USA > Pennsylvania > The Twenty-second Pennsylvania cavalry and the Ringgold battalion, 1861-1865; > Part 19
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We had not gone far until the enemy was seen and the advance guard went for them on a gallop. A brisk firing in the meantime was kept up. The planks of a small bridge had been torn away, but Lieutenant Gayton, who was mounted on a very fleet horse, cleared the opening and captured Colonel Carter, of the famous " Black Horse Cavalry," who had been thrown from his horse. Soon after, two captains and an orderly were captured. Colonel Carter informed Lieutenant Gayton that they had emptied three revolvers at him in the chase, and could not understand how they had missed him.
We were a long distance from Harper's Ferry and in a region where several hundred bushwhackers could be massed in a short time. The rain fell in torrents, then changed to a storm of sleet and snow. Our clothing was frozen stiff on account of the heavy rains. Our horses were greatly fatigued, and having an ambulance with us, we could not proceed at a rapid pace.
Stopped at noon to rest the horses, but the enemy pressed us so closely we had no time to make coffee-that sovereign balm for all a soldier's woes. We went into camp after dark at Hillsborough. The next morning, the enemy appeared, but when pressed, retreated.
When Colonel Carter was captured, he said, " You'll never get us to Harper's Ferry. We'll be recaptured." The wonder was why we were not all captured or killed. We numbered 130 men, had gone more than 100 miles into the enemy's country. They largely outnumbered us and could have captured our entire command the night we were in the orchard. Later we learned that each of the roads on which we were expected to return had been guarded by a large force lying in ambush waiting our coming, prepared to give us
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180 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
a warm reception. But unexpected by them, we chose a road which they had not the slightest idea we would take. We left Charlestown December 15th, returning on the 18th, having been gone four days. One of these scouts was memorable, not for a conflict with the Con- federates, but for a collision with another enemy. On a Saturday afternoon late in December, a scout consisting of thirty men under Lieutenant Dougherty, was sent out. Camped the first night in the edge of Berryville, a much exposed place.
Next day, we marched on by way of White Post and New- town, and thence down the pike to Winchester. On the way down, some of the men got their canteens filled with apple-jack, under the influence of which they became hilarious, then turbulent, quarrel- some and difficult to control. We kept them marching on, however, and reached Berryville in a heavy rain after dark. Here the Lieu- tenant wanted to go into camp for the night. Our camp at Charles- town was but ten miles away, many of the men were in no condition for duty in case of attack, and we sober ones, did not relish the idea of lying out in the rain, so putting spurs to our horses, we galloped down the pike toward Charlestown, and soon the whole command followed, reaching camp in two hours, where the men were soon in their comfortable quarters, sleeping off the effects of the rain and apple-jack.
* New Year's Day was bitter cold. The enemy was reported to . be advancing in force, and we were hurried away from camp in the early morning; fell back to Bolivar Heights and remained in line of battle all day and at night in a half-frozen condition, returned to the quarters we had left so hastily in the morning. It was the old story, a false alarm, preparing for an enemy which had sense enough to stay in out of the cold.
The first of January, 1864, quite a furore was raised in camp by Lieutenant Lyon, of Company B, who proposed to raise a com- pany for three years or during the war, and in a short space of time, a sufficient number of men from the different companies en- listed. The company subsequently became Company I of the 22nd Pennsylvania Cavalry, commanded by Captain Lyon and Lieuten-
* " The first of January, 1864, was bright and mild. It was reported that the enemy was in force near Bunker Hill. 'Saddle up!' Wagons were ordered back to Harper's Ferry for safety. All available men of the regiment and a battery of artillery went out through Smithfield and within eight miles of Winchester. The weather had suddenly changed and it became intensely cold. It was too cold to fight. It was decided to let the rebels go this time. Returned to Bunker Hill and stopped to make coffee. Just as it began to be dark, started home. The cold became intense and the wind blew so hard that the bugler could not sound the call to mount. The men had to walk and run to keep from freezing. As it was, many had their ears, faces and feet frozen."-(From Hist. 1st N. Y. Lincoln Cavalry.)
181
THE NEW BATTALION, RE-ENLIST.
ants Derland and Adams, and was mustered into the three-year service, January 5, 1864. Soon after this it was rumored that all the six-months' troops were about to be mustered out of the service. This created great excitement.
