UR YEARS
IN THE
mMY OF THE POTOMA(
/I SOLDIER'S RECOLLECTIONS.
^ W H
.. f ^ 1
W W ^
NORTHWESTERN
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
Bequest of
Charles G. Dawes
FOUR YEARS
re THE
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
Edinburgh , . j. Menzies & Co.
Glasgow . . . Porteous Brothers.
London . . . 14 Ivy Lane, Paternoster P.ow.
Melbourne . . George Robertson.
Toronto . . . James Campbell & ,son.
FOUR YEARS
in the
Army of the Potomac:
A SOLDIERS RECOLLECTIONS.
by
MAJOR JONES,
Attthob of "Lincoln, Stanton, and Grant: Historical
Sketches;" "The Emigrant's Friend," Etc.
♦
LONDON:
THE TYNE PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED,
14 IVY LANE, PATEENOSTEE EOW,
AND NEWOASTLE-ON-TYNE.
TO
aXTIDG-E IHOWE,
Christian Statesman, and AeeompUshed Jurist,
AS A MARK OF ESTEEM, AND A VOLUME
OF
WELCOME !
EVAN R. JONES.
acc*
HIS Volume contains, for the most part,
gleanings from my personal experience
during four years' service in the Army of
the Potomac. But the first and second chapters are
devoted to a brief record of the great political struggle
which ended in the election of Abraham Lincoln as
President of the United States—an electoral triumph
which was immediately followed by an appeal to arms.
Though I had not attained, in i860, the required
age of citizenship, I took an active part, in a small
way, in the presidential campaign of that year. And
when the President whom I, with much zeal at all
events, had helped to elect, called for volunteers to
serve and save the Union, I felt in honor bound to
respond, and offered my services accordingly.
I remember that some objection was raised con¬
cerning my want of years, if not my lack of inches
also; but I was " passed," and admitted into the
873018
Preface,
service through the judicious intercession of my com¬
mander : it was a great favor! I am not aware that
I ever received or required any further favors on
account of my age. I enlisted on the loth of May,
1861. Very soon thereafter I went South with my
regiment—my gallant old regiment—^where I served
till the war was over. What has seemed to me of
probable interest in my army life will be found related
in the following pages. Of necessity the personal
element pervades every chapter: and to the full have
I appreciated Cowley's observation—"It is a hard
and nice subject for a man to write of himself. It
grates his own heart to say anything of disparage¬
ment, and the reader's ear to hear anything of praise
from him."
Generous reader: you have been considerate to the
shortcomings of my former efforts. Be even so now
to the blemishes of " A Soldier's Recollections."
E. R. J.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
The Political Struggle of i860 - - -
" Liberty, with a slave for a pedestal and a chain in her
hand, is an image from which our understandings and hearts
alike recoil."—Channing.
CHAPTER II.
Lincoln Elected President; The Southern Confederacy
Formed
" The country is approaching a crisis on the greatest question
which can be proposed to it; a question not of profit or loss, of
tariffs or banks, or any temporary interests, but a question
involving the first principles of freedom, morals, and religion."
—Channing.
CHAPTER III.
Peace Offerings : The Call to Arms _ _ - -
"This is not the time for sycophancy, for servility, for"
compromise of principle, for forgetfulness of our rights."—
Channing.
" The Government will not assail you."—Lincoln.
"We have humbled the flag of the United States."
—Gov. Pickens.
A
Contents,
CHAPTER IV. Page
The Way we Made our Soldiers - - - - 38
" No more words;
Try it with your swords!
Try it with the arms of your bravest and your best;
You are proud of your manhood, now put it to test!
Not another word;
Try it by the sword!"
—Franklin Lushington.
CHAPTER V.
" All Quiet on the Potomac" - - - - - - 49
" Better to sink beneath the shock
Than moulder piecemeal on the rock!"
—Byron.
"Thus the evil of the moment contains the germ of good
that is enduring."—Greeley.
CHAPTER VI.
With McClellan on the Peninsula - - - . - - 58
"The Austrians do not know the value of time."—Napoleon.
" He is a phenomenon ; I would follow him blindfolded."
—" Stonewall " Jackson.
CHAPTER VII.
The Seven Days' Fighting before Richmond - - - 65
" But yesterday, and our country might
Have stood against the world; now lies she there,
And none so poor to do her reverence!"
—Vide "Julius Csesar."
" 'Tis late before
The brave despair."
—Thompson.
CHAPTER VIII.
Lee's Invasion: Antietam 75
" At home he conquered oft, but when
He brought his legions to the soil
Where Slavery could not live,—'twas then
The Northmen forced him to recoil,
His banners trailing in the dust!"
—Anon.
" 'Twas then that Athens the foundations laid
Of Liberty's fair structure."
—Pindar.
Contents.
CHAPTER IX.
Page
Slavery: Emancipation _ . - - - - - - 86
"The greatest nation is that which does most for humanity."
—Charles Sumner.
" For what avail
The plough and sail,
Or land or life,
If freedom fail?"
—Emerson.
CHAPTER X.
The Doubtful Days - - - - - - - 96
" Freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son.
Though battled oft is ever won."
—Byron.
CHAPTER XI.
Lee on Free Soil: Gettysburg 104
"Vulgar minds
Refuse, or crouch beneath their loads; the brave
Bear theirs without repining."
—Mullet.
" Round-shot ploughed the upland glades.
Sown with bullets, reaped with blades;
Shattered fences, here and there,
Tossed their splinters in the air;
The very trees were stripped and bare;
The barns, that once held yellow gi-ain.
Were heaped with harvests of the slain."
—Bret Harte.
CHAPTER XII.
Campaigning on the Hudson 115
" You have not, as good patriots should do, studied the public
good, but your particular ends."—Massinger.
Contents,
CHAPTER XI11.
Page
Through " the Wilderness" with Grant - - - 127
" When Grant moved by his left flank to Spottsylvania, we
understood what manner of man he was."—Eggleston.
" I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer."
—Grant.
CHAPTER XIV.
Among the Sick and Wounded - - - - -135
" He jests at scars that never felt a wound."
—Shakespeare.
" The drying up a single tear has more
Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore."
—Byron.
CHAPTER XV.
Every-day Life in Camp 146
" God made him, and therefore let him pass for a man,"
—Shakespeare.
"Our contentment is our best having."—IbieL,
CHAPTER XVI.
Sheridan's Ride 159
"No half measures. No squeamishness in resolution.
Nemesis is not a conceited prude. Let us be terrible and useful.
Does the elephant stop to look where he sets his foot? We
must crush the enemy."—Vide Victor Hugo's " Ninety-Three."
" He taught the doubtful battle when to rage."—Addison.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Fortunes of War 177
" It is expedient to have an acquaintance with those who
have looked into the world."—Horne.
Contents.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Page
Our Last Campaign, and Lee's Surrender - - - 187
" Brave minds, howe'er at war, are secret friends;
Their generous discord with the battle ends."
—Tickell.
" O beauteous Peace,
Sweet union of a State ! what else but thou
Gives safety, strength, and glory to a people!"
—Thomson.
CHAPTER XIX.
Lincoln at the Front - 207
" And in this world's great hero list
His name shall lead the van."
CHAPTER XX.
War and Credit; a Financial Retrospect - ■ - ' 216
"The Government will not assail you.'*
—President Lincoln^
"We have humbled the Flag of the United
States."
—Governor Pickens,
"Not another word :
Try it by the Sword !"
—Lushington.
CHAPTER L
THE POLITICAL STRUGGLE OF 1860.
" Liberty, with a slave for a pedestal and a chain in her hand, is an
image from which our understandings and hearts alike recoil."—
Channing.
CONSIDER it desirable, for the satisfac¬
tory reading of these Recollections, that
the causes which led to the* war for the
preservation of the American Union should first be
briefly set forth. Therefore, this chapter, and the one
following, shall be devoted to the political struggle
which resulted in the election of Abraham Lincoln
to be President of the United States.
Early in the spring of that year the Democratic
party met in delegated Convention at Charleston,
South Carolina, to nominate a candidate for the
Presidency. The Convention was very evenly divided
between men known at that time as Douglas Demo¬
crats, and those who entertained extreme Southern
10 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
*•
pro-slavery views. A committee, composed of one
delegate from each State, was appointed to prepare
resolutions setting forth the principles of the party.
The majority, numbering seventeen, asserted, in their
report to the Convention, that it was the duty of the
National Government to protect slavery in the Terri¬
tories against any legislation of Congress, or of the
Territories themselves, whereby the right of property
in slaves would be destroyed, impaired, or in any way
interfered with. The minority of the committee,
fourteen in number, represented the views of a ma¬
jority of the Convention; they presented a separate
report, embodying the "Popular Sovereignty Doc¬
trine," of which Senator Douglas was the founder
and champion. This section of the party held that
the question of slavery in the Territories should be
left in the hands of the white population of embryo
States; they were to have slavery or not—just as the
majority saw fit—without let or hindrance from Con¬
gress or the States. The minority report was adopted
by a vote of 165 against 138 ; but the representatives
of the Cotton States declined to abide by the will of
the majority, and withdrew from the Convention.
The seceders reassembled at St. Andrew's Hall, and,
after adopting the platform rejected by the Con¬
vention, they adjourned to meet in Richmond, Vir¬
ginia, on the second Monday in June. The regular
Convention also adjourned to meet in Baltimore on
the 18th of June.
The Political Struggle of i860, 11
During the interval, efforts were made to reunite
and harmonise the Democratic party, divided at
Charleston. But the Northern delegates were deter¬
mined to nominate Senator Douglas, while those
from the South were equally resolute, not so much
perhaps on the question of candidate, as on the—to
them—more vital point of the right to take their slaves
into any of the Territories of the United States, and
to hold them there as property, without interference
from either Congress or the Legislatures of the Terri¬
tories. The South was ready, not only to dissolve
a party Convention, but to destroy the Union itself,
rather than modify or give up this principle.
The so-called regular Convention met, pursuant to
adjournment, at the Front Street Theatre, Baltimore;
and, after a stormy session, Stephen A. Douglas of
Illinois, and Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Alabama, were
placed in nomination for the Presidency and Vice-
Presidency of the United States. Mr. Fitzpatrick,
however, declined the honour, and Herschell V.
Johnson of Georgia was substituted for him by the
central committee of the party.
The Democrats had controlled the Government for
many years. With united effort they would have
obtained from the country a further lease of power.
But the party was divided into two hostile camps,
each section supporting its own candidate for the
Presidency, and the defeat of both was inevitable
from the first.
12 Pour Years in the Army of the Potomac.
Stephen A. Douglas was a native of the State of
Vermont. After studying law in New York, he
removed to Illinois, where he was admitted to the
Bar in 1834, at the age of twenty-one. He soon took
a prominent part in politics, and became a member of
the State Parliament in 1835. During the following
year Douglas and Lincoln met, for the first time, as
members of the popular branch of the Legislature.
When Lincoln first saw the busy, diminutive figure of
Mr. Douglas in the Assembly, it afforded him con¬
siderable mirth; and he pronounced his future rival
in the contests of love and politics the " least man he
ever saw." Douglas's advancement in public life was
rapid. In 1840 he was chosen Secretary of State of
Illinois; he served in the popular branch of Congress
from 1843 to 1847, when he was made United
States Senator. In 1856 he was a prominent can¬
didate for the Presidential nomination against James
Buchanan of Pennsylvania. As a political orator
Douglas ranked high; and as a debater he was
without an equal in Congress, or perhaps in the
United States. During the political campaign of
i860, he entered personally into the contest, and
spoke to immense gatherings in nearly every State in
the Union. He was able and ingenious; his com¬
mand over his audience was great; he was indeed
a " Little Giant." Senator Douglas did not long sur¬
vive the party strife through which he had struggled
so bravely against heavy odds.
TJie Political Struggle of i860*
13
The delegates of the seceders' Convention first met
at Richmond, and, after adjourning to Baltimore, they
finally assembled and organised at the Maryland
Institute, under the chairmanship of Caleb Cushing,
on the 28th of June. The resolutions, or "platform,"
rejected by the regular Convention at Charleston
were adopted. John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky,
then Vice-President of the United States, was unani¬
mously nominated for the Presidency, and Joseph
Lane of Orgon was assigned to the second place on
the ticket.
I never did believe that this extreme Southern
party expected to elect their candidates. Unanimity
in the Slave States was what they worked for; but
even that they failed to accomplish, for the votes
of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee were given to
Bell and Everett. Overtures from the Douglas or
Bell partisans, looking towards compromise or coali¬
tion, were rejected in nearly every instance by the
Breckinridge party in the South. Next to the
election of their own nominee, they preferred that
Lincoln and the Republican party should triumph.
John C. Breckinridge was a Kentuckian by birth.
He received his education at Centre College in his
native State. Choosing the legal profession, he was
carefully trained for it, and was admitted to the Bar
at Lexington, Kentucky, where, within a few years,
he obtained a large and lucrative practice. He
served as a major during the war with Mexico;
14 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
and in the great court-martial which grew out of
the difficulty between Generals Scott and Pillow
during that war, Breckinridge acted as counsel for
Pillow; and the ability and skill which he displayed
in conducting the case gained for him considerable
reputation as a lawyer. Upon his return home from
the Mexican war he was chosen to represent his
district in the State Legislature. In 1851 he was
made a member of Congress, where he served his
party zealously until 1855. ^he following-year
Breckinridge became Vice-President of the United
States under Buchanan. In i860, when the Demo¬
cratic party became divided, Breckinridge, as I have
already shown, was made the candidate of the
Southern wing for the Presidency. The people de¬
cided that Lincoln was a more suitable man for that
high office. On the 13th of February 1861, Vice-
President Breckinridge proclaimed to the Senate that
Abraham Lincoln of Illinois had been duly elected
President of the United States for four years, from
the 4th day of March ensuing. When that day
arrived, Mr. Breckinridge stepped down from his seat
as President of the Senate, and was sworn in a
member of that body, recently elected by his own
State, Kentucky.
Senator Breckinridge was a believer in the right of
secession. This suicidal doctrine was well illustrated
by Breckinridge himself, who carried it to its ultimate
conclusions. In co-operations with Govenor Magoffin,
TJte Political Struggle of i860.
15
General Buckner (captured by Grant at Donelsen), and
several others, Breckinridge endeavoured to carry his
own State into the Confederate compact; but the
home of Henry Clays and the mother State of .'Abra¬
ham Lincoln, preferred remaining in the old Union.
After advocating the novel idea that a Province
may remain neutral while the General Government
is at war, and urging upon the State and the authori¬
ties at Washington that Kentucky, should remain
neutral during the impending conflict, Messrs. Buck¬
ner, Breckinridge, & Co. seceded in their individual
capacity^ and joined the Southern Army, in which
Breckinridge soon became a general officer. Having
reached the Confederate lines in safety, Mr. Breckin¬
ridge issued an address to the people of his old State,
in which he said :—" Has Kentucky passed out of the
control of her own people} Shall hirelings of the
pen, recently imported from. the North, sitting in
grand security at the capital, force the public opinion
to approve usurpations, and point out victims ? Shall
Mr. Lincoln, through his German mercenaries, im¬
prison or exile the children of the men who had
laid the foundations of the Commonwealth, and com¬
pel our noble people to exhaust themselves in
furnishing the money to destroy their own freedom?
Never, while Kentucky remains the Kentucky of
old!—never, while thousands of her gallant sons have
the will and the nerve to make the State sing to the
music of their rifles!"
16 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
The Louisville Journal^ of the I2th of October 1861,
so cleverly showed up the inconsistency of recreant
Kentuckians, that I cannot resist making the following
quotation :—" Hundreds of those exceedingly sensi¬
tive Kentuckians, who so eloquently proclaimed that
they could never take up arms against the Southern
States, inasmuch as those States were Kentucky's
sisters, have now taken up arms for the conquest of
Kentucky herself! Isn't that enough to make the
devil laugh ? "
The old American party, under the new designation
of the Union party, met in delegated Convention in
Baltimore, on the 19th of May, and nominated John
Bell of Tennessee for President, and Edward Everett
of Massachusetts for Vice-President. The New Eng¬
land scholar was placed behind Mr. Bell, a very
moderate man in every sense of the word, for the Pre¬
sidential race of i860. The party "platform" upon
which this ill-assorted couple stood, maintained:—
"That it is both the part of patriotism and duty to
recognise no political principle other than the Con¬
stitution of the country^ the Union of the States^ and the
enforcement of the Laws." And in the same resolution
the Convention pledged itself to "maintain, protect,
and defend, separately and unitedly, these great
principles of public liberty and national safety against
all enemies at home and abroad." During the election
which followed. Bell and Everett manifested great
strength, polling about 650,000 votes, and carrying the
The Political Struggle of i860.
17
States of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. But
the professions of fidelity to the Union was ignored
by nine-tenths of the men who voted for Bell and
Everett in the Slave States, for no sooner had South
Carolina declared for secession than John Bell,
together with his ablest supporters in the South,
turned their backs upon their noble creed, and
favoured the disruption of the Union.
It is easy to prove the inconsistency of the Bell
men. It was difficult for them to stand aloof, or stand
alone, amid the whirlwind of enthusiasm for secession
which enveloped most of the Southern States.
Edward Everett, with tongue and pen, advocated the
Union cause; and the men of the North, who voted
for him for the Vice-Presidency, were faithful to their
record when war came. But let us not forget that the
circumstances and surroundings were favourable. It
is no great virtue to obey the eighth commandment
when your wardrobe is furnished, your larder full, and
your balance at the banker's on the right side.
The Convention of Republicans assembled at
Chicago on the i6th of May. The principles of the
party were set forth in strong and unequivocal resolu¬
tions. The eighth dealt with the slavery question.
It fairly represented the views of the party; it was the
all-important resolution in the platform—the rock
upon which we split. I give it in full:—
" Resolved—That the normal condition of the terri¬
tory of the United States is that of Freedom ; that as
B
k
18 Four Years in tJie Army of tJie Potomac.
our Republican fathers, when they had abolished
slavery in all our national territory, ordained that * no
person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law,' it becomes our duty, by
legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to
maintain this provision of the Constitution against all
attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of
Congress, of a Territorial Legislature, or of any indi¬
vidual, to give legal existence to slavery in any
Territory of the United States."
The contest for the nomination of the party was
close and spirited between William H. Seward of
New York and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. Lin¬
coln was nominated, however, on the third ballot. It
was believed by many that the Convention had com¬
mitted a blunder in nominating a comparatively un¬
known and untried man over Senator Seward—the
able and astute advocate of anti-slavery principles
in Congress, and the acknowledged leader of the
Republican party. But the strength of Lincoln, as a
candidate, soon became apparent. The history of his
life was romantic and of captivating interest. That a
man is born to affluence and social distinction avails
nothing in American political contests. He who has
conquered difficulties and disadvantages, and by his
own individual efforts has won his way to the front
rank of eminent men, has always been, and for years
will continue to be, a more acceptable political leader
than one upon whose cradle fortune smiled.
The Political Struggle of i860.
19
Lincoln was born in poverty in the Slave State
of Kentucky. His early life was a succession of
struggles against adverse fate. His knowledge of
history and literature had been obtained from bor¬
rowed volumes. He studied English grammar by the
light of burning shavings at a cooper's shop. His
school training only lasted six months. But he could
solve any problem in Euclid at sight. He taught
himself in six weeks to be an expert surveyor. He
was the terror of mobs and bullies, and the champion
of order, free-speech, and fair elections.
After an unsuccessful attempt as a merchant in a
small way, Lincoln devoted himself to the study of
law. The elementary books were furnished him by
Mr. Stewart of Springfield, his future partner. He
prosecuted his studies with characteristic industry,
and was admitted to the Bar in 1836. He became one
of the first lawyers in the West. Lincoln served his
State in Congress for two years. In 1856 he was the
candidate of the anti-slavery men of Illinois for the
United States Senate, but was defeated through a
compromise which he advised, and which resulted in
the election of Judge Trumbull. Lincoln had by this
time become the leader of his party in Illinois. In 1858
he was again a candidate for the Senate, with Mr.
Douglas for his adversary; and his defeat upon that
occasion was by many attributed to the principles laid
down in a speech delivered at Springfield, with which
the campaign was inaugurated. Mr. Lincoln said :—
20
Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I
believe this Government cannot permanently endure
half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union
to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall;
but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will
become all one thing or all the other; either the
opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of
it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the
belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction, or its
advocates will push it forward till it shall become
alike lawful in all the States—old as well as new.
North as well as South."
These prophetic words cost him the position he so
much coveted—a seat in the United States Senate;
but in i860 the people recognised the truth and
soundness of the forecast; they determined to stay
the spread of slavery, and they made Abraham
Lincoln Chief Magistrate of the Republic,
CHAPTER II.
LINCOLN ELECTED PRESIDENT.—THE SOUTHERN
CONFEDERACY FORMED.
" The country is approaching a crisis on the greatest question which
can be proposed to it; a question not of profit or loss, of tariffs or
banks, or any temporary interests, but a question involving the first
principles of freedom, morals, and religion."—Channing.
