USA > Pennsylvania > The Twenty-second Pennsylvania cavalry and the Ringgold battalion, 1861-1865; > Part 22
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" Sunday morning, May 1st, we marched on, camping that night at Conochocheague Creek, three miles from Clear-spring, a beautiful town in a rich agricultural district. The next day, we reached Hagerstown about 10 o'clock and went into camp two miles beyond the Sharpsburg Pike. Tuesday morning, May 3rd, we resumed our march at an early hour, passing through Fairplay and by the Antietam battlefield, through Sharpsburg and on down to the Potomac, leaving Harper's Ferry on the opposite side; thence through Sandy Hook and one mile beyond, marching that day twenty-eight miles .* We remained here until Thursday morning, when we moved on to Dismounted Camp, over two miles farther. Here were 3,000 dismounted cavalrymen of the 1st and 15th New York, 12th, 13th, 14th, 20th, 21st and 22nd Pennsylvania, all wait- ing for their horses and equipments. Horses and troops arrived and departed daily, but to our great disappointment, we were not of that number.
"The sameness of camp life was relieved by the arrival of a man by the name of Odbert, formerly sutler of the Ringgold Battalion ; he put in an appearance on the 6th, with a fine assortment of goods,
* It was one hundred miles from Cumberland to our Pleasant Valley camp; we carried fairly heavy loads, winter clothing, tent equipments, etc., and not being used to marching in column, we became very tired. We were six days on the way .- A. R. McC.
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which he sold at reasonable prices. He was a manly man, as we found him to be in every way during the months that followed.
"On Saturday evening, the band of the 20th Pennsylvania, serenaded Colonel Greenfield, Major Thorpe, and others, after which several members of the same organization sang some soul- stirring songs, 'Give Us Back Our Old Commander,' 'Union of Hearts,' 'Was My Brother in the Battle?' and 'The Sprig of Shillelah.' We had not been in camp very long until daily fights occurred between the men of our regiment and the New Yorkers. There was nothing surprising about this, however, for all through the service, it was the rule, and not the exception.
" A song entitled ' Jeff Davis' Ball,' was very popular about this time. A part of it ran this way :
" They called upon Lee to start up the music, And then upon Ewell to lead on the van, Longstreet and Hill will ford the Potomac, And drive these Yankees from our Maryland. They all started off in the best of good spirits, And drinking together, to Gettysburg came, When an accident happened the great rebel army, They were routed and ran from the Yankees again."
" It was sung to the tune of 'Lanigan's Ball ' and for a while was heard on every hand, but soon had its day."
ON TO CAMP STONEMAN.
Colonel Greenfield says: "We remained at Pleasant Valley, drilling and endeavoring to secure horses and equipments for the command until May 19. On the 18th, I received orders to break up the camp here and take all the dismounted men, about 1,500, to Camp Stoneman, Washington, D. C. It required two trains to trans- port us. The trains consisted of two passenger coaches and the balance box-cars provided with seats that made them fairly com- fortable. On the morning of the 20th, as we were approaching Washington, the rear train ran into the front train, telescoping sev- eral cars and wounding several of the men, three so badly that I had them taken to the hospital. One of the cars containing officers' horses was telescoped by the car in front and the horses thrown into the ditches on either side; I expected half of them to be either killed or wounded, but strange to say, while some of them were bruised and scratched, not a horse was killed or a bone broken."
Sergeant Gehrett continues :
" When we arrived at the Capitol, we marched up to the Soldiers' Retreat, got dinner, rested for some time, then fell into line and marched down to the Potomac and took passage on the
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' State of Maine,' disembarked at Geesboro Landing and marched out two miles to Camp Stoneman, where we pitched our tents. The other regiments had a hot, dusty, tiresome march from Washington to camp, because of the negligence of their officers to secure trans- portation."
ยท About Camp Stoneman was a succession of bleak sandhills with here and there patches of scrub oak and pine. No other camp was so well selected as the one we occupied, yet we had no cause for thanksgiving on that score.
The troops (dismounted cavalry) who went with us to Camp Stoneman, were large detachments of the 1st and 15th New York, 20th, 21st and 22nd Pennsylvania and smaller detachments of other regiments.
