause, but only tended purely to our spiritual welfare. Inci- dents such as this prove, that there were those in the rebel armies that were actuated by higher motives than detoniac revenge; that in their onslaughts on the Union ranks they were impelled by convictions of right, deluded undoubtedly, and by beliefs growing
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HISTORY OF A CAVALRY COMPANY.
out of the question of state rights. During our stay here, a rebel surgeon, seeing my condition, kindly volunteered to look at my wound. A practitioner, of the Thirteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, having been cap- tured, now joined us, and examined it likewise. Both pronounced it very serious. The rebel surgeon, being provided with instruments, lint, and bandages, care- fully dressed my wound, and told me that I would have to attend to it, as it was in dangerous proximity to some of the delicate organs of the ear. In the evening we were marched under a detail of dismount- ed rebel cavalry-men to Sulphur Springs, and were quartered and guarded in the old hotel buildings there. On the 14th we were marched to Culpepper, and were quartered and guarded in the Court House, in the identical place where just one month before to a day, we had ourselves been in charge of rebel prison- ers. We had not, as yet, received anything to eat. No rations had been issued to us by the rebels since our capture. We were, about this time therefore, as ravenously hungry as could well be imagined. Here our names and rank were all recorded, and small ra- tions were doled out to each man. They consisted of condemned hard-tack and spoiled bacon. We were soon placed on board of freight cars, and con- veyed to Richmond by way of Gordonsville. Arriv- ing in the rebel capital on the 15th, we were confined in a large tobacco ware-house on Main street, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Sts., denominated " Libby Prison No. 4"-a name which will be remembered for all time as a reproach, an ineffaceable stain on the
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character of so-called Southern Chivalry. Here we first experienced prison life. We did not fancy it much from the start. The bill of fare was very poor. It consisted of half a pound of corn bread a day to each man, and very seldom any meat, and then only very little, and of inferior quality. Of course every man began to fail in strength on this low and insuffi- cient diet, until this crib of wretches was more like Charon's bark of spectres, than an accumulation of soldiers. Occasionally the diet was varied with a small handful of boiled rice, but this change was at last entirely neglected, and we were confined exclusively to corn-bread, and that of the very roughest quali- ty, for the meal had been ground along with the cobs. This was very irritating to the intestines, and, in con- sequence, a species of diarrhea became general. The frequent alvine evacuations, thus occasioned, added greatly to the growing debility of the men. There were 800 of us confined in our prison at this time- the lower story of a large tobacco ware-house, with only two windows in front, strongly barred, and with only a dim light pervading its awful space. The
walls were black and grimy with accumulated filth and exhalations, and were infested with swarms of body vermin, which had been generated in the gath- ered filth. It was no uncommon occurrence for these creeping things to drop from the ceiling into the tin- cnp, while we were in the act of obtaining a drink of water. The prisoners were alive with them. They swarmed in every seam and crack of the floor, and there was no rest for them, day or night.
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HISTORY OF A CAVALRY COMPANY.
Many became too debilitated to stand or sit, and on several mornings I have seen them stiff and cold in death, their upturned faces rigid with an ex- pression of intense suffering and mortal torture. What a condition for human beings of the nineteenth century to be placed in by creatures who called themselves human ! What black-hearted villainy to silently and passively allow such horrors to transpire !
Is it strange that the great God of battles, who shapes the destiny of nations, and who marks even the fall of a sparrow to the ground, wrenched forever from their hands the means of victory ? Is it not, rather a matter for surprise, that the thunderbolts of heaven did not fall in justice on the rebel leaders, and transfix them into statues of death ? Verily, verily ! the Dispenser of all things is a merciful God ! Verily ! verily ! did the thunderbolts at last fall ! There has been ample justice meted out to these men, and to their inheritance in the South ! Their vacant hearths, their desolated homes, their wasted fields, and their hills and vallies, covering the very flower of their nation, are ample testimony to the just ven- geance of an all-powerful Ruler. May God stay further penalty on this late rebellious people, and let us hope that they have been purged of the traiterous element !
The prison regulations were stringent. They did not permit any unnecessary noise, nor allow hooting or calling out from the windows into the street. They did not permit any conversation with the officers, or with the guards around the prison. In consequence
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of some of these orders having been slightly violated, very severe punishment was inflicted on a number of the prisoners. The rebel guard-room adjoined the prison, and was separated by a door, which was nailed shut. In this room the penalties were gener- ally inflicted. The still sterner chastisements, however, were meted out in Castle Thunder, in underground cells and dungeons. I have often stood, peering through the crack of this door into the guard-room, and witnessing the infliction of agonizing punishments on some of my companions, for very trivial offences, such as merely answering back any insulting remark from the guard, or requesting a favor from some officer. I have seen one of our prisoners forced to mark time for six long hours continuously, for no greater offence than one of those specified, and an additional hour added, for every step that was missed. If any one will try this for only half an hour, he will have an adequate idea of what suffering this entailed. Then I have seen another prisoner, "bucked and gagged." In this punishment a long round stick is placed under a man's legs, near the knees, and the arms are then put through under the stick, with the wrists tied together. A gag is then introduced into the mouth. The poor men were often compelled to sit that way for hours at a time. It is almost impossi- ble to remain in that posture' for fifteen minutes, without being terribly cramped and agonized. If they would accidentally fall over on their nose, and try to make a noise, or complain with the gag still in their mouths, one of the coarse and brutal officers
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