USA > Pennsylvania > History of the Fifty-seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
During the prevalence of rubeola the regiment was ordered to Washington, D. C., about the middle of December ani though the intention of the medical officer was to have left all cases of measles behind, what with the anxiety of the convalescents to go along, and Low carbs ofdir. le on the way. it was found when reaching Washington, that we had no less than fifteen vases of rubeola in various stages of pro- gress, and in three days nearly double that number.
4
PENNSYLVANIA VETERAN VOLUNTEERS.
The men were very much exposed to the effects of cold during the trip, being two days and nights in open cars. The site selected for a camp-near Bladensburg toll-gate- was a bad one, low and wet. The result was many cases of pneumonia as a complication or sequella of rubcola, with innumerable catarrhs of all degrees of severity. Four cases of pneumonia resulted fatally the second week. Many more were sent to the general hospital as soon as admittance could be obtained for them. At first admittance was refused for fear of infecting the hospitals. Stimulants were freely used with benefit in simple rubeola as well as that complicated with pneumonia ..
A change of camp to better ground about the 1st of Jan- uary, 1862, together with a full supply of medical and haspi- tal stores, effected a gradual improvement, but the appear- ance of mumps among the men before the measles had en- tirely disappeared kept the sick list large all winter, some- times as great a proportion as 10 per cent. of the whole command. The men were quartered in Sibley tents, not more than 10 or 12 in a tent, inspected daily, and by great care in cleanliness and ventilation, typhus fever was avoided, and but few cases of typhoid appeared.
In February we were moved to near Fort Lyon. below Alexandria, and placed in General Jameson's brigade, from which time until nearly the last of August, the military his- tory is nearly identical with that of the other regiments of the same brigade and its medical history similar. They were the 63d and 105th Pennsylvania and the 87th New York Volunteers.
On the 17th of March we were shipped on board trans- ports at Alexandria for Fortress Monroe, where we were landed at dark during a cold rain storm, to which the men were exposed during the night, in and by the roadside, with- out any protection whatever. The next day and night they were quartered in open horse sheds. Then for two weeks they were camped in open fields near Hampton, in cho ter- tents, in the use of which the men were entirely urshifted a matter of more moment than woul! at first appear. The result of the unusual exposure was the appearance of dyson- tery to considerable extent among the men, even at that early season.
172
HISTORY FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT
On the 4th and 5th of April we were marched from Hamp- ton to within three miles of Yorktown and confined for one week within short range of the rebel guns. A heavy rain flooded the tents for four days, during two of which neither officers nor men had anything to eat. The brigade was then moved back half a mile into the woods, to a spot in the immediate vicinity of several large marshes; in fact, the camp itself was little better than a swamp. For three weeks the men walked in mud, slept in mud, and drank water from holes scooped out in the mud. The combined remon- strance of the medical officers of the brigade, that a "month's continuance in that place would deprive the Government of the services of one-half the men and officers," was met by the silencing reply: "It is a military necessity."
The subsequent amount of sickness shows that our fears were well founded. The malaria imbibed in the marshes and swamps at Yorktown. together with the excessive amount of labor performed there, on picket and in the trenches, debilitated our men for months, putting dozens of them in their graves and rendered hundreds of them unfit for service for months, many of them for life.
We had one man killed by a shell and five wounded while before Yorktown, in the skirmish of the "peach orchard." and two by accident, one shot through the penis and scrotum, above the testicle, and behind the cord and thigh, by a small sized rifle bullet, recovered rapidly by simple dress- ing. One shot through the leg died afterwards in general hospital. Remainder slight wounds.
On the 4th of May we again marched in pursuit of the enemy, leaving forty-three sick in hospital and sending four back next day, mostly cases of remittent fever, some diarrhoea and dysentery.
The 5th we marched nine miles through deep mud and rain to the battlefield in front of Williamsburg. the last four and a half on the double quick and a run. The men, ex- hausted, in profuse perspiration, and wet to the skin, were obliged to He on their arms during the night withone either blankets or fres. From that hour the sichness of the regi- mont increased frightfully, six or eight new cases occurring daily. We left twenty-seven men in hospital at Williams-
3
173
PENNSYLVANIA VETERAN VOLUNTEERS.
burg, sent six to transports at West Point when opposite that place, sent sixty away at Cumberland Landing, left forty-eight at Baltimore Store, and had sixty-four on the sick list at Bottom's Bridge on the 31st of May.