About a mile from Camp Stoneman, on the Potomac, was a shad fishery, which largely supplied the markets of Washington City, and which was a busy place from 11 P. M. until 3 A. M. When darkness covered the camp, many of the boys with sack in hand, would quietly slip out and wend their way to the fishery. The seine used was a very large one and was drawn by horse-power. The fisherman allowed us to take herring and other finny residents of the deep, but strictly prohibited the taking of shad, and yet, in a way known only to a soldier, many a shad would swim right into the sacks as they were held open, as much as to say, "Take me to camp," and to camp they went to be served up in excellent style.
Some of the members of our regiment were detailed for special duty while we were in camp at Cumberland, Md. Early in April, 1864, Lieutenant Samuel Slifer, of Company B, 20th Pennsylvania Cavalry, was ordered to take charge of three small cannon (known throughout the Army of the Shenandoah as Sigel's Battery). He selected a sergeant from his own company and made the rest of the detail from the 22nd Cavalry. Among the number detailed were " Jule " Geiser, Samuel Long, W. H. Souders, of Company I; Henry Anderson, A. J. Baker, A. H. Crum, George Clifford, William Hirst, S. C. Isett, A. B. Ketterman, J. S. McCartney, John Richards, Paul Wonn, of Company K; Adam Wickerham, T. C. Buckingham, of Co. A and some others whose names I do not recall. The battery
Camp Stoneman had been a camp since the beginning of the war. The plateau had been tramped over until the ground was beaten hard and not a blade of grass re- mained. Over this ground, we marched back and forth, drilling as platoons, companies, squadrons, battalions, regiments and brigades . . . tramping from morning until noon. and from noon until evening. We got very tired, but had to keep on going. In the
end, it did us a lot of good.
Dr. A. R. McCarthy, Co. K.
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left Cumberland, Md., with the mounted portion of the 22nd, pro- ceeding with them to Winchester, and being with the advance guard, fared sumptuously every day on the best that the country afforded. From Winchester, they went with Sigel's Army up the Valley. The battery did not belong to any special command and the members did pretty much as they pleased. After the New Market fight, the battery was disbanded, the men reporting to their regiments.
BACK TO THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.
Colonel Greenfield says: "I received an order to move the command to Martinsburg, West Va. A general order was issued directing all the cavalry, mounted and dismounted, of General Stahel's division, to report at Martinsburg. I at once visited the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad office and secured a train for the morning of June 19th, on which we embarked, arriving at our desti- nation that evening. I there turned over the command of the dis- mounted men to Major Troxell, and took command of the mounted men that had taken part in the fight at Lost River Gap, May 10th, since which they had been under General Kelley's command near Cumberland, Md., and had reached Martinsburg, June 24th."
Sergeant Gehrett continues : " We remained at Camp Stoneman until Saturday, June 18th, when we broke camp at twelve o'clock and marched into Washington ; took dinner at the ' Soldiers' Retreat ' and remained over night in the barracks. The next morning after breakfast, we got aboard a train on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road and soon left Washington behind us. After passing the Relay House, great cotton mills lined the road for miles. It being Sunday, there was a steady stream of the fair sex promenading the beautiful streets and drives. Many of the boys wrote their addresses and threw them off as the train rushed by, asking the fair one who found the address to correspond with the writer, and many of them did. The day was lovely and the ride through a country of waving grain- fields, beautiful towns and rugged scenery was much enjoyed. We arrived at Martinsburg about 10 P. M., remaining on the cars until next day at two o'clock, and then marched through the town, camping about half a mile on the right. We had difficulty in securing tent- poles. Tuesday, June 21st, we were ordered to turn over all extra baggage so as to be in as light marching order as possible, as we were to be temporarily armed with muskets and proceed at once up the Valley to join Hunter's Army. We were assured the reason was the scarcity of horses and the urgent need of arming a number
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of dismounted cavalry regiments with muskets to repel the advance of the enemy that was daily expected.
" Wednesday, June ?2nd, found us still in camp at Martinsburg, Va. A report was circulated that owing to the earnest solicitations of Lieutenant Colonel Greenfield ( who was every inch a soldier and always had the welfare of the regiment at heart) we were to remain in camp and receive our horses in a few days. This rumor put an end to a considerable amount of swearing and restored the men to a very happy frame of mind; all of which was increased by the appearance of a number of cavalry equipments, which, however, considerably chilled the ardor of the men and brought their spirits down to zero, when they discovered that the supplies were not for the 22nd. As a panacea for this bitter disappointment, that most welcome of all individuals, the paymaster, put in an appearance, and on the 23rd we received two months' pay, which, in a short time, some of the men got rid of at the sutler's or elsewhere. It was an utter impossibility for some soldiers to save their money ; they parted with it very readily and, when gone, had nothing to show for it.