HE Presidential campaign of i860 was
prosecuted with great zeal and energy
throughout the United States. The
Breckinridge partisans were confident of success in
the Cotton States, and in that section of the country
they held aloof from coalition with any of the con¬
tending parties. In several of the Northern States
the supporters of Douglas, Bell, and Breckinridge
united their forces for the defeat of Lincoln. It was
a humiliating expediency, resorted to by men who
foresaw defeat. All political speakers, not members
of the Republican party, warned the people against
22 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
voting for Lincoln; " for if he were elected," said
they, " secession would ensue." Republicans had
heard these threats before. We proposed to elect
our candidate by lawful, peaceful means, if possible;
and we organised, and talked, and worked unre¬
mittingly and well from the day upon which Lincoln
was nominated until the polls closed on the 6th of
November. But the operations of the Republican
party were confined to the Free and Border States;
no one dared advocate the election of Lincoln in
any of the Cotton States. The friends of Breckin¬
ridge, on the contrary, prosecuted their campaign
unmolested in every State in the Union.
On the night before the election—according to the
custom of political organisations in large American
towns—the Anti-Slavery party had a grand torch¬
light procession through the streets of Milwaukee.
The different organisations, from town and surround¬
ing country, carrying torches, flags, banners, and
transparencies, variously and appropriately inscribed,
assembled in the principal street, and were assigned
to their respective positions in the Lincoln and
Hamlin* demonstration. About nine o'clock the
order to " light up " passed along, the band struck up
a march, and the immense gathering began to stretch
out like an endless telescope. Towards the centre
of the procession the Industrial Section moved along.
* Hannibal Hamlin was the Republican candidate for the Vice-
Presidency.
Lmcoln Elected Presidents
23
This novelty was composed of artizans, representing
several of the branches of labour, dressed in their
working-clothes, mounted upon large and suitably
fitted-up wagons, and actually working at stone-
cutting, bricklaying, rivetting, and other handicrafts.
Then came vehicles of all descriptions, from a sulkey
to a hay-rack, with flags and transparencies. More
marching torch-bearers followed; and the rear was
brought up by a squadron of horse. Bands played
at suitable distances from each other. The houses
of many of the more prominent Republicans, situated
upon the hills divided by the Milwaukee river, were
beautifully illuminated. Their grounds were lighted
up by Chinese lanterns; fireworks added to the
attraction of the scene; rockets went rushing through
the air until midnight, while the sound of cannon was
continually ascending from the river bank. The
procession was nearly four miles long; and as the
advance reached Spring Street Hill, with the centre
in the valley through which the river runs, and the
. rear of the column still on the Seventh Ward heights,
the sight of this immense chain of burning lamps was
magnificent and imposing. The programme of the
night being at last finished, the organisations marched
to their respective headquarters to deposit their
torches, and dispersed to their homes.
I participated in this party demonstration. While
on my way home, I overtook Mr. H., a personal
friend, whose residence was near to where I lived.
24 Four Years in tJte Army of the Potomac.
Mr. H. was considerably my senior, and when I came
up, he asked :—
"Evan ! Do you know what you've been doing?"
"Yes," I answered, "I think I do. I have been
carrying a torch for several hours, and spoiling a good
coat through spilling Kerosene oil upon it."
"You have been contributing to create an im¬
pression that Lincoln is to be elected to-morrow,"
said Mr. H., not heeding my story. " I suspect you
have gained to your side many doubtful voters by
your torches, your cannons, and other nonsense. If
you do elect this Black Republican to be President
over this country, mark my words, we shall have
war! the South won't stand it."
" We shall endeavour to elect Lincoln and Hamlin
to-morrow by fair and constitutional means," I replied.
" If we succeed, I have no doubt but the South will
accept the situation good-naturedly, as we have
always done when defeated. Certainly we do not
propose to allow South Carolina's threats of secession
to influence us in the slightest degree." On reaching
my friend's home we bade each other " Good night,"
and parted. It was a cold, crisp, clear night; the
stars twinkled cheerfully in the peaceful heavens; and,
as I turned to my door, " Clang!" went the cathedral
bell on the hill: it was one o'clock on the morning of
the 6th of November—the day of election.
The Legislature of South Carolina had been con¬
vened on the previous day. In his annual message.
Lmcoht Elected President.
25
and while speaking of the probable election of
Abraham Lincoln, Governor Gist said :—" I am con¬
strained to say that the only alternative left (should
Lincoln be elected) is the secession of South Caro¬
lina Every man in the State, between the
ages of eighteen and forty-five, should be well armed
with the most effective weapons of modern warfare.
With our love of liberty and hatred of tyranny,"
continued the Governor, " and with the knowledge
that we are contending for the safety of our homes
and firesides, we can confidently appeal to the
Disposer of all human events, and safely trust our
cause in His keeping." Fortunately, for the weal of
^ mankind, " the Disposer of all human events " is not
influenced by selfish appeals for special favours.
In similar strains many of the most prominent
men in South Carolina spoke on the night before the
election. I do not believe that at that time there was
a man upon the American Continent who entertained
the remotest notion of invading the soil, or of dis¬
turbing the tranquillity of the " homes and firesides "
of the Palmetto State.
The election passed off without disturbance any¬
where ; and by midnight we knew that Lincoln had
been elected.
The triumph of the Republican party exceeded, in
the measure of success, the most sanguine expecta¬
tions of friends. Lincoln and Hamlin had carried
every Free State, excepting New Jersey, thus securing
26
Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
more than the necessary majority of electoral votes,
as follows:—
Total of electoral votes in the United States—303.
For Lincoln and Hamlin 180
For Breckinridge and Lane 72
For Bell and Everett 39
For Douglas and Johnson 12
303
*>!» >t»- AU- _■»*»■ *1*
'T*'
The South went into the election with us, and were
defeated. What next ?
The doctrine of secession, as a topic in American
politics, had its birth during the war of 1812. The
New England States were solid against that war; and
a delegated Convention was held at Hartford, Con¬
necticut, to oppose it by argument and remonstrance.
And, although neither the Convention as a body, nor
any of its leading delegates, avowed disunion prin¬
ciples, such views and designs were attributed to the
Hartford Convention.
The question thus mysteriously, and probably un¬
fairly, raised, evoked the sentiments of the country,
and served to show that the leading men of the South
believed—" that no State had a right to withdraw from
the Union; that it required the same power to dis¬
solve as to form the Union ; and that any attempt to
dissolve it, or to obstruct the action of constitutional
laws, was treason." During the public life of John C.
Calhoun of South Carolina, it was discovered that
The Southern Confederacy Formed. 27
the Union was " a mistake," detrimental to the South.
Efforts were made to unite the Southern States, for
the purpose of disunion, upon the question of import
duties. But Mr. Calhoun saw the futility of the
scheme ; and in the spring of 1833 friends
and supporters—that the South could never be united
against the North on the tariff question; that the
sugar interests of Louisiana would keep her out; and
that the basis of Southern Union must be shifted to
the slave question." And agitation upon the " slave
question " was systematically commenced accordingly.
Cause for disunion was found in a variety of questions
growing out of, or affecting, the institution of slavery.
Each of the following topics was, in turn, alleged
to be sufhcient cause for disunion :—viz., the Abolition
Societies of the North ; the abolition of slavery in the
District of Columbia (advocated by a helpless min¬
ority) ; the abolition of slave trade between the States;
the exclusion of slavery from Oregon; the Wilmot
proviso ; the admission of California into the Union
as a Free State; the probable election of Fremont;
and, finally and fatally, the election of Lincoln to
the Presidency as a "sectional" candidate—"Sectional"
meaning, in this instance, that Lincoln and the party
who elected him were opposed to the extension of
slavery into the Territories.
No American statesman, worthy of that title, has
ever pretended that a State had a right, under the
P'ederal Constitution, to withdraw from the Union.
28
Four Years in tJie Arniy of the Potomac.
While the Constitution was being considered by the
New York Convention, and doubts were entertained
as to the action of that body, Alexander Hainilton
wrote to James Madison asking-if the adoption of the
Constitution, provisionally, would not be advisable
under the embarrassing circumstances. In his answer,
Mr. Madison said :—" The Constitution requires an
adoption in toto and for ever. It has been so adopted
by the other States." And it was so adopted by New
York also. Story says that "a Constitution is a
permanent form of Government, where the powers
once given are irrevocable, and cannot be resumed or
withdrawn at pleasure." Mr. Calhoun, in conversation
with Reverdy Johnson, defended the doctrine of
nullification : but secession, " he never with me," said
Johnson, "placed on any other ground than that of
revolution. This, he said, was to destroy the Govern¬
ment; and no Constitution, the work of sane men,
ever provided for its own destruction." Howell Cobb
of Georgia, in a letter written to the citizens of Macon,
ten years before the war, said :—"When asked to con¬
cede the right of a State to secede at pleasure from
the Union, with or without just cause, we are called
upon to admit that the framers of the Constitution
did that which was never done by any other people
possessed of their good sense and intelligence—that
is, to provide^ in the very organisation of the Govern-
menty for its own dissolution. It seems to me that
such a course would not only have been an anomalous
The Southern Confederacy Formed. 29
proceeding, but wholly inconsistent with the wisdom
and sound judgment which marked the deliberations
of those wise and good men who framed our Federal
Government."
But Mr. Cobb went with his State, and became a
Major-General in the Confederate Army. His course
was identical with that of thousands in the South.
While he denied the legal right of secession, he believed
in the right of revolution, and in the undoubted ability
of the Southern States to establish their independence.
The great bulk of the people of the South probably
considered secession their right; they also had un¬
limited confidence in their power to conquer the
North in the event of war.
Within six weeks of the Presidential election, a
State Convention was held at Charleston, South
Carolina, and an ordinance passed, without a dissent¬
ing voice, " to dissolve the Union between the State of
South Carolina and other States united with her under
the compact entitled the Constitution of the United
States of America." Six other States followed the
example of the Palmetto State. But after three
months devoted to " firing the Southern heart," eight
Slave States, representing more than double the popu¬
lation of the seceded States, held aloof. Finally,
however, with the exception of Maryland, Kentucky,
and Missouri, all the slave-holding States passed the
secession ordinance, and joined "The Southern Con¬
federacy."
CHAPTER III.
PEACE OFFERINGS: THE CALL TO ARMS.
"This is not the time for sycophancy, for servility, for compromise
of principle, for forgetfulness of our rights."—Channing.
"The Government will not assail you."—Lincolk.
"We have humhled the flag of the United States."—Gov. Pickens.
HILE the Southern States, one after an¬
other, by the simple process of passing
a resolution, were, as they supposed,
severing their connection with the Union, a very
humiliating part was being enacted in the Northern
States. At the many public meetings held in the
large cities, resolutions of the most humble and con¬
ciliatory kind were adopted. Democrats clamoured
loudly against Lincoln and the Republican party;
and even Republicans themselves were almost ready to
say: "We are very sorry we won the election." The
teachings of Garrison, Greeley, Beecher, and Sumner
were denounced. Mr. Alexander Henry, Mayor of
Peace Offerings : The Call to Arms, 31
Philadelphia, and a former supporter of Lincoln,
presided at a peace meeting held in the Quaker city;
and during the course of his apologetic speech he
said:—"The misplaced teachings of the pulpit, the
unwise rhapsodies of the lecture-room, the exciting
appeals of the press, on the subject of slavery, must
be frowned down by a just and law-abiding people."
(Great applause.) Another gentleman who had voted
for Lincoln spoke in a similar strain, saying:—"If
they (Southerners) are really aggrieved by any laws
upon our statute-books—opposed to their rights—ii,
upon examination, any such are found to be in con¬
flict with the Constitution of these United States—nay,
turther: if they but serve to irritate our brethren of
the South, whether constitutional or not, I, for one,
have no objection that they should instantly be
repealed. ... I am not here, however, to concede
that our noble Commonwealth has done any inten¬
tional wrong; but if, in our calm judgment, it shall
appear that our feelings, in the slightest degree
warped, have apparently inflicted any injury, she is
noble and generous enough manfully to repair it.
Let the Fugitive Slave Law be executed in its full
intent and spirit. It is the law of the land; let it be
implicitly obeyed. . . . Let us, too, submit, as we
have hitherto cheerfully done, to the decisions of the
Supreme Court of the United States; it is the great
bulwark of the Constitution. Its judgments should
be final and conclusive, and not be questioned in any
32
Four Years in tJie A rmy of the Potomac.
quarter. Whilst the free discussion of every question
is the privilege of every citizen of the Republic, let
us discountenance any denunciation of slavery, or of
those who maintain that institution, as intemperate
and wrong, whether they are promulgated in the
lecture-room, at the political gathering, or from the
sacred desk."
The attitude and language of the partisans of
secession upon the floor of Congress were bold,
aggressive, threatening. Their speeches indicated a
conviction on their part that the North would in no
event accept the issue of battle. Here is a sample
of their utterances. Mr. Iverson, a Representative
from Georgia, speaking from his place in the House,
said:—
"Before the 4th of March five States will have
declared their independence, and I am satisfied
that three others will follow as soon as the action
of their people can be had. Arkansas will call her
Convention, and Louisiana will follow. And, though
there is a clog in the way of the * Lone Star' of Texas
in the person of the Governor, who will not consent
to call the Legislature, yet the public sentiment is so
strong that even her Governor may be overridden;
and if he will not yield to that public sentiment,
some Texan Brutus may rise to rid his country of this
oldy hoary-headed traitor. (Great sensation.) There
has been a good deal of vapouring and threatening,
but they come from the last men who would carry
Peace Offerings: The Call to Arms, 33
out their threats. Men talk ab'out their eighteen
millions; but we hear, a few days afterwards, of these
same men being switched in the face, and they
tremble like a sheep-stealing dog. There will be no
war. The North, governed by such far-seeing states¬
men as the Senator from New York (Mr. Seward),
will see the futility of this. In less than twelve
months a Southern Confederacy will be formed, and
it will be the most successful Government on earth.
The Southern States, thus banded together, will be
able to resist any force in the world. We do not
expect war, but we will be prepared for it; and we
are not a feeble race of Mexicans either."
The leaders of the Republican party believed that
their position upon the slavery question had been, and
continued to be, misinterpreted to, and misunderstood
by, the people of the South; and Senator Seward
spoke in favour of visiting the slave-holding district to
disabuse the minds of the people. Senator Clingman
of North Carolina, referring to that scheme, said :—
" They want to get up a free debate, as the Senator
from New York (Mr. Seward) expressed it in one of
his speeches. But a Senator from Texas told me the
other day that a great many of these free debaters were
hanging from the trees of that country (Texas)."
The quantity of humble-pie eaten by Northern
Congressmen at this time quite surfeited their con¬
stituents, and the young men of the West grew
impatient. Many of us maintained that war with all
C
34 JPour Years in the Army of the Potomac^
its horrors was preferable to the dishonourable insinua¬
tions heaped upon "Black Republicans," day after day,
by the representatives of the South in Congress; there¬
fore, when at last the call for troops came, enthusiasm
knew no bounds. We took up arms to save the Union,
and to remove a false impression concerning our
manhood.
On the 17th of December, 1866, Hon. Benjamin F.
Wade, Senator from Ohio, spoke out boldly for his
party. He said:—" I tell you frankly that we did lay
down the principle in our platform that we would
prohibit, if we had the power, slavery from invading
another inch of the free soil of this Government. I
stand to that principle to-day. I have argued it to
half a million of people, and they stand by it—they
have commissioned me to stand by it; and, so help
me God, I will! I say to you, while we hold this
doctrine to the end, there is no Republican, or Con¬
vention of Republicans, or Republican paper, that
pretends to have any right in your States, to interfere
with your peculiar and local institutions. On the other
hand, our platform repudiates the idea that we have
any right, or harbour any ultimate intention, to invade
or interfere with your institution in your own States."
Various schemes looking towards compromise and
conciliation were promoted in Congress, and through
a National Peace Conference held at Washington.
Slavery was the only important question discussed
at the deliberations of these bodies. Whether the
Peace Offerings : The Call to Arms. 35
South would remain in the Union or not depended
entirely upon what concession the majority in Con¬
gress would make touching slavery. Southern leaders
would accept of nothing less than a reversal, on the
part of the party in power, of the principle so long
laboured for, and at last victorious in the election of
Abraham Lincoln—the principle of non-extension
of slavery into the Territories—and to this extent
Republican Congressmen would not—dare not—go.
Everything that a kind, noble heart could conceive,
in the interests of peace and union, was done by the
President-elect. Leading Southern Democrats were
proffered portfolios in his Cabinet: but they declined.
On his way to the seat of Government, Lincoln
delivered a great number of speeches, all teeming with
sentiments of friendliness and fairness to all. He
assumed the reins of Government on the 4th of March,
1861, strong in the faith that when the people of the
South should read the assurances of friendship, and
the guarantees of all their rights under the Consti¬
tution, which his carefully-prepared Inaugural Address
contained, they would still remain in the Federal
Union. President Lincoln argued against secession
in that forcible, logical style peculiar to him.
Speaking of slavery, he said:—" I have no purpose,
directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution
of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe
I have no lawful right to do so; and I have no
inclination to do so." He then appealed to the hearts
Fow Years in tJie Anny of the Potomac.
of the South, to save the Union, in the following
language:—
" In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen,
and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.
The Government will not assail you.
"You can have no conflict without being yourselves
the aggressors. You have no oath registered in
Heaven to destroy the Government; while I shall
have the most solemn one to * preserve, protect, and
defend' it.
" I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but
friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion
may have strained, it must not break our bonds of
affection.
" The mystic cord of memory, stretching from every
battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart
and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet
swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched,
as surely they will be, by the better angels of our
nature."
These overtures, warm from his generous heart,
and clothed in simple beauty, met with no response.
Indeed the men of the South were organising and
drilling all over that land, for the openly-avowed
object of severing the Union, while the North clung
to a groundless hope that all would yet be amicably
settled. But the picture was changed on the 13th of
April, when the news flashed over the country that
South Carolina had inaugurated war by firing upon
Peace Offermgs : The Call to Arms, 37
Fort Sumter in Charleston harbour. On Monday
the 15th, President Lincoln's call for 75,000" men
appeared. The excitement was no longer confined
to the slave-holding States. Party differences disap¬
peared from the State Parliaments of the North,
Legislators, who had hitherto eloquently and earnestly
advocated concession and conciliation, were now
ready to vote the last man and the last dollar for the
maintenance of the Federal Union. In all the large
cities and towns business was suspended; the courts
adjourned; exchange buildings became drill halls
and recruiting offices for volunteers. Union mass
meetings were held nightly at all the public halls;
men from all grades of society enlisted as privates;
processions of wagons, overcrowded with farmers,
their sons, and labourers, all eager to enlist, came
streaming into cities and towns; by night and day
the air resounded with martial music—and the per¬
petuity of slavery was staked upon the issue of battle,
for the era of compromise had passed,
CHAPTER IV.
THE WAY WE MADE OUR SOLDIERS.
"No more words;
Try it with your swords !
Try it with the arms of your bravest and your best;
You are proud of your manhood, now put it to test!
Not another word ;
Try it by the sword !"
Feanklin Lushington.
H ! well, I guess we will manage to keep
house," said Lincoln to General Sher¬
man, when informed by that officer that
the South was preparing for war. Neither the Presi¬
dent nor his Ministers were willing to believe that
war was inevitable ; therefore, when it came, we were
not so well prepared for it as we might have been.
The regular army numbered about 15,000 men in
January, 1861. Half of that force had been sent to
Texas by John B. Floyd, Secretary of War under
Buchanan—afterwards a Confederate General—where
The way we 77iade our Soldiers,
39
it was turned over to the State by General Twiggs, in
command. The State armouries of the North were
without arms and ammunition worth mentioning. The
gallant Pennsylvanians, 500 in number, who started for
Washington upon the day following that on which-
the President called for troops, passed through Balti¬
more unarmed. The authorities of Massachusetts
were better prepared, and within thirty-six hours of
the receipt of Lincoln's proclamation they had five
regiments armed, equipped, and ready to march. In
my own State, Wisconsin, there was not a sufficient
number of effective muskets to supply a single
regiment of one thousand men when the call for
volunteers came.
The quota of Wisconsin, under the first call, was one
regiment; consequently, the opportunities for ardent
patriots to test their valour were limited. The ranks
of the First regiment were filled in about twenty-four
hours. The Governor urged upon the Secretary of
War to accept more men, but Mr. Cameron replied :—
" One regiment for the present will suffice;" and those
who were anxious to go to the war, but unwilling
to J^/ay at soldiering, were sadly disappointed.
The excitement caused by the firing upon Sumter
continued unabated. Wild rumours from the South
followed each other in close succession. "Jeff. Davis
was marching on Washington, at the head of 50,000
men!" This was a favourite report, and recurred
almost daily for at least two weeks. At Milwaukee,
40
Four Years in the Anny of the Potomac.
we were over a thousand miles distant from the
national capital. Moreover, Washington was upon
slave territory; its capture was neither impossible nor
improbable; and all rumours concerning its perils and
dangers were believed by an excited, enthusiastic
people. The large public halls were given up to
Union meetings; and speeches of every degree of
merit were nightly delivered to the anxious auditory.
South Carolina invariably came in for a liberal supply
of vituperation. "Charleston should be razed," said
one speaker, " till not one stone is left upon another;
till there is no place left for the owl to hoot nor the
bittern to mourn." This spirit was afterwards shared
even by the soldiers at the front, always the most
charitable. We considered the Palmetto State the
pioneer of secession, and the fountain of our great
disaster. No such bitter feeling was entertained—in *
the army at all events—towards any other State of
the Confederacy. One speaker suggested, at the
meeting referred to, that the levees of the Mississippi
should be cut. Another had a scheme for starving
the South into submission. These were followed by
a man who said that "he neither desired to drown
nor to starve his rebellious countrymen. We are in
the majority," said he, "and we can keep the flag of
Washington aflying in a fair fight. I am going down
to help, and, for one, I don't want to win victories
over half-starved rebels." (Loud and continued ap¬
plause.)
