USA > Pennsylvania > History of the One hundred & sixth regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, 2d brigade, 2d division, 2d corps, 1861-1865 > Part 15
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Now wood was very scarce, and details were sent out with teams to cut it and haul it to the company cook-house for the men, but the officers were mostly on short allowance, and were often compelled to beg or borrow from the companies. Captain Ford had done this so much that the men were tired of it, and repeated- ly refused his servant, when sent for it. The servant then had
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orders to steal it, and he faithfully obeyed his orders, taking it from any pile he could, and it became pretty well known. So this morning the Captain was greatly surprised to find a number of nicely cut sticks back of his tent, and thinking that the nigger had secured them, "according to orders", before he went to bed the night before, the Captain felt very grateful to him, as he would not have to run around that cold morning to hunt fuel enough to cook their breakfast, so he started his fire, set his coffee-pot on to boil, fixed his meat in the frying-pan, and sat himself down on an empty ammunition box to attend to both, when, without the slightest warning, there was a terrible explosion; the frying-pan flew up in the air and sent the meat in every direction, the contents of the coffee-pot were blown all over the captain, the box he was sitting on knocked from under him, and he on the broad of his back, kicking and swearing. He soon jumped up and endeavored to ascertain who had played this joke on him, and finally wound up at the Adjutant's quarters. They so enjoyed the joke, that he suspected them of perpetrating it, and got greatly excited, and to get even with them upset their stove, and was finally tumbled out of the tent, with sticks of wood, boots, and whatever they could pick up, thrown after him. He was then met by the Colonel, who had come from his quarters to see what was the cause of such a rumpus, and he ordered the Captain to his quarters. The excitement soon cooled down, but the joke was long after re- membered. Some parties had got tired of having their wood stolen, and had prepared these sticks with a number of cartridges in them; hence the explosion.
On December 20th, Colonel Morehead was assigned to the com- mand of the Third Brigade, General Sully's ; on January 17th re- turned and assumed command of our Brigade; returned to the Regiment on the 24th, and on the 26th went home on furlough, returning February 19th.
On January 14th, we had our hopes raised for a chance of a pleasant change from our present location and duty, by Adjutant Pleis, upon returning from Philadelphia and Washington, stating that we would certainly start in a few day for Baltimore, to guard the railroad and such other easy duty. This was strengthened by Dr. Dwinelle saying that we were to leave in a few days. But
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those few days were lengthened into weeks, and then months, and we never got assigned to that pleasant duty. Whether the orders were countermanded before they were promulgated, or some others were substituted in our place, or whether, upon calm consideration, those who contemplated such a change thought that it would not do to remove from the front a brigade of veterans, who had proved themselves such good soldiers, was never made known to us; but we did know that we never enjoyed such good fortune as to have anything but active service during our whole term of enlistment.
On January 20th, while on parade, orders were read from Gen- eral Burnside announcing that we were about to meet the enemy once more, that the brilliant achievements of our troops in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas, had weakened the forces on the Rappahannock in our front, and now it was time for us to strike a death blow to the rebellion. The country at large seemed to demand that a movement of some kind should take place to overcome, if possible, the influence of the Fredericksburg disaster, and General Burnside decided to attempt once more the passage of the Rappahannock. The enemy, however, not to be surprised at any such movement, had posted considerable force at all the fords of the river in the vicinity of Fredericksburg, and the river being much higher than usual rendered the building of bridges a necessity in order to cross troops, another obstacle to be overcome ; but Burnside issued his orders, and the necessary arrangements were completed. A feint was first made below the city by a por- tion of the Second Corps under Couch, and the Eleventh Corps under Sigel, on the 19th, and on the 20th the main movement was made up the river, to cross at Banks' Ford, by Hooker's and Franklin's Grand Divisions, who had been hurriedly moved up there the night before, with their artillery in position to force a crossing, and the pontoons near the river bank. Everything was ready for an early advance in the morning, but "man counted without his host", for during the night there began one of the severest storms of the season; roads were converted into mud puddles that seemed to have no bottom, men with difficulty struggled on through mud and water. To get the boats to the river through the sticky soil, the horses were doubled up, and
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assisted by the strong arms of as many men as could get at them with ropes, yet they could scarcely get them along, and all day was spent in the preparation to build a single bridge. These efforts were soon known to the enemy, who taunted them, and asked if they "wanted any help to build their bridge". The next day, the 21st, the storm still continuing, the stituation grew worse, and the Army of the Potomac was really "stuck in the mud". Further advance was impossible; the only thing to do was to re- turn to camp, and so they did, working their way back, trudging along through the mud and storm, tugging at the artillery that was now sunk to their axles, requiring the united action of hun- dreds of men to get one piece at a time out of the mud holes. And all day long were the now nearly exhausted men working their way back to their camps, and "Burnside's Mud Campaign" was ended. Our Brigade took no part in this campaign, but re- mained in camp on account of its prominent position, being in full view of the rebels, so that any movement on our part would have revealed to them our intentions, so we merely assisted the others as they passed by our camp, and shared with them our rations.