*" On the 24th, the muskets were distributed and received by many with intense disgust and loud protests. Others said, 'It will only be for a short time and this action of the Government seems to be a necessity, so we will make the best of it, hoping to get our horses in the near future.' A few men deserted, but as they were of no earthly good to Uncle Sam, the regiment was well rid of them.
" Saturday morning, the 25th, the dismounted detachment of the regiment, under command of Major Troxell, in company with a large body of men and a wagon-train, numbering 600 wagons, started up the Valley. I had gone to Martinsburg to express a package, and when I returned, the regiment was two miles away. The atmos- phere was very oppressive, the rays of the sun, as one of the boys put it, came down the near way; great clouds of fine, white, pow- dery dust enveloped the men and the train, making the march one of great discomfort. It was an interesting study to observe the con- duct of the men; some marched steadily on, paying no attention to anything but the one essential, how to get along with most ease and the least expense of nerve force; others guyed their comrades with
* The guns we received at Martinsburg were Enfield rifled-muskets, 56 caliber, muzzle loaders, used a minic-ball, had elevated sight to shoot 1100 yards, and as arms went then, were good ones.
General Sigel had us store all our extra stuff, blankets, winter clothing, etc., at Martinsburg. It was all promptly burned within eight days of our leaving it there.
Dr. A. R. McCarthy, Co. K.
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such expressions as : ' What made you take the bounty?' 'I want to go home,' 'Where's the girl I left behind me?' 'Hay-foot, straw-foot, poor little dough boys, wading through dust and mud,' ' Who will care for Susan now?' and sang merry songs, bent on having a good time in their own way; others were sour and fight- ing-mad over the muskets and cursed everybody from the Presi- dent down to the highest private in the rear rank.
" On account of the intense heat, we halted until evening and then moved forward and went into camp, where we remained the next day. On the Valley Pike a few miles beyond Martinsburg, a large spring of pure, cold water gushed out beneath limestone rock, which proved to be a source of great benefit to many a weary, thirsty soldier on both sides. I well remember how loath we were to leave it on that march.
" Monday, the 27th, the date of the first appearance of Gideon's Band, was a very oppressive day. The program was of a varied character and was participated in by D. P. Kinkead, A. H. Crum, H. M. Pardonner, W. H. Daughenbaugh, W. F. Bonner and a few others. All things considered, the talent engaged gave a star performance.
" Tuesday morning, the 28th, we broke camp and moved up the Valley eight miles to Bunker Hill, then turned to the left and marched five miles across the country to Smithfield and went into camp. Thursday, we proceeded to Kearneysville, a small station on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, where we were mustered for pay, and then moved back two and a half miles and camped by a stream of pure, cold water. Having plenty of money, the in- habitants were willing to sell us anything they had managed to save from being " gobbled up " by the troops that had preceded us.
" July 1st, we camped at Leetown in a large piece of woods on the left of the pike leading from Shepherdstown to Smithfield. The dismounted part of the regiment, consisting of Companies H, I, K, L, M, and a few men from other companies, all under command of Major Troxell, had been assigned to the infantry brigade commanded by the gallant Mulligan, of the ?3rd Illinois.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
SIGEL MOVES UP THE VALLEY.
General Sigel occupied Winchester on May 2nd, 1864, with a force of about 4,000 infantry, 1,000 cavalry and three batteries, where he remained one week, during which time he was thoroughly scouting the Valley to ascertain the position and strength of the enemy and capture or drive off the guerrillas, horse thieves and Partisan Rangers that infested the country in his rear. General Grant had communicated to General Sigel his gen- eral plan of campaign for the Depart- ment of West Virginia, going into de- tail as to the movements of the expedi- tions from the Kanawha Valley, but leaving the campaign in the Valley much to the discretion of Sigel, but with the Maj .- Gen. Franz Sigel. one general direction to move forward to Cedar Creek, and, if he deemed it safe to do so with his limited force, to threaten Staunton.