In the latter part of January, orders were received to march to Chambersburg, Pa., turn in our horses and equipments and then proceed to Harrisburg to be mustered out of service. The after- noon and night before our departure the camp was in great com- motion ; every one was in high glee.
The next morning, about 9 o'clock, the chief bugler sounded "boots and saddles," and at the command to mount, we swung into our saddles right cheerfully. It was a beautiful winter's morning as we filed out the pike leading to Harper's Ferry, singing " When Johnny Comes Marching Home," "Ain't I Glad I'm Out of the Wilderness," etc.
We marched down the pike through Halltown, over Bolivar Heights, through Harper's Ferry, across the Potomac on the pon- toons, up the narrow roadway along the river for over a mile, and then short to the right on the road leading to Antietam Iron Works, and thence to Sharpsburg, Hagerstown, and Greencastle, reaching Chambersburg early in the evening of the third day, where we went into camp, a short distance below town on the Harrisonburg pike.
The command was detained here at this camp for a considerable time while the preliminaries to muster out were being prepared. We daily expected to receive orders to go to Harrisburg to be mus- tered out and were as often disappointed. The men naturally be- came impatient at the delay ; it was mid-winter ; the quarters were uncomfortable, the camp disagreeable and their term of enlistment had expired. Most of the officers were registered at the hotels in town, so many of the men left camp also and took lodgings in the town.
Finally the order came for us to go to Camp Curtin at Har- risburg, where, after some further delay, we were mustered out.
RE-ENLIST FOR THREE YEARS.
Before its muster-out in January, 1864, in compliance with an order from the War Department, the battalion was reorganized at a camp of rendezvous near Chambersburg, Pa., where five full com- panies were recruited for a term of three years, or during the war.
This camp was on a bleak hill four miles out of Chambersburg on the Loudon Pike. It was about as uninviting a place as could
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TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
have been found in Franklin County, and as a natural result, many of the boys " Frenched " it into town daily. The March weather was wintry, the accommodations in camp were poor and a number of the men became sick. Company H was made up of men prin- cipally from Bedford and Blair counties; Company I, from Bed- ford, Blair and Huntingdon counties; K, from Fulton and Hunting- don; L, from Cumberland and Franklin, and M, from Bedford, Blair and Cumberland.
In a short time, we received orders to join the rest of the regiment already in the field. Accordingly, on the 24th of March, 1864, we fell into line and under command of Major E. S. Troxel, marched into Chambersburg, where we boarded a train of freight cars and rode to Hagerstown, Maryland. From there we marched by easy stages to Williamsport, where we camped for the night in an apple orchard. The next morning, we resumed our march, cross- ing the Potomac at Williamsport, an old town that showed many evidences of the desolating hand of war. When the command had all gotten over, we fell into line on the "sacred soil," and started up the long hill from the ford singing, " Babylon is Falling " and " John Brown's Body Lies Mouldering in the Grave," led by James Isenberg, of Company K, who was an excellent singer. The line of march to Martinsburg was not of much interest. It had been marched over so many times by troops that there was scarcely a rail to be found to make a fire, and on either side of the pike, there was a well-beaten road made by troops who had preceded us. Another feature was the almost entire absence of men, save the aged, the others having entered the army, a few in the Union ranks, but the great majority in the Southern.
We arrived at Martinsburg March 25th, at 4 P. M., and went into camp one-fourth of a mile from the town on a high hill com- manding a fine view of the surrounding country.
Friday morning, April 8th, we struck our tents and marched to the railroad station, and after many annoying delays, embarked on a train of freight cars and proceeded to Cumberland, Md., ar- riving at 11 P. M., bunking for the night in the cars. The next day, it rained heavily, and we marched out through the mud and camped alongside Rose Hill Cemetery and pitched our tents amidst a driving rain-storm. In the evening, several companies of the Ringgold Battalion arrived and camped with us.
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183
ASSEMBLING THE REGIMENT.
We all liked Lieutenant-Colonel Greenfield's appearance, be- cause he looked like a fighting man. He wore long hair, mustache and chin beard and looked very much like a " Rebel Colonel."
While at Cumberland, the little battery of three twelve-pound howitzers (hereafter described by Sergeant Gehrett) was organized.
CHAPTER XIV.
ASSEMBLING THE REGIMENT. ORGANIZATION. DIS- SATISFACTION OF THE OLD BATTALION MEN.