Even our brigade pickets stationed along the river front, in front of Falmouth, were taunted by the rebs opposite and in- formed of Burnside's failure before they heard it from our own people. They marked in large letters on a door "Burnside stuck in the mud", and stood it up so that our men could easily read it, this on January 22d, and that they knew of his intended movement was shown a few evenings before by their reading aloud a copy of his (Burnside's) order No. 7. Who was the traitor?
General Burnside after this failure, at his own request was re- lieved from the command that had been thrust upon him and re- luctantly accepted by him, and on January 25th, General Joseph Hooker was placed in command of the Army of the Potomac. The same order relieved at his own request brave old General Sumner, who shortly after, while on his way to join the army on the frontier, died at Syracuse, New York.
Religious services were held each Sabbath at Brigade Head- quarters, conducted by the Rev. Mr. Corkhill, assisted sometimes by others. On January 25th, General Howard was present, and
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when Mr. Corkhill had finished, he spoke. His well chosen and well delivered address was listened to with marked attention and deeply impressed those present, inspiring confidence and carrying conviction, so that some returned to their quarters feeling their sense of guilt, and with a desire to profit by his teaching and ac- cept the truth. On February Ist, our former Chaplain Harris was present and took part, and again on April 19th, and on the 26th conducted the services. There is no doubt but what these services did a great deal of good and helped many to find their Saviour.
The formation of the army was changed by General Hooker ; the Grand Divisions were discontinued and the army divided into seven corps, as follows: The First Corps commanded by General Reynolds, the Second by General Couch, the Third by General Sickles, the Fifth by General Meade, the Sixth by General Sedg- wick, the Eleventh by General Howard and the Twelfth by Gen- eral Slocum. The cavalry numbering about 13,000 men, under General Stoneman. The rest of the winter was devoted to re- organizing and strengthening the army, which it sadly needed. Bryant says :
It was to all appearances little more than a mob. In three months he made an army of it.
Among other things each corps was required to adopt and wear a distinct badge or insignia by which its members could be dis- tinguished ; those adopted were as follows: That of the First Corps a disk, the Second a trefoil, the Third a diamond, the Fifth a Maltese cross, the Sixth a Greek cross, the Eleventh a crescent, and the Twelfth a star. The Divisions were designated by the color of the badge, the First Division wearing red, the Second white, the Third blue and the Fourth green. By this means the members of any division straggling could be readily identified, as they were compelled to wear them on the top of their caps. This idea first. originated with General Kearney at the battle of Fair Oaks, who ordered the men of his command to sew a piece of red flannel on their caps, so that he could recognize them in the turmoil of the battle ; but General Hooker developed that idea as above, and it proved of great value to the commanders.
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On February 7th, the Seventy-Second Regiment presented General W. W. Burns, their former Brigade commander, with a magnificent sword, sash and belt, costing over six hundred dollars on the eve of his departure for the west. It possessed peculiar interest from the fact that it was entirely the gift of the rank and file, and the presentation speech was made by Sergeant Faber, of Company I, on behalf of the non-commissioned officers and pri- vates. General Burns received it, replying gracefully and briefly, saying that he came as a stranger to succeed Colonel Baker, whom we had all learned to idolize. "A brilliant orator, a senator, a man whose personal attractions won all hearts", and he, being only a soldier, how hard it was for him to gain our confidence and love; thanking them for the gift, he closed as follows:
I am no longer your General, but will always be your friend, and proud of your success. I came to the Army of the Potomac at the instance of General McClellan. Burnside and Hooker are my friends. I leave with a sad heart, but Rosecrans wants me in the West ; there the star of my destiny directs me. Farewell. God bless you.