On May 2nd, Sigel telegraphed Grant for more definite in- structions. "I would like very much to know what your expecta- tions are. I understand that I am to occupy the line at Cedar Creek, and to advance up the Shenandoah Valley if circumstances will allow me to do so. To advance beyond Strasburg with my present force is hardly possible if I can not at the same time leave a pretty strong force opposite Front Royal to prevent the enemy with cavalry from marching into my rear and cutting off my line of communication. If I am expected to make energetic and decisive movements I should have at least 5,000 more of good in- fantry with which I could march up the Shenandoah Valley. The country here is an open country in which 50,000 men can maneuver. I would submit that under all circumstances, a strong corps of ob- servation should be formed to maneuver upon the enemy's left flank."
General Grant, then at Culpepper with the Army of the Po- tomac, replied immediately as follows: "I do not want you to
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SIGEL'S ADVANCE UP THE VALLEY.
move further south than Cedar Creek to watch any movement the enemy may attempt by the way of the Shenandoah Valley. In the plan which I first gave you and which was modified at your suggestion, it was thought, taken in connection with the movements of this army, the force which was to start from Beverly might work easterly to Lynchburg and return to Staunton. Then you would want to meet them with a train loaded with supplies. It is to be hoped the efforts for raising troops will enable us to send any reinforcements you may require, should the enemy move down the Valley. Call on General Halleck for what may be necessary and report to him after the 3rd. To cut the New River Bridge and the road ten or twenty miles east from here would be the most important work Crook could do." Grant's directions to report to Halleck after the 3rd was significant, as the Army of the Potomac was scheduled to move against Lee on the 4th.
Sigel organized his army into two divisions as follows :
FIRST INFANTRY DIVISION. Brigadier General Jeremiah C. Sullivan. First Brigade. Colonel Augustus Moor.
18th Connecticut Major Henry Peale
28th Ohio Lieutenant-Colonel Gottfried Becker
116th Ohio Colonel James Washburn 123rd Ohio Major Horace Kellogg
Second Brigade. Colonel Joseph Thoburn.
1st West Virginia .. Lieutenant-Colonel Jacob Weddle 12th West Virginia Colonel Wm. B. Curtis 34th Massachusetts Colonel George D. Wells
54th Pennsylvania Colonel Jacob M. Campbell
FIRST CAVALRY DIVISION.
Major-General Julius Stahel. First Brigade. Colonel William B. Tibbits.
1st New York ( Veteran) . Colonel Robert F. Taylor 1st New York (Lincoln) .. Lieutenant-Colonel Alonzo W. Adams Ist Maryland Potomac Home Brigade ( Detachment)
Major J. Townsend Daniel
.
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TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
21st New York Major Charles G. Otis
14th Pennsylvania (Detachment )
. . Capt. Ashbell F. Duncan and Lieut .- Col. William Blakely
Second Brigade.
Colonel John E. Wyncoop. Detachments 15th New York, 20th Pennsylvania and 22nd Pennsylvania.
Artillery.
Maryland Light Battery B. Captain Alonzo Snow
New York Light, 30th Battery Captain Albert von Kleiser
1st West Virginia, Light Battery D. . Captain John Carlin
1st West Virginia, Light Battery G. . Captain Chatham T. Ewing
5th United States Battery B . Captain Henry A. Du Pont
With this force, General Sigel marched out the pike toward Cedar Creek on Monday morning, May 9, 1864. Orders had been issued the evening before to be ready to march at six o'clock next morning, and we were ready by that time. A number of our boys who had served in and about Winchester for short periods in '62 and '63, and who had become acquainted with the ladies of some of the loyal families (for there were a few good, loyal families in this hot-bed of secession) ran around to say "good-bye " before starting. The troops generally had been supplied with new clothing and equipments before leaving rendezvous camp, and as there had been no rough campaigning yet to soil their clothing, they were still clean and neat. This large cavalcade of well-dressed troops-in- fantry, cavalry and artillery-bands playing and colors flying, marching out together through that open level country, where the eye could take in miles of the landscape at a glance, was an im- posing sight, especially so to our boys of the 22nd Cavalry, who, although veterans of two and three years, had not served much with large bodies of troops. The day was fine, very warm, sky somewhat hazy with fleets of white clouds here and there. and a good breeze. Nature was at her best; the fields were carpets of green, the patches of woodland and the mountain sides were dressed in
At Winchester on the evening of May 6th, a large cavalry scout under Colonel Higgins, was ordered to go to Moorfield and vicinity and a detail of 225 men from the 22nd Pennsylvania was made for that scout. We have already seen that the troops so detailed did not return to Sigel's command. The remainder of the mounted men of the regiment remained at Winchester and formed the detachment that accompanied Sigel to New Market and Hunter on the Lynchburg campaign.
