USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > History of the counties of Dauphin and Lebanon : in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania ; biographical and genealogical > Part 64
USA > Pennsylvania > Lebanon County > History of the counties of Dauphin and Lebanon : in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania ; biographical and genealogical > Part 64
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" With the general history of the struggle our people are familiar. But it has occurred to me, as I read over some oll papers, which brought so vividly to mind srenes both tragic and coune connected with the invasion of 1862, that one or two sketches of the incidents of that campaign, gathered from the material before mie, maizbt not prove un- interesting, both to those who were participants and to those whome husbands, brothers, and sons went forth when all was nucertainty and gloom, to stand between them and the approaching fue. I know it is common to speak in terms of ridicule of the ' Militia,' and especially is this the case when we have all around us the scarred veterans of the re- cent conflict, who can tell of battles lost and won, while we can only speak of those that might have been. But there are one or two things to be remembered. In the first place, we irere raw nulitia, sent forth without training of experience, to be brought into collision, if needs be, with Lee's skilled veterans, flushed with their recent success at the sec- ond Bull Run. In the second place, the first regiment, of which the Harrisburg companies formed a part, was bent down the valley alone, almost to the rebel lines, just before the battle of South Mountain, an 1 at a time when neither Governor Curtin nor Ben. Mcclellan had any iles of the numbers of the enemy, or how far they had penetrated to.
wards Chambersburg. The truth was that Longstreet's division was lying this side of Hagerstown on the Sunday morning when the cars landed naahint two and a half oules beyond Chamber birg. It is very pleasant now to crack jokes at the expense of the militi, and make light of their perils and services in that brief campaign, but it was any- thing but a joko then, to men who were leaving families and homes with the possibility that they might be shot down upon the border, or perhaps captured en masse and consigned to the tender mercies of a Southern prison. We have since learned what kind of a fate that would have been
" Said a gentleman of flager-town to the writer a year after the inva- sion of ISA2, ' Yon Pennsylvania militia had no idea of the danger you were in when here, and it was well you had not :' and then he spoke if the fact, well known to the people there at that time, that a consoletable rebel force bad crossed the river on the night after the battle of Antir- tam, anil were within a short distance of onr lines. Hul they known we were raw militia they would probably have captured us all. But. lastly, the facts to be mentioned have a local interest, and the narration is intended only for local readers; so without further apolozy I proceed. And I cannot better introduce my journal than by the following extraet from Governor Curtin's message to the Legislature of 1863 :
". In the month of September, 1862, after the second disaster at Bull Bun, it became evident that the enemy had adopted an aggressive pol- i y, and was about to inv.vle the Northern stites through Maryland and the southern border of Pennsylvania. Under the sanction of the Presi- dent of the United states, on the 11th day of that month, I issued my proclamation, calling into immediate service fifty thousand of the free. men of this State. Under this call twenty-five regiments and four com- Dames of infantry, fourteen unattached companies of cavalry, and four batteries of artillery were immediately organized and sent to the border. the greater partion advancing beyond the state line into Maryland. G-0. John F. Reynolds at that period commanding the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, was temporarily assigned by the Secretary of War to the com- mand of these troops, by whose order they were returned to Pronsylva- nia, and by my proclaim ition disbanded on th> 24th of the sime month. In acknowledgment of the services rendered by the men of Pennsylvi- nis, Maj .- Gen. Mcclellan, commanding the Army of the Potomac, by letter dated the :27th of September, 1-2, acknowledging the service and thanking the State, Usp. the following langu ige:
*** The manner in which the people of Pennsylvania responded to your call, and hastened to the defense of their frontier. no doubt exer- cised a great influence upon the enemy ;" and the Governor of Mary- land, His Excellency A. W. Bradford, in an opfer dated September 29. 182, used the following language in regard to these troops: " The reads- ness with which they crowell the border and took their stand beside the Maryland brigade, shows that the border is in all resperts but an ideal line, and that in such a cause as now unites us, Pennsylvania and Mary- land are but one." '
"The proclamation of which the Governor speaks had been expector! for some time. Rumors of coming danger tilled the air, and for a week ur ten days companies had been organized in most of the wards of the vity, and every afternoon was spent in drilling. But when the order to march finally came, it was found that a good many of the incipient soldiers belonged to the Home Guard of which we read, who resolved 'never to leave their homes except in case of an invasion.' In one of the wards, where two full companies had been drilling for a week, Su many were missing when the arms were distributed that the two had t> be consolidated, and thus one full company way formed.