The sword was one of rare beauty and great costliness, the blade pure Damascus, the handle a fine specimen of work in gold, diamonds, amethyst, turquoise and other precious stones, having forty-one diamonds in the letters W. W. B. and U. S .; on the scabbard in gold bas-relief was an equestrian representation of General Burns leading his men, the coat of arms of Pennsylvania, a camp scene and a battle scene ; certainly a magnificent souvenir.
As has been stated, our Brigade took no part in what was called Burnside's Mud Campaign on January 19th, 20th, and 21st, but we were not to be deprived of like experiences, as after tattoo on Wednesday night, February 25th, the Brigade was ordered under arms, and left camp with overcoats and accoutrements, command- ed by Colonel Baxter, of the Seventy-Second Regiment. The ground was covered with snow several inches deep, the moon was shining brightly, but clouds could be seen gathering in the distance, threatening a storm. We marched about four miles towards Hartwood Church, to intercept a body of rebel cavalry who were raiding on our right flank. A halt was made, no fires were allow-
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ed, and to keep warm the men had to tramp up and down, or trot around like so many horses in a circus ring. Occasionally a fire would start up, only to be immediately put out by Colonel Baxter. This caused considerable dissatisfaction, and thoughts expressed in plain words, but Colonel Baxter said his written orders were to allow no fires, and he intended to obey those orders. About midnight it began to rain, and about daylight came down in tor- rents, melting the snow, turning the ground into mud and slush. As soon as it was daylight fires were started in all directions, fences and out-buildings were torn down and converted into fuel, and everything else that could be got for that purpose; an old wagon and some cart-wheels shared the same fate. About 4 o'clock a large force of cavalry passed us to the front, and about 8 o'clock we again pressed forward. It was now much harder work; the rain still continuing, had softened the roads, and made the mud nearly over shoe-top, taking us nearly an hour to make one mile. After an advance of about three miles, we were halted to await the arrival of two wagons that had been sent after us with provisions and whiskey. When they arrived, about 12 o'clock, it was found that the provisions consisted of "hardtack" only, which was very poor breakfast after such a night of ex- posure, the men not bringing any rations with them, but the whis- key was dealt out liberally to the men, which they gladly accepted, being greatly in need of some such stimulant; almost wet to the skin, our feet completely soaked, the snow-water penetrating our shoes as though they were made of so much paper. About 2 o'clock an aide arrived with orders for us to return to camp, which was gladly received, and back we started through mud and slush now over ankle deep, raining very hard, the water cutting gulleys in the roads in some places knee deep, through which we had to wade, and nearly exhausted we reached camp about 5 o'clock, having made that day about ten miles, over the worst roads and under the most trying circumstances of any we had yet experi- enced. A fruitless march of a brigade of infantry after a body of cavalry well mounted, that had at least twelve hours the start, and were no doubt safely across the river and in their camp be- fore we started; if we were spared the experiences of the mud march of January 19th, 20th and 21st, we lost nothing by our ex-
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perience of February 25th and 26th, and returned to camp with "honors easy" between us and the rest of the Army of the Po- tomac.
On March 5th, grand review by General Hooker.
On March 23d, the death of General Sumner was announced, and received with sadness by his entire command. He had won the hearts of his men ; his age and genial disposition had won for him the paternal name of "Pop Sumner", and his "children" were always ready to obey his slightest command, and to follow wherever he led. He shared all the dangers of his men, and never seemed so happy as when with them hotly engaged with the enemy. He never considered his own personal safety. The members of our Brigade will never forget his conduct at Antie- tam, where he rode into the thickest of the fight to save the balance of Sedgwick's Division from capture or annihilation. Another brave soldier gone to his rest, after forty-two years' active mili- tary life, but not as he would have wished, in the fight at the head of his men. May he rest in peace.
Before daylight on the morning of April Ist we were ordered under arms. After remaining in line about an hour, we were dis- missed. As no cause was given, all hands thought they had been made the victims of an April fool joke, but two hours later, learn- ed that three hundred rebels had deserted, crossed the river, and surrendered, and our pickets, thinking it was another raid, gave the alarm and prepared us to meet it.
During the afternoon of April 7th, General Owen was present- ed with a fine horse, and a full and elegant set of equipments, in- cluding sword, sash and belt, and horse equipments, and had pre- pared for his friends a banquet, and had a large frame building erected, a table spread, and entertained all the officers of the Bri- gade in fine style, and a "jolly time" they had until late at night.