At the battle of Fair Oaks, on the last day of May, we lost of men and officers eleven killed and forty-nine wounded. Of the last, twenty-three were wounds of the upper extrem- ities, two requiring amputation of the arm, and one exsection of the elbow joints; twelve of the lower extremities, four of thigh, seven of leg, and one of knee joint, eight of trunk (three serious); six of head (one serious), and two of both upper and lower extremities.
While at Fair Oaks from the 1st to the 29th of June, the regiment suffered greatly from fever and dysentery, the first of miastamic origin, which, together with the effect of con- stant apprehension, rendered the nervous system highly im- pressible. Hence the marked effect of the malaria upon the nervous centers, especially the spine, as evidenced by the almost constantly present -- to a greater or less degree- numbing of the extremities with partial paralysis of the lower, usually severe pa'n in the hips and lumbar region. with great depression of spirits, etc.
The diarrhoea, as well as all diseases resulting from bad digestion or affections of the digestive organs, were caused mainly, if not entirely, by improper habits of cooking and eating. Each soldier cooked for himself, having no other implements than a small tin pail made from fruit can, a tin cup and a borrowed frying pan. Every leisure moment was devoted to cooking and eating; meat of every descrip- tion was fried instead of being boiled. All regularity in cating was lost. except that uncertain kind, produced by relief from the routine of duty. Norran any remedy be sus. gested short of the entire removal of the cooking business from the bands of the sold'er, and placing it in charge of a competent corps organized for that special purpose. Soins cannot march and fight each with a complete stock of co do ing furniture on his back.
In an active campaign like that on the Peninsula, offers suffer from bad cooking equally with the men. Servants afc an uncertain kind of dependencies and often ouf ged to cook
1
174
HISTORY FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT
for himself, the officer is of course as unskilled as the sol- dier. A regimental mess for the officers of this regiment under charge of a competent cook, established a few weeks ago, has already proved decidedly advantageous. A similar arrangement for the men, for instance by companies, would be found to be as great an Improvement.
For five days before commencing the retreat from before Richmond to Harrison's Landing our men were alinost con- stantly on duty. On the 20th of June they skirmished all day, then marched half of the night. The next day (30th) they fought at Charles City Cross Roads, losing seven killed and fifty-six wounded, most of whom fell into the hands of the enemy. They watched until two o'clock a. m., July 1st, then marched to Malvern Hill, fought there, losing two killed and eight wounded; remained on picket until 9 c. m. next morning, then marched twelve miles through deep mud and hard rain to Harrison's Landing, camped at night in the mud, then moved three miles and camped permanently for out- post duty.
All were exhausted and disheartened, scarcely a well man in the regiment, two hundred and thirty on the sick list for the first few days. Scurvy made its appearance to a small extent, yet sufficient to complicate and multiply other ail- ments. However, a few weeks' rest, abundance of fresh vegetables, lemons and ice, and we were ready to commence the retreat from the Peninsula with two hundred and fifty men for duty, having lost four by death at Harrison's Laad- ing -- two by typhoid fever, one from entraperitonitis and one from phthisis pulmonalis.
On reaching Alexandria we immediately moved to the Rappahannock, had no sickness of moment except two cases of sunstroke. boing actively engaged, yet not overworked.
We had three wounded at Bull Run, one in the hand. one in the hip. and one in the breast ant face. These last two have since diec.
The present health of the regiment is good and its moral condition excellent.
The general conclusions we arrive at are:
First .- That constant seasonable activity is necessary to promote the health of the regiment.
175
PENNSYLVANIA VETERAN VOLUNTEERS.
Second .- Men accustomed to exposure in the open air when attacked by fever of any kind, recover with much more certainty and much sooner in tents than in general hospitals in houses, probably because less crowded and admitting more perfect ventilation and free access to light.
J. W. LYMAN, Surgeon 57th Reg't., Pa. Vols.
1
176
HISTORY FIFTY-SEVENTHI REGIMENT
APPENDIX C.
THE 57TH PA. VETERAN VOLUNTEERS.
THEIR SERVICES TO THE STATE AND TO THE NATION.