The order of the War Department, creating the Twenty-second Regiment Pennsylvania Cavalry, was a great surprise to the men of the Ringgold Battalion. They did not take kindly to being yoked with the five new companies, whom they called " militia "; but there was comfort for them in the prospect of now getting over into the " Valley " for the summer, where there would be some " big fight- ing " to do. Cumberland was made the place of rendezvous for the new regiment. Captain Greenfield proceeded there with his company on the 24th of March, marching from New Creek and crossing the river on the railroad bridge ; planks were laid lengthwise between the rails and the men dismounted and led their horses over; the teams were unhitched from the wagons and led across while the men pushed the wagons. Company A had been stationed at Cumberland all winter.
General Sigel had already sent to Cumberland the five com- panies of the "New Battalion." The five companies, commanded
" We had until this time, March 1864, been known as the Ringgold Battalion, and the boys had become so attached to it that they were loath to part with the title, though forced to do so. But we did it only in form, for the name was destined to cling to us. The deeds of valor, the heroic endurance, the arduous and faithful duties per- formed, not only by the first two companies, (commanded by Captains Keys and Green- feld) but by all the others, endeared us to the Union-loving citizens of West Vir- ginia, and also caused the name ' Ringgold' to be a terror to those striving to drag that loyal little State into the confederacy. So we are to this day still known by the name ' Ringgold' by those living among the hills and valleys of 'The Little Moun- tain State,' and the name is held in respect by friend and foe."
F. H. Crago.
Greenland Gap, Va., Apr. 16, 1864. " When we came in from patrol, we found a great stir in camp; the artillery was hitched up ready to move, and all our men were packing up to march. The wagons and dismounted men had marched at nine o'clock. At noon, a company of the 15th New York Cavalry came to relieve us. Six of our boys were detailed with a scout to Petersburg. Our Captain (McNulty) waited for the ecout to return. Woodburn, Liggett. Adams, Thornburg, Boone and Colee were with #: scout; just as they neared the Fort at Petersburg, forty or more Rebel cavalry attacked and chased them; all got away except Colee,* whom they report as either killed 6. captured. The others scattered and got back, one at a time. The Company left the frAp at five o'clock and camped at Claysville for the night. Next day, moved on. 13 : . ng at New Creck for dinner. Continued the march toward Cumberland. Crossed foyer on the railroad bridge and camped eight miles from Cumberland. Next day, Åpent is, marched to Cumberland and went into camp with the regiment on the hill by 1'e cemetery."-Sergeant Donaldson's Diary.
* Colre was captured and carried off to a southern prison.
184 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
respectively by Captains Chessrown, Hugh Keys, and Speer, which had been stationed at New Creek, were relieved on April 10th, and proceeded to the rendezvous at Cumberland. The companies under command of Captain McNulty and Lieutenant Denny stationed at Greenland Gap, were not relieved until the 16th of April, when they also marched to the rendezvous at Cumberland.
The entire regiment of twelve companies was now (April 18, 1864) in one camp for the first time. The old companies had been recruited up to the maximum during February and March, so that now the new organization mustered about 1,200 men.
The regimental organization was as follows :
Colonel . Jacob Higgins
Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew J. Greenfield
Major-1st Battalion George T. Work
Major-2nd Battalion Henry A. Myers
Major-3rd Battalion Elias Troxell
Adjutant Joseph G. Isenberg
Quartermaster William C. Bayley
Commissary Simeon W. French
Surgeon William C. Phelps
Nathaniel R. Lynch
Assistant Surgeons
Samuel M. Finley
Chaplain
Thomas Patterson
Company A-The old Ringgold Company, commanded by Cap- tain James P. Hart.
Company B-The Washington or Greenfield's Company, com- manded by Captain G. WV. Jenkins.
Company C-The Keystone Company, commanded by Captain C. J. McNulty.
Company D-The Beallsville Company, commanded by Captain Hugh Keys.
Company E-The Monongahela Company, commanded by Cap- tain J. Y. Chessrown.
Company F-The Patton Company, commanded by Lieutenant B. F. Denny.
Company G-The Lafayette Company, commanded by Captain Wm. F. Speer.
Company H-Of the " New Battalion," commanded by Captain M. H. Jolly.
Company I-Of the " New Battalion," commanded by Captain T. H. Lyons.
Major George T. Work.
Major Henry A. Myers.
Col. A. J. Greenfield.
Major E. S. Troxell.