" The proclamation was read to the companies at the close of drill on Thursday, sept. 11, 1-62. Ou Friday they were ordered to be ready to start to Chambersburg at short notice, and the same afternoon they were marched to the arsenal and supplied with haver acks nud canteens, and afterwards with muskets. The company to which the writer was at- tached was for some reason furnished with mimes, while the others Were irmed with the old style of mu-kets, shooting latekshot and bail. On saturday morning the regiment was organized, made up of three companies from Harrisburg and the remainder from different points I the Cumberland Valley. After being kept in the capitol yard the whole day, we were marched about half-past five o'clock in the evening to the round-house and there embarked in freight-cars for Chambersburg. As we proceeded down the valley we took in companies at Shiremanatown, Mechanicsburg, Carlisle, and other points, so that by the time we reached Chandlerslong the regiment was full.
" We arriveil in the vicinity of the town about midnight Some . f us, wearied with the testonsness of the journey, had sunacently in- az:ned thest we should le quartered in some confortable building f.r the night, and thus get at least a few hours of sleep. But alus for out
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247
GENERAL HISTORY.
expertitions! After a brief delay the order was given to move on, and creeping around the town we were pushed unt on the Franklin Railroad some two miles towar's Hagerstown, and at length halted at the edge of a piece of woodland. The moment the train sto pped cartridges were distributed nil the men ordered to load their muskets and keep par- fectly quiet. The prospect was not a pleasant one. We knew but little of the situation. Whether the rebel forces were within one mile or twenty of us was very uncertain, and the orders which hai just been Ioned were not calculated to allay the excitement. If . volley had suddenly been poured in upon us of a group of cavalry had surrounded the train and demanded our surrender we would not have been much surprised.
" But neither happened, und ais the night wore on, the men a. - nmel various recumbent postures and tried to get a little sleep. This was by no means easy. Neither the seats nor the floor of the cars were very soft, and the night was quite cold. The writer ha- a dist not recollec- tion of seeing une of the editortal fratermity of the city rolling over the Hoor ns if trying to fill a . At plac . groaning in spir t, and occasionally khucking his head agajust the butt of a loaded misket to the innninent peril of those whom the muzzle might hit if it fell. The reader. if a veteran, will excuse us. It was our First night out,' aod we halu't got used to it yet. We learned a little afterwards
" But morning at length came, and with it the idea of breakfast. It opened gloomily, and with signs of the coming equinoctial. It was a strange Sunday to many of us. We heard the church belle ringing in Chambersburg, but we could not attend. All day long the boys were busy in erecting booth, made of fence-rails, covered in with branches of tires, straw, &c., and by afternoon they had prepared a very comfortable shelter. About eleven o'clock we were furnished with breakfast-beef and bread, and an aluminalde decoction called ' dandelion' coffee. We cau pardon the State authorities for providing this letter. considering the exigency ; but we don't want noy more of it. To do them justice, they afterwards furnished the genuine article.
" In the evening the regiment had its first dre-s parade in an open fiell adjoining the camp. The officers told us, by way of encourage- ment, that we performed exceedingly well for raw men, even though the muskets didn't all muve together, and the 'orderlied' did get a little mixed up in coming to the front. It was observed by some of the men that our colonel, as he stood in front of the life with his arm - fol led, looked very much like the picture of the ' Little Corporan' As dark- ors carne down upon us the camp-bres were hit, and at nine weluck the drum-beat suoimoned ne to repose. We laid us down beneath the shel- ters erected, some of us to lepp, others. to whoof the whole srene was so novel and strange that it banished slumber to passa weary au I wake- ful night. During the day we had several times he and the distant report of artillery, and we knew not what the morrow might bring forth. We afterwards learned that we were listening to the sounds of the conflict at Sonth Mountain.