Address of Col. L. D. Bumpus to His Comrades at Gettysburg, July 2, 18SS, on the Occasion of the Dedication of the Battlefield Monument of the 57th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers.
The 57th Regt., Pa. Vet. Vols., which was made up largely of Mercer county men, dedicated, on Monday, July 2d, one of the finest monuments on the Gettysburg field.
The exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. Sayres, Department Chaplain of the G. A. R., after which Col. L. D. Bumpus, President of the Monument Committee, introduced Capt. H. H. Hinds, who made a few remarks on the move ments of the 3d corps and the work done by the 57th regi- ment. When Captain Hinds had concluded, the audience sang the hymn "America," after which Cap :. D. W. Gore, Secretary of the Monument Association, introduced Col. L D. Bumpus in the following speech:
It would not be necessary to introduce the orator for this occasion to an audion & company of the members of the old 57th regiment, but as there are many strangers present it would perhaps be proper for me to say that he is a man who was identified with the 57th regiment during the entire his-
177
PENNSYLVANIA VETERAN VOLUNTEERS.
tory of its eventful existence. He was with us in our various marches, in our numerous eucampments, and in our many hard-fought battles. He entered the army as a mere boy and rose from the ranks to the command of the regiment before reaching his majority. He was known throughout the army as the boy captain. It is largely due to his tireless efforts that we are enabled to dedicate this beautiful mionument to- day. He was true to his country, true to himself, and true to the mon of his command. No braver officer ever drew a sword in defence of the old flag and no man enjoyed to a greater degree the respect and regard of his old comrades in arms than does Col. L. D. Bumpus, whom I now introduce to you as the orator for this occasion.
COLONEL BUMPUS' ADDRESS.
Comrades of the 57th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers:
In obedience to your command, I have appeared before you in many different characters. I have, with you, trudgel along on the weary march and carried my gun, knapsack an l forty rounds. And in obedience to your call, I rose rank by rank, until I had the honor to command the grand old r.s. ment. Today, in obedience to your call, I stand before foi in a new role; that of orator for this occasion. However well I may have been able to fill the positions to which you have called me heretofore, I do not hope to meet your exper tations today. I am what President Lincoln was pleased to call one of the plain people; and you will not be treated tolix to any flights of oratory or grant play of words. But I shall try to speak words of truth with soberness; and whatever olse of merit my remarks may lack. I trest you will do me the justice to believe that they emanate from an hon. st heart.
Our good historian, Captain Strouss, has releved me of the necessity of going into history, and I shall conine iny remarks to the trials and triumphs of the grand regimen' to which we had the honor to belong. I need not speak of the causes that led to the war, for they were so well toflerstond by every man who mar hod in the ranks the who are as familiar as household words. We are met h to Copy Pennsylvanians on Pennsylvania soil, on one of the greatest battlefields of the war; and I propose to speak of the part
·
178
HISTORY FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT
Pennsylvania, and more particularly the part the 57th regi- ment, took in suppressing the rebellion.
When war came, it found us ill prepared. We had a little army scattered throughout the territories; a weak navy, lying at anchor in distant waters; a bankrupt treasury, and a government without credit. What added to the uncer- tainty of the result, the people of the North were divided on party issues, and many honest men believed that there was no power in the Constitution to coerce a State. All these difficulties confronted President Lincoln, and he was appalled at their magnitude. He called upon the Governors of several of the loyal States to counsel with him in his dread emer- gency. They met at the White House. The President in- formed them of the terrible cloud that hung like a pall over our fair land, and asked their advice about issuing a proclamation, calling upon the people for troops to put down the rebellion, and with his hands folded behind him awaited their answer. The six or seven Governors who formed his auditors had each expressed his opinion, but they were punctuated by too many "ifs" or "ands." While this was going on, Governor Andrew G. Curtin, fresh from his moun- tain home, stood looking through the window. He had not yet been approached by the President. personally. There was profound but awful silence in that small but thoughtful party of distinguished men.