On April 8th, we were again reviewed by President Lincoln, who was received with great enthusiasm. He was accompanied by his wife and two sons. The latter rode with him along the line, and we saw Mrs. Lincoln seated in the carriage as we passed in review.
On the 14th, orders were issued to make the following prepara-
.
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tions for moving: To turn over to the Quartermaster all extra clothing on hand; each man to take only an extra shirt, pair of drawers and stockings; to pack five days' rations of crackers, coffee and sugar in knapsacks, and three days' rations in our haversacks, the meat to be "on the hoof", and each man to carry forty rounds of ammunition.
On April 21st we were paid for four months.
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHANCELLORSVILLE.
T OWARDS the latter part of April, General Hooker, having perfected his plans, and with an army now numbering about 130,000 men all told-Doubleday estimated the force to be "124,500 men of all arms, 11,500 of which were cavalry", and Swinton puts the number at 120,000 infantry and artillery, and 12,000 cavalry ; total, 132,000-decided to commence operations, and on Monday morning, April 27th, the movement began. A column of about 40,000 men of the Corps of Meade, (Fifth, 15,000) Howard, (Eleventh, 15,000) and Slocum, (Twelfth, 11,000) ; the whole under the command of General Slocum marched up to Kelly's Ford on the Rappahannock river, about twenty-seven miles above Fredericksburg ; threw a pontoon bridge across the river and crossed without opposition on the night of the 28th and the morning of the 29th ; then moved southeaster- ly towards Chancellorsville, crossing the Rapidan river, Howard's and Slocum's Corps, at Germania Ford, and Meade's Corps, at Ely's Ford, having to wade at both places, the water being about four feet deep; the men carried their clothes, haversacks and ac- coutrements on their guns to keep them dry. Meade moved further east along the Rappahannock to United States Ford, driving from there a force of three brigades of the enemy, thus affording Couch an opportunity to cross his Corps, numbering about 16,000 men, and these combined forces, now amounting to nearly 55,000 men, pressed forward toward Chancellorsville, close- ly followed by Sickles' Corps, that had been relieved from Sedg- wick's forces below and was now fast pushing on to join Hooker, adding about 18,000 more men. This movement was so rapidly executed that Lee was taken completely by surprise, his left flank being turned before he was aware of Hooker's intentions. In the meanwhile, Sedgwick was to force a crossing below Frede- ricksburg with the combined forces of Reynolds' (First, 16,000),
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Sickles' (Third, 18,000) and his own Corps (Sixth, 22,000) ; this was a feint as though the attack was to be made at that point ; he also met with little opposition, accomplished his object and crossed about two miles below the city. Learning that Hooker had arrived at Chancellorsville, he first relieved Sickles and sent him to follow Hooker, as above mentioned, and afterwards sent Reynolds, leaving only his own Corps and our Division, now com- manded by General John Gibbon, with the exception of our Brigade, which was detailed to guard Banks' Ford and keep open the com- munication at that point. As soon as Sedgwick's troops (now about 25,000) had all crossed, one of the bridges was taken up and transported to Banks' Ford. Our Brigade was awakened about 2 o'clock on that morning, May Ist, with orders to assist the engineers, and, leaving their arms and accoutrements in camp, assisted in moving the train of boats over the rough and hilly roads to the ford, reaching there about 8 o'clock. Leaving the Sixty-Ninth Regiment there, the rest of the brigade returned to camp for their arms, and as soon as we got dinner the One Hun- dred and Sixth Regiment was ordered back to the ford to relieve the Sixty-Ninth Regiment, and arrived there about 4 o'clock, pretty well tired out, making about eighteen miles we marched that day ; about dark moved down to the river and deployed as pickets or lookouts ; everything remained quiet during the night ; the next morning we were relieved by the Seventy-Second Regi- ment, which, with the rest of the brigade, had left camp about midnight and arrived at the ford about 2 o'clock in the morning. We remained quiet all day, the rebel pickets plainly visible on the opposite bank and their works a short distance back. Heavy firing heard on our right and down on the left, nearly all day.