" Monday and Tuesday, September 15th and 16th, were passed on the ground on which we first enenimped, which was named 'Camp Mc- Clure.' Part of each day was spent in drilling by -quais, communities. " And so it happened that, without giving us any opportunity of planting our feet firmly upon that line and holding it against the foe, we were shot across it almost before we koew it. and in battalion. Our camp was bounded on one side by the railroad. and on the other by the tarmjake Fouling to Chambersburg. Towards noon on Monday we were roused by the shout- of the guards on the turnpike side of the worlds, and a ruch was bude by the men to discover the cause of the excitement. We found that it arose from the ptvage along the road towards the town of a considerable number of ammuni- - feetly quet as we passed through the town, the design apparently being tien wagons which had been captured from Longstreet's division of the rebel army by a party of Illinois cavalry, who were recreating from Har- per's Ferry. Some of the wagons were driven by . contrabinds,' whose grins of delight, in view of their capture by Federal troops, were un- pristakable. On the afternoon of the same day Capt Byers' company of cavalry from Harrisburg passed by eur catip on their way to Green- castle and Williamsport.
"On Tuesday some of us got leave to go into Chaintersberg, where the luxury of a good wash and a good dinner at the ' Franklin Hotel' was something we fully ap reciated. That evening the regiment received orders to make a forward movement early the next mon ing
" Wednesday, the 17th, dawned non ne with a murky atmosphere and a drizzly tain. The regiment was formed futo line duit pocht & M., and marched about a mile and a half on the road towards Grauneistle. Here we oneunped anew. and supposing that we were to repraia for a certsont, the men turned in and Just now stoteplouthe. lesving .on- tributions for that purpose njom the neigh burits fences, and cutting boughs and gathering straw wherever it c and be found.
" By this time other regiments of militit had been organiz I at Her- risborg, anl pashel forward into the valley, and they were -rattered
around us at points not very far distant. Shortly after we reached out new camp-ground a Philadelphia regiment pass al us, one of whose offl- cers, after taking a survey of the booths which had bech ereet ul by our own men, astonished the writer by inquiring whether we were not going to build sumie for them al-o. He was politely informed that in this matter rach regiment louked out for itself, and that there were still 'a few more fence- left' to which they could have recourse. This turned out to be a memorable day in the history of the war. From an early hour in the morning we were conscious that a great battle was raging somewhere south of u4. All day long tho smothered roll of artillery could be beard, like distant thunder, and the men were gathered in groups at the edge of the woods, listening to the sounds of the conflict and anxiously speculating as to the result. It was the day of Anti-ful. and although we knew it not. the destinies of the country were for a troie suspended upon the issue of the struggle. Our feelings were pern- liar. Out of sight, litt within hearing of one of the decisive battles of the war, and utterly uncertain whether our own or the rebel thie would le triumphant at its close. Had M. Clellan's army been deferred, we Iny right in the pathway of the advancing fre, who would of course i ross the border and push down the valley. What could a few thousands of raw militia do to stop his progress and save our homes? It was not Dutil the next morning that the cheering news of Mcclellan's victory reached us.
"On Wednesday afternoon we were ordered to pull stakes and march to a new camp-ground, where, fortun itely for us, we found very com- fortable booths awaiting us, which bad been built and then deserted, as ours were, by another regiment. Here we received orders to prepare rations and be ready to move early the next diorting. To what point we were uut told, but the rumor was-and it afterwards proved correct -to Hagerstown. In the morning we were roused at + & M., and told to get everything ready, as we would start at daylight; but the suu rose and the day wore on, and still we tarried, bearing every hour fresh rumors from Gen. Mel'lellan's army. The rebels were said to be badly whipped, and yet it seemed to be understood that the presence of the militia was needed in that quarter for some purpose or other. What that purpose was could only be conjectured, but various were the sur- otises of the sapient ones antong ns. One suggestion, which was met with a storm of in ligpatton, was that we were to be detailed to Resist in burying the deal on the Anti tam battle-feld. Another learned gentle- man entertained his hearers by describing a sort of net into which the rebels had been driven by Melellan, the aforesaid det having but a single ontlet, and that outlet we were to guard.
"ome thing, however, was certain, and that was that we were to enter Maryland; and this raised the interesting question whether the Gover- nor, who had called ne aut to repel a threatened invasion of our own soil, had soy right to biurch us across the border. Many were the opinions pro and con. Sonie there were who resolutely declared that they would go no further than the Pennsylvania line. But the discussion was bronght to a close about four o'clock in the afternoon by shipping us on board a train of ears which carried na rapidly towards the Potoniac.
