USA > Wisconsin > History of the First Wisconsin Battery Light Artillery > Part 2
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Story of the First Wisconsin Battery.
the La Crosse Artillery Company, as it was then called, uni- formly behaved itself and brought approbation upon its officers and members. This conduct gave the company a good standing with the Commissary, Captain Clough, who superintended the feeding of the troops in camp. It was also known to and ap- preciated by the citizens of Racine.
Captain Foster was a born drillmaster and never let us rest. There never was such a Fall for camp life and drill. Having once resided in Racine, and being a favorite, and having an extensive acquaintance, he would return to camp on sunny afternoons, call out the boys and in that winning way of his, when he chose to be winning, ask us to give the people an exhibition of proficiency in maneuvering. Of course we did our prettiest and one such exercise was worth a round dozen ordinary drills. Result. We never met a battery, volunteer or regular, that could drill with us, and if any were more efficient, we, nor our immediate Commanding Generals, never found it out. A very large slrare of credit for our superb efficiency is due to Captain Foster. But how we did grumble at the con- tinuous drill, drill from La Crosse to the Gulf.
As soon as we were settled in our quarters drilling began in earnest. The one piece of ordnance taken by us from La Crosse was constantly in use by gun squad after squad for instruction in the manual of the piece. At the same time others were learn- ing battery foot drill. To aid in learning and demonstrating the battery maneuver as it is done with the caisson and horses, Captatin Foster, at his own expense, hired a carpenter to make several sets of small, rude carts, which were used by the men who "played horse" and drew them about in the evolu- tions. These were ridiculed by officers and men of the other batteries, but Captain Foster and his men kept at work, not only "playing horse," but in the language of a later phrase, "sawing wood," until a knowledge of battery evolution was gained therefrom that was of great benefit when the company was afterward fully equipped.
Col. Fritz Aneke, an ex-Prussian army officer, was placed in command of Camp Utley, and a guard line was established about the camp, and guard house, that necessary adjunct to all well regulated camps, established just to the left and inside the entrance gate.
The guard was made up from details from the several bat- teries and was regularly "mounted" as the regulations required. This guard was put around the camp for the purpose of keep- ing out intruders and to keep the soldiers in. However prac- tical and successful it proved for the former purpose, it was a simple theory as applied to the restraint of the liberty of the individual soldier. There were men in the 1st Battery who would absolutely refuse to go out of camp through the gate
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when the guard at that post was instructed to pass everybody, but would wait until strict orders were given to pass no one. out or in, without the countersign, and then run the guard. I be- lieve that Phil Welch would remain outside of camp until he was nearly starved and frozen, if necessary, to wait that longed-for order to be given to admit no one, that he might slip by the sentinel.
While "running the guard" is a violation of orders and sub- jects the violator to punishment when caught, it has its merits. There has undoubtedly many a man been fitted by this practice for running by and evading the enemy's pickets and camp guards.
There were, of course, many amusing incidents occurring in camp; some through ignorance, some through a superabundance of zeal for the cause of the Union, and others through vanity. An instance of the first was that of a German belonging to Herzberg's Battery, who for some breach of discipline was put upon extra police duty, which he refused to perform. As a result he was put in the guard house, loudly protesting that he would resign and go home and take care of his family. It took some time to convince him that he was "in it" for three years, and that the only resigning he could do was to be resigned to his fate, obey orders and ask no questions.