President Lincoln finally broke the silent spell, and, turn- ing to Governor Curtin, said: "Governor, what will Penn- sylvania do, if I issue my proclamation?" Silence more pro- found prevailed. It was a momentous question. It seemed as if the fate of a nation depended upon the reply about to be made. Manifest destiny seemed trembling in the bal- ance. Governor Curtin faced the President and said: "What will Pennsylvania do? Why, sir, if you issue your procla- mation, Pennsylvania will give you a hundred thousand mon in one week." Thank God for that noble answer! Truly Andrew G. Curtin was the right man in the right place. He was the Richelieu who thwartel the conspirators of the American rebellion.
But how did the boys of 1861 fulfill the promises of Gov- ernor Curtin? The call to arms came, and before that tor-
179
PENNSYLVANIA VETERAN VOLUNTEERS.
nado of patriotism which followed, "mon came as the winds come when forests are rended; came as the waves come when navies are stranded." "You all know the story: how the flag went down amidst the smoke of battle; how the fight was long and bloody; how, finally, the great waves of Secession. Slavery and Rebellion rolled across our bordering line and rebaptised the soil of Pennsylvania with the blood of patriots. And then.
" Through every vale and glen, Beating like resolute pulses, She feels the tread of men; But she stands like an ocean break-water In fierce rebellion's path. To shiver its angry surges And baffle its frantic wrath. And the tide of Slavery's treason Dashed on her in vain. Rolling back from the ramparts of freedom, In the land of 'Mad Anthony Wayne.'"
I will not attempt to recount the deeds of the soldiers of Pennsylvania; to do so would be to repeat the history of the war. For with but few exceptions there it not a battlefield from Gettysburg to Mobile where the ground has not been stained with the blood of the soldiers of Pennsylvania. There is not a State, loyal or insurrectionary, which was the seat of war, that does not hold within it the honored and sacred remains of the slain heroes of Pennsylvania. When Beaure- gard first trained his murderous guns upon Fort Sumter. Pennsylvania was there. Pennsylvania volunteers were the first to reach the National Capitol. We were at Appomat- tox when traitors fired their last volley; and in all those terrible intermediate struggles in every rebellious State, in every important battle on land or water, where treason was to be confronted or rebellion subdued, the soldiers and sailors of Pennsylvania were ever found, confronting the one an ! conquering the other. Therefore, it was in true historie order that the wicked struggle to terminate the Union should ‹ uhninate upon our soil, that its topinost wave shouli he dashed against our Capital; that its decisive defeat should be secured here where literal bulwarks of upheaved slain preserved the North from the despolling foot of a traitor,
ISO
HISTORY FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT
and, accordingly, the rebellion staggered back from Gettys- burg to its grave. Remember that at Gettysburg the blood of the people of eighteen loyal States, rich, precious blood, mingling together, sank into the soil of Pennsylvania, and by that red covenant she is pledged for all time to Union, to Patroitism and to Nationality.
Comrade, with a record like this have we not much to be proud of? Such heroism as I have recounted is too sub- lime for the common language of humanity; a heroism which is patriotic, and a heroism which is heroic; a heroism which blends in beautiful symmetry the moral and the physical; a heroism which will shine with increasing luster as generations pass away. No longer need we look back through the centuries for deeds of noble daring. We can point with pride to our own record in the great War of the Rebellion for achievements that will rival Spartan valor or Roman fortitude.
The 57th regiment was organized early in the fall of 1861, at Camp Curtin, Pennsylvania, and in December of that year was ordered to Washington and went into camp on the Bladensburg pike, near the old toll gate, and subse- quently became a part of the Army of the Potomac. From that time until you were mustered out, the history of the Army of the Potomac was your history. You received your first baptism of fire at Yorktown on April 11, 1862, and from that time until the close of the war you participated in every important engagement of that Army, excepting Antietam. That you did your duty faithfully and well your list of casualties will prove. The records of the War D ?- partment show that in every engagement you lost men and in some of them from forty to sixty per cent. of the whole number engaged. The original strength of the regi- ment was eight hundred and fifty men, and your casualties were over eight hundred during the war: and at the fool muster out but one of the original officers of the regim ut remained to be mustered out with you. Chaplain W. T. McAdam.
