USA > Pennsylvania > History of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania volunteer cavalry which was recruited and known as the Anderson cavalry in the rebellion of 1861-1865; > Part 17
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August 10th Lieutenant-Colonel Lamborn, Captain Airey and Lieutenant Remont with several men started for Philadelphia for drafted men, to fill up the ranks of the Regiment, and on the 15th Captain Kramer and a detail arrived from Nashville with 100horses for us. Two days later Colonel Palmer with Companies C, D, E and F, and wagons containing company and regimental property, started for Stevenson, Ala., arriving there on the 19th. The roads on both sides of the Cumberland Mountains were extremely steep and rocky, and it took us one and a half hours to lead our horses from the base to the top. We bivouacked on top of the mountains on the 17th, but the wagons did not reach us until the morning of the 18th, and on the same day we made the descent, over a very steep and rocky road. Company F was detailed to "hold back" each wagon as it passed down the worst places, as it was found that the wagon brakes, locked wheels and the two mules at the tongue, all combined, were not sufficient to prevent it from rushing down on the six mules which made up its team. Our train got down safely, and arrived at Stevenson, Ala., and encamped two miles from town, where in a few days the command was reunited.
A short rest was made at this place, while preparations were made to cross the Tennessee River, in our front, and to oust the enemy from Chattanooga, which was the objective point of our campaign.
THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT OF THE REGIMENT.
REV. DAVID CLARK, COMPANY B, MARTINSBURG, IOWA.
I T would be difficult to get together as many people as be- longed to the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, gathered from various places throughout the State, without having a good many Christians among them. The Regiment always made the boast of being a "select" company, and it is true that certain qualifications were required of all those whose names were placed upon the roll, but piety was not a condition of membership.
At the time the Regiment was recruited the Government was seeking soldiers, not Christians; yet if a man, in addition to his soldierly qualifications, happened to give evidence of piety, he was not thereby debarred from enrollment. It is not strange, there- fore, that a number of Christians should have slipped in unawares -perhaps not enough to leaven the whole lump, but yet a re- spectable minority, whose influence was not wholly neutralized by the absence of great numbers. Those who delighted in the company of Christians had no occasion to live in solitude; while, on the other hand, men who "cared for none of these things" may have gone through their three years without having con- sciously met with a single one, for they were not out on dress parade.
Henry Ward Beecher, when speaking of Colonel Ingersoll, once was reported as saying: "When a raven starts out on a foraging expedition he looks for carrion, and carrion only. He passes by everything else and goes on and on till his keen eye and keener scent have guided him to the object of his search. So," said he, "when Ingersoll goes to the Bible, he looks for carrion ; he has no taste for anything else, and he soon finds, or thinks he finds, that for which he is looking." So is it with every- body. So was it with the boys of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry. Each could find what he looked for. True, he might
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occasionally stumble across a professing Christian, who didn't have the proper "earmarks," for they could be found in the army as well as at home.
While a part of the Regiment was at Chattanooga, on escort duty, one of the boys became very much interested in the sub- ject of religion, during a protracted meeting conducted by the Chaplain of the post. This man, to use his own language, had become a Christian several times at home, but it "wouldn't stick." He now thought he had discovered the reason. He had never been properly baptized. Rejoicing in the conviction that he had at last found the truth, he went down to the river, in company with many others, and received baptism by immersion. Now in army parlance, this Comrade was an "M.D."-mule driver. After the immersion everything went well as long as the mules did, and the comrade seemed in the enjoyment of unalloyed happiness. But one day, in an unguarded moment, when the mules became obstreperous, he lost control of his temper, the old habit of profanity got the upper hand, and his piety took a greater retrograde movement than did the sun's shadow on the dial of Ahaz. After this slip, knowing that he had publicly dis- graced. his profession, he was heard to say that "a man couldn't be a Christian and drive mules, too, and he wouldn't try it any longer ;" and then, as if all the pent-up oaths of the past few weeks were clamoring for an opportunity to give emphasis to the sentiment, he broke forth into such unrestrained profanity as is seldom heard in this wicked world. The general impression among his acquaintances was that it required a greater power than the waters of the Tennessee River to make his religion "stick." His case was an exception, and while a few others might have been found, their number was much less than that of those who became Christians while in the service.