Of the second class the following will serve as a good illus- tration. One Sunday a minister from the city held service in camp, and in conclusion he was advising the soldiers to waste no powder upon the rebels, but to make every cartridge tell upon their ranks, and appealing to them to never let the flag of our country be trailed in the dust, when the patriotism of one man in the congregation became so aroused that he jumped to his feet, pulled off his hat, and proposed: "Three cheers for the Union, by g-d!" The effect was indescribable. Another instance was wherein our own Billy McKeith was a prominent actor. Although Camp Utley was an artillery camp we had brought with us from La Crosse short "musketoons" terminat- ing in an unusually lengthy bayonet, and these were used in the performance of guard duty. One cold, stormy night Billy was on duty on the back or rear guard line, running parallel to and along a fence. Col. Aneka had been out to spend an even- ing, and thought to take a short cut to camp, and was in the act of climbing the fence on Billy's beat. He had no sooner mounted said fence than Billy came to a charge and com- manded "Halt : who comes there ?" "The Colonel commanding this post." replied the Colonel. "I command this post," said Billy. "Advance and give the countersign." Now it happened that the Colonel had left camp before that cabalistic key to . the camp was issued. and consequently was not in possession of the same. When the Colonel found he could not get in he com-
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menced climbing down off the fence on the "off side" to go around, when Billy brought his gun to a "drop" on him, and made him stay on that roost until the Corporal of the Guard, who happened to be Sam McPhail, came and took him in. The Colonel was "hot" if it was a cold night, while Billy chuckled until he was fat over it.
Camp Utley was a resort on pleasant days for the people of Racine, who came there to see the soldiers drill and lend them the aid of their countenance. The 1st Battery attracted its full share of attention whether on drill, in camp or on parade on the streets of the city. Upon one occasion-it was the first parade given on the streets after officers had received their new uni- forms, sashes, swords and shoulder straps. The writer himself well remembers the pride he felt when he donned his "new harness." Of course the occasion called for a march through town, for Captain Foster was not averse to "showing off" whenever an impression could be made. We were marching along one of Racine's most aristocratic streets and every man doing his best, for the walks were filled with the belles of that fair city. The uniform fitted nicely and although there was no bar on Lieutenant Webster's shoulder he was as proud of the open field of scarlet that nestled there as though it had been filled with bars. As we neared the walk in some of our maneu- vers and were close to a large crowd of very attractive ladies a simple-minded fellow who had followed the Battery from La Crosse, whose name is forgotten, pushed his way through the crowd and coming up to the Lieutenant, seized his coat skirt and said in tones that could be heard two blocks away : "Lieutenant, you look like h-1 in those clothes." What a fall was there, my countrymen ! But the Lieutenant tumbled to it, for it is said "children and fools tell the truth." When the nights became frosty, small, round, upright sheetiron stoves were put in our tents, and by reasonable enterprise, after the honest granger had retired to his couch, the boys could supple- ment the regular fare by poultry stews, apples and other farm products. Twelve miles up the Lake, at Kenosha, was camped a cavalry regiment, and soon came a protest from the boys who wore the yellow trimmings that we came more than half way in our search for supplies. Dick Richards, the Armstrongs, Freeman, Ed. Hewitt and Carl Cameron were number one, all round foragers. But their embryotic endeavors were as a marker only, to the later systematic enterprise of Frank Downs and his school. A second or third visit to a barn or roost near Utley found a padlock on the door and a dog inside that barked and growled loudly. To prevent friction we generally went farther.
Our experience was similar to that of other commands spend- ing months in camp of instruction. Practical jokes and idioms
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GEO. W. SCOTT.
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differed with the several States from which the men were drawn, for we had men born in nearly every State north of the Ohio and one from Virginia, and the practical accomplish- ments were as varied, ranging from civil and practical engineer to the sailor ; from the preacher of the Gospel to the farm boy, and ere the struggle was done each found a field for the demon- stration of his skill. Characteristics were developed, and of two a comrade writes:
"Obe could get fuller, walk straighter, and look wiser than any man, under similar circumstances. He, upon occasions, would get into the guard house for trying to dignifiedly walk through the gate without the countersign instead of getting through the guard line in the rear in legitimate way, at that time of night. In that haven of rest he organized a company the designation of which I forget, but the chief quali- fication of a recruit was his ability to 'eat straw.' One even- ing just before taps a Lieutenant of the 2d Battery, Officer of the Guard, called at Cameron's tent and told him a man in the guard house wished to see him. Accompanying him there he ordered Cameron's ingress and egress. Divining who it was and what he wanted, and having a canteen half full of 'com- missary,' Cameron slung it under his overcoat. It was Obe, and he began in a business way to ask about some hypothetical commission to a gentleman, and wrote a note-or pretended to write-while Carl slipped off the canteen, took the hiero- glyphics and left. The mystery next morning was how Obe could be fuller than when arrested and searched.