The way we made our Soldiers,
41
Under the President's first proclamation, calling for
volunteers, the men were mustered in for three
months. On the loth of May, I learned that the
Government had decided to accept troops " for three
years or during the war," and that a company was
to be formed that evening, by a local military magnate,
at the Chamber of Commerce. Myself and a few
friends were at the place designated in good time.
There was a goodly muster of intelligent-looking
young men, representing the various pursuits of life.
Our future commander informed us, in a saucy little
speech, that he was commissioned by the Governor to
raise a company for three years or the war, and that
there was every prospect of the company being as¬
signed to the Second regiment then being organised.
He wanted no man to enrol himself in the "Milwaukee
Zouaves" (he had christened the child before it was
born) who did not intend to go to the war. I walked
up to the desk and subscribed to the conditions—
" three years or during the war." Many others signed
the paper also, and the company was formed.
Meanwhile, our captain stood apart, the hero of the
moment, and, with a bright new sword, made cuts at
space which offered no resistance. Amateur soldier¬
ing and infantry tactics had been to him a pastime
and a study for years. In many respects he was
admirably qualified for a military career.
It was the custom, both North and South, for the
men to elect their ofific^rs. The " Milwaukee Zouaves "
42
Four Years in the Army of the Poto77iac.
had no election of officers that I can recall. Indeed,
but very few of the men gave the subject any thought,
and the few got the offices. By far the ablest man
in our company was a corporal—finally Captain
Bissel. I held his mangled arm while it was being
amputated in " the Wilderness." Our first sergeant
was quite incompetent for the position. He was a
fierce-looking man, and there was a military air about
him; but he was soon reduced to the ranks, and after¬
wards discharged from the service. Depend upon it,
fierce-looking men will not " face the music " equal to
the mild face, and the kindly eye that dims over a
letter from home. I have seen faces of womanly soft¬
ness and delicacy shine with a serene radiance in the
presence of almost certain death.
Our drill-hall was the upper story of a large pork-
packing establishment; and here we were diligently
trained in the " school of the soldier " until we reached
a degree of perfection seldom attained in so short a
time. Not satisfied with the movements prescribed
by Hardee's Tactics, our officers exercised us in drills
and company formations purely ornamental and un¬
precedented. Our first lieutenant ordered every
movement in the " manual of arms " to be done " with
a snap!" And while he remained with us—about two
years—he was known as "snap ." He was a
praiseworthy man, and brave. Our uniform was a
modification of that of the French Zouaves, and was
provided at the cost of the wealthy merchants of our
The way we made otir Soldiers,
43
city. Soon after being mustered into the State
service, we were marched up to the depot of the
Quartermaster-General of the State, where articles
of underclothing were issued to us. This was con¬
sidered a good joke, for no man thought of wearing
them : we preferred a finer quality, which we procured
at our own cost. After a few sets of the State
garments had been delivered to the men, some one
proceeded to put them on over his uniform: the example
was followed by the rest of us ; and, thus attired,
we marched back to our drill-hall on the "double
quick," through some of the principal streets, yelling
" Zouave " as we sped along, our red garments floating
in the wind, and the crowds along the streets cheering
heartily at a performance which made us appear more
like the demons of the Lava Beds than respectable
young men. Towards the end of June, we were ordered
to Camp of Instruction at Madison, the capital of the
State. Our departure from Milwaukee, our home,
was the signal for an ovation. Military companies,
waiting to be mustered into the service, escorted
us to the station. Thousands of relatives, friends,
and neighbours followed our march hence; and cheer
after cheer rent the summer air as the train moved
away.
During our amateur soldiering at home, advice and
suggestions from explorers, old campaigners, doctors,
and fools, appeared from day to day in the news¬
papers. The inventive Yankee provided patent
44 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
estoppels for our canteens; patent pocket filters;
patent knapsacks, etc. But war is a stern reality:
eight days* rations means a heavy load, which each
individual soldier must carry or go hungry, and no
amount of Yankee ingenuity could shift the load upon
any other power than the shoulders of the volunteer.
The ladies, young and old, were busy, early and late,
making " Havelocks " (sunshades), pincushions, band¬
ages and lint, etc., for the men who were going South.
They also provided us with small parcels of pepper
and salt, writing materials, tiny Testaments, and
large pieces of soap. Their smiles and blessings,
and the encouraging messages which followed us
wherever we went, were perpetual sunbeams—food
for the heart and soul—which never failed us during
the darkest and most doubtful days of the Republic.
We were assigned to the Fifth Regiment, under the
Colonelcy of Amasa Cobb, an able, good man, who
had resigned the Speakership of the Assembly to
serve his country in the field. The work of drilling
was prosecuted earnestly and regularly. The people
were drilling themselves; for, with the exception of
a few line officers—whose tastes led them to the
exercises and parades of Militia companies in time
of peace—there was not much difference between
the military knowledge of commanding officers and
the more intelligent privates in the ranks. Our
superiors were obliged to learn their lessons before
they could instruct their commands. It was several
The way we made our Soldiers,
45
days after the ten companies forming our regiment
had been assigned to their respective position in the
line before a battalion drill was ventured. At first,
evolutions were ordered from a halt. " By the right
of companies to the rear into column!" and other
simple movements were executed from day to day.
Marching in column of companies involved a good
deal of treading upon each other's heels, and some¬
times angry words ensued. I was unfortunate in
treading upon my file leader's heels several times
during a battalion drill. My comrade had " no
music in his soul," and his heel had to suffer from his
inability to keep time. He promised to chastise me
after drill; but, although I was foolish enough to
remind him of his threat, his better judgment pre¬
vailed, and we shook hands. One day, our regimental
commander ventured as far into the intricacies of drill
as to get us into "close column by divisions." The
order to march was given, and the band commenced
to play, when suddenly our commander's horse shied;
a shower of small paper slips was seen floating about,
and the order to halt was given. Line officers
were summoned to the colonel's presence, and
directed to march their respective companies to
quarters. The slips of paper contained the orders
for the several evolutions to be executed that after¬
noon. The loss was irreparable; our commander
did not remember the order for deploying column,
and was obliged to dismiss the drill. Day by day
46
Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
we improved; and the colonel thus found in a some¬
what ridiculous position proved himself one of the
ablest and bravest officers that ever served his
country.
We looked upon sergeants and corporals as in
some way necessary to facilitate drill, or something
of that sort; and, when they requested us to do any¬
thing which recommended itself to our judgment, we
at once obeyed—not otherwise. En route for the
South, and while the train was stopping, I jumped
out of the carriage to pick some berries on the side
of the track, whereupon a corporal ordered me back.
I did not even notice the command of this " superior
officer" until it had been several times repeated,
when at last I looked at him significantly and said :—
"Corporal S., you are forgetting yourself, sir;" and
thus the matter ended. Superiors learnt to give only
proper orders, and subordinates to obey them without
cavil, before we had been long upon hostile soil.
Life in Camp of Instruction was very enjoyable.
The weather was warm—too warm, perhaps—but
our tents were large and comfortable. Our food was
abundant, well cooked, and served in a large wooden
building inside the encampment. The tin cups and
plates in which our food was served seemed rather
a novelty at first; but we were not disposed to be
over particular, and did not grumble much. Our
regimental Sutler and the Madison shops furnished
us with whatever luxuries we desired. Probably
The way we made our Soldiers.
47
every company in the regiment had from two to a
dozen barrels of Lager Beer on tap. We were not
notoriously beer-drinkers; but some of the officers
started the practice, and it was considered the correct
thing to have a glass of beer to offer your friends
when they came to see you. We took pride in the
hospitality of the camp.
Our evening Dress-Parades were always well at¬
tended by the beauty and fashion of the surrounding
district, and by hundreds of friends of the soldiers
who visited our camp from all over the State. How
thoroughly disgusted we were at one of these parades,
when our major made us swear to defend a flag then
presented to us. He never regained the respect lost
by this piece of tomfoolery. The men of'6i—North
and South—did not require to swear to defend a flag.
We were at once disgusted and offended.
I was on camp-guard one morning in July, when
the sun appeared in dazzling splendour. A large
white fiery orb gradually ascending, dispelling the very
thin, scarcely visible mist of early morning, till finally
all was silvery clear and bright-—the heat increasing—
shining on the hard smooth drill-ground, on the tents
and roofs of buildings, till it seemed to recoil in
visible innumerable sparks and rays. I was relieved
from duty about ten o'clock, when I retired to my
tent for rest and sleep, soon to be disturbed, however,
by beating drums and an order to "fall in!" Tele¬
grams were read to us, first of success, and, within
48 Four Years m tJie Army of tJie Potomac,
a short time, of the complete defeat of our army at
Bull's Run. We were also informed that we should
leave for the front as soon as transportation could be
furnished—perhaps in a day or two. Then began
the telegraphing and writing home; and every train
brought some one dear to the soldier, until at last we
stood at the railway station, ready to enter the cars,
each of us conversing with mother, brother, friend,
or more than friend; receiving their blessing, and
pledges, and words of affection, through their
smiles and tears. God bless those who remained at
home! they never forgot us; and those we finally left
for ever beneath the pine tree and by the running
brook all over Virginia. And on the 24th of July,
1861, with the cheers of friends ringing in our ears,
we started for the enemy's country.
CHAPTER V.
"ALL QUIET ON THE POTOMAC/'
" Letter to sink beneath the shock
Than moulder piecemeal on the rock!"
BYnoN.
"Thus the evil of the moment contains the germ of good that is
enduring."—Greeley.
HE difference in the political faith of the
people of the Free and the Slave States
accounts for the great enthusiasm with
which they sprang to arms in both sections of the
country. The men of the South believed in the right
of secession: they were appealed to by those whom
, they trusted to take up arms in defence of their homes
and firesides. Was there ever a rallying cry better
intended to captivate and command brave men ? We
of the North, on the contrary, acknowledged the
supremacy of the Union and Constitution: we were
summoned to the field to save the Republic, and to
D
50 Four Years in tJte Army of the Potomac.
maintain the proposition, "that all men are created
equal." Was there ever a cause more worthy of
patriots? And the armies of the North and the
South were composed of men who looked upon the
conflict from these different standpoints. Partisan
writers have claimed all the courage, chivalry, and
humanity displayed during our struggle for one side,
while assigning all the cowardice, cruelty, and de¬
pravity to the other. I do not agree with them.
Jackson's men were equal to those of "The Iron
Brigade." I would be just; but more^ justice cannot
admit. That there were skulks and plunderers in the
contending armies of '6i is undoubtedly true; but
they were few. And with rare exceptions the officers
in command, on both sides, were honourable, humane
men, who would not tolerate lawless deeds. Certainly
no such acts had been perpetrated when Beauregard
issued his offensive manifesto. Even the opportunity
of committing the crimes insinuated by the fire-eating
advocate of the " black flag" and " the garrote" had
not been afforded us when, on the 5th of June, 1861,
the proclamation from which I quote was issued to
the people of Virginia.
General Beauregard said :—
"A reckless and unprincipled tyrant has invaded
your soil. Abraham Lincoln, regardless of all moral,
legal, and constitutional restraints, has thrown his
abolition hosts among you, who are murdering and
imprisoning your citizens, confiscating and destroying
"A// Quiet on the Potoniacr
51
your property, and committing other acts of violence
and outrage too shocking and revolting to humanity
to be enumerated.
"All rules of civilised warfare are abandoned, and
they proclaim by their acts, if not on their banners,
that their war-cry is, * beauty and booty.' All that is
dear to man—your honour, and that of your wives
and daughters—your fortunes and your lives, are
involved in this momentous contest.
" In the name, therefore, of the constituted authori¬
ties of the Confederate States—in the sacred cause of
constitutional liberty and self-government, for which
we are contending—in behalf of civilisation itself—I,
G. T. Beauregard, Brigadier-General of the Confederate
States, commanding at Camp Pickens, Manassas Junc¬
tion, do make this my proclamation, and invite and
enjoin you by every consideration dear to the hearts
of freemen and patriots, by the name and memory of
your revolutionary fathers, and by the purity and
sanctity of your domestic firesides, to rally to the
standard of your State and country."
After the battle of .Bull's Run, General Winfield
Scott felt that his age and physical infirmities
rendered him an incompetent match in warfare to
Johnston, Jackson, and Lee; and General McClellan
was called from Western Virginia to assume the
supreme command on the Potomac. The policy of
the Government regarding non-combatants, and pri¬
vate property, had been made known to us before the
52
Foui' Years in the Ai'iny of the Potomac.
advent of McClellan to the Army of the Potomac, in an
order issyed by his predecessor in active command,
General McDowell. We have seen the allegations
made by Beauregard on the fifth of J une ; let us now
read an extract from General Order No. 4, issued by
the Union Commander on the third of that month :—
"Statements of the amount, kind, and value of
all private property taken and used for Government
purposes, and of the damage done in any way to
private property by reason of the occupation of this
section of the country by the United States troops,
will, as soon as practicable, be made out and trans¬
mitted to department headquarters by the comman¬
ders of brigades and officers in charge of the several
fortifications. These statements will exhibit:—
First, The quantity of land taken possession of
for the several field-works, and the kind and value
of the crops growing thereon, if any.
" Second. The quantity of land used for the several
encampments, and the kind and value of the growing
crops, if any.
" Third. The number, size, and character of the
buildings appropriated to public purposes.
" Fourth. The quantity and value of trees cut down.
Fifth. The kind and extent of fencing, etc.,
destroyed.
" These statements will, as far as possible, give the
value of the property taken, or of the damage
sustained, and the name or names of the owners
"All Quiet 071 the Potomacr
53
thereof. Citizens who have sustained any damage or
loss as above will make their claims upon the com¬
manding officers of the troops by whom it was done,
or, in cases where these troops have moved away,
upon the commander nearest them."
This order was continued in force under McClellan.
Authorities differ concerning the military genius of
this officer. But, as the guardian of the enemy's
property, he will stand out upon the canvas of military
history of all time, peerless and without a rival. And
the men of the army were sandwiched, between the
calumny of Bombast Beauregard on one side, and
military etiquette run mad on the other, while it was
"all quiet on the Potomac" under the fastidious
regime of " Little Mac."
During these sentimental days, fugitive slaves were
not permitted to escape into the atmosphere of liberty.
To be an abolitionist was not respectable in high
places ; and to guard the fence rails of Virginia con¬
stituted the highest duty of the Federal Volunteer.
A premium was set upon dishonesty, and the rails
were stolen at every opportunity. William McGans,
a private of the Sixth Main Infantry, and a well-
known character in our brigade, was hurrying towards
the regimental camp one day, with two rails upon
his shoulder, when overtaken by our Commanding
General, who emphatically said:—
" Where are you going with those rails, sir ? Don't
you know that it's contrary to orders to take them ? "
54 Four Years in tJie Army of the Potomac,
William dropped his heav>^ burden, saluted the
officer, and, pointing to the stolen property, exclaimed:
" And does your honour call thim rails!"
The cool audacity of the soldier completely baffled
the Commander. General Hancock looked signifi¬
cantly at William, and then at the rails, and rode
away—out-generaled. Whenever an advance was
made, which was not often, the first great duty to be
performed by staff-offlcers was to post safe-guards far
and wide over the enemy's property. No time was
allowed for the soldier to partake of his humble fare
of coffee, hard bread, and pork: he must away, on
the " double quick," and vigilance keep over the pigs
and poultry of the surrounding district. During' the
Franco-Prussian war requisitions were made by the
Invader for champagne and cigars for the troops. We
did things differently on the Potomac and the James.
" I don't smoke, but I swear a little sometimes," said
Admiral Farragut to an eminent divine who offered
him a cigar upon one occasion. And during this
etiquette period we " swore a little sometimes."
The terms Free Speech and Free Trade are delusive,
and the uninitiated are liable to be deceived thereby.
However, when Lincoln took the reins of Government,
and Washington became filled with glistening bayonets,
" free speech " was no longer the mere stock-in-trade
of politicians. Under this new dispensation, and by
the consent of the Secretary of War, the musical
Hutchinson Family of New England came down to
''A// Quiet on the Potomacr
5S
the Northern camp on the Potomac to give field
concerts to the troops. They were hailed with great
delight everywhere, for they possessed musical powers
of rare excellence. But suddenly it was discovered
that abolition sentiments were being scattered in song
amongst the soldiers. An inspiring poem by Whittier
was the immediate cause of displeasure to General
McClellan: and the Hutchinsons were banished north¬
wards by the following order:—
"By direction of Major-General McClellan, the
permit given to the Hutchinson Family to sing in
the camps, and their pass to cross the Potomac, are
revoked, and they will not be allowed to sing to the
troops."
The poem which occasioned the coup-de-main is
Luther's Hymn, " Our God is a strong fortress," by
Whittier. But I cannot afford space for the stanzas
here.
The work of organising, drilling, and reviewing went
on with unerring regularity during the summer, autumn,
and winter of 1861. New regiments from the North
continued to arrive, until the Army of. the Potomac
numbered 200,000 men—a force double the strength
of the Army of Northern Virginia in our front. The
country grew impatient for an advance upon the
enemy. The Administration urged upon McClellan
the importance of victory towards sustaining the
national credit at home and abroad. But, no; we
must await the falling of the leaves, for batteries
56 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
masked by foliage had brought defeat to our army at
Bull's Run! And we waited, and the leaves dis¬
appeared, and the December snows fell upon frozen
ground ; and the world grew suspicious that the Army
of the Potomac was as immovable as the Virginian
hills upon which it was encamped.
A pretty poem, entitled "The Picket of the Poto¬
mac," went " the rounds of the press " during the time
of which I speak. It is said to have been found in the
pocket of a dead Confederate soldier who was shot
while walking his " beat." But the author's name has
never transpired, to my knowledge. The verses ought
to be preserved; their insertion here may not be con¬
sidered inappropriate.
" The Picket of the Potomac.
" * All quiet along the Potomac,' they say,
* Except now and then a stray picket
Is shot, as he walks on his beat to-and-fro,
By a rifleman hid in the thicket.'
'Tis nothing—a private or two, now and then,
Will not count in the tale of the battle ;
Not an officer lost—only one of the men
Breathing out all alone the death-rattle
All quiet along the Potomac to-night,
Where the soldiers lie peacefully dreaming;
Their tents in the ray of the clear autumn moon.
And the light of the watch-fires gleaming.
A tremulous sigh from the gentle night wind
Through the forest leaves slowly is creeping,
While the stars up above, with their glittering eyes,
Keep watch while the army is sleeping.
A// Quiet on tJie Potomaci*
S7
There's only the sound of the lone sentry's tread,
As he tramps from the rock to the fountain,
And thinks of the two in the low trundle bed,
Far away in the hut on the mountain.
His musket falls slack ; his face, dark and grim,
Grows gentle with memories tender,
As he mutters a prayer for the children asleep,
For their mother—may Heaven defend her !
The moon seems to shine as serenely as then.
That night when the love yet unspoken
Leaped up to his lips, and when low-murmured vows
Were pledged never more to be broken.
Then, drawing his sleeve roughly over his eyes,
He dashes the tears that are welling,
And gathers his gun closer up to his side,
As if to keep down the heart-swelling.
He passes the fountain, the blasted pine tree.
The footstep is lagging and weary;
Yet onward he glides, through the broad belt of light.
Towards the shade of a forest so dreary.
Hark ! Was it the night wind that rustled the leaves.?
Is't the moonlight so suddenly flashing?
It look'd like a rifle—' Ah ! Mary, good night!'
His life-blood is ebbing and dashing.
All quiet along the Potomac to-night;
No sound save the rush of the river ;
But the dew falls unseen on the face of the dead—
The picket's off duty for ever."
CHAPTER VI.
WITH McCLELLAN ON THE PENINSULA.
" The Austrians do not know the value of time."—Napoleon.
" He is 21,phenomenon; I would follow him blindfolded."
"Stonewall" Jackson.
RESIDENT LINCOLN advocated an
advance on Richmond by way of Man¬
assas Junction, while General McClellan
favoured a route via the peninsula formed by the
York and James rivers. The General carried his
point; and during the last da3^s of March, 1862, the
Army of the Potomac was transferred to the neigh¬
bourhood of Fortress Monroe. Our advance was
checked at Yorktown by a force under General
Magruder. We next encountered the enemy at
Williamsburg, where finally his position was turned by
Hancock's Brigade, and where the fate of the day was
decided—according to General McClellan—through
the gallantry' of the Fifth Wisconsin. Colonel Cobb
With McClellan on the Peninsula. 59
deployed three companies as skirmishers, and, support¬
ing them with the rest of the regiment, advanced
against Ewell's Brigade. The enemy's cavalry first
appeared, but were soon obliged to withdraw into the
woods. Ewell's infantry next moved forward in line,
and Colonel Cobb was ordered to " fall back, fighting!"