Adjt. Joseph G. Isenberg.
185
THE REGIMENT .- DISSATISFACTION.
Company K-Of the " New Battalion," commanded by Captain John H. Boring.
Company L-Of the " New Battalion," commanded by Captain Thomas D. French.
Company M-Of the " New Battalion," commanded by Captain Martin Kuhn.
This organization caused further dissatisfaction among the officers and men of the " Old Battalion." The position of colonel had been given to an outsider entirely unknown to them, instead of to one of the ranking veteran captains, Greenfield or Work, who had worn captain's shoulder straps for almost three years, and had unsurpassed records for daring and efficiency, and who had led the men in many a hot conflict and fierce charge; leaders in whose courage and judgment they had confidence, and whom they ever dared to follow. This seemed to the old companies as unjust, ungrateful and unwise, little short of an insult to the brave men of the " Old Guard," who, for three years, had suffered every hardship and exposed themselves to every danger, riding these mountains, fording swollen rivers and mountain torrents through floating ice and driftwood, by night as well as by day, to meet, fight and repel the invading forces of the enemy.
These seven companies of cavalry had been a living wall be- tween the people of the great State of Pennsylvania and the Rebel invaders for two and three years, yet all that time without a rank higher than captain. Now when there comes an opportunity for promotion, when a grateful State, by her Chief Executive, would be expected to recognize not only such heroic service, but also such invaluable protection to her people, these scarred and weather- beaten officers are refused the first command of their own 700 veteran troopers.
The enlisted men did not take kindly to the consolidation for another reason, that it deprived them of much of the liberty they enjoyed as independent companies and subjected them to the re- strictions and discipline of large military camps. Heretofore, they were permitted to wear a slouch hat, and blouse or jacket as it suited them ; now they were made to wear the regulation forage cap and cavalry jacket. Sergeant Donaldson, under date of April 20, 1864, says: " We are being run through the mill very steadily and have very little time to ourselves here in this camp at Cumberland. We have roll-call at 5 A. M .; then feed-call; breakfast-call ; currying-
186 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
call; water-call; drill-call; dinner-call; water-call; feed-call; drill- call; water-call ;; dress-parade; roll-call; feed-call; curry-call, and roll-call again at 8 o'clock. We are kept very busy."
S. G. Rogers, in his diary, says: "It goes very much against the grain for us, after three years of service, to be drilled with companies of new men, and by officers who do not know as much about military drill as most of the privates of our companies."
It was a long time before the men of the old companies be- came reconciled to the union with the new companies, but during the severe campaigns of the following summer, the new men showed their grit and proved themselves worthy comrades of the veteran troopers; but not until then was a proper comradeship established.
Several other regiments were camped here at Cumberland at this time; the 20th Pennsylvania Cavalry, 21st Pennsylvania Cav- alry, also the 34th Pennsylvania Infantry, two batteries of artillery, and other troops. The rigid drilling of these troops during the month of April was in preparation for some lively campaigning that was soon to follow.
There was great activity in this camp. The men were ordered to reduce their baggage to the minimum. Old· saddles and horse equipments were condemned and turned in and new ones issued. The men of Company A, who were home on veteran (re-enlistment) furlough, returned on the 21st of April ; all others on furlough were called in, and no new furloughs granted. There was a grand re- view on Sunday afternoon, April 24th, when the troops were re- viewed by General Sigel, with General Stahel Chief of Cavalry. The men were ordered to be in readiness to march any time on a minute's notice. Expectation was on tip-toe. The railroad was full of troop trains. The First and Twelfth West Virginia Regi- ments of infantry marched on the 23rd; the Fifty-fourth Pennsyl- vania marched on the 24th. The 200 dismounted men of the old companies, the five new companies (all dismounted) a total of about seven hundred men in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Green- field and Major Troxel, together with six companies of the 20th Pennsylvania Cavalry, also dismounted, marched on the 27th, their destination being Harper's Ferry, ninety miles distant. The mounted cavalry and artillery moved out the next day, our regiment in command of Colonel Higgins and Majors Work and Myers.
Lieut. Wm. F. Sharrer.
Com .- Sergt. David H. Williams.
Lieut. Wm. Hedge.
Capt. John H. Boring.
Lieut. Simeon Web. French. Chaplain Thomas Patterson.
Reg't'1 Q. M .- Sergt. David Hart.
Reg't'l Color-Sergt. Michael H. Core.