"One time on provost guard, Lieutenant Anderson command- ing, we 'pulled' Obe and a little German and marched 'em to the jail for keeping over night. While the jailor was being roused and unlocking the ponderous door the little German, who was quite chipper -- as Eph would say-kept up a fire of witticisms until, just as the door was to be swung open, Obe, dignifiedly remonstrated, closing with 'Don't. This is one of the most solemn moments of my life.'
"The first afternoon of our arrival in Racine we located grapes, the vine of which overran an arbor reaching from near the front door towards the gate of a certain house. At even- tide Summy patrolled as guard while Cameron played the Ca- leb and Joshua act in the Promised Land. (Boys, read up the Book of Exodus and see if we've got the fellers right.) While trying to get the bunches between him and the sky, the door opened and a young couple appeared. Dropping under the arbor bench he was an unwilling listener to a lengthy au revoir unusually lingering and affectionate, extending from the door to the gate. Cameron realized that in case of discovery 'Char- lie' would wish to distinguish himself in the eyes of 'Lizzie' by giving him an exceeding lively five minutes, and Carl
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doubted not Summy would confine his interference in the fray to holding the girl while Charlie and he fought it out. The scene closed, Lizzie and Charlie parted, and we got the grapes. But Summy grumblingly remarked that he preferred Charlie's part in the evening program."
Thirty-two years after Camp Utley, Jabez Spaulding writes: "December, 1861, at Racine, I was placed on guard at the back of the camp. The next post was occupied by Powell, I think. About 10 o'clock the Sergeant of the Guard and two others came from the country with a load of chickens, and were without the countersign, so I turned and walked the other way. When I faced about they were in camp. In the meantime Lieutenant Webster, Officer of the Day, saw the whole maneuver and came to me and asked me why I let those men in camp. I told him I had a right to, for he was the Sergeant of the Guard. He said he would teach us our duty, and went away. Then came the Ser- geant. I told him to get the countersign from Powell, and he did. He stepped out, came back and gave it to me, then went to camp. Pretty soon came the guards and took us prisoners of war, and marched us to the guard house. The Lieutenant said to me: 'Spaulding, I did not think that of you.' I said I had orders to let anyone in that gave the countersign. Just then the Sergeant came in and I proved by him that we were innocent. We were then discharged and sent to camp. God bless our dear old Lieutenant."
We were clothed in the regulation artillery uniform, save for the Wisconsin State buttons on the jackets, and a few grum- bled at those. And who of us can forget the comical appear- ance of rotund Thrall and tall McPhail when they emerged from Captain Foster's tent dressed as we were to appear for the coming three years. The first intimation the rank and file had that uniforms were in camp. - When we were paid some grumbled at the legal tender and wished for gold, but most of us admired the new, crisp bills, little thinking that in the near future our $13 a month would represent less than $6 in cash, and most of us can't see why the Government should not, even at this late day, make up the difference to us now. Well, we weren't out for cash, nor bounty, nor pensions. Many of the boys were impatient at the delay of the forward move- ment which should bring us face to face with the enemy. Some of them feared the war would be over before they should be permitted the privilege of seeing, to say nothing of killing, a rebel. In the light of after experiences, how very simple and unsophisticated a remembrance of those fears make us appear to have been. Adjutant-General W. L. Utley, on being told of the anxiety of the men to go to the front, said: "I cannot un- derstand why men should be so anxious to rush into such dan-
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gers; it is past my comprehension." He seems to have come to a full comprehension of the matter afterward, for he did val- iant service at the head of one of Wisconsin's many fighting regiments. But it is a racial fact that no Anglo-Saxon, no de- scendant of his in America, ever went contented to his grave unless he had had a fight. And deep down in every woman's heart is something that backs him up in it. Perhaps it is that old Viking spirit which sleeps, like some ferocious animal, somewhere in every American breast, which in the old Norwe- gian day pulled an oar all the long way to Paris for the mere pleasure of a fight.