From the time the boys rendezvoused at Carlisle Barracks till the day they were mustered out of the service there were not wanting instances to show that there were praying men in every company. Perhaps there was seldom a week, under ordinary circumstances, when we were in camp, that there was not a quiet little prayer meeting held.
When Major Ward fell mortally wounded at the battle of Stone River, and was carried back some distance to where the
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Surgeon could examine him, he inquired after the nature of the wound, and on being told that it was mortal, he called for some- one to pray for him. Now we had no Chaplain, but there were several private soldiers standing nearby, one of whom imme- diately knelt by the side of the wounded Major, there in the woods and within range of the enemy's guns, and prayed most fervently in his behalf-prayed not as if in his mind prayer was just for cases of emergency, but as if he were in daily com- munion with the Lord and needed no introduction.
Few formal religious services were held, not because they were not needed, nor because of any apprehension that the boys might not know how to deport themselves at such times; but whatever may have been the reason, both State and military authorities had neglected to make any provision for such serv- ices. When the Regiment was in camp at Murfreesboro, Tenn., some of the boys who were interested in the subject, feeling the need of public worship, invited a young comrade who, previous to his enlistment, had been engaged in evangelistic work, to preach for us on the following Sunday. But a strange coincidence occurred. While we were arranging to provide for ourselves, the Colonel, becoming solicitous for our spiritual interests, bor- rowed a Chaplain from a neighboring infantry regiment, and had announcement made that said Chaplain would preach for us the very day and hour we had arranged for our comrade.
Now, whatever else we may have been, we were not dis- courteous, at least not intentionally ; so we all fell in line at the call of the bugle and were marched to the Colonel's tent, in front of which was the borrowed Chaplain. It could hardly have been expected that he would prepare a brand-new discourse just for us, but we did think that from his large "stock in trade," he would give us something to think about, and he did. The good brother had evidently picked up the wrong manuscript, and while he gave us what was doubtless a good sermon for his home congregation-and was probably so marked on the margin-it lacked in appropriateness for us, as he discoursed learnedly though incidentally on the subject of infant baptism, and closed with an earnest exhortation to mothers to be faithful to their vows in regard to the little ones. We assumed no responsibility in the matter, but have been unable to forget the incident. Other
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public provision may have been afterward made for the spiritual good of the Regiment, but they are not recalled.
Incidents do not come to the front in chronological order, but still they come, and while some of them may not be just to the point, they nevertheless tend to emphasize the lack that was felt in not having a Chaplain of our own. On one occasion our Regiment went from Chattanooga up to Knoxville, by rail, and, shortly after our arrival, took a little scout into the country. The first night our camp was about seven miles northeast of Knox- ville, in the neighborhood of an old log church, where a pro- tracted meeting was in progress. As the church was inside our picket line, many of the boys concluded to avail themselves of the opportunity of attending divine worship, and accordingly, at "early candlelight" they sallied forth in a body to the service, where a small congregation was assembled. Our numbers com- pletely filled and even crowded the house. An old man was in the pulpit. The services were similar to those ordinarily held on such occasions. After the conclusion of the sermon, concerning which nothing is recalled, all interested were invited forward to the "mourners' bench." About a dozen promptly responded, and knelt with their backs to the audience. A hymn was announced, and the request made that someone would "pitch the tune." After considerable pause, an old lady who seemed to feel that the musical responsibility of the meeting devolved upon her made an attempt to comply with the request. She didn't have much of a tune to "pitch," but did the best she could and did it willingly. The tune, however, was exhausted before she reached the end of the second line of the first verse, and she completely subsided. Another tried it with a similar result.
In our Company was a quartet who sang a great deal in camp, and who on this occasion were seated together in about the mid- dle of the church. When it became evident that something ought to be done to relieve the embarrassment, they started in with appropriate words, to the tune of "John Brown's Body, etc." The moment they began to sing the "mourners" raised their heads and looked back over their shoulders in apparent astonish- ment. When the chorus was reached the whole Regiment joined in, singing with great fervency, and then the "mourners" rose and sat facing the audience with mouth and eyes wide open.