To fall back was contrary to every atom of the
Colonel's nature; but he endeavoured to obey the
General's order. Urged repeatedly to retire, Cobb
at last exclaimed : " By , I'll not fall back another
inch!" General Hancock was overlooking the situa¬
tion ; the enemy was close upon his brigade line, and
he is credited with having said to his men, "Now,
gentlemen, charge!" For the precise language used I
cannot vouch; that his brigade swept the field is a
matter of history. Two days after the fight General
McClellan rode up in front of the colors of our
regiment in line, and said:—" I have come to thank you
for the bravery and discipline which you displayed
the other day; on that day you won laurels of which
you may well be proud—not only you, but the army,
the State, and country to which you belong. Through
you we won the day, and * Williamsburg' shall be
inscribed upon your banner. I cannot thank you too
much; and I am sure the reputation your gallantry
has already achieved will always be maintained."
General Johnston, in command of the enemy,
withdrew his forces behind the extensive works
surrounding Richmond, constructed under the super-
6o
Foitr Years in tlie Army of tJle Potomac.
vision of General Lee, who had not, at that time,
assumed active field duty. By slow degrees we
reached the vicinity of the Confederate Capital.
Heintzelman's corps crossed to the south side of
Chickahominy River: the rest of our army remained
north of the stream. While professing no great
admiration for General McClellan as the commander
of an army of invasion., I estimate highly his military
knowledge and skill. It is, however, true, that
privates in the ranks severely criticised his action
in dividing the army by a stream liable, in the spring
of the year, to rise suddenly, overflow the swampy
bottom through which it runs, rendering it all but
impossible to reinforce either wing in the event of an
attack in force. I remember that private Thomas
Holmes, an able, educated man, spoke strongly upon
this point, when McClellan's disposition of the army
became known.
I was on picket duty on the 30th of May. During
the previous night heavy rains had fallen, and the
water was rising rapidly. From my post on the
river, I saw, during the forenoon, heavy columns of
"the men in grey," with banners flying, marching
along the opposite bluffs towards our left. Most
of our hurriedly-built bridges were swept away by
the flood : our picket line was withdrawn to higher
grounds in the rear, and all the bottom land was
soon inundated. Between one and two o'clock in
the afternoon heavy musketry firing was heard, and
Wit/i McClellan on the Peninsula^ 61
the Battle of Fair Oaks was raging. Two divisions
of Sumner's Corps, by wading the flood, waist deep,
preserving their cartridges dry by holding the boxes
aloft, reached the battle-field about sunset, in time to
stem the enemy's last charge, and save the left from
worse disaster. The fighting was continued during
the following day, without advantage to either side,
until finally the enemy withdrew at nightfall. Here
Johnston was seriously wounded in the side, and
Howard lost his arm.
Whilst walking my beat by the river, on the morn¬
ing of the Battle of Fair Oaks, the Officer of the
Picket came up and repeated the order to "keep a
sharp look-out." He next asked if I saw two
"rebels" concealed in the branches of a tree on the
other side of the Chickahominy ? He pointed to them.
What there was I saw; but not the two men. At
his suggestion I climbed a tree, and, from my elevated
position, skanned the branches carefully again. As I
slid rapidly down the trunk the bark caught, a ring
I wore, a present from a lady: it slipped from my
finger and fell into the muddy water beneath.
"Well," asked the officer, when I reached the
ground, " did you see them ? "
" Nonsense!" I replied, " there is nothing to see:
there are no men in the tree." I was annoyed at the
loss of my keepsake, and forgot for the moment that
the silly officer was my superior.
Imagination created a great many Southern soldiers
62
Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
about this time. McClellan talked of the superior
strength of the enemy from the moment he reached
the Peninsula until he withdrew from that scene of
disaster. On the i8th of June, however, he seemed to
take heart, for in a telegram to President Lincoln he
said:—
" After to-morrow, we shall fight the Rebel Army,
as soon as Providence will permit. We shall await
only a favourable condition of the earth and sky, and
the completion of some necessary preliminaries.''
But the golden hours were wasted, while the enemy
was gathering strength. The swamps of Yorktown
and the Chickahominy had told upon the health of
our men ; and, judging from my own brigade, the
sick list of the Army of the Potomac was never so
heavy as while we crawled along towards Richmond,
in 1862. Thousands of men who continued " on duty"
were suffering from a fever generated by the unhealthy,
swampy character of the district; and rations of whisky
and quinine were issued to the troops.
Leaving one corps under General Fitz-John Porter
on the north side of the Chickahominy, McClellan
crossed the river with the rest of the army. I believe
our brigade held the extreme right, south of the river.
The picket lines of the two armies were within a
hundred yards of each other, occupying opposite belts
of timber, divided—in Hancock's front—by a field of
wheat that promised a good yield. The safeguards of
the hostile camps were upon the most friendly terms,
PVit/i McClellan on the Peninsula. 63
riieeting occasionally in the centre of the wheat-field
to compare notes and have a chat. These visits were
contrary to orders, and comrades on the post always
kept a sharp look-out for the Officer of the Picket.
At other times, "Yankees" and "Johnnies"—for
these were the sobriquets we assigned to each other—
sustained a spicy conversation across the lines. We
sometimes got our water from the same brook, or
well—the "Blue" and the "Grey" filling their can¬
teens in turn. But the most interesting friendly scene
enacted by the pickets was at Mine Run. We had
been marched out of camp to attack the enemy's
position ; but owing to accidents and delays the plan
was abandoned. The forces of Meade and Lee occu¬
pied opposite heights. Mine Run flowed, a narrow
brook, through the intervening valley. The hostile
picket lines were stationed near the creek. A flock of
sheep also inhabited this neutral zone. The pickets
dropped their guns and went for the sheep, within
plain sight and to the great amusement of both
armies.
Bad blood was seldom displayed at the front. When
the pickets of either side received orders to " fire!" they
informed their opponents of the fact, if they had an
opportunity. Yes, we were friendly, and our mutual
respect increased as the war continued : but we parted
at last without regret.
While encamped on Golden's Farm, we were very
unexpectedly ordered to " brush up " and prepare for
64 Four Years in tJie Army of the Pofoiitac^
" inspection." We had not stood in line long when a
troop of horse was seen approaching from the left,
McClellan, accompanied by a soldierly-looking man,
below the medium height, rode side by side in
advance. The stranger was dark, with olive-tinted
skin, black hair and beard, which he wore full. He
was dressed in a dark blue suit and a cap decorated
by a gold embroidered band. He scanned us closely,
through a brilliant, piercing black eye, as he rode
past—Marshal Prim. The Count de Paris was on
McClellan's staff at that time. He was tall, lean,
youthful-looking; not a graceful rider when seen
alongside of "Little Mac," who looked a very
handsome soldier when mounted on his " Dan
Webster." But the Count had a kindly face, and was
a great favourite with the men.
We were fortunate in this visit of Marshal Prim.
Had it been postponed for a few days, the noted
Spaniard would have witnessed a smaller and less
presentable army, huddled together at Harrison's Bar.
CHAPTER VII.
THE SEVEN DAYS' FIGHTING BEFORE RICHMOND.
"But yesterday, and our country might
Have stood against the world; now lies she there,
And none so poor to do her reverence !"
Vide '' Julius C?esar."
"'Tis late before
The brave despair."
Thompson.
ENERAL ROBERT E. LEE assumed
command of the Army of Northern Vir¬
ginia in June, 1862; and, having called
to his support all available troops, including " Stone¬
wall" Jackson from the Shenandoah Valley, he threw
a large force against our right wing, on the north side
of the Chickahominy, near Mechanicsville. Early
next morning, McClellan ordered our forces back to
Gaines' Mill, where a battle was fought and a victory
won by the Confederate arms. The bulk of the Army
of Northern Virginia, led by Jackson, Ewell, and Hill,
under the immediate direction of General Lee, drove
E
66
Four Years in tJie Army of the Potomac,
our 30,000 men, under Porter, across the Chicka-
hominy, paying 8000 men for their triumph. Thus
began the " Seven days' fighting before Richmond."
On the 28th of June, the pickets covering Hancock's
front—which had suddenly become the right of the
army—were advanced to the middle of the wheat-
field mentioned in the last chapter, while the brigade
line of battle was formed upon the old picket line.
To sanguine men, unskilled in the art of war, this
looked like an advance; and we said to each other:
" McClellan has withdrawn Fitz-John Porter from the
north side of the creek and intends to throw his left
into Richmond." We were cautioned to keep a sharp
look-out all day. Arms were loaded; we had sixty
rounds of cartridge; there was that ominous stillness
in the air so well understood by veterans, and we knew
that fighting would soon commence. About sunset
our vedettes gave the alarm : bang! bang! Yes, there
was the enemy's line of battle, just across the narrow
field; and the business of the evening was begun.
I believe that the men of my regiment had averaged
firing about twenty-four cartridges when the repre¬
sentatives of the " Stars and Bars " withdrew. Some
of our miserable muskets became so hot, after firing
about twenty rounds, that those who fought with them
were obliged to pause; not at all a pleasant task
under the circumstances. These were arms of Belgian
manufacture ; there were but few of them in the
regiment, and I was one of the unfortunate holders of
llie Seven Days^ Fighting before Richmond. 67
these European stove-pipes. When the firing had
entirely ceased, it was discovered that one of our
vedettes had become demoralised at the first volley
from the enemy, and had retired from his post in
haste, without his cap, and bayonet. Colonel Cobb
censured him for his unsoldierly conduct. " Why,"
said the Colonel, "you have lost your bayonet, sir,
and your conduct demands punishment."
The German fellow-citizen replied : "Veil, ish bedder
I loose my bayonet ash loose my life!" The man was
a good soldier. He was between two fires when the
fight began, and time was important.
Next morning, our brigade line was swung back on
its left as a pivot, until we stood at right-angles with
the position upon which we had fought the night
before; and the idea of " a retreat" dawned upon us
for the first time. A "flank movement" and a
" change of base " are the more scholarly terms.
" What does this mean, Charley ?" I asked of a
comrade who stood next to me in the ranks.
" Don't you see it ? look behind you!" was his reply.
And there our Pioneer corps were busily engaged
burying picks, shovels, and other implements. " Evan,"
said my friend again, " I had never hoped to live to see
this day." And the tears were tumbling down his
cheeks. Poor Kavanaugh! he was quiet enough, in
the nameless grave, long before "Forward!" and "Vic¬
tory!" began to burst from the Northern column, on
brighter days and other fields.
68
Four Years m tJie Army of the Potomac.
We remained several hours in our new position,
the gallant Hancock riding up and down the line,
watching every move like a panther. What a source
of strength and joy he was to me, to all of us, on that
day, which tried our faith and prowess. Finally, we
marched by the right flank towards Savage Station.
Concerning this movement. General Lee's nephew
and biographer (Edward Lee Childe) says:—" Al¬
though Lee had no doubt about what was occurring,
everything was done in such order that he was not
assured of the Federal retreat till discovering, at
sunrise on the 29th, that their lines were abandoned."
Our brigade reached Savage Station before sunset;
and our eyes for the first time beheld the wholesale
destruction of property consequent upon retrograde
movements in warfare. Huge pyramids of hard bread
stood ready to be blown to the skies by kegs of
powder. Carbines, muskets, and fixed ammunition
were being rendered useless by men assigned to the
duty; loads of ground coffee lay soaking in floods
of whisky—nice decoction ! Darkness was approach¬
ing, and we stood ready to move off* towards White
Oak Swamp, when the victorious foe, under Magruder,
I think, opened fire upon our left. Hancock rode up
to the head of his brigade, and we followed him back,
marching in line of battle, through thick woods and
undergrowth, as far as the York River Railway,
where we remained until it was as dark as it becomes
in Southern climes in June. Finally, cautious and
The Seven Days^ Fighting before Richmond. 69
quiet, we withdrew, and marched all through the
night over narrow, muddy " corduroy " roads, recently
built, reaching our position at White Oak Swamp a
little before daybreak. Sumner's men, against the
forces of Magruder, did the fighting at the Station ;
but no serious attempt to carry our position was
made.
After about two hours' sleep in the Swamp, we
were moved to our position on the right. The
enemy's column soon appeared, and saluted us by
shelling our supply train, not yet out of park, creating
a panic among the mule drivers. I believe that all
unarmed men experience a considerable degree of
fear when the shells are bursting and tearing in their
immediate neighbourhood; and so it was with these
drivers. Some of them mounted their mules and
galloped off, leaving the wagons to their fate; and
more would have follov/ed the example but for the
armed guard which compelled them to do their duty.
The panic was not serious, and our train finally
moved out in good order. We were quietly lying
on our arms, endeavouring to extract the strength
from our coffee by the heat of the sun—fires being
prohibited—when the enemy opened the most terrific
cannonading I had yet heard, soon to be followed
by an assault on our left. The Confederates fought
desperately against a division of Pennsylvanians.
The battle on this part of the line continued inces¬
santly during the entire day. Charges and counter-
/O Fo2ir Years in the Army of the Potomac,
charges were made; batteries were captured and
recaptured ; and I believe our men held most of their
original ground when night put a stop to the carnage.
Soon after the general attack was made, our brigade
was ordered on the "double quick" to support the
left and centre. The day was excessively hot, and
men were dropping down from sunstroke and ex¬
haustion like hops. In this uncongenial swamp
I parted with all my baggage, letters, knapsack, and
most of my rations. The movement .was ordered
while I was hunting for the messengers from home
in my knapsack : I could not wait a moment without
losing my regiment, and that I would not do at such
a time; therefore, my letters were also reluctantly
left behind to be perused by the "Johnnies." Soldiers
are fond of this class of literature.
Night again came, followed by the customary order
to march—always in the wrong direction. This is
the night march so artistically pictured by correspon¬
dents, and I quote from one account cited in several
of the histories and biographies connected with
the American War. The writer says:—" Huddled
among the wagons were 10,000 stragglers—for the
credit of the nation be it said that four-fifths
of them were wounded, sick, or utterly exhausted,
and could not have stirred but for dread of the
tobacco warehouses of the South." In a retreat the
sick are sent in advance towards "the objective."
This writer evidently became entangled with these
The Seven Days' Fightmg before Richmond. 71
unfortunates. He continues :—" The confusion of this
herd of men and mules, wagons and wounded, men
on horses, men on foot, men by the road-side,
men perched on wagons, men searching for water,
men famishing for food, men lame and bleeding, men
with ghostly eyes looking out between bloody
bandages that hid the face—turn to some vivid
account of the most pitiful part of Napoleon's retreat
from Russia and fill in the picture—the grim, gaunt,
bloody picture of war in its most terrible features.
The night was dark and fearful; heavy thunder rolled
in turn along each point of the heavens, and dark
clouds spread the entire canopy. We were forbidden
to speak aloud; or, lest the light of a cigar should
present a target for an ambushed rifle, we were
cautioned not to smoke. Ten miles of weary march¬
ing with frequent halts, as some one of the hundred
vehicles of the artillery train in our centre by a slight
deviation crashed against a tree, wore away the hours
to dawn, when we debouched into a magnificent wheat-
field, and the smoke stack of the " Galena " was in sight.
Xenophon's remnant of ten thousand, shouting the sea!
the sea! were not more glad than we."
The picture is exaggerated, but the night march was
certainly unique. Talking and smoking were pro¬
hibited, but we did, however, talk and smoke. I
remember, during a temporary halt—and it wasn't so
" dark and fearful" as the correspondent of the
Trihime would have us believe—a solitary cavalier
72 Four Years in the Artny of the Potomac.
^
straggled into our line of march, and in a whining
voice said that he belonged to the First of New York
Cavalry, and that he was ashamed of his regiment.
He was asked by Holmes: " Where's your regi¬
ment ? " " All ran away but me." (Chorus of subdued
laughter.) Holmes : " Don't you know that we are
hungry ? Move off with that frame of yours!" And
we removed the rail-fence, and led our inebriate friend
into the field, where there was more room for him to
manoeuvre. Frank Lee lighted his pipe, and when
a sergeant reminded him that smoking was contrary
to orders, Frank replied : " Oh, you never mind, if we
are to have a fight this is as good a place as any." I
instance these otherwise unimportant facts to show
the spirit of the mefi who carried muskets during the
" Seven days."
We reached the open field on the James about day¬
light, and our short sleep was soon disturbed by the
scorching rays of a Virginia midsummer sun. As
day advanced, we again moved to our place in the line
on the extreme right. About a third of our army
had reached this position the previous day, and were
strongly entrenched before the Confederate columns
appeared ; and it is well established by the evidence of
contemporary historians that Lee's entire force was
engaged in the effort to carry the position at Malvern
Hill, held by a part of our army. They charged our
ranks desperately, repeatedly, but never made even
a temporary lodgment on our position ; at last they
The Seven Days' Fighting before Richmond. 73
became demoralised, and fell back in great disorder.
Hooker, Kearney, and others of our generals were
eager for an advance—McClellan refused.
. There has been much controversy as to whether
McClellan was on board the "Galena" during the
battle of Malvern Hill. When the sound of musketry
had nearly died away, and night was closing in upon
us, the Commander-in-Chief, accompanied by a few
general officers, and a small escort of cavalry, .rode
up to General Hancock, at the head of the Fifth
Wisconsin in line of battle, and remained with us for
at least half-an-hour, when he went away towards
our right rear. James Parkinson, a member of my
company, detailed as draughtsman at corps head¬
quarters, overheard McClellan say to Hancock and
other generals at this meeting, that it was " all right."
Parkinson very kindly brought this piece of informa¬
tion to his friends and comrades ; and I remember
that some of us remarked that it was " all wrong!"
We started from this position about midnight.
Heavy rains had fallen daily, probably owing to the
continuous firing of artillery, and the so-called roads
in this section of Virginia were little else than deep
and sticky sheets of mud, all but impassable. Rapid
marching was required of us up and down the
slippery hillocks en route^ and hundreds of men were
crippled or disabled for ever through the superhuman
struggle they made to keep on their feet, and in their
places in the ranks. I conclude that we formed the
74 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
rear-guard of the army this day, for after daylight we
were annoyed by Stuart's cavalry, and marched in
the fields adjoining the roads, so that formation might
be possible, should they charge down upon us.
" Column against cavalry!" was executed ; and a
quaint picture was presented by the men while per¬
forming the evolution, without much military precision
or dash, but with paternal solicitude concerning their
guns, lest the pouring rain should reach the vital
spot—the nipple. In moments like these a weapon
of destruction becomes a man's best friend; and,
while cleaning his musket after a campaign, I have
heard the volunteer talk in terms of endearment to
the weapon that served him through the trying times.
We reached Harrison's Landing on the 2nd of July.
On the Fourth — Independence Day — the enemy
assailed our outposts for the last ^ time during this
memorable campaign, and our line of battle was
again formed to receive the exultant foe. In our
rear a battery was firing the national salute; and the
voice of the Founder of America seemed to speak
through the peaceful sound and smoke of the anni¬
versary cannons: " Let not the ship of Union go
down!" "Not yet!" answered the ready cheer and
the resolute eye of careworn weary Northmen in the
night of hunger and defeat: " She shall again take the
onward course—
'Against the wind, against the tide,
Still steady with an upright keel.'"
CHAPTER VIIL
lee's invasion.—antietam.
" At home he conquered oft, but when
He brought his legions to the soil
"Where Slavery could not live,—'twas then
The Northmen forced him to recoil,
His banners trailing in the dust! "
Anon.
" 'Twas then that Athens the foundations laid
Of Liberty's fair structure."
Pindar.
STORY passed current in the Army of
the Potomac, that a Union soldier who
had been wounded at Gainsville was
lying at one of the general hospitals, Washington,
in a weak, exhausted state, when an army chaplain
approached his bedside, and, by consent, read a
chapter from the Bible: he selected the First of
Jonah, which speaks of the prophet and the whale.
The wounded man listened attentively while the
divine read the Scriptures, and then, with a feeble
76
Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
voice, said: "Just see if 'John Pope' is not at the
bottom of that." Poor fellow, he was probably
delirious.
Major-General Pope assumed command of the
Army of Virginia with a grand flourish. On the 14th
of July he issued a general order at once offensive
and absurd. " I have come to you from the West,"
said he, " where we have always seen the backs of our
enemies—from an army whose business it has been to
seek the adversary, and to beat him when found—
whose policy has been attack, and not defence. . . .
I desire you to dismiss from your minds certain
phrases which I am sorry to find in vogue amongst
you. I hear constantly of taking strong positions and
holding them—of lines of retreat and of bases of
supplies. Let us discard such ideas. Let us study
the probable linea of retreat of our opponents, and
leave our own to take care of themselves. Let us
look before, and not behind. Success and glory are
in the advance. Disaster and shame lurk in the rear."
General Pope issued orders " from the saddle," and
demonstrated by his gushing effusions that he did not
comprehend the magnitude and difficulty of the task
he had been called upon to perform. He was beyond
his depth ; but he did his best when the terrible ordeal
came. Let us now glance at another picture.
About the middle of August we evacuated our
strongly-entrenched position at Harrison's Bar, and
embarked for Northern Virginia, to reinforce General
Lee^s Invasio7i: Ayitietam.
77
Pope, who, in turn, was receiving the attention of Lee
and Jackson. Soon after the march was commenced,
Dr. Castleman, the surgeon of our regiment, rode up,
beckoned me to him, and asked :—
" Where are we going, Jones ? "
"To help Pope," was my reply.
"He will not be permitted to win a victory!" said
the Doctor.