Early on Sunday, May 3d, we had orders to clear our front and lay the bridge ; this the enemy proposed to resist, until a detach- ment of the Seventy-First Regiment, under Lieutenant Seabury, a dashing and gallant officer of that regiment, and an aide on General Owen's staff, plunging into the river and with difficulty forcing their way across, effected a landing and captured a num- ber of prisoners. The engineers at once set to work to lay the bridge, supported by our Brigade and about sixty pieces of reserve artillery, in position on the bank above.
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Sedgwick moved forward, and before daylight on Sunday morning had occupied the city of Fredericksburg and attempted to carry the heights by surprise, but was beaten back with heavy loss by the forces of Early stationed there. He then arranged for a combined assault, and about noon, charged and succeeded in capturing their first line. Following up the advantage he had gained, he pressed forward, and after considerable difficulty and heavy loss, carried the famous Marye's Heights, that had resisted all the efforts of Burnside on December 13th, and although noth- ing near the same force defended them, yet the natural strength of the position put it into the power of a comparatively small force to hold them against heavy odds. Sedgwick having accomplish- ed the task assigned him, now moved to join Hooker at Chancel- lorsville, along the Rappahannock via Salem.
Here the enemy, reinforced by Wilcox's Brigade, that had been disputing the crossing of our Brigade at Banks' Ford, made a determined stand, and during the rest of that day held their ground with heavy skirmishing, and prevented Sedgwick's furth- er advance. Early was now reinforced by Anderson's Division of about 10,000 men, with instructions to crush Sedgwick, and the next day attacked him in force, and gradually forced him back to Banks' Ford. This prevented his union with Hooker; with his command now reduced by a loss of nearly 4,000, he made a determined stand, throwing Howe's Division around until his left rested on the river, and repulsed their assault.
Our Brigade had crossed as soon as the bridge was completed the day before. The Seventy-First Regiment, which was on the lead, were thrown forward as skirmishers, and had advanced about one mile, driving the enemy's skirmishers before them. General Owen then formed the Brigade, so as to protect the bridge and resist any attack, and remained unmolested that night and the next morning. Learning that Sedgwick was then hotly engaged at Salem Church, and struggling against fearful odds, he advanc- ed the Brigade to his assistance, and informed him that the bridge was completed at Banks' Ford, and telegraphic communication opened with General Hooker. About 6 o'clock Early made a final attempt to cut the communication between Sedgwick and the bridge, and made a determined charge on Howe's Division
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which Sedgwick repulsed, and then countercharged, driving them before him, capturing a number of prisoners and three battle-flags. Our Brigade was then ordered back to the Ford, threw up en- trenchments, and held that position, covering the retreat of Sedg- wick, whose entire command crossed the river that night. Our Brigade was then withdrawn just before daylight, across the river, the engineers taking up the bridge. We then returned to camp, arriving there about 9 o'clock, where we remained until June 14th.
Meanwhile Hooker was getting the worst of the fight at Chan- cellorsville. Jackson had made a detour of about fifteen miles, until he came around on Hooker's right flank, occupied by the Eleventh Corps under Howard, whom he, in broad daylight, took completely by surprise, though he had frequently been warned of the enemy's approach by mounted vedettes, and finally by an offic- er, and then by officers of his own command, yet even then he fail- ed to realize his danger and he made no preparation to receive them, and, when too late to prevent it, Jackson came crushing through his lines, driving his whole Corps back in utmost confusion, until the enemy occupied all the ground where his Corps had been in position, being checked for three-quarters of an hour by one Brigade only, when Berry's Division of Sickles' Corps, which was in reserve in rear of Hazel Grove, was sent to recover the ground lost by Howard, and charging through Howard's fleeing column, met the pursuing enemy with the bayonet, and checked their further advance. Then General Pleasanton, commanding the cavalry, returning to his former position, found all chaos and con- fusion and men fleeing to the rear. He saw that something must be done to check them; he ordered forward the Eighth Pennsyl- vania Cavalry, under its gallant commander, Major Keenan. They had not gone far before they met the enemy's line of battle, ad- vancing. Major Keenan, the gallant commander, saw in an 111- stant that he was in a bad fix, and must do something, or the enemy would capture his whole comand, and advance between the flanks of our army, and perhaps capture the artillery in position in his rear. So he gallantly led his little band of about four hun- dred in that heroic charge against those nearly ten thousand victorious enemy. This the enemy met and repulsed with fearful loss, including that gallant commander, who fell dead at the head
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