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When the time came for another hymn the preacher timidly rose, and leaning over the pulpit, inquired in a pleading voice if our "foreign brethren would please sing agin," and the "foreign brethren" did sing till the close of a service which continued till long after the sounding of "taps" in camp.
It has already been said, but it will bear repeating, that the man who wanted to find a prayer meeting could easily have been accommodated most any time during our three years of service. But such a thing as denominationalism had no place among us. Members of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry were not known by denominational names. They had such names at home, and doubtless resumed them after their return, but while in the serv- ice the only question was : "Is he a Christian?" Even if a man were devoid of the grace of charity for others and disposed to indulge himself in what he was pleased to call honest candor, there was always danger of getting one's self into an embarrass- ing position, if he allowed denominational pride to usurp the place of discretion.
While in the vicinity of Chattanooga, Comrade Foster invited Comrade Vance and the writer to go with him, a few miles into the country, to attend a neighborhood prayer meeting, to be held in a Methodist Church. We went, and after service were invited to take dinner with a family with whom Comrade Foster was acquainted. During the two or three hours that we were there our host regaled us with his views of the Baptists and Pres- byterians. He gave it to them "hip and thigh." With a sharp two-edged sword he slashed right and left. Their creeds were ripped open from surface to center. Church polity was sliced up beyond recognition, and as for their precepts and practices, they were thought too abominable to receive the slightest con- sideration. The guests rather enjoyed the conversation, and only encouraged the old man by helping him occasionally to the pro- nunciation of some hard word over which he was stumbling. When we were taking our leave our host ventured the remark : "I didn't ax you, but I suppose, of course, you are all Metho- dist?" The writer, to whom a large share of the critic's conver- sation had been addressed, hastily replied: "That is just about the size of it-Brother Foster there is a Methodist, Vance is a Baptist and I am a Presbyterian." The old man, as Samantha
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Allen would say, "sithed a tremendous sigh," and began to clear his throat in preparation, probably, for an inglorious re- treat, but we, not wishing to witness his further embarrassment, gave spurs to our horses and were out of sight and hearing in a jiffy.
If a man has denominational pride, in the army or out of it, it is wiser and more discreet to attempt to build up the object of his affections on its own merits than on the demerits of others, however palpable the latter may be.
A spirit of reverence for sacred things was quite common in the Regiment, even on the part of those who laid no claim to piety themselves. A man was generally taken at his own valua- tion. If he claimed to be a Christian he was so regarded till, by his conduct, he had forfeited that claim.
It is not known how many of our Orderly Sergeants were Christians, but some of them were, and, like ordinary people, frequently met with obstacles and hindrances of various kinds in their Christian life. One of them, in speaking one day of the want of favorable opportunity for private devotions, said that he had fallen into the lazy habit of attending to that duty when he lay down on his couch at night. "But," said he, "that does not suit me; it is not sufficiently definite. I always know when I begin to pray, but never when I stop. Being in an unconscious condition, I can't tell next morning what I may have asked the Lord to do for me, and so shall never know whether the prayer was answered or not." It may have been because of this item in army life that many of the boys formed themselves into little squads and retired for devotional purposes daily, at some given hour, to the woods, where they could have perfect freedom and congenial company.