I knew that the half-way house patriotism of some
of our generals had contributed towards the defeat
of our arms during the early days of the rebellion ;
that rivalry and jealousy existed between officers high
in command; and that General Pope had rendered
himself personally unpopular with both the officers
and men of the Army of the Potomac by issuing the
manifestoes already referred to; but I was not pre¬
pared to credit our surgeon's prediction. The safety
of our national capital, if not the life of the nation
itself, was imperilled, and I expected nothing less than
united effort—a full measure of devotion—from every
general who fought under the Union flag. I was
mistaken. Some of our commanders withheld from
General Pope the support within their power to
accord him; and he was defeated. Despatch after
despatch reached McClellan, at Alexandria, urging
him to push Franklin's Corps forward in time for
effective service in the campaign. All manner of
real or imaginary reasons were given for delay:
the prompt and vigorous action required by the
78
Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
emergency was withheld. And on the fatal 30th of
August, after our (Franklin's) corps finally started for
the front, we were marched into a field, early in the
afternoon, and indulged with a two hours' rest, within
hearing of the guns at Gainsville. We knew that
Fairchild and the " Iron Brigade," of our own State,
were in the smoke and din of the conflict, and we
should have liked an opportunity to give them a
helping hand: but no. When at dusk we were
marching into position at Centreville—and the day
was already lost—a courier met us: he was agitated,
and kept exclaiming as he rode by: "Too late, boys!
too late!" And in spite of " the articles of war," some
of our men replied—" It's not our fault 1"
Far away to our right front we could see clouds
of dust ascending from Lee's victorious marching
columns, headed for the North: an invasion of the
loyal States was inaugurated. Soon after we reached
Centreville, the one-armed General, Phil. Kearney,
at the head of his division, rode past us towards our
right rear. We cheered him—he was the pet of the
army—and he took the bridle-rein in his teeth and
lifted his cap. Gallant Kearney I Proud, unyielding
spirit. "Forward!" ever on his lip, and triumph in his
eye. We never saw him more. He was shot through
the heart that night while leading a charge which
drove "Stonewall" Jackson from our flank and rear.
A braver soldier never fell.
General Pope was defeated, and the chief command
Lee^s Invasiofi: Ajitietam,
79
of the forces around Washington again devolved upon
McClellan, who, at all events, was an abler officer than
Pope. Lee's army of invasion advanced rapidly into
Maryland and Pennsylvania. The destruction of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the work assigned
to "Stonewall" Jackson. McLaws was ordered to
move upon and capture Harper's Ferry. Both tasks
were accomplished. The Army of the Potomac, by
rapid marches, came upon the enemy's columns in
possession of the passes through South Mountain.
They were strong defensive positions; but our men
charged right up the mountain and forced a passage.
Our division fought at Crampton's Gap, against Howell
Cobb's command. I was surprised to find so many
dead and wounded Confederates on the field, for our
loss was not heavy. From their high elevation the
enemy must have shot over the heads of our men,
who were advancing from the valley, and more liable
to fire too low—a mistake seldom committed in battle.
Further north, at Turner's Gap, our men won the day
against the forces of Longstreet and Hill: here Reno
fell. Next day we descended into the beautiful Pleasant
Valley. Harper's Ferry was lost: but the sun was
shining. While passing through a village in the valley
a little child in its mother's arms sprang towards me,
out of its mother's control, and into my embrace. All
the money in my possession consisted of that pretty,
tiny coin, a one dollar gold piece ; I gave it to the
child. Ihe heart throbs, and the mind runs to money!
8o
Four Years m the Army of the Potomac.
The vigorous pursuit made by McClellan had neither
been expected nor calculated upon by the Confederate
Chief. The Army of the Potomac, flushed with de¬
cided victories under great disadvantage of position,
was continually menacing the enemy's rear; and Lee
found it necessary to offer battle. Towards evening,
on the 15 th of September, the Army of Northern
Virginia, about 60,000 strong, was drawn up along
the western banks of a small tributary of the Poto¬
mac, called Antietam Creek, ready to dispute with
McClellan the right of way.
Our division (Smith's) reached the battlefield during
the forenoon of the 17th. On our way to the front we
passed a group of prisoners, under guard, in a farm¬
yard. One of our chaplains was making an oratorical
attempt to convince them of the errors of their ways.
When we discovered in what manner of unmanly, un-
chivalrous business he was engaged, we sent him with
such a storm of groans, howls, and cries of—" Shut
up!" "Go home, you old fool!" etc., that his harangue
was brought to an abrupt termination. The chaplain
was properly reproved, and the prisoners laughed
heartily at his discomfiture. The man in holy orders
must have been a " raw recruit," else he would have
known that to crow over prisoners did not belong to a
soldier's code. Upon reaching the battlefield we were
ordered into division columns, and our gallant com¬
mander Hancock rode up and thus addressed us:—
" Men, this will probably be the last battle of the war
Lees Invasion : Antietain.
8i
if we win. Do your duty as you have hitherto done
at Williamsburg and elsewhere, and I ask no more ;"
then turning in his saddle, and pointing towards Lee's
formation, he said—The enemy has the Potomac in
his rear." We caught the inspiration, and felt that
the forces of rebellion should be crowded back into the
river. The words spoken by our chief were worthy
of the faithful and brilliant representative of one of
our most distinguished revolutionary families.* The
prairies and pineries of the West were neglected,
for the men were "gone to the war;" the fair
fields of the South were being devastated by hostile
armies—legitimate commerce languished, and our
mercantile marine was disappearing from the high
seas—all true. But a crowning victory on this field
would result in a compromise, and " the Union as it
was," for the sword of Liberty was not yet drawn.
The work assigned our division was to capture and
hold the memorable cornfield on the right—the much-
coveted prize of both commanders, already thrice lost
and won this day, and now covered with dead and
wounded from most of the States represented on
our banners. The soil was soaked in blood. We
formed in the ploughed field; the Fifth Wisconsin
* The following interesting bit of Centennial news is taken
from the Newcastle Chronicle of 26th March, 1774:—"A sloop
of war sailed fourteen days ago from Plymouth for Boston, to
bring to England in irons Messrs. Hancock, Row, Adams, and
Mcintosh. The latter has been very active among the lower
order of the people ; the others among the higher."
F
S2 Four Years in tJie Army of the Potomac.
and Sixth Maine composed the front line of battle;
the order to charge was given. Another shall tell how
the command was executed. " It was no sooner said
than done," says Greeley. " The regiments, cheering,
went forward on a run, swept through the cornfield
and the woods, cleared them in ten minutes, and held
them. Their rush was so sudden and unexpected that
their loss was comparatively small; and the ground
thus retaken was not again lost."
A remarkable incident occurred during this move¬
ment which I will recount. After taking up our
position at Centreville, during Pope's campaign, I
took a short walk down the road leading towards
Manassas, accompanied by two comrades: of course,
there was no enemy in our immediate front. We saw
approaching our lines a moving heap, which turned
out to be a black man loaded down with knapsacks,
etc., abandoned by soldiers who were in a greater
hurry than their sable-skinned brother.
" Where are you going. Sambo ? " asked one of us.
" Where I is gwine!—^yah!—yah! Whar you spec ?
I is gwine to you all o' course." He was amused at the
question, and laughed heartily. He gave a significant
look towards the rear, and moved along; the knap¬
sacks, haversacks, pots and pans which hung around
him coming into collision and jingling at every step.
" Which way have the * Johnnies' gone ? " we asked.
" Dat-a-way,'* said he, indicating the northerly
direction with his head.
Leds Invasion: Antietain.
83
We got a situation for the fugitive as cook to the
surgeon of the regiment, who gave him the rank of
"colonel." At the request of our regimental com¬
mander, Sambo was promoted to " general" in a day
or two; and by this title he was known to all the
men. His former owner belonged to an Alabama
regiment; and while following us up, after the charge
at Antietam, the " general" was brought face to face
with his old master, who was lying seriously wounded
at the foot of a tree in the belt of timber which
divided the ploughed and corn fields already spoken
of. The negro was rivetted to the ground by the
sight of his old owner, who said to him :—
" Where have you been, Joe ? Come here, sir!"
The " general" gradually regained control over his
voice and legs, and, after saying, "Very sorry, mas'r.
Can't stay wid you ; I must go wid de doctor now," he
took to his heels and ran like a deer until he reached
his new master and protector, to whom he related his
experience. The "general's" account of the unex¬
pected meeting was verified by several members of
the Hospital squad, who saw and heard all that
transpired. .
Simultaneously with our carrying the cornfield,
Richardson was mortally wounded, and our com¬
mander left his old brigade to take charge of the
fallen general's division. Hancock had long since
merited the promotion he now received; and, though
he never returned to us, he neither lost sight of us,
84 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
nor we of him. Between commander and men there
had been absolute faith; and upon this rock we
established the fame of Hancock's Brigade. Colonel
Cobb assumed the command.
I remember seeing General Mansfield, mounted
upon a magnificent horse, riding along our front towards
the left, this day. He was already past the age for
active campaigning; but the youngest of our com¬
manders was not more indifferent to the whispering
Minie than he. Dressed in full uniform, his snow-white
hair streaming down his shoulders; riding well, and
proudly glancing over the field, he seemed superior
to the strife, defying death. He was mortally
wounded within an hour, and died two days later.
I saw General Thomas Francis Meagher, also, about
this time, riding up and down the field, unattended by
aid or orderly, or fear. He had been wounded earlier
in the day, and was, I presume, looking for his
brigade. Eloquent and brave, alas for Meagher!
He fell from the deck of a steamer in Montana, on
the 1st of July, 1867, and was drowned.
Something over half a mile to our left two brigades
were fighting in the open field. Neither attempted to
advance; each seemed content to hold its own, with
never a thought of retiring. There they stood, upon
the highest ground on the battlefield, within sight of
the hostile armies, challenging the admiration of both.
They kept loading and firing, and melting away at
every pull of the trigger. Finally a shotted battery
Lees Invasion : Antietain,
85
was pushed forward by hand, from the woods we had
just carried, and the contents of six cannons were
hurled into the flank of Lee's brigade, and for a moment
the duel was veiled from us by the smoke. When
it cleared up again, both lines had disappeared. The
enemy had at last been forced to retire, and the hand¬
ful remaining of the Union band were withdrawn from
their advanced position. Both armies rested on their
arms during the next day—the i8th—and, leaving
his dead and severely wounded in our hands, Lee
retreated beyond the Potomac that night. I had an
opportunity for examining the ground upon which the
two brigades just mentioned fought their battle, when
we moved forward on the morning of the 19th.
Their lines were easily distinguished, for the " grey"
and " blue," in parallels, within short musket range of
each other, were calm and cold in death.
The best blood in America discoloured the banks
of Antietam Creek. Mothers and widows would
weep, and children would cry for bread through
the cruel work done on the cornfields of Maryland
during these September days of '62. But the cause of
all this shall be removed. A well-steeled axe, in the
mighty grasp of Lincoln, is already levelled at the
Upas tree that for ages has cursed Columbia.
CHAPTER IX
SLAVERY.—EMANCIPATION.
"The greatest nation is that which does most for humanity."
Chaeles Stjmnee.
"For what avail
The plough and sail,
Or land or life,
If freedom fail ?"
Emeeson.
UMAN slavery is as old as Noah: and
its advocates in America were wont to
furnish passages from the Bible to prove
that it was recognised in the word of God, and
was, therefore, a sacred thing, entitled to receive the
sanction and protection of law and civilised society.
The wandering Arabs of the African desert have
perpetuated slavery from the time of Ismael. Africa
has been the hot-bed of this human disgrace from
the earliest history—a never-failing market whence
Europe and America were supplied with black slaves.
Slavery : Emancipatiori,
B/
There can be little doubt but what slavery is the
result of war and conquest. Savage chiefs found it
more profitable to sell their captives into bondage
than to put them to death. Nor was the system
confined to savages. It was practised by Plutarch's
men. Philip of Macedonia, and his great son,
Alexander, sold their prisoners of war. Fabius re¬
duced 30,000 of the citizens of Tarentum into servi¬
tude. The accomplished Camillus paid the Roman
ladies for the jewels they presented to Apollo with
the proceeds of the sale of his Etrurian captives.
And Caesar sold into slavery upwards of 50,000 men
captured in warfare.
Slaves and quadrupeds were accounted equals, by
the ancients, in contemplation of law. Neither were
the people of America, in the nineteenth century of
Christian light and love, much in advance of the
citizens of ancient Greece and Rome, else Chief-
Justice Taney had never delivered the " Dred Scott
decision;" a judicial utterance which denied to the
negro a right to be heard in the Supreme Court,
when his liberty was at stake; and which reproduced,
with commendation, the barbarous creed of more
barbarous ages—viz., that the negro "had no rights
which the white man was bound to respect." The
Chief-Justice pronounced this opinion as "fixed and
universal; an axiom in morals as well as in politicsP
Spaniards and Portuguese introduced slavery into
Europe long before Columbus discovered America:
88
Four Years in tJie Army of tJie Potomac.
and we find traces of the institution in the land,
" where freedom broadens slowly down," as early as
the reign of Alfred the Great. A statute of that
period provided that " the purchase of a man, a horse,
or an ox, without a voucher to warrant the sale, was
strictly prohibited." Queen Elizabeth swept away
the remaining traces of this atrocity from English
soil in 1574; and towards this Island of the Sea the
friends of freedom, all over the world, for ages have
turned their faces for sympathy and support: nor turned
they here in vain. The chorus of Liberty was swelled
by the voices of Clarkson, and Wilberforce, and Fox ;
and under the Premiership of Earl Grey complete
emancipation by compensation was effected in the
British Colonies. Americans were acquainted with
this brilliant page of history. Sumner, and Whittier,
and Phillips turned to England, never doubting for
the moral support of her men of influence, when the
Slave Power in the United States sought to establish
a Slaveholders' Government upon the ruins of the
American Union. What did they witness ? Leaders
in English politics—men professing Liberal principles,
forsooth—stepping down from the pedestals of states¬
men to become the pettifoggers and special pleaders
of the Government established upon slavery as its
corner-stone. But Bright, and Cobden, and Cowen,
supported by the people, " kept the bridge," and saved
the English name from disgrace.
The "Mayflower," with her precious cargo of
Slavery: Emancipation
89
Puritans—men and women of learning, piety, and
heroism—reached the shores of New England during
the winter of 1620. In the month of August of the
same year, a Dutch ship entered the James River,
having on board twenty African slaves. They were
purchased by the Virginia colonists; and they and
their offspring were held in perpetual bondage.
The twenty Africans landed upon the shores of
Chesapeake Bay formed the germ of negro slavery
in America, which, under the fostering care and
royal protection of Queen Anne and her succes¬
sors, rapidly grew until its poisonous branches
cast a dark, defiant shadow all over the land,
Trade in rice, cotton, and tobacco on the one side,
and in the luxuries of life on the other, between
the Southern Colonies and the Mother Country, grew
rapidly into an important profitable commerce. Slave
labour brought riches and ease in its train. The
stamp of aristocracy followed the possession of
droves of negroes, as in Europe that distinction
is accorded to the owners of broad acres: and slavery
became fashionable. The foremost men in the Colo¬
nies were, however, decidedly opposed to the institu¬
tion. Jefferson, in his original draft of the Declaration
of Independence, arraigned the English King for
forcing an " execrable commerce," traffic in men from
Africa, upon his American Colonies. But the clause
was "struck out," says the illustrious author, "in
complaisance to South Carolina and Georgia, who had
90 Foiw Years m tJie Army of the Potomac.
never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves,
and who, on the contrary, still wished to continue it."
While the Articles of Confederation were being con¬
sidered, the status of a slave came up for discussion in
connection with taxation. The committee of the
Convention, appointed for the purpose, submitted a
plan which required each State to furnish supplies to
the General Government in proportion to the number
of inhabitants in such State. This proposition in¬
cluded slaves as inhabitants. It was favoured by
Adams, Franklin, and even Harison of Virginia; but
the consideration of the question was postponed,
probably owing to the remarks of Mr. Lynch of
South Carolina, who boldly and emphatically ex¬
pressed the sentiments of the Southern Colonies. He
said : " Our slaves are our property; if that is debated,
there is an end to the Confederation." During the
following year—1777—Congress again discussed the
subject; and a motion was adopted exempting slaves
from all taxation. Slavery was already an aggressive
power in America; and this was the first of a series of
Southern political victories. The tide of defeat set in
with the elevation of Abraham Lincoln to the Chief
Magistracy of the United States.
While President Lincoln, and the party who elected
and sustained him, disavowed any intention to inter¬
fere with the local institutions of the States in time of
peace, they maintained the right to abolish slavery in
the rebellious district, as a war measure—as a means
Slavery : Emancipation.
91
for saving the Union. This view of the question was
asserted by Patrick Henr>', the Virginian patriot and
orator, before the Constitution of the country was
adopted. And when, in 1842, the annexation of
Texas, and the probability of a war with Mexico in
consequence, were receiving the attention of Congress,
John Quincy Adams, the representative from Massa¬
chusetts, sustained the position of Mr. Henry. Mr.
Adams said:—
m
" I say that the military authority takes for the time
(during a state of war) the place of all municipal
institutions, and of slavery among the rest; and that
under that state of things, so far from its being true
that the States where slavery exists have the exclusive
management of the subject, not only the President of
the United States, but the Commander of the Army,
has power to order the universal emancipation of the
slaves."
Edward Everett, and other eminent statesmen of our
own time, shared with Lincoln the opinion that the right
to emancipate the slaves in the revolting States rested in
the hands of the Federal Government. When and how
to exercise this right demanded the skill of a statesman.
The apologists of the Southern Confederacy in Europe
complained because the President did not abolish
slavery at the outbreak of the rebellion. Such a step,
taken at that time, would have driven the border
States into the Confederate compact; the pro-slavery
party in the North would have openly pronounced
92
Foiir Years in tJu Army of the Potomac.
against the war, and it is altogether probable that the
independence of the South would have been assured.
The President's first Inaugural Address was a peace-
offering to the South: it was rejected. In his message
to Congress, in December following, the policy of
emancipation was foreshadowed in these words:—
"The Union must be preserved, and hence all indis¬
pensable means must be employed." On the 6th of
March, 1862, he suggested to Congress the wisdom of
offering pecuniary aid to such slaveholding States as
would adopt measures of gradual emancipation. The
language of the President grew stronger as public
opinion ripened. In the message of the 6th of March
he hinted at emancipation, as a possible war measure,
as follows:—■
"Resistance (to the national authority) continues,
and the war must also continue; and it is impossible
to foresee all the incidents which may attend, and all
the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem in¬
dispensable, or may obviously promise great efficiency
towards ending the struggle must and will come."
The policy of gradual emancipation by compensa¬
tion, recommended by the President, received the
sanction of Congress; but not one of the slaveholding
States availed themselves of the pecuniary aid proffered
by the General Government. The first gun of
American liberty was fired on the i6th of April,
1862, when the President signed the bill passed by
Congress, making free by compensation the slaves
Slavery : Emancipation,
93
of the District of Columbia. The full realisation of
Jefferson's proposition, "that all men are created
equal," had yet to come.
About the end of July, or the beginning of August,
1862, President Lincoln convened a Cabinet Council,
and submitted for the consideration of his Ministers
a proclamation of emancipation. Secretary Chase
wished the language stronger in reference to arming the
blacks. The Postmaster-General (Mr. Blair) was afraid
the policy would cost the Administration the elections
which would take place during the ensuing autumn;
but the objections raised by Secretary Seward alone
had any weight with the President. The Secretary of
State approved the proclamation, but advised Mr.
Lincoln to await a victory to the Union arms before
giving it to the country. He dreaded the effect of
so important a step upon the Union States, while
the public mind was depressed in consequence of
McClellan's defeat in front of Richmond. " It may be
viewed," said Mr. Seward, " as the last measure of an
exhausted Government—a cry for help—the Govern¬
ment stretching its hands to Ethiopia, instead of
Ethiopia stretching forth her hands to the Govern¬
ment ; our last shriek on the retreat." The President
acknowledged the soundness of Mr. Seward's views,
and laid aside his proclamation. But his mind was
made up to take the grand step ; and, notwithstanding
the reverses sustained by the Federal armies under
General Pope, he never wavered in his purpose.
94 Four Years in tJie Army of tiie Potomac,
On the 13th of September, while General Lee and
his army were north of the Potomac, in Maryland and
Pennsylvania, a deputation from the various Pro¬
testant denominations of Chicago called upon the
President and presented a memorial, urging him at
once to issue a proclamation freeing the slaves of
the South. Such a document had already been pre¬
pared and considered; and Lincoln had " made a
solemn vow before God, that if General Lee were driven
back from Pennsylvania^ he would crown the result
by the declaration of freedom to the slaves!' Notwith¬
standing this, he recapitulated the arguments which
might be advanced against the measure, and asked :—
"What good would a proclamation of emancipation
from me do, especially as we are now situated ? " He
continued: " I do not want to issue a document that
the whole world will see must necessarily be in¬
operative, like the Pope's bull against the comet! "
The battles of South Mountain and Antietam were
fought and won, and the " delegation direct from the
Almighty " had scarcely reached their Western homes
when the measure of freedom flashed like lightning
through the land. Antietam was fought on Wednes¬
day ; by the following Monday, the 22nd of September,
1862, the document had been discussed by the Cabinet
and promulgated. It proclaimed that slavery would
be abolished in all the States found in rebellion
against the Government on the ist of January, 1863,
On that day, the engrossed copy of the proclamation
Slavery : Emancipation,
95
freeing the slaves was carried to Lincoln, to sign, by
the Assistant Secretary of State. According to the
custom in America on New Year's day, the President
had been receiving callers, and shaking hands by
hundreds. His signature indicated an unsteady hand.