Hospital Steward Samuel T. Dodd.
187
THE SITUATION, APRIL, 1864.
CHAPTER XV.
A COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND HIS PLANS.
In the beginning of the year 1864, President Lincoln and Con- gress became convinced that the plan heretofore employed of con- ducting the military operations in the field from the Capitol and by several heads, the Secretary of War, General Halleck, some- times the President himself tak- ing a hand, was a failure, and that if the war was to be suc- cessfully prosecuted, there must · be one head, one directing mind, in short, a commander-in-chief in the person of one competent general, who should have abso- lute authority in the matter of planning the campaigns and di- recting the armies.
The Government at Wash- ington and the loyal people throughout the country, who had studied closely the opera- tions of General Grant, begin- Gen. U. S. Grant. ning with Belmont in 1861, then Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicks- burg with the opening of the Mississippi, the rescue of Chat- tanooga, followed by Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, a career without a defeat-recognized in him a great mind, military genius, unfaltering courage, tremendous energy, unswerving perse- verance and unparalleled composure, the essential qualities of a great commander.
On February 26th, Congress passed a law reviving the grade of Lieutenant-General. President Lincoln appointed General Grant to the position, which appointment the Senate confirmed on March 2nd. On the next day, at Nashville, he was ordered to Washing- ton by telegraph to confer with the President and receive his com- mission. He came to Washington and received his commission on the 9th of March; went out to the Army of the Potomac north of
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188 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
the Rapidan on the 10th, had an interview with General Meade, and on the 11th started back west, telegraphing Sherman to meet him at Nashville. He had Sherman assigned to the command of the Department of the Mississippi, his (Grant's) own late position in the west. Here at Nashville Grant turned over the command to Sherman and unfolded his plans concerning the conduct of that Department ; on the 18th he started back east and was in Washing- ton on the 23rd. On the 26th he established his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac at Culpepper.
THE SITUATION.
General Grant says, " At this time the situation was about this :
" (1) The Mississippi was ours, but was guarded from St. Louis to its mouth; west of the Mississippi we had possession of the territory north of the Arkansas; east of the Mississippi we held substantially nearly all of the State of Tennessee. West Virginia was in our hands and that part of old Virginia north of the Rapidan and east of the Blue Ridge. We had Fortress Monroe and Norfolk, and a number of points along the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. The balance of the Confederacy, an empire in extent, was still in the hands of the enemy." Although the Confederates had lost the Mississippi River and had been driven out of the territory north of the Arkansas River and had been pushed back out of Missouri, Northern Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, their leaders were as defiant as ever. The Southern newspapers kept up the courage of the people by making them be- lieve that their armies were victorious in every campaign. They quoted largely from the disloyal newspapers of the North to show that there was a strong element in the Northern States, not only in sympathy with the rebellion, but doing everything possible to discourage enlistments in the Union Army and oppose the Federal Government in the prosecution of the war. They assured their people and their armies that this element, known as the "Peace Party " of the North, was a most powerful ally and of more value to the South than an army; that with each Union reverse and Confed- erate victory, this party was growing with wondrous strides; that if the Confederate armies continued to win victories and hold the Union armies in check until the presidential election in the com- ing fall, this "Peace Party " would defeat Lincoln and get pos- session of the Government. withdraw the Union armies and recog-
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189
THE SITUATION, APRIL, 1864.
nize the independence of the Confederacy. Thus assured, the Con- federate soldiers took renewed hope and set themselves to "strain every nerve " to carry out their part of the program.
The Confederate Congress had passed drastic conscription laws, giving the President authority to draft for the army every able-bodied man between the ages of 18 and 45, and to compel those persons, who had previously furnished substitutes, also to enter the army. Accordingly, Jefferson Davis issued a call, order- ing every civilian, liable to military duty under the conscription law, to report immediately to a military camp for duty; all those who did not so report were to be regarded as deserters and treated as such. This wholesale conscription filled up the thinned ranks of their armies until they were as strong as before.
The term of service of the Union soldiers, who, in 1861, had enlisted for three years, was now about to expire, but with " un- diminished patriotism," the great majority of these veterans re- enlisted for another " three years, or during the war." In March of this year, President Lincoln issued another call for volunteers, under which about 400,000 men enlisted for three years, thus filling up to their former strength the thinned ranks of the old regiments, and adding many new regiments to the army in the field.
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