While ordinarily nothing ever marred the sacredness of these occasions, circumstances over which the parties had no control would occasionally intervene to render ludicrous what otherwise would have been sacred. In illustration let me recount one little incident of which public mention has before been made. On a certain occasion, in conformity with an established custom, a small party of us retired one hot evening to a little nook in the woods, clad as lightly "as the law would allow." In the midst of our devotions there were indications that a storm was rapidly
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approaching, and that the services should be cut short, and most of them had given heed to the admonition. But it so happened that just as one long-winded brother had said "Let us pray," and all had knelt down by the side of an old rotten log which had formed our seat, the storm burst upon us in all its fury. Now, if there was one thing, in addition to the "Apostles' Creed," which that devout comrade held firmly to it was the doctrine of the "perseverance of the saints," rain or shine, and he proceeded forthwith to give us a fine illustration of the firm grip that doc- trine had on him. As time advanced the rain came thicker and faster, and the claps of thunder were more terrific, but none of these things moved the good comrade to say "amen." Never was a man known to give such literal interpretation to the commands to "pray for all men" and "pray without ceasing" as was then and there given. It is, however, due all concerned to say that both prayer and storm were concluded that same evening, and that whatever may have been the opinion of the Regiment then or now of such a service, it could not justly be claimed of this particular one that it was not unnecessarily dry.
All things considered, in the absence of a Chaplain or any re- ligious organization by which attention could be directed to the subject, the Christian sentiment of the boys was quite prevalent and found expression on all suitable occasions.
"L" AND "E" CARRYING A DISPATCH TO GENERAL MITCHELL, AT ROVER.
SERG. ADAM T. DRINKHOUSE, COMPANY L, FREDERICK, MD.
O N the morning of June 24, 1863, these two Companies were aroused before daylight, at our camp at Murfreesboro, Tenn., to fall in for duty. The force numbered eighty men, under command of Capt. Washington Airey, of Company L; Company E was commanded by Capt. George S. Clark and First Lieut. Charles H. Kirk.
It turned out that we were to carry a dispatch to General Mitchell, in command of a division of cavalry moving on the left of the army. General Mitchell had been at Rover and was sup- posed to be still there, but it turned out that Rover was occupied that day by the Sixth Georgia regiment of cavalry. The dis- tance from our camp to Rover was about twenty miles.
Soon after the command started it commenced to rain and con- tinued to rain nearly all day.
As we approached Rover our advance guard was fired upon by some pickets in the road. Thinking that a mistake had been made by our friends, Captain Airey ordered forward the guidon bearer of Company L. He was saluted by more shots. We knew then that the enemy were in our front. Captain Airey supposed that we had run into a band of guerrillas who had got in between us and Rover. Swinging his saber over his head, he shouted: "Boys, we must go into Rover ! Forward, trot, charge !" and away we went for the enemy. We drove the pickets into their reserve, which, I believe, was about equal to our force. We halted within about 300 yards of this reserve, formed a line across the road and in a grove to the right of the road, and opened a carbine fire upon the enemy.
In a few minutes Captain Airey ordered another charge with the pistol, instructing Captain Clark to follow Company L at a short interval.
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"L" and "E" Carrying a Dispatch to General Mitchell. 203
The enemy did not wait for us but turned and flew toward Rover at their best speed. The road was strewn with their blank- ets, hats and other paraphernalia.
I had singled out a burly Georgian and kept straight for him. The rebel paid no heed to loud shouts to surrender. During the chase I fired two revolver shots at him, but, although within ten feet, I am glad to say I did not hit him. The second shot may have come very close to his ear, for he suddenly pulled off the road into the woods, his horse whirling around in a circle. Re- sponding to an instant demand to surrender, he dropped his rifle. We pursued the enemy within the sound of the bugles of their regiment.
Our little force leisurely took the return march in search of General Mitchell. The enemy did not pursue us.
We marched back some miles, when Captain Airey was told by a negro that our cavalry was moving on the right. A cross- road was at hand, and we soon found General Mitchell sweeping along on a road at right angles to the crossroad. Captain Airey delivered the important dispatch.
We got back to Murfreesboro at 5 P.M., delivering our prison- ers to the Provost.
MacDonald, who had been wounded in the hip, was sent to the hospital. This was our only casualty.
We found our camp of the morning deserted, the Regiment having moved to the front. After resting and eating our suppers we marched ten miles to join the Regiment. In all we had marched during the day at least fifty-five miles.
COURIER DUTY.
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CORP. JAMES W. OVER, COMPANY G, PITTSBURG, PA.