He looked at it for a moment, and then, smiling,
exclaimed: " When people see that shaky signature
they will say:—* See how uncertain he was!' But I
never was surer of anything in my life!" The scab¬
bard was now flung to the rear. Our enemies in
Europe were disarmed. But the darkest and most
doubtful days in the history of the Republic were
not yet past.
CHAPTER X.
THE DOUBTFUL DAYS.
'* Freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son,
Though battled oft is ever won."
Byron.
00KING back at the war through the
light of history, I often marvel that a
doubt never crossed my mind of the final
triumph of our arms. Youth and health, and a san¬
guine temperament, kept steadfast my faith. Nor can
I now recall a single doubt expressed by any of my
comrades at the front.
Later on in the war than the period of which I write
—that following emancipation—I was at home in Mil¬
waukee on leave of absence. Meeting my old friend
H., of a former chapter, we turned into a saloon for a
chat and a glass of Lager. We were soon joined by
an ex-sergeant of my old company, who had been dis-
The Doubtful Days.
97
charged from the service. He undertook to convince
me that the North must fail; that the war for the
Union had been converted into an Abolition crusade;
and that, therefore, the South would win, and
deservedly so. I replied:—
"You seem to forget that the men at the front are
made of better stuff than you are."
He was a fierce-Xodkmg man, but had proved him¬
self a miserable soldier. From past experience during
over four years in the field, I question the courage of
all fierce-looking men. The ex-sergeant grew wrath
and eloquent at my not very complimentary remark.
He would face ten thousand bayonets for his convic¬
tions ! He seemed disposed to render me physically
incapable of further service in Virginia. But my
friend H. held him, and thus preserved me. Presently,
when the coast was clear, I came into rapid collision
with him (I was young and perhaps foolish then).
Without going into particulars, I may say that, in
consequence of the collision, the ex-sergeant rushed
off to the Municipal Court and applied for a
warrant for my arrest. Fortunately, H. was under-
sheriff of Milwaukee that year. He followed the
fierce one to the court-house, and managed to dissuade
him from vindicating the law upon me. At all events,
the process was stopped. This ex-sergeant was a fair
sample of that despicable set of people not inap¬
propriately called " copperheads." I admire the men
of the South against whom I fought. I entertain
G
98 Four Year's in the Army of the Potomac.
towards them the most friendly spirit. But these
Northern "copperheads," who harassed the Adminis¬
tration, and embarrassed the army, were a cowardly
contemptible set, whom nobody could or can respect.
The immediate effect of the Emancipation Procla¬
mation was to unite the South and divide the North.
Many loyal Republicans questioned the wisdom of the
measure. Democrats opposed, while the dagger-
speaking " copperheads " denounced it in bitter terms.
They would not stand shoulder to shoulder with
" niggers !" nor fight for them—:as if there was the
remotest possibility of their fighting by the side, or
for the sake, of anybody. A mass meeting of these
fastidious patriots was held in Lincoln's own State,
Illinois. He addressed them a powerful letter in his
characteristic, inimitable style. It closed as follows:—
" There will be some black men who can remember
that with silent tongue and clenched teeth, and steady
eye and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind
in this great consummation ; while, I fear, there will be
some white ones unable to forget that with malignant
heart and deceitful speech they have striven to hinder
it."
"The cradle and the grave" was robbed in the
South to swell the army and uphold slavery. Mean¬
while, the much-despised blacks were left at home to
guard the property and defend the sanctity of Southern
hearths and homes; and in no single instance did
they violate the master's confidence! They knew the
The Doubtful Days.
99
merits of the contest—that their liberty, aye, their
liberty^ was staked upon the issue. And yet, with
simple faith in heaven, loyalty to their pledge, devo¬
tion to duty, they hoed the corn, fed the cattle, and
nursed the children, " while massa was gone to de war."
Such loyalty, such devotion, finds no parallel in
history; and challenges the admiration of all time.
Lincoln was once informed by a friend that a
prominent member of his Cabinet was a rival candi¬
date for the Presidency. "What matters it," replied
Lincoln. " He is an excellent Minister." He con¬
tinued : " When my brother was ploughing, in early
life, I ran along with a switch to keep a lazy old horse
up to his work. Suddenly the animal started at a brisk
pace, uninfluenced by any beating. I suddenly dis¬
covered that he was being tormented by a large fly,
and I brushed it off, whereupon my brother said:
* What did you do that for ? It was the fly that made
him go.' If the Presidential fly is stinging," added
Lincoln, " don't brush it off."
The fly had lighted upon McClellan also, but it
didn't make him go. And for that reason he was
relieved from command of the army. General Burn-
side reluctantly assumed that responsible position.
Early in December, 1862, our new commander moved
the army against the forces of Lee, strongly posted
on the Rappahannock, at and around Fredericksburg.
My regiment was in Franklin's Grand Division, and
we crossed the river, over pontoon bridges, without
100 Fotir Years in the Army of the Potomac.
much opposition or loss. A few miles below the town
we formed upon a vast level amphitheatre shaped by
well-wooded bluffs and the river. The manoeuvering
of the troops was a magnificent sight, more like the
preparatory evolutions of a review than an army
offering battle. There were skirmishers advancing
on the " double quick," stopping occasionally to fire;
divisions of infantry marching in echelon; light batteries
galloping forward between the infantry formations ;
cavalry brigades moving to left and right; all im¬
pelled from a common centre to their position in
line. We had experienced frost, but a bright sun
shone on that eventful day, and forty thousand
bayonets and sabres gleamed and glistened over the
level plain; and all within view of J ackson's men on
the commanding heights. It was a sight worthy of
" Stonewall's Brigade." My regiment was in the
front line on the first day of battle. Moving by
the flank under both artillery and musketry fire, the
men "ducked" as the shell and "Minie" whizzed
and whispered over their heads. "Stop that duck¬
ing! Stand up like men!" said Captain O
Presently a shell went whiz-a-whiz over his head,
and he ducked. " Stop that ducking!!" cried a dozen
voices; and a chorus of laughter followed. It is diffi¬
cult to keep from "ducking" when shot and shell
are passing over you; nor does your doing so
indicate any want of courage. Vanity occasionally
asserts itself, even on the battlefield. I have seen it
The Doubtful Days.
lOI
associated with bravery. But valour in its simplicity
is sublime.
While a convalescent at Columbia College Hospital,
and during a rush of patients, I volunteered to apply
a poultice to an officer's face; it bore the scar of an
Indian arrow. He was a general of cavalry, of solid
frame and frank ruddy face—General Bayard. On
the day of which I write I saw some men bearing a
wounded officer from the left of our line, and inquired
who it was—Bayard! He died the next morning.
Capable, prompt, and brave; beloved by his com¬
mand—and on the eve of marriage. Like many
thousands more that fell on the slopes and plains of
the Rappahannock this day, his death was a trial
to many a Northern heart.
The Irish Brigade and other valiant men sought
to storm St. Mary's Heights on our right, but again
and again they failed. And on the night of the 15 th of
December our baffled army recrossed, unmolested, to
the north bank of the river, having sustained a loss
of 14,000 killed and wounded. Yes, there was caiise
enough for sorrow, but none for shame!
Burnside, though defeated, was by no means dis¬
heartened, for within two weeks of the reverse at
Fredericksburg our army was again in motion towards
Richmond, headed for Bank's Ford, on the Rappa¬
hannock. We were overtaken by a severe storm of
rain, snow, and sleet; the roads became impassable;
and for several days the army and its trains were
102 Four Years in tJie Army of tJie Potomac,
stuck in the mud. Again we returned to our old
camp. The enemy, the elements^ and perhaps the
jealousy of subordinates, had destroyed Burnside.
He was superseded by Hooker.
Two months were devoted by the new commander
to reorganising the army. Several crack regiments
were chosen to form a Light Division, to be in
readiness for any service requiring special promptness
and celerity. The Fifth Wisconsin was assigned to
this Light Division, and we felt somewhat proud of
the compliment. When Hooker inaugurated his
Chancellorsville campaign, this corps served under
Sedgewick's independent command at Fredericksburg;
and you may imagine our disgust when this crack
division, organised for special service, was required to
car/y pontoons to bridge the river. Finally, however,
it was called upon to storm St. Mary's Heights,
against which Burnside had hurled his forces with
terrible slaughter, and to no purpose. Colonel Allen
and the Fifth Wisconsin led the charge up the steep
hill, in the teeth of artillery and musketry, which
raked the ascent, until the heights were ours. This is
among the most brilliant feats of arms in the annals
of our war. When the works were fairly won a
Confederate fired at one of our men, but his cap
snapped ; whereupon the Federal (considered about
half-witted), coolly loaded his musket, and deliberately
shot his man. Those on the spot remonstrated against
what they considered murder. His ready reply was :
The Doubtful Days. 103
" He would have shot me if his darned old cap had
been good for anything."
Our victory availed nothing, for Hooker had already
lost the day at Chancellorsville. During the fierce
fighting on the right, General Thomas Jonathan
Jackson—better known as "Stonewall" Jackson—
fell mortally wounded. He was a brave and brilliant
leader—loved by his men, and admired by his foe;
and, despite the cause for which he fought, the
unconscious heroism of Lee's "Right Arm" will be
admired wherever the story of our conflict shall be
read. Again we returned to our old camp to mourn
the loss of nearly half the regiment. And the men
complained of the cruel, because impotent, sacrifice
of their gallant comrades. The enemy's cavalry were
successfully raiding round about. During one of
these exploits. General Stoughton, with his guards
and five horses, were captured. The affair was men¬
tioned to Mr. Lincoln. " Yes," said he, " the loss of the
horses is too bad; but I can make another general
in five minutes."
Northern elections were going against the Adminis¬
tration ; and the President's Emancipation Proclama¬
tion was sneered at, and pronounced a huge joke.
The Southern star was shining its brightest; and a
second invasion of the Free States was inaugurated.
CHAPTER XL
LEE ON FREE SOIL.—GETTYSBURG.
" Vulgar minds
Refuse, or croucli beneath their loads ; the brave
Bear theirs without repining."
Mullet.
"Round-shot ploughed the upland glades,
Sown with bullets, reaped with blades ;
Shattered fences, here and there.
Tossed their splinters in the air ;
The very trees were stripped and bare;
The barns, that once held yellow grain,
Were heaped with harvests of the slain."
Beet Harte.
AS there ever an army so cruelly handi¬
capped as the Army of the Potomac?
Is there, in military annals, any record of
men preserving their discipline, patriotism, courage, in
spite of such adverse circumstances as beset these men
of the North? First, there was want of harmony
between the President and McClellan ; next, a lack of
Lee 071 Free Soil: Gettysburg,
105
cordial support to Pope; then, serious disaffection
towards Burnside; want of confidence in Hooker; the
half-measures of half-patriots; and the blundering
ever and again. Who can doubt, what student of our
struggle can gainsay, that the Union cause and the
fame of the army were compromised more than once
that this commander might be glorified and that one
humiliated! The charge is serious, even terrible:
it is, however, terribly true. And yet the Iron Brigade
fought just as well in the days of chaos under Pope,
as they did on that cornfield of Maryland — just
the same. Hancock's old brigade was just as valiant
on Marye's Heights and in " the Wilderness " as they
had been at Williamsburg and Golden's Farm—just
the same. Many of the men of '61 had long since
disappeared; but a sufficient number remained to
give tone and character to the army. They had not
been picked out of slums and gutters, and put into
uniforms; but had left their happy Northern homes
at their country's call, and could not afford to be less
than men—less than brave. Their fathers, and mothers,
and sisters, and loved ones, whose waking and dream¬
ing eyes were watching them, could not afford it either.
That gallant soldier, General Allen, told me that he
had sworn to be first in the works on Marye's
Heights: but he wasn't. It is difficult to win distinc¬
tion where many of equal courage are competitors
and rivals. After advancing through the brush towards
the enemy in "the Wilderness," Henry Curran was
io6 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
some distance in front when the line of battle was
brought to a halt. His superiors called him back; but
there he stood firing away on his own account. Pre¬
sently he was struck on the belt-plate and disabled.
"Why didn't you come back into the line, Hank,
instead of standing out between two fires ?" I asked
my old comrade, while looking after his injury.
" Evan," he replied, " I wanted to, but couldn't do it
—couldn't turn my back on the * Johnnies!' I'd die
first 1" Oh, yes ; we had a lot of this sort of stuff in
the Army of the Potomac.
Well, Lee ventured a second invasion of the Free
States; and, on the eve of one of the most critical,
important, and sanguinary contests of the war, Lincoln
practised what he had condemned in one of the
pithiest of his jokes—he " swapped horses while cross¬
ing a stream." Hooker was replaced by Meade while
crossing the Potomac to head-off Lee's army, then in
Pennsylvania. The change was at once a surprise
and disappointment to the men, most of whom had
never heard of Meade: he was scarcely known beyond
his own corps. We were marching to meet the enemy
upon our own ground. With our knowledge, and past
experience, the advantages of fighting Lee on friendly
soil was fully appreciated, and we were full of con¬
fidence as to the result. " Fighting Joe" was a well-
known and popular leader, and his removal at that
time was a serious disappointment that filled our
thoughts with doubts and questions. General Meade
Lee on Free Soil: Gettysburg,
107
assumed command on the 28th of June. The order
was read to us a few days later. It was gentle,
modest; just like Meade. It is such a perfect reflex
of that good man's mind and character that I repro¬
duce the historical document here:—
" Headquarters, Army of the Potomac,
"June 28, 1863.
" By direction of the President of the United States,
I hereby assume command of the Army of the Poto¬
mac. As a soldier, in obeying this order—an order
totally unexpected and unsolicited—I have no pro¬
mises or pledges to make. The country looks to this
army to relieve it from the devastation and disgrace of
a hostile invasion. Whatever fatigues and sacrifices
we may be called upon to undergo, let us have in view
constantly the magnitude of the interests involved; let
each man determine to do his duty, leaving to an all-
controlling Providence the decision of the contest. It
is with just diffidence that I relieve in the command of
this army an eminent and accomplished soldier, whose
name must ever appear conspicuous in the history of
its achievements, but I rely upon the hearty support
of my companions-in-arms to assist me in the discharge
of the important trust which has been confided to me.
" George G. Meade,
" Major-General Commanding."
Our acquaintance with General Orders was con¬
siderable; and, while regretting the timidity, we rather
liked the tone of Meade.
io8 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
Before Lee's plans and movements were understood
by our commander, Russell's brigade, in which I
served, was, by the necessities of the campaign, made
to do some of the severest marching within my ex¬
perience of four years and upwards of army life. In
conjunction with Pleasanton's cavalry, we formed a
detachment for reconnoitering the enemy and guard¬
ing the flank and rear of our own army. At first,
while fresh, we were amused at the speed required of
us, which the men goodnaturedly described as " a race
with the cavalry," "an attempt to catch Stewart's
Raiders," etc. But one day, towards the end of June,
the pace became terrific—killing. The summer sun
glared violently down upon us; it was very hot; the
roads were dry, and the thick white dust was suffocating,
but not a moment was allowed to procure water. The
dead silence, save the tramp! tramp! The anxious face
of Russell, our commander; the desperate marching,
suggested to my mind that we were making a rush for
a coveted position, lest the enemy should reach it first.
Men were dropping like hops from exhaustion, heat,
and sunstroke. Nothing but the soldier's desperate
vow to " keep up or die " sustained one of us that day.
At last we waded a broad shallow stream, halted,
bathed; and bivouacked for the night on its bank.
All doubts concerning Lee's intentions were cleared
up by his army wading the Potomac into Pennsyl¬
vania. A Free State had now become the seat of war,
and witnessed the destruction of property which marks
Lee on Free Soil: Gettysbttrg.
109
the progress of a hostile army. The Mayor of York
endeavoured to save that town from the evil conse¬
quence of invasion by undue humility. He went
forward several miles to meet the Southern conquerors
and surrender the town. General Ewell made him
fair promises; but no sooner had his forces taken
possession, than the inhabitants of York were required
to furnish:—
" One hundred and sixty-five barrels of flour,
28,000 pounds baked bread, 3500 pounds sugar,
1650 pounds coffee, 300 gallons of molasses; 1200
pounds salt, 32,000* pounds fresh beef; and 21,000
pounds bacon or pork.
" The above articles to be delivered at the market-
house, in Main Street, at four o'clock p.m.
" Wm. W. Thornton, Captain and A.C.S."
While becoming politeness is due to all, no good
object was ever truly served by a compromise of man¬
hood. Mr. Burgess Small travelled too far—exhibited
too great an anxiety—to surrender.
After a few days spent in camp, near Fairfax Court
House, we were hastened northward, reaching Man¬
chester, Pennsylvania, on the ist of July. Late in the
evening we started for Taneytown. About midnight,
orders reached us to march with all speed to Gettys¬
burg : the struggle was already begun. We were thirty-
seven miles from the battle when the order came: at
two o'clock that afternoon the Fifth Wisconsin was in
line on the field of Gettysburg! By what superhuman
no Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
efforts we covered that great distance, on that hot
J uly day, I know not: but we did it. And I
remember that the sound of artillery came nearer
and nearer till at last musketry greeted our ears,
and kept our souls from yielding to fatigue. Upon
reaching the front, we learnt that " The Iron Brigade,"
composed in part of Wisconsin regiments, in which
we had friends and relations, had been in the fight;
that our old commander, Hancock, was wounded;
and that the gallant Fairchild had lost an arm. Sad
but reassuring news. The removal of Hooker had un¬
settled us : we feared other changes—and to know that
trusted leaders, and troops of conspicuous courage,
were on the field were glad tidings indeed. Our
army, though outnumbered for once, was strongly
posted upon Round Top and other ridges and hills
near Gettysburg. ■
There was heavy fighting on the ist and 2nd of
July; but the final, decisive, desperate effort was
made on the afternoon of the 3rd, when General
Longstreet made an able and gallant effort to dislodge
Hancock's corps, posted on Cemetery Hill, cut our
army in two, and gain possession of the Baltimore
road. At one o'clock in the day, 115 guns from Hill
and Longstreet's front opened fire upon our centre
position. A hundred pieces from the Union lines
responded to the challenge, and kept up this terrific
artillery fight until, finally, our gunners were ordered
to cease firing, to allow the cannons to cool in time for
Lee on Free Soil: Gettysburg.
Ill
the expected onslaught. It was approaching four
o'clock when Pickett's Division of Longstreet's Corps—
the flower of the Southern army—moved forward to the
charge. Pickett's command was formed three lines
deep; the flanks were protected by "wings" of two
brigades under General Pittigrew. The whole advanced
in fine order, with steady ranks and measured tread,
and with their banners floating proudly and defiantly
aloft, on that awful summer day. Hancock and
Doubleday's men, silent, breathless, and anxious,
watched this bold advance upon their position from
behind their hastily constructed breastworks. The
Union guns—cool by this time—began to send shot
and shell whizzing into the ranks of the advancing
foe; but on and on they came. The fate of the day,
of the invasion, if not of the Confederacy, was staked
upon the issue. The gallant Hancock was wounded ;
Gibbon assumed the command. The men were
ordered to reserve their fire until they could see the
white of the rebel eye. Our skirmishers were driven
in, and took their places in the Union lines. On
reaching the Emmitsburg road the enemy delivered
their first fire, and marched steadily on, as if to certain
victory. Calm, yet anxious, with finger on the trigger,
awaiting the order to fire, stood the men of the North.
It came at last, and from 20,000 muskets the deadly
Minie was sent upon its cruel mission. The earth
trembled, and thousands of brave men fell to rise no
more. The enemy's first line melted away, yet the
112 Four Years in tJie Army of tJte Potomac.
second and third came sweeping along, and our ad¬
vance line was hurled back. The "wings," intended
to protect the flanks of the charging force, became
separated from that body; Stannard's Brigade, of
Doubleday's Corps, moved forward into the gap, and
took Pickett's men in flank. Our artillery mowed
them down at short range. The veterans of the Poto¬
mac Army now charged the enemy in front, and
finished the work. The rebels threw down their arms
in thousands, for escape was hopeless. "Thus the
day was won, and the country saved!"
General Reynolds, a noble and brave man, was
killed at Gettysburg. He had fought with this army
upon all its fields, and was in the advance with his
corps to repel the enemy, now invading his native
State, when the bullet struck him. He fell in the
morning of victory, and almost within sight of his
own home.
Tidings of the fall of Vicksburg, and the victory at
Gettysburg, reached the country on the 4th of July,
and great was the rejoicing in the North.
A portion of the battlefield of Gettysburg was set
apart as a resting-place for the brave men who fell
on that bloody ground, and the 23rd of November
following the victory was appointed as the day upon
which the ceremony of dedication and Consecration
should take place. Edward Everett, orator and
scholar, delivered the address. The President, his
Cabinet, and other officers, both civil and military,
Lee on Free Soil: Gettysbttj^g.
113
were in attendance. Many troops were also present
on the field where their comrades had fallen, to give
proper effect to the ceremonies. Mr. Everett had
delivered his eloquent, finished address, when Lincoln
uttered the memorable speech which is already placed
among the classics of our language.