. "The regiment reached the camping-ground thus side of Hagerstown about eight o'clock in the evening. It was very dark when the train halted, and the first order given was to lowdl our wonskets and keep per- to march us ont toward, Williamsport A second order, however, directed us to leave the cars and encamp in the woods for the night. We had stopped in a deep eut, and it was necessary to lay planks from the cars to the top of the bank, on which, with some difficulty, the men clambered up. It had rained heavily during the day, and the ground was very wet. But worse than that was in store for ns. We tonod ourselves on the camp ground which had been occupied on the previous Somday by Longstreet's division of the rebel army, who had left it in a perfectly filthy condition. It was hard to find & clean spot to sit or lie Jowo npon. But the darkness was soon dissipated to some extent by the camp-fires of the regiment, and after a hasty shipper the men wrapped themselves in their blankets and stretched themselves upon the wet ground with their feet to the hres. It was the first night since we eo- camped at Chambersburg that we had not something dry to lie upou and sothe kind of shelter over us. The writer remembery boing on guard that night, unul in the intervals of duty trying to find a place to fest on the soft side of a rock, wrapped in a gam blanket.
" Friday morning opour l mpon ui with a clear sky and i cool wind, which, with the and of the sun, soon dried the ground. About ten o'clock we were startled by the wound of artillery. und a heavy cannot-
248
HISTORY OF DAUPILIN COUNTY.
ading was commenced and kept up for aboot two hours, apparently some eix nr eight miles south of ny in the direction of the river. The dis- charges were rapid and continuous, and we could distinctly se the stoke rising in the clear morning atmosphere. Towards noon the reg- iment was addressed by the colonel, who asked the men if they were willing to go forward towards Wilhamsport. This was followed by a speech from Governor Curtin urging us to advance towards the river, telling ns that he would lead the Pennsylvania troops himself, and would take us into no danger that he would not share with us. The men respunded with enthusiastic cheers, and preparations were imme- diately mule for a forward movement. Directly afer dinner the regi- ment, in connection with several others encamped near us, the whol- forming a Inigadle, took up the line of march through Hagerstown, and out on the Williamspurt turnpike. About two miles and a half beyond Hagerstown the troops were halted and thrown out upon a ridge of ground eut by the turopike, and extending to the right and left as far as the eye can see. It was known by the numne of ' Brier Hill.' Here a regular line of battle was form. 1, facing towards the river, and stretching on both sides of the turnpike. In the centre, and right on the pike, a barricade was thrown up, and behind it was planted Miller's Philadelphia battery of light feld-pieces. To the right of this battery, and within supporting distance, was stationed the First Regiment. Io this position, during Friday night, the troops slept ou their arms, and twice in the night an alarmi was sounded, and they were roused in an- ticipation of an attack. There can be no question that a rebel force was between us and the river that night, and it was reported that a small body of cavalry passed very near our lines. In fact, so threatening seemed the danger that Governor Curtin, who was in Hagerstown at the time, was called up at midnight and hurried back in a special train to Chambersburg. If that seemed like deserting the men whom be had led forward, and whose danger he had promised to share, it may be said, by way of apology, that a Pennsylvania Governor would have been roo rich a prize to run the risk of capture by the rebels. Hud he fallen into their hands, only the end of the war would have seen this return to the North, and his subsequent services would have been lost to the country. What was the design of the rebel troops in crossing the Po- tomac that night can only be conjectured. Perhaps they were after the Governor, and perhaps after the military stores gatherel at Hagerstown. They would hardly bave ventured very far from the river with Mellel- lan's army in their rear.
" It was during this afternoon and night that Gen. Reynolds, who had been placed in command of the militia, was first seen by our men. He was not recognized at first. as his 'sturs' were concealed ' an overcoat, and some rather amusing stories are told of encounters between bin and some of the 'irregulars,' of whom the general seemed to have but a poor opinion. The 'boys' had heard of his disparaging remarks, and revenged themselves the next morning, in their own way, when he ap- peared on the field with Gen. Kenley, of Maryland.