On October 9 we were marched to a hall in the city and were medically examined by a Surgeon and all but one or two were passed. One or two did not attend, knowing they lacked the physical stamina for a soldier's life after their short expe- rience in camp of instruction.
In a former chapter we noted a remark about our "picked men." Two days before muster-in we were measured and weighed and the result was an average of 169 and a fraction pounds. Vaughan was the tallest, six feet four and a half inches; Charlie Harrington the lightest, 126 pounds. The tall ones on the right and graded to "ponies" on the left.
On the 11th day of October, 1861, Captain Trowbridge ap- peared at Camp Utley and mustered the Battery into the ser- vice of the United States. Heretofore we had been subject only to the orders of our State officials; thereafter, for the term of our service, we were soldiers of the Nation.
The company being formed the following persons answered to their names and took the oath of allegiance, which oath, with but two exceptions, was religiously observed unto the end. It will be observed that Lieutenant Bishop did not appear for muster, the reason for which will be the subject of another chapter.
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CHAPTER III.
"We have come from the valleys of the young Badger State, Where the prairies are so grand, magnificent and great, To perfect ourselves in drill, for awhile we may be seen In our daily rounds of duty in Camp Utley at Racine."
N TO command ever presented a finer appearing set of offi- cers than those of the old Battery ; this being a frequent remark from boys of the batteries associated with us at Camp Utley. Bishop especially loomed up martial and grand. All had voices fit to command and no one ever heard a more sonorous voice than Captain Foster's. Our first break came with the arrival of the commissions. Bishop had been elected Junior First Lieutenant, and his commission coming as Senior Second Lieutenant he resigned, and was commissioned Captain in the 2d Wisconsin Cavalry. Before the heated argu- ment with our contumacious brothers in the Southland was finished he exchanged the knightly bars for the lordly leaves, and those for the royal eagles. Many tears were shed at this first parting, for he was greatly beloved by the rank and file and the injustice done him nearly created a mutiny. Our re- gret and indignation were expressed at his being overslaughed. No one seemed to know how the mistake was made, but as Captain Foster was at the State Capitol when the commissions were issued it was then supposed he was the cause of it.
Captain Foster may have had his faults-and who is free from them-but he was ever loyal to his country and the Bat- tery. There was nothing he could procure too good to share with it. He was ever watchful of its interests and that of its members, individually and collectively. It was the "apple of his eye," the pride of his heart. To him belongs the credit of its early efficiency and popularity with brigade, division and corps commanders. So evidently was this the case that the feelings engendered by the Bishop episode were soon forgotten or overlooked, and every man of the Battery felt, and rightly too, that he had a true friend in Captain Jacob T. Foster.
The resignation of Bishop promoted Charlie Kimball, who was First, or Orderly, Sergeant, to the Junior Lieutenantcy, and O. F. Nutting became Orderly Sergeant. Kimball afterwards married the daughter of our Commissary, Colonel Clough. Others of the boys, during the war, slipped home, and finding men in great demand amongst the preponderance of women, and, mayhap. the blue coat at a premium, made assurance sure and enhanced the joys of furlough by recruiting "Rachel" then and there. A majority of the boys had sweethearts back in "God's country," between whom frequent and lengthy letters
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passed; some secured sweethearts en route, but a forlorn mi- nority were perforce content to correspond with mother or sis- ter in lieu of some other fellow's sister. Some never returned to marry their sweethearts, their bones now lying in the land they redeemed. Some returned to marry the girl they left behind them, and in one case at least returned to marry the other fellow's girl. Carl Cameron surrendered to Mrs. Foster's sister.
About the 23d of October it was rumored that we were soon to leave for the South via Louisville. As that was before the "grapevine telegraph" was brought into use, we never learned where the rumor came from, but it was believed with more or less of mental reservations. Drilling, however, like Tenny- son's "Brook," went "on forever." The "little wagons" were kept busy until, one Sunday, while the officers were out of camp, the boys improvised a drill of their own, under command of the most efficient privates. After executing all the evolutions laid down in the tactics, and others that were never "photo- graphed," or witnessed before nor since, and feeling that they knew all of the drill there was to learn, and that the wagons had outlived their usefulness, they were taken in front of the Captain's tent and there stacked never to be again used in bat- tery maneuvers. However true it was that their usefulness as aids to drill had passed, they were found very useful as kind- ling for camp fires.