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fresh summer garb and the orchards were masses of blossoms. Thus decked out, even this war-scarred Valley looked beautiful.
The troops were in high spirits. They seemed to feel it in their "very bones " that this year would finish the job and down the rebellion. They had heard reports that a great battle had been fought between Grant's and Lee's armies and that our army had the advantage, but they did not know that on that very day, May 9th, Grant had flanked Lee's Army and was in position for another terrible battle; and they did not know that Sheridan's Cavalry Corps was this same day far behind the rear of Lee's army, push- ing toward Richmond, with the Confederate Cavalry under General Jeb. Stuart at their heels, whom they were to meet in battle on the morrow, and defeat so utterly, with the loss of their commander (Stuart) that they never recovered from it; they did not know that on that same 9th of May, General Crook's forces were climb- ing the sides of Cloyd's Mountain, under a terrific infantry and artillery fire from the strongly intrenched forces of the Confed- erate Generals Jones and Jenkins, when Crooke, watching them through his fieldglass remarked, "The enemy is in force and in strong position ; he may whip us, but I guess not," and his " guess " was correct, for the Union troops captured the works with several hundred prisoners and some cannon, and sent the enemy flying in retreat; nor did our boys know that on that same day, General McPherson with his army of the Tennessee, together with the 20th Corps under General Hooker, was flanking the strongly fortified position of General Johnson's Confederate Army at Dalton, Georgia, causing great consternation to the enemy and a sudden retreat ; nor did they know that part of General Butler's Army on that day marching toward Petersburg on the south side of the James River, met and repulsed the enemy at Arrowfield Church. It was just as well that our boys did not know all this, or their spirits would have soared to a greater height, only to have a greater fall within a few days.
As we passed by Kernstown, where General Shields fought and defeated " Stonewall " Jackson on the 23rd of March, '62, the boys who had been in that engagement were reminiscent and had much to tell : those who were in another scrap there on Christmas of the same year also had their stories to tell. They did not know that they were to fight that same ground over again on the 24th day of July, when they were to be defeated and their former brave commander, Gen- eral Mulligan, would be killed; nor did they know that they were
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going to defeat Early's Confederate Army on the 19th of September at Winchester and send them " whirling " in confusion back over that same Kernstown field.
Eight miles out we passed through the nice little village of Newtown, and some six or eight miles farther, we went through the village of Middletown strung along the pike, and went into camp on the high ground north of Cedar Creek. We remained there all the next day (May 10th) while the pioneers were building a bridge over Cedar Creek in place of the one destroyed. Strong pickets were posted and scouting parties scoured the country ahead. Nearly all our " Battalion " boys were on scout.
May 11th, Sigel's Army marched forward at 6 A. M. It rained heavily most of the day, and made disagreeable marching. The 15th New York Cavalry and all the available men of our regiment (22nd Pennsylvania ) marched an hour earlier, at five o'clock, to go ahead on a scout. There were but few of our men to go, as nearly all had been detailed for other duty. We marched through Strasburg and on up to Woodstock, where we went into camp for the night.
Before leaving Winchester, General Sigel had satisfied himself that there was no large force of the enemy in the Valley below Staunton. He had reports from General Crook, who was making headway on his expedition toward the Virginia and Tennessee Rail- road, and although cautioned by General Grant about going farther up than Strasburg, Sigel was laying plans to form a junction with Crook's forces; the day before marching from Winchester, Sigel sent the following dispatch to the Adjutant General: "If I receive no orders to the contrary, I will move up the Shenandoah Valley and try to come into communication with General Crock, who is expected to be at Lewisburg on or about the 14th."
While waiting at Cedar Creek on the 10th, Sigel telegraphed Colonel Wilkinson at New Creek: "Use every exertion to send scouts to Lewisburg to ascertain the whereabouts of General Crook." He also sent the following message to the commandant at Charles- ton, West Virginia : " You will please send a scout to Lewisburg to ascertain if General Crook is there or in that vicinity, and if not, try to communicate with him."
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