"The night passed away without further disturbance, and Saturday moruing dawned with a cloudless sky and a cool atmosphere. The writer, who had been detailed with others to guard and bring up the baggage from the former camp-ground, rejoined the regiment about ten o'clock, and found the troops in the positiva before described, the line of battle being still kept up, hat the men lying down or sitting aboat with their muskets stacked in the rear. The day was a beautiful one, and if the men had felt any trepidation during the darkness of the night, when the several alarms occurred, it had all passed away, and the brightness of the morning and the exhilarating atmosphere had given them new conragr. The postion occupied by our troops was quite an elevated one, and the view from it in either lirection very pretty. In the rear you looked back upon Hagerstown, distant a couple of miles, and in front. not much farther off, are the bills which border the valley of the Potomac. It is a fict worthy of niention here, that on this same ridge Gen. Lee intrenched hunself the following summer, on his retreat front Gettysburg, to prevent pursuit by Meade, while his troops slowly recrossed the river, then swollen by recent mains. A few months later the writer saw the remains of his rifle-pits and earthworks for cannon, and recognized the spot as the sun.e on which oor line was formed in September, 1862.
" While enjoying the beauty of the day and the surroundings, and listening to the chatting of the men about the occurrences of the pre- ceding might. very sitildenly the scene changed ant & new alarm r: o along the lines. Upon the turupihr next us all was ba-tle and haste. The wagons which hul brought up our provisions and amminnttion went hurrying back towards Hagerstown at full speed. Fourier, went dash- ing backwards and forwarda, the drums beit, and ordets inmediately reached os to reforut the line of battle, somewhat broken in upon, and
see that our guns were loaded and in proper condition for service. The men hurriedly grasped their weapons, closed up the line, and some fifty or sixty rounds of cartridges were served out to each. la a few moments Gen. Reynolds, accompanied by Gen. Kenley, of Maryland, enme riding along the line, and as they reached the po-itum occupied by our regi- ment, some of the boys called out, ' Three cheers for Gen. Kenley ! They were given with a will, and the general, pausing for a moment, turned towards the troops, and with a bow of acknowledgment, exclammed. Men of Pennsylvania, I want you to form that line " Gen. Reynolds slowly rode on, without seeming to notice the incident.
" About this time the Maryland brigade, which had arrived that moru- ing, came marching along the turnpike, in full nuiform, with drums benting and colors fying, passed on in front of the line down the turn - pike towards the river, and were then thrown out of the extreme left ot the line of battle. Their presence was very inspiring, as they were the only portion of the troops who had seen service and looked like regu- lars. A short time later, while the excitedteut was still at its heights Company K of the First Regiment, which, as before remarked, was the only company of the regiment armed with minie minskets, was ordered out from the line to be thrown out as skirmishers. Down on to the pike we were marched, oat through the barricade, behind which the held battery was stationed, and thence along the road towards the river, per- haps a half a mile, when we passed into a piece of woods skirting the road, and were ordered to deploy and form a skirmish line. The reader, even if a veteran, will readily see that all this looked like an impending fight, and this was our fixed impression. We learned then and there, if nothing more, something of the feeling, often talked of, of a raw re- cruit just as the battle opens. That hearts beat very rapidly just thea and cheeks grew paler cannot be doubted ; but the men could not afford to show cowardice in the presence of the thousands who were behind them, and the contpany marched out to the post assigned them as steadily as though they were on paraile. Probably one-half of this company was compo-ed of young men from Harrisburg, under age, and some of them several years brlow their majority. The writer will be excused for say- ior that he saw with astonishment the alacrity with which they, espe- cially, moved out to what seemed like a speedy collision with the rebel forces.
" From the position we now occupied we could look back and see the long line of troops drawn ont npon the ridge behind na, the Maryland brigade, with its blue uniforms, being conspicuous on the extrenie left. We looked and waited anxiously for what should occur next, expecting each moment to hear the first sounds of battle. But we could see nothing in nilvance of us, and no hostile shot broke the stillness. The day passed on, the excitement gradually subsided, and with the exception of a con- tintal riding of mounted men up and down the turupike, nothing oc- curred to renew the alarm. About five o'clock in the afternoon the Philadelphia battery was moved farther up the road, and commenced firing, probably shelling the woods in advance of them. Iu a little while we saw the old line in our rear broken up, and the troops marched forward, with their drums beating, passing our skirmish-line, and taking up a new position about a mile nearer the river. No orders were given to ns that night to rejoin our regiment, and the company remained where they were until the next morning The other troops slept on their armis in their new position.
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