While that Sunday drill extinguished the "little wagons" it discovered some of the material out of which some of the most efficient non-commissioned officers were afterwards made. Notably was this the case with Billy McKeith. But speaking of him reminds us of an incident that occurred when recruit- ing. The writer of this had his eye on Billy from the first, and while looking for recruits visited the McKeith homestead. Billy came to the gate as we drove up and greeted us in his cordial, cheery manner. When told that he was wanted for the Battery and that Eph. Hackett had enlisted in it he said he'd go. His father, who was then nearing his three-score years and ten. and who had followed him to the gate, said: "No, you don't want to go." Billy turned to him and replied: "Now. don't you say one word: for if you were young as I am you'd go too, and I know it." "I guess you are right," said the old man, and retraced his steps to the house.
There were to be made some appointments of Corporals to complete the quota, and Captain Foster had selected all but one. Lieutenant Webster's advice was asked, and as he had observed Billy bossing a squad with the aforesaid wheels. and saw that he had the requisite snap, he suggested his name. "The very man: I don't see why I had not thought of him be- fore," said the Captain. Billy was called into the Captain's
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tent. When inside the Captain addressed him as if he had been guilty of some offense, and told him his conduct had been such that he could not allow it to pass unnoticed; that it might be unpleasant, but the good of the service and the discipline of the Battery required him to act and at once, and then asked Billy what he had to say. Billy didn't know what he had done, but supposed he'd have to stand it. Then the Captain said, "In consideration of the enormity of the offense I sentence you to act as a Corporal until you shall be promoted."
"Well, Cap," said Billy, scratching his head, "I don't want the posish, but if you want me to have it I will take it and do the best I can with it."
Comrades, we all know what he did, and we all know that no man of the Battery was held in higher esteem than he.
About the 25th of October Captain Foster returned from a trip to Madison and brought the intelligence that the Gov- ernment had decided not to let the artillery leave the State until it was fully prepared and equipped. This meant that we should receive our guns, horses, etc., and have an opportunity to increase our efficiency in battery maneuvers before we were put into actual service at the front. Of course it was good news to us, particularly as it was understood that the said equipments were to be promptly furnished.
Captain Foster was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment of artillery, while the selection of Majors was held in abeyance. Meantime rumors of movements affecting the Battery were frequent and conflicting. One day we were to be sent forward at once to man some fortifications, while those then serving therein were to be put in the field; the next day we were to be changed to cavalry; infantry or heavy artillery. There was never any reliable source from which these rumors emanated, but they served to relieve the monotony of camp life, and to prepare us for any order that might affect us.
On the 13th of November 12 pieces of ordnance-cannon- were received, but no horses or harness and but a small amount of ammunition. Said guns served a good purpose, however, as they afforded opportunity for drill in the manual of the piece to the other batteries, which they had not heretofore enjoyed, as the only piece in camp was the brass six-pounder which the 1st Battery had brought from La Crosse.
Captain Foster. ever alert in the interest of his company, de- termined to let no opportunity escape whereby he could im- prove them in any matter pertaining to the art of war. Here were the guns, but no horses and but little fixed ammunition. Yet he was bound to make the most of the situation.
The Battery must have some target practice. But where. in that thickly settled country, could a sufficient space be found to fire such long range guns? But with true military spirit he
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did not let any obstacle prevent the accomplishment of his purposes when the good of the Battery was concerned. He found a place, a few miles from town, where by throwing up a slight embankment a sufficient range could be secured for the practice. There at his own expense teams were hired to haul the guns out and back for the said practice. We did not go out many times, but the lessons learned there were of incalcu- lable benefit when the actual experiences of "grim-visaged war" came upon us.
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