I will now quote from the speech of Hon. Chauacry Depew, before the Society of the Army of the Potomac. He says: "Each of the great armies had its distinguishing
181
PENNSYLVANIA VETERAN VOLUNTEERS.
merit; but in the achievements and in the records of the Western forces, following the precedent of previous wars, are largely represented the genius and personality of great commanders." To the Army of the Potomac belongs the un'que distinction of being its own hero. It fought more battles and lost more in killed and wounded than all others; it shed its blood like water to teach incompetent officers the art of war, and political tacticians the folly of their plans; but it was always the same invincible and undis- mayed Army of the Potomac. Loyal ever to its mission and to discipline, the only sound it gave in protest was the cracking of the bones as the cannon balls ploughed through its decimated ranks. A good soldier does full honor to his adversary. Although Americans on the wrong side, no more formidable force of equal number ever marched or fought than the Army of Northern Virginia, and it had the rare fortune of being always under the command of one of the most creative and accomplished military minds of his time. Gen. Robert E. Lee.
To conquer and capture such an army the captain of the Army of the Potomac must overcome what the greatest tactician has said was impossible, "an armed enemy in his own country," with the whole population venomously hos- tile; acting as spies: furnishing information, removing sup- plies; preparing ambuscades, and misleading the invaders. But it did accomplish this military miracle. It was hard and trying to be marched and countermarched for naught: to be separated and paralyzed at the moment when a su- preme effort meant victory; to be hurled against impassable defenses, and then waste in repairing the mistake. The Army of the Potomac was composed of thinking bayonets. Behind each musket was a man who knew for what he was fighting, and who understood the plan of campaign, and with unerring and terrible accuracy sized up his commander. The one soldier in whom he never lost confidence was him- self.
This army operated so near the Capitol that Congress- men and newspapers directed its movements, changed its officers and criticised its failures to conquer on blue lines penciled on Washington maps. It suffered four years under
ISC
HISTORY FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT
unparalleled abuse, and was encouraged by little praise, Lut never murmured. It saw all its corps and division com- manders sign a petition to the President to remove its gen- eral, and then despairingly but heroically marched to cer- tain disaster at his order. It saw its general demand the resignation or court martial of its corps or division officers, and yet, undemoralized and undismayed, it charged under his successor in a chaos of conflicting commands. "On to Richmond! " came the unthinking cry from every city, vil- lage and cross roads in the North. "On to Richmond! " shouted grave Senators and impetuous Congressmen. "On to Richmond! ! " ordered the Cabinet. No longer able to resist the popular demand, the raw and untrained recruits were hurled from their unformed organizations and driven back to Washington. Then, with discipline and drill, out of chaos came order; the self-deserting volunteer has be- come an obedient soldier; the mass has become moulded into a complex but magnificent machine; and it was the Army of the Potomac! Overcoming untold difficulties, fight- ing with superb courage, it comes in sight of the spires of Richmond, and then, unable to succeed, because McDowell and his corps of thirty thousand men are held back, it re- news each morning and carries on every night in retreat the Seven Days' Battle for existence; and, brought to bay at Malvern Hill, asserts its undaunted spirit in hard won victory. It follows Pope and marches and falls back; pursues enemies who are not before it, and finds foes for which it is unprepared, and fights and is beaten under orders so con- tracktory and councils so divided, that an army of European veterans would have disbanded. Immediately, it recognizes a general in whom it has confidence. The stragglers come from the bush and the wounded from the hospitals; regi- ments, brigades, divisions and corps reform, and at Antietam it is invincible and irresistible.
Every man in the ranks knew that the fort fied heights of Fredericksburg wore impregnable, that the forlorn hope would charge, not into the imminent deadly treach, but into a death trap, and yet with unfaltering step this grand army salutes its blind commander and marches to the slaughter!
IS3
PENNSYLVANIA VETERAN VOLUNTEERS.
" Theirs not to reason why, Theirs not to make reply, Theirs but to do and dic! "
Every private was aware of the follies of the Rappahan- nock campaign. He knew that the opportunity to inflict an firreparable blow upon the army of Lee had been trifled away, and that after reckless delays to make a movement which at first would have been a surprise, conceived by the very genius of war, was then mere mid-summer madness; and yet this incomparable army, floundered through swamps, lost in almost impenetrable forests, outflanked, outmaneu- vered, outgeneraled, decimated, no sooner felt the firm hand of Meade than it destroyed the offensive and aggressive power of the Confederacy in the three days' fighting at Gettysburg.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.