D URING the Tullahoma and Chickamauga campaigns our Regiment, with the exception of three companies at- tached to the department headquarters, was used for special scouting and courier duty. In these campaigns the wings of the army were frequently so far separated that the courier line was forty or fifty miles in length. Five or six men would be sta- tioned at posts at intervals of six or eight miles, one always being ready, night and day, to mount and receive the dispatch from the approaching courier and carry it at a gallop or trot, as might be indicated on the envelope, to the next post. Most of the dispatches were sent from the different headquarters in the evening, and the couriers had many exciting and dangerous rides across mountains, through forests and country infested with rebel guerrillas, when the nights were so dark they could not see the road and had to depend upon their horses to follow it.
A courier's imagination was apt to be very vivid when he was riding by himself on a dark night, with revolver drawn, and ex- pecting every minute that the enemy would pounce upon him. It is not surprising that we sometimes imagined stumps or fallen timber to be Confederate cavalry, and put spurs to our horses to escape the imaginary foe.
I recollect one very dark night, when carrying a dispatch at a fast trot on a lonely, rough mountain road through the forest on the top of Lookout Mountain, that I saw what I supposed was a body of cavalry on the road in front of me. I halted as soon as possible, ready for flight, but seeing no indication of an ad- vance I hailed with all the assurance I could command : "Halt ! Who comes there?" There being no reply, I approached cau- tiously and discovered some horses, which had strayed from a . farm, occupying the road. While the shock to my nerves was in
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the first instance very great, it was excelled by my relief in dis- covering there was no danger.
Small detachments of rebel cavalry would occasionally give the courier an exciting chase, and bushwhackers from some con- venient hiding places sent their compliments in way of a leaden messenger. We never knew when this might occur, and con- sequently were always on the alert. Our duties as couriers were especially arduous and important during the week preceding the battle of Chickamauga.
The line extended from Crittenden's headquarters on the left, in the Chickamauga Valley, to Thomas' in the center; across Lookout Mountain, up Lookout Valley, and across the moun- tains again to McCook's headquarters on the right, in Mc- Lemore's Cove, a distance of about fifty miles. The army was in a precarious situation, General Rosecrans and his subor- dinates depending almost entirely on our courier line to keep in communication with each other. Dispatches came thick and fast, nearly all marked "gallop," and the couriers and their poor horses had but little rest. We have the satisfaction of knowing that the faithful and intelligent manner in which our couriers per- formed their arduous duties contributed much to the successful concentration of our army prior to the battle.
MEMORIES MUSICAL OF CAMP FIRES.
WM. L. BRATTON, COMPANY A, NEW YORK.
W HEN our Regiment was first assembled at Carlisle, Pa., to be put under drill by the regulars, the men, from different parts of the State, strangers to one another, soon became acquainted, and the incidents of camp life were the source of many a lasting intimacy. Between retreat and taps the boys would gather in different groups and around camp fires. At that time the cook's fire was the general rendezvous of those who were inclined to be merry, and in a short time those who had what is generally called singing voices made it a point to meet whenever opportunity afforded and practice many different songs. There was considerable talent among the boys in that direction. They gave two very successful concerts in the Carlisle Theater, and a still more successful one in Louisville, Ky., proved that they were capable and appreciated. They gave amusement to many, and helped to while away the many hours of camp life which otherwise would have become very monotonous. Our Regiment was not composed of card-playing, gambling men, and very little drinking was indulged in. In fact, those who did drink moderately were made conspicuous by the fact that the great majority did not indulge at all. Our singers were of different types-sentimental, patriotic and comic. Most prominent in the sentimental line was our blonde, curly-haired, good-natured Comrade, Al. Price, who, by his rendering of "Backward, Turn Backward, Oh, Time, in Your Flight !""Kathleen Mavourneen,""Juanita" and other songs, was generally regarded as the leader of the singers and most pleasing of voice.
The next in prominence and fine voice was the tenor, "Kent" Pierce, whose selection of songs belonged to that line of melody which tenors in those days affected. His "Larboard Watch, Ahoy!" with McGinley, whose baritone bass was often heard in their good selections, was very favorably regarded. Al. Rihl was
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