" Fourscore and ten years ago," said Lincoln, " our
fathers brought forth upon this continent a new
nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal. Now we
are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,
can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield
of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion
of that field as a final resting-place for those who
here gave their lives that that nation might live. It
is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave
men, living and dead, who struggled here, have con¬
secrated it far above our power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember, what we
say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
" It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here
to the unfinished work which they who fought here
have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to
be here dedicated to the great task remaining before
us, that from these honoured dead we take increased
devotion to that cause for which they gave the last
li
114 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac^
full measure of devotion ; that we here highly resolve
that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this
nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ;
and that government of the people, by the people, and
for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
CHAPTER XII.
CAMPAIGNING ON THE HUDSON.
You have not, as good patriots should do, studied the public good,
but your particular ends."—Massinger.
MOST appropriate proposition was uttered
by Andrew Johnson, during our war, to
the following effect:—" When you hear
a man talk about the Constitution, spot him! He
is a traitor!" A great many Northern Democrats
harangued the populace about the Constitution
during the war time. Chiefest, because ablest and
most eloquent among them, .stood Horatio Seymour
of New York. He was made Governor of the Empire
State by a preponderance of Democratic votes.
The Confederate Congress passed a Conscription
Act in April, 1862. I am not aware that any of the
champions of constitutional liberty uttered a syllable
against that. But when, over a year later, our own
Legislature passed a milder, though similar measure,
Ii6 Four Years in the Army of tlu Potomac,
in order to recruit the thinned ranks of our regiments,
and because volunteers were not forthcoming, these
" copperheads " evinced a marvellous zeal for liberty,
a boundless love for the Constitution. Whilst we
were marching day and night, at a pace that killed
and disabled thousands, to save the national capital
from capture by the victorious Army of Northern
Virginia, Governor Seymour and kindred spirits were
preparing elaborate speeches to be delivered—when ?
On the 4th of July, anniversary of American Inde¬
pendence, and while the men of the Potomac were
burying the dead who fell at Gettysburg on the
previous day—who fell in a struggle which involved,
not alone the cause of human freedom, but the very
life of the nation itself. The pointed arguments and
rounded periods of these men were aimed against
Lincoln's Administration in general, and the impending
conscription in particular. I will quote from Governor
Seymour's oration, delivered in New York City on
Independence Day. He said :—
"When men accept despotism, they may have a
choice as to who the despot shall be. The struggle
then will not be—Shall we have constitutional liberty ?
But, having accepted the doctrine that the Constitution
has lost its force, every instinct of personal ambition,
every instinct of personal security, will lead men to
put themselves under the protection of that power
which they suppose most competent to guard their
persons." And again :—" We stand to-day amid new-
Campaigning on the Hudson.
117
made graves, in a land filled with mourning; upon a
soil saturated with the blood of the fiercest conflict of
which history gives an account. We can, if we will,
avert all these calamities, and evoke a blessing. If we
will do what ? Hold that Constitution, and liberties,
and laws, are suspended ?—shrink back from the
assertion of right ? Will that restore them ? Or shall
we do as our fathers did, under circumstances of like
trial, when they combated against the powers of a
crown ? They did not say that liberty was suspended;
that men might be deprived of the right of trial by
jury; that they might be torn from their homes by
midnight intruders! (Tremendous and continued
applause.) If you would save your country, and
your liberties, begin right; begin at the hearth¬
stones, which are ever meant to be the foundations
of American institutions ; begin in your family circle;
declare that your privileges shall be held sacred; and
having once proclaimed your own rights, take care
that you do not invade those of your neighbour."
(Applause.)
Men who talked in that strain during^the Great
Rebellion are now reminding us that "the war is
over!" The men who fought have good reason for
remembering the fact. The maimed and disabled,
the friends and relations of the dead, will probably not
forget that the war is over. But they will remember
also that victory came in spite of Northern "copper¬
heads." About ten days after the battle of Gettysburg,
Ii8 Four Years m tJie Army of the Potomac.
the draft under the Enrolment Act began in New
York, when that great city became the scene of the
lawless and disgraceful works of a furious mob. Insti¬
gated by traitors, and encouraged by " copperheads,"
they resisted the execution of the conscription law by
violence. Officers, and even friends of the Adminis¬
tration, were hunted down like dogs, negroes hung at
sight, and an asylum for colored orphans—a noble
work of charity, erected at a cost of $200,000—was
first sacked and then burned to the ground. It be¬
came necessary to send troops from "the front" to
quench this " fire in the rear."
Lee was retiring towards Richmond, followed by
our army. One morning, whilst packing up to resume
our march, a rumor floated through the regiment
that we were ordered to New York. We had not
then seen the newspaper accounts of the Draft Riots,
and were ignorant of any " reason why" we should be
sent to the Empire City; therefore, we treated the
report with incredulity and laughter. But to our
great joy and delight it turned out to be true
enough.
The rioting had subsided before we reached the
scene; nor was it renewed during the progress of the
draft in the State, else Governor Seymour might
have had occasion to mourn the loss of some of his
" friends."
We were first encamped on Governor's Island, in
New York Bay, under Colonel Loomis; and nothing
Campaigning on the Hudson,
119
could be more satisfactory than the behavior of the
men. Passes to visit the city were issued in liberal
numbers. Permission was granted to dealers in all
sorts of wares to land on the Island and deal with
the troops—the sale of alcoholic liquors alone being
prohibited. I was lying on my bunk one day, when a
comrade ushered an old woman, with a basket on her
arm, into the tent.
" Would you like to buy some sausages, sir ? " she
asked.
"No, thank you! not sausages—almost anything
but sausages!" I answered. Whereupon the old
woman began to wink, and blink, and nod, and smile
in a most extraordinary manner, advancing and ex¬
tending her basket towards me the while.
"What's the matter with her, Tom?" I asked my
friend. And he began to wink, and blink, and nod.
I sat up in my couch and examined the sausages.
I changed my mind and bought them—Bourbon
whisky done up in the skin and forms of sausages !
But in a few days the trick was discovered and
stopped ; others were resorted to, of course.
The high bounties paid to volunteers by the city
authorities of New York rendered the draft unneces¬
sary, and our regiment was ordered up the Hudson.
We ascended that beautiful picturesque river, on a
mellow day of the early Fall, in one of those palatial
steamers, of unequalled splendor, for which the Hud¬
son is celebrated. Hues of gold and crimson were
120 Four Years in tlie Army of the Potomac,
already on the leaves—and the foliage of the river
banks is unsurpassed even in America—as we steamed
past the stirring scenes of American history, where
Arnold darkens, and Washington illuminates the
page. • And the Catskills rose before us, with memo¬
ries of Irving and the amiable, inimitable "Joe."
Our steamer boasted one of these asthmatic musical
machines called the " calliope." I went into the
saloon to watch its performance. A veteran was
reclining on a velvet pile couch close by. His
knapsack, haversack, etc., laid beside him on the
" tufted floor;" his Springfield rifle rested in his arm,
while a fine tortoise-shell cat—the soldier's pet—
purred around him. It stood guard while the hero
was sleeping 1 Presently the steward, fastidiously
dressed, came in. He looked at the veteran, then at
his accoutrements, and his gaze finally settled upon a
little black frying-pan fastened to the knapsack; and
contempt and scorn mingled on his pretty face. But
he saw the soldier's pet, and whisked^ and struck at
it; whereupon the sleeper awoke, sprang to his feet,
and, looking in pity on the steward, said, in deliberate
tones—" If you dare to touch that cat! You miserable
' shinplaster 1'" The veteran resumed his position on
the sofa, and the pretty steward walked away without
a word of reply.
One company of our regiment (" E ") was stationed
at Poughkeepsie. A large crowd of people had con¬
gregated on the street corner one fine evening. There
Campaig^iing on the Hndson.
121
was a sprinkling of the " boys in blue " present. The
impending draft was the theme of conversation;. other
questions, general anent the Administration, Emanci¬
pation, etc., and personal to Lincoln and Seymour,
grew out of the main topic. Frank Walker, a private
soldier, of studious, retiring habits, and poetic temper¬
ament, was a silent listener to the hum of voices.
Finally, a singularly intelligent man spoke up against
the measures of Lincoln and his Government—the
suspension of Habeas Corpus^ the Emancipation Pro¬
clamation, and, finally, the Enrolment Act. This
man's intelligence and scope of reading were superior
and beyond the crowd around him. After waiting for
some one else in vain, and while the silence was still
complete, Frank Walker spoke. Following the pre¬
vious speaker, he successfully defended the suspension
of Habeas Corpus^ as warranted by the Constitution
during actual warfare. He cited the warnings of
statesmen from Adams to Lincoln concerning slavery;
justified its abolition as a measure intended to save
the Union, and as the duty of free-men towards God
and man. He showed that conscription was an act
resorted to by every Government while imperilled—
already resorted to by the South to destroy the Union.
" Alas !" said the soldier, " that it should be necessary
here, in Eastern New York, on the banks of the
Hudson, where Washington and Hamilton fought to
build the Republic." And with a bitter denunciation
of Seymour, and an appeal to his hearers to support
122 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
the Army and the Administration in this critical hour,
he closed, amid cheers, a very beautiful and con¬
vincing speech. This man was mustered out a private
still. I firmly believe he felt above the offices: I
know that he declined some of the minor ones. He
lost a brother in " the Wilderness."
Our regimental headquarters were at Albany, New
York State's seat of Government, and the official
residence of Governor Seymour. A few groans, with
more cheers greeted our march through the city to
camp. The Stars and Stripes were displayed from the
houses of Union men. Framed portraits of the
Governor stood outside the stores of "copperheads."
Our men visited the city in files and squads.
Wherever the national emblem floated over the side¬
walks, along our rambles, we invariably uncovered
while passing under the flag—setting a wholesome
example of proper, though much forgotten respect to
the people of Albany. The Governor's portraits
which lined the business streets were coolly turned
upside-down by our men, more in mischief than
malice. One storekeeper remonstrated with a soldier
caught in the act.
" You are getting off very cheaply ; if you say much
I'll smash it!" was the. reply.
Myself and Jim Strong entered a restaurant one
day. While partaking of refreshments a burly fellow,
with a whisky-face, came in, gave us a contemptuous
look, and began to " talk at" us, to the barman.
Campaig7iing on the Htidson.
123
" Thafs a d fine specimen of men to put down
rebellions!" he said. We were both young, and
below medium height. "Does their mother know
they're out, I wonder? Why, I could whip a whole
brigade of such snipes myself, by !"
About this time I addressed him. " I say, you man
on this side of the bar, where do you bury your dead ? "
"Yes," chimed in my friend, who had already lost
his appetite for oysters; " yes, / should like to know
that tooy mister. I should like to count the head¬
stones of the slaughtered. Do tell us all about it I"
We walked up quietly towards the bruiser, who
received us with a terror-inspiring countenance.
" By what commission do you insult quiet citizens
who are minding their own business, sir?" asked
Strong.
" Now-you-had-bet-ter-go-a-way, or you may get
hurt. I wasn't talking to you ! " said the man.
" But we are talking to youl\ I put in. I nodded to
my friend, who went back to the door, and locked it.
" Now," I continued, " there is not a brigade of troops
handy, therefore, either my friend here, or myself, will
accommodate you."
"Yes," said Strong, again coming up, having locked
the door; " you have got to fight this time or back
right down. You can't skulk behind any trees here,
as your class do at the front, so make up your mind,
quick!"
We gave him every assurance that only one would
124 Four Years in tJie Army of the Potomac.
interfere. But the bully turned pale—^began to edge
towards the door, Strong exercising his epithets upon
him, and shaking his fist in close proximity to his
nasal organ. The brigade-whipper found the door
locked; and finally " backed right down." He did
not mean to insult us, and would certainly not " try it
on " again with any man wearing the U.S. uniform.
This was the solitary instance of blackguardism that
transpired within my experience at Albany.
On that very night there was a practice of a double
quartette—the Badger Glee Club—which we had
organised in Virginia. After practice. Sergeant Hovey
remarked that he had fallen in with a staunch Union
man during the morning's ramble; had visited the
gentleman's house, where he was introduced to " my
daughter," a very handsome girl. Hovey finished a
glowing account of his reception by suggesting that
we should serenade the young lady that night. The
house was close at hand. Agreed. We had scarcely
sung one verse of a glee when the lights were on and
the windows up. After a song and chorus, and a
quartette, the New Yorker advanced and invited us
into the house. The young lady received us very
gracefully, thanking us for the compliment we had
paid them, entertained us pleasantly, and finally led
the way to the dining-room, where we found a
sumptuous repast spread for us.
During our stay at Albany we attended churches,
concerts, night-schools, and the drama. I remember
Campaigning on tJie Hudson.
125
seeing Edwin Booth as "Othello" at this time. I
counted him inferior to Forrest, who, in magnetic
power, was the greatest tragedian I ever saw. Jeffer¬
son has since told me that he considers Booth the
finest English-speaking actor of his school living.
The great impersonator of " Rip" is among the best
of judges. Many of our men attended evening classes.
Others took lessons on the voice and instrumental
music. I shall never forget the fright I got when
introduced to a much-deformed man, who was to teach
me the guitar. But he was very clever.
While encamped on the Peninsula, some of us made
the acquaintance of Mr. Ben South wick of Albany.
He had come to the army to take home his brother,
who was ill, and who finally died of disease contracted
or aggravated in the swamps. Mr. Ben visited us often
while stationed near his own city. His father, and
indeed every member of that excellent family, were
enthusiastic for the Union. The distinguishing mark
of the approval of our regiment was a serenade by the
Glee Club. We serenaded the Southwicks ; and were
most handsomely treated by them in a variety of
ways. And the beautiful and accomplished daughter
of the house entertained us by famous marches and
favorite selections from the operas on the piano. She
was an excellent player. Mr. Southwick, the head of
the household, was a grandfather, and too old for
active campaigning. But he made up for his inability
to fight for his country by lavishing his kindness upon
126 Four Years in tJie Army of tJie Potomac.
those who carried arms in its defence. He slept upon
a couch, in army blankets: he had made a vow not to
sleep in a bed until the war was over.
There were no Draft Riots while we were in the
State: and late in the Fall we returned to the front.
Let me see; what has become of our Glee Club ?
Smith is practising medicine in Illinois; Bottsford is
a rising lawyer in Missouri; Johnson is in business at
Menomonie ; Jones is scribbling these pages. I don't
know where the rest are—save Strong and Hovey.
They are silently sleeping in Virginia soil, without a
stone to mark the spot.
CHAPTER XIIL
THROUGH "THE WILDERNESS" WITH GRANT.
" When Grant moved by his left flank to Spottsylvania, we under¬
stood what manner of man he was."—Eggleston.
'' I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer."—Grant.
PON our return to Virginia we took a
prominent part in the brilliant victory
at Rappahannock Station, and partici¬
pated in the Mine Run fiasco^ where our commander
made an abortive attempt to surprise Lee. We finally
went into winter quarters, near Brandy Station, on the
Rapidan.
It cannot be denied that want of confidence pre¬
vailed in the Army of the Potomac even at this time.
Marching back from the Mine Run failure we met a
general officer coming up at the head of his division—
too late! " D * copperhead !'" was the verdict
of some of our men. There was too much " copper-
headism" in our army. We distrusted some of our
128 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
general officers—did not feel that their heart and soul
were consecrated and dedicated to the work of crush¬
ing the rebellion.
The grade of Lieutenant-General was revived by
Congress, and Grant was summoned from the West to
assume the supreme command of our armies. His
career had been one of uninterrupted success. Every
Southern chief hitherto pitted against him had been
conquered. He was about to measure swords with
the Great Virginian. Having reorganised our army
into three corps, commanded by Sedgewick, Hancock,
and Warren—under Meade—General Grant sounded
the advance on the 4th of May, 1864. On that day's
march our regiment led the army. During a halt for
rest. Lieutenant Doughty came up to me, and said:
" Let's go forward and have a look at him."
And forward we sauntered accordingly. The Com¬
mander-in-chief was seated on a log some little
distance from his staff, looking northward with a far¬
away absorbed gaze. While we watched him, a few
yards off, he started to his feet. The orderly who
held the General's handsome charger close by came
quickly up, his sabre going click, click, click, to his
rapid steps. Grant lighted a fresh cigar, mounted,
and rode quietly on, and the whole column was thus
set in motion, headed for Germania Ford on the
Rapidan.
"Well, Jones, what do you think of him?" asked
Doughty, as we waited for our regiment to come up.
Through ''the IVz/deruess" with Grant. 129
" He looks as if he meant it: but I'm afraid he's too
near Washington."
" We shall see," rejoined my friend. Then, turning
upon me, with a smile, he added—" He's a little-un."
Doughty was thinking of our own short stature.
Little people are somewhat prone to recount the great
little men of the world. I was afraid that the in¬
fluence of politicians would kill Grant before a fair
trial was afforded him : and Halleck was not a favorite
with me. I remember writing home to this effect
after Grant had assumed the personal direction of the
Potomac Army.
We waded the Rapidan at Germania Ford, and
bivouacked for the night in " the Wilderness," a large
area covered by thick brush and dwarfish trees, and
cut up by ravines and narrow streams. Deceived for
the moment by Grant's feint on his left, Lee hastened
his army of about 70,000 men, and gave us battle in
this wild region, where neither artillery nor cavalry
could be used to advantage, and where he and his
men were well acquainted with every road, path,
and creek traversing that district. Resuming our
march, on the morning of the 5 th, we had only
advanced a hundred yards or thereabouts when the
enemy's skirmishers began to fire into us. Line of
battle was formed, and the most terrible and destruc¬
tive of campaigns was begun. Our men advanced,
looking intently forward through the foliage in the
direction whence came the report of musketry, but
T
130 Four Years in tJie Arniy of tlie Potomac.
could discover nothing but the curling smoke of rifles.
Failing to see the enemy, they soon began to fire by
ear-sight! By three o'clock P.M. our corps was
driving the enemy's left. Gordon's Division now
sought to regain the lost ground, and with partial
success. Some of the troops towards the left of our
corps gave way, and the enemy, following up their suc¬
cess, marched triumphantly forward, leaving Russell's
Brigade on their flank and rear. The right wing of
our regiment, under Major Totten, having checked
the enemy's attack, and seeing the Virginians march¬
ing past, came up in their rear, and called upon
them to surrender. The bewildered enemy concluded
that they were surrounded, and threw down their
arms; and the 25th Virginia, with their colors, were
marched to the rear as prisoners. Night closed in,
and the bloody conflict between invisible foes ceased.
Heavy fighting, with varying fortunes, was continued
during the whole of the following day. Hancock
crowded back the enemy's right, under Longstreet,
who fell severely wounded. Lee came upon the scene,
and our left was in turn driven. We held our original
position; our lines were intact; the most terrific
musketry firing ever heard upon the American conti¬
nent was gradually dying away; we thought that the
day's bloody work was ending in a drawn battle.
Meanwhile, Gordon was forming to envelop and
assail our right. All was now quiet, and the men
were recruiting their wasted energies, when the well-
Through the Wilderness'' with Grant, 131
known yell broke the comparative stillness of the
night. Seymour's Division was assailed in flank and
rear, and quickly disposed of. Shaler's Brigade, of our
division, also recoiled before the first shock of Gordon's
onset. "Uncle John" Sedgewick exerted himself to
the utmost to reform his shattered right. Russell's
Brigade was rapidly moved into position to receive
the triumphant foe; the 5th Wisconsin and the 6th
Maine, twin regiments since the summer of '61, formed
the front line. But Gordon's gallant greys came
rolling on like a wave through the brushwood.
" Don't be in a hurry, boys ! Let them come well up
before you let them have it!" said Totten. "All right,
major," responded our men. The alarm—crack!
crack I—is at last given by Russell's vedettes. Loud
and piercing, the defiant yell goes forth once more.
The well-aimed fire is delivered from Sedgewick's
line; the enemy is staggered, but the second line
comes boldly on. The rattle of musketry is incessant,
and Gordon's men recoil. The Union cheer now re¬
echoes through " the Wilderness," and the greys are
driven from our front. Thus was the right saved;
and so closed the bloody drama of the 6th of May.
Colonel Chesney, while speaking of Gordon's coup de
main, in his essay on Grant, says:—" As the day closed,
however. General Gordon, whose troops formed their
extreme left, stole up to the breastworks which
covered Sedgewick's right near the Rapidan, and
carried them by a swift surprise, made before the
132 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
picquets were posted for the night. Great part of two
Federal brigades were captured, and the rest of the
divisiofi fledP* This was not the case. Shaler's
Brigade of the ist Division gave way. The 3rd, or
Russell's Brigade, next met the rebel onslaught, and
successfully checked it until Upton's Brigade came up
and assisted in driving Gordon back. Therefore, the
statement that "the rest of the division fled " is a mis¬
take. It reflects most unjustly upon the courage of
men as brave as any who ever fought: and I know
that Colonel Chesney would not consciously state
what is not true.
Our men were delighted, reassured, while the enemy
was disappointed and disheartened, when our Com¬
mander, contrary to the too-well established custom,
advanced on the following day. Finding that the
Army of Northern Virginia had retired behind en¬
trenchments, Grant set our army in motion for
Spottsylvania. General Sedgewick, accompanied by
an orderly, went forward to inspect the position of
his skirmishers, on the 9th, and was shot dead by a
rifleman concealed in a tree just beyond our lines. An
accomplished soldier, of modest, retiring disposition :
his death was a serious loss to the army, and a sad
blow to the men of the 6th Corps, who loved " Uncle
John." General Wright assumed the command, and
his unpopularity was aggravated by some ill-judged
sentences which the General Order announcing the
death of Sedgewick contained. I cannot recall the
Through "the Wilderness" with Grant. 133
offensive passage; but I well remember its effect upon
our men.
We fought hard, sometimes over the breastworks,
and with clubbed muskets, at Spottsylvania; and our
loss was heavy. It was from this field that' Grant
indited the pithy sentence to the President: " I pro¬
pose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer!"
Hancock was fighting on our left, where he achieved
signal triumph. On the third or fourth day of battle
our (the 6th) corps was sent to assist him ; and so
heavy was the musketry firing at several points on
that part of the line, that trees, some of them eighteen
inches in diameter, were actually cut down, or gouged
down, by musketry balls fired with deadly intent by
the hostile forces. Considerable satisfaction was ex¬
perienced by the men of Hancock's old brigade upon
hearing, through some of the troops who witnessed the
scene, how the General had treated a snobbish officer
thrown into his power by the fortunes of the battle.
Hancock had played havoc with the forces of Johnson
and Stewart, capturing the commanders, with 3000
prisoners, and about thirty pieces of artillery. Stewart
had been a friend of Hancock's in the old army; and,
when the former was brought in as a prisoner, Hancock
dismounted, advanced towards him, and held out his
hand, with the cordial inquiry: "How are you, Stewart?"
Whereupon the conquered, inflating himself, replied:
" I am General Stewart of the Confederate Army, and
under the circumstances I decline to take your hand."
134 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
"And under any other circumstances, General, I
should not have offered it!" was Hancock's fitting
reply.
Whether charging his men upon the battlefield,
or d—:— the officers on brigade drill, or receiving the
swOrd of the conquered, or even at the head of the
Democratic party, Hancock is always a gentleman.
Grant manoeuvred and scrutinised carefully, but
failed to discover a vulnerable spot in Lee's lines;
therefore, he made several flank movements, first to
the North Anna, next to Cold Harbor, where we lost
heavily with but scant advantage, and finally, to the
surprise of Lee, and the discomfort of Lincoln, Grant
crossed the James and placed himself between Rich¬
mond and the Army of Northern Virginia, and the
rest of the Southern Confederacy.
CHAPTER XIV.
AMONG THE SICK AND WOUNDED.
" He jests at scars that never felt a wound."
Shakespeare.
" The drying up a single tear has more
Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore."
Byron.
OLUMBIA College, a large building four
stories high, situated on a lofty elevation
in the environs of Washington, was con¬
verted into a general hospital during the first summer
of the war. When the regiment to which I belonged
was ordered south of the Potomac, the more severe
cases under treatment at the regimental hospital were
sent to Columbia College. I was among the number
hither brought. My inability to cross into Virginia
with my comrades was the heaviest blow my pride
had ever sustained ; and when carried from the ambu¬
lance into the roomy loggia of the hospital, I was
136 Four Years m tJie Army of the Potomac.
helpless in body and dejected in mind. The female
voice never sounded more welcome than when I heard
a nurse exclaim in a soft, kindly tone—" He is mine;
bring him this way." I was carefully helped—leaning
upon the shoulders of two attendants—along the
corridor, to my room, where a comfortable iron bed
stood ready to receive me; Mrs. R the nurse in
charge of my ward, overlooking the male attendant,
and treating me most tenderly. My gun, accoutre¬
ments, knapsack, etc., had been sent with me. These,
together with m.y clothing, were inventoried, sent to
the ward-master (who gave a receipt for them), and
stored away in an outbuilding until required. The
nurse took charge of my money, jewellery, and
trinkets. In the evening the doctor made his rounds,
and prescribed medicine and diet. During several
days I improved, and then grew worse rapidly; and a
protracted illness followed. There were five beds in
my room ; and it is somewhat singular that the patient
who occupied the one opposite mine was, like myself,
a Wisconsin soldier, and a "Jones." The other Jones
gained strength more rapidly than I, and soon walked
out to a convalescent ward, towards the top of the
house. The occupants of all the other beds were
carried out, feet first. Typhoid fever was the pre¬
vailing disease; and "Turpentine Mixture" is still
fresh in my memory's taste. I have a dreamlike
recollection of the turning point of my illness. My
arms and legs were bandaged in mustard, diluted
Among the Sick and Wounded^
137
brandy was administered to me every half-hour; but
about midnight I commenced to talk to my attendant.
I had begun to rally.
Each flat of the building was divided into two wards,
of about thirty beds each. Two soldier attendants
and a female nurse took care of the patients in a
ward, under the charge of one surgeon for each flat.
The nurses were in most cases patriotic ladies from
the North, anxious to contribute their share towards the
salvation of the Union by nursing and restoring " the
boys in blue " to health; and thousands of sick and
wounded soldiers were saved to friends and country
through the continued watchfulness and tender nursing
of these noble women. The most dangerous cases
received the greatest attention; and whatever the
soldier fancied was somehow procured for him. I
presume each nurse had her favorite patients at
different times. These were generally intelligent
young men of delicate organisation who had run
rather close to the grave. As I lay on my bed one
hot day, in the month of August, a delirious patient,
from an adjoining apartment, rushed past me towards
the open window at the other end of my room. He
was closely followed by Mrs. R , but he reached
the window and escaped, jumping at least twelve feet
to clear the walkway of the basement story, and
running at great speed across the hospital ground ;
he was upon the fence of the main road—Fourteenth
Street—when caught by some convalescent soldiers
138 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
who were strolling about in that direction. He was
carried back to bed and safely fastened there. Within
a few days the delirium left him ; and, with youth and
a good constitution on his side, he soon recovered.
He was a private of a Maine regiment; a college
man, and a lawyer by profession. Clever and amiable,
he was a favorite. Most of the typhoid fever patients
became delirious during their illness; but I noticed
that those who seemed to pick something off their
blankets never got well. Traces of the malady lingered
upon the minds of some men, even when able to walk
about. A cavalry sergeant named French—a farmer
from Pennsylvania—talked much of the excellence of
his orchard and apples while the fever raged. During
the convalescent stage, our nurse brought him on a
visit to my bedside one day. He offered me half a
barrel of apples—Rhode Island Greenings—which he
daily expected from home, according to orders. The
apples never came; and several weeks elapsed before
his mind threw off the apple delusion. Upon all other
points he was quite logical and sane.
We had three stewards in the hospital—members
of the regular army—who were prone to sneer at
volunteer surgeons. The stewards were half rebels,
who acted as if they were conferring a great favor
upon the Union by remaining in the service. A
recovering patient, feeling his strength returning, came
down from the first-floor ward rather hurriedly one
day, when a pugnacious little steward—Wright by
Among the Sick and Wounded.
139
name—rushed at him in the most ill-tempered manner,
and said: " Private you must not run up and
down these stairs; if you do it again I'll have you
tied to a tree (a punishment sometimes inflicted in the
army) as soon as you are strong enough for it." The
soldier, turning upon this bully, said : " Don't you ever
say must to me again ; and as for you tying me to a
tree, sir, try it on! and I'll make the daylight shine
through you!" That volunteer was not tied to a tree
by the steward.
Wranglings between assistant-surgeons and stewards
were by no means rare at our general hospital; and
high words between Dr. K and the steward
referred to, going on in the corridor opposite the
office door, attracted my attention upon one occasion.
The diet for the patients had not been furnished
according to the surgeon's directions. The attendant,
a New York soldier, assured his superior officer that
his orders had been correctly delivered at the kitchen.
Steward W ^ on the other hand, maintained that the
diet called for had been furnished. " Why," said he,
"George (the black cook) has just told me so, and
that ought to settle the matter." "Well, hang your
impudence!" returned the soldier. " I left home a few
months ago to assist in bettering the condition of the
Blacks, and already I find the word of one, who but a
few weeks ago was a slave, accepted in preference to
my own. I guess it's about time for me to trot off
home 1" The medical officer smiled at the forcible
140 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
logic of his attendant, while the pugnacious little
steward walked quickly to his room without uttering
a word in reply.
The engineer of the establishment was an outspoken
Secessionist. He domineered over broken-down Union
soldiers most offensively, until one day, after he had
talked of Southern superiority in the orthodox fashion,
a soldier from Massachusetts said to him : " I am down
here to fight * Rebs.* I might as well commence on
you." And after taking off his coat, he continued:
" Now, I give you two minutes to make ample apology,
or I go for you." The engineer quailed, and professed
that he was only joking. He joked no more in that
strain.
I was lying on my couch one day, reading, when
summoned to the office of the hospital. Dr. Abadie,
the surgeon in charge, then informed me that the
books of the establishment were in a state of confusion,
owing to the intemperate habits of the clerk, who at
that moment stood tied to a tree, by order of one of
our snobbish stewards. By request of the surgeon I
undertook the duties of the position until sufficiently
recovered in strength to return to my regiment.
Once while engaged at my desk, the office door was
opened, and a tall man, with a sallow, careworn face,
entered. I recognised President Lincoln, and stood
up. He inquired for Mrs. Pomeroy, one of the nurses
of our hospital. When he spoke, the sad cloud
disappeared and a kindly fascinating smile lighted up
Ainovg the Sick and Wounded, 141
his weather-beaten visage. He had come with his
carriage to convey Mrs. Pomeroy to the White House
to assist Mrs. Lincoln in taking care of her children^
who were then dangerously ill. While on my way to
Washington, a few days afterwards, I observed the
President's carriage near the hospital. The roads
were in a frightfully bad state, owing to continuous
heavy rains. The carriage could not be driven up to
the wooden pathway leading to the hospital; the
President alighted, and with his own hands quickly
placed several large stones in succession, forming a
stepway through the muddy road, over which he care¬
fully conducted Mrs. Pomeroy to the wooden sidewalk.
Regiments sent to the front were furnished by their
respective States with a good and sufficient supply of
medicines, bedding, and other utensils, for use in camp.
The medical staff of an infantry regiment consisted
of one surgeon, two assistants, an hospital steward, and
ten attendants—i.e.^ one man for each company.
Field hospitals were of tents sufficiently large to hold
eight beds, four on each side, with a narrow walk
along the middle. The beds were made of long
springy poles resting upon thick logs, and covered
with an abundant supply of pine and cedar boughs.
The most severe cases were treated at the hospital,
by the surgeon, while the two assistants attended to
those " sick in quarters." Every morning these were
marched from their respective companies, in charge of
a non-commissioned officer, to the steward's tent,
142 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
where they were examined and prescribed for by the
subordinate medical officers. Miserable fellows, given
to " playing off " or " old sogering," were occasionally
found in the army. Rheumatism was a complaint
often affected to avoid duty. Some men were known
to swallow tobacco juice and cause palpitation, in
hopes of obtaining a. discharge from the service on
account of heart disease. I knew an officer who
frequently lost his voice on the eve of a battle—we
laughed at him ; he was too weak a man for reproof,
or indeed for pity. But none of us believed that the
loss of voice was genuine. He was an adjutant, and
without voice he could not repeat his colonel's orders ;
therefore, he kept with the commissary wagons in the
rear during the campaign. I should perhaps add that
he did not belong to'the Fifth Wisconsin. Again,
men were often unjustly suspected or accused of
feigning illness or ailments. A member of my
company was frequently in the " sick list" on account
of pulmonary disease. The men dubbed him "Old Left
Lung." But for miles of the road on our march to
Gettysburg this man's track might have been traced
by the blood which came at intervals from his lungs;
and he was there when wanted. I last saw him at
Milwaukee ; I have since heard of his death.
Great suffering of necessity prevailed during active
campaigning; and thousands of wounded perished for
want of proper nursing and attention. Falling upon
the contested ground, they were often obliged to lie
Among the Sick and Wounded.
143
there for hours, and even days at times, with ball,
shell, and bullet viciously and constantly careering
over their heads. Many saved themselves from bleed¬
ing to death by tying a handkerchief around the limb,
just above the wound. Then, by placing a small
stone upon the artery, and inserting a bayonet
or stick under the handkerchief, turn it around and
tighten the novel tourniquet, they would stop the
bleeding and afford the surgeons in the rear an
opportunity to save their lives. When perchance the
fortunes of the fight, which at first had gone against
us, would.again yield to us the disputed field, these
men would cheer and wave their hats, though the light
of life was fading. Barns and houses, situated in the
rear of the battle lines, were always taken possession
of by the chief medical officers for hospital purposes.
Where none were found, tents would be pitched in a
safe situation, convenient to the battle-ground. At
times, at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and during Grant's
awful " Wilderness" campaign, houses, barns, and
tents were overflowing with wounded and dying men.
Friend and foe, " the grey" and "the blue," all huddled
together, some beseeching for help, now beyond the
reach of human art; others listening to the continuous
roar at the front. " The sound is coming this way,"
some one would say, and the Souther's eye would
kindle. The rattle of musketry would again recede.
"Now we are driving you, old boy," the Northman
would respond, throwing his cap high into the air, and
144 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
then calling upon some attendant to bring it to him
again. Chaplains were scattered here and there, in
the tents, and under the shade of pine and willow,
taking messages, writing wills and letters, and teach¬
ing the soldier how to pray while his life ebbed away!
At "the Wilderness," towards evening, on the second
day of battle, the wounded were despatched to
Fredericksburg: for Grant would march forward.
Every man who could walk was obliged to do so,
while ambulances, ammunition wagons, and supply
trains were crowded with bleeding men. It was now
dark, everything was filled, our lines of infantry were
moving to the left, and the division surgeon decided
that " the rest of the wounded must remain behind !"
This implied falling into the enemy's hands. The
terrors of Andersonville gave momentary pith to
nerveless limbs; and men weltering in blood crawled
along in the friendly direction. I discovered two of
my comrades, Bottsford and Ames, trying and
failing to move ; both had mangled legs. I first took
Ames, a tall heavy man, on my back, and implored
upon teamster after teamster to take him into their
wagons, but all were full. At last, half a mile on, I
came upon one, a member of my own regiment, who
made room for Ames. We helped him in, and I ran
back for B., also a heavy man, took him upon my
back, and made the best time I could for the wagon;
but the train was moving. We struggled on, and
finally heard the welcome voice of Jim M , talking
Among tJie Sick and Wounded. 145
to his mules. I called out to him repeatedly; but the
groans and cries of the wounded, jolting in heavy
army wagons, over rough broken roads, drowned out
my voice. However, I was soon up with the teamster;
but he could not stop his wagon owing to the train
behind. He took our friend by the arm and lifted
him up; I helped, and Bottsford scrambled on to the
hard seat of a forage wagon. We were glad! I sat
upon the ground for a moment's breath; and the heavy
train went rapidly past towards Fredericksburg, with
its cargo of tortured, bleeding patriots—the pride of a
thousand homes. I then returned to my corps.
Years afterwards, Mr. Bottsford paid me a visit at
Milwaukee; he was then practising law in the State
of Missouri. I read in the New York Heraldy some
months ago, a report of a suit at law, in which James
M. Bottsford prosecuted on behalf of the United
States. And my old comrade still survives and
flourishes.
After the return of peace, business called me to
Boscobel, in Grant county, Wisconsin. Here I found
my friend, Mr. Ham. Ames, successfully engaged in
mercantile pursuits. He received me with great
warmth. I went with him to his home, and was
introduced to Mrs. Ames; and he sounded my praises
to his handsome wife until I felt quite uncomfortable.
K
CHAPTER XV.
EVERY-DAY LIFE IN CAMP.
"God made him, and therefore let him pass for a man."
Shakespeare.
" Our contentment is our best having."—Ibid.
HAVE a deep-seated reverence for Vir¬
ginia, the earliest Colony, the oldest
State; the mother of Presidents; the
birthplace and home of Washington—the land that
his tomb has enshrined in our hearts. It was the
scene of all my army life and experience. Its
climate was genial—especially so to Wisconsin men ;
its timber for fuel and building purposes abundant;
its streams and rivers numerous; its springs bountiful
and delicious.
During the severe and impassable months of winter
and spring, when active campaigning was. impossible,
army life became a routine of drill and duty, on guard,
police, and picket. While we remained in Hancock's
Every-day Life in Camp,
147
command, a brigade drill was enjoyed with a keen relish
by the men. The ability, originality, and splendid
presence of the General were captivating. The man¬
ner in which he frightened our inexperienced Field and
Staff out of their wits was most amusing. " Stop that
regiment!" he cried one day, riding towards us. " Let
the Sixth Maine complete its sneak movement."
Upon another occasion he galloped up, and inquired:
"Where is Colonel ? Where is that man?"
" Here I am. General," said that officer, in a voice
which too clearly indicated his frightened condition,
"No you arn't, sir; no you arn't—you arn't any-
where I"
This amiable and brave officer, who was terrified
by the mere voice of our brigade commander, died of
disease contracted on the Peninsula. Many of our
officers and men seriously believed that Hancock
frightened him to death.
The General's staff was composed of raw, inex¬
perienced officers: at first his patience was doubtless
sorely tried by them. During a brigade drill he sent
Captain Hickman, an aide-de-camp^ with an order to a
battalion commander. The captain dashed off in the
wrong direction. Hancock cried out loud: " Come
back, sir 1 Come back 1" But the captain was be¬
yond the reach of his voice. The commander quietly
watched his aide galloping off at top speed. Just as
Hickman was disappearing over a hill in the distance
the General exclaimed :—
148 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
" There he goes! There he goes! We shall never
see him again."
Brigade drill bristled with our commander's vigor¬
ous characteristic sayings, which transformed severe
exercise into a pleasant pastime.
I was on guard duty at post No. i, during the early
period of the war, when General Hancock, and his staff
and escort, came suddenly upon our station. I was
much frightened and bewildered, but managed, after
some hesitation, to cry out timidly: "Turn out the
guard for the general commanding!" In much confu¬
sion the guard presented arms. This ceremony being
over, Hancock turned to the officer, and asked:—
" What are your duties as an officer of the guard ? "
The lieutenant was dumb from terror. " Go on, sir!
Go on!" commanded the General, " I am listening."
The guard officer muttered a few unsatisfactory
sentences; when, after reprimanding him soundly
upon his inefficiency, Hancock rode away. Captain
Strong, scholar and patriot, was the baffled officer of
the guard. I saw him dying, wounded through the
heart, on St. Marye's Heights. He was a brother to
my friend Jim Strong—both were brave as lions and
true as steel.
A few months after the time of which I have just
spoken, I was again on brigade guard at post No. i.
I spied Hancock, followed by his staff and escort,
riding up. As soon as he was near enough to hear
me, I called out with portentous grandiloquence:
Every-day Life in Camp,
149
"Turn out the guard for the general commanding!*'
Erewhile, tactics and regulations had been diligently
studied. We possessed the confidence which pro¬
ficiency ever inspires. Hancock's seemingly harsh
treatment of our officers produced the desired results.
His voice had lost its terror. "Never mind the
guard !" said he, gracefully returning my salute. We
had company, battalion, and brigade drill to our
heart's content. It was beneficial, desirable from
every point of view, though we did not always think so.
Our winter quarters were generally of a most sub¬
stantial, comfortable character; equal to the best, and
superior to most, in the army. We built our log cabins
in terraces, representing the ten companies of the regi¬
ment. They were lofty and roomy, and often divided
into several apartments. Tents, flys, and waterproof
blankets formed the roofs of our dwellings. We
provided close-fitting doors, and large open fire-places.
One of the "vexed questions" of our war was the
smoky chimney. Many were the tears shed, and
"tall" the swearing, in consequence of the builder's
lack of skill in this intricate branch of his handicraft.
Curiously enough, the builders did the swearing, while
the larzy chimney that " wouldn't draw " came in for
the vituperation and abuse. The lighting of a fire for
the first time in our winter's hut was a critical, anxious
moment. Like the corner-stone business of tranquil
society, lighting the first fire often drew together a
numerous company of friends. And to see the
150 Four Years in tJie Army of the Potomac,
anxious faces watching the cloud of smoke as it
hovered and trembled in doubt, whether to go up or
down, was the study of a sad strain. But most men
were " prepared for the worst;" for the smoke
generally came down : so did the chimney, often half-
a-dozen times, before even a neutral success was
effected. This was the topic of conversation for many
days in our winter camp. Through some mysterious
dispensation of Providence I was always equal to this
critical emergency, which involved so much of happi¬
ness or misery. I always built my own chimneys;
and the smoke went right up without hesitation—
without any "fooling around." I was distinguished
and envied for this rare accomplishment: and walked
the camp and viewed the failures around me with the
countenance and carriage of conscious superiority.
The great principle which underlies successful chimney
building is this But I'll discuss the subject
upon some future occasion.
A large hall was built in rear of the regiment for
the purpose of entertainments and debates. Such
questions as " The Right of Secession," " The Quali¬
fications of Citizenship," "The Relative Incentive
Influence of Love and Fear," etc., were ably, often
eloquently discussed under parliamentary rules. Many
sent home for books, and devoted themselves to the
improvement of the mind. I have known privates, as
the result of their studies in the army, to pass the
necessary examinations, and secure commissions as
Every-day Life in Camp,
lieutenants and captains in coloured regiments. It
had become a practice with many in the army to
advertise for correspondents from among- the fair
sex. These appeals were frequently responded to by
kindly-disposed patriotic damsels in spicy, able letters.
Acquaintance thus formed often ripened into friend¬
ship, sometimes to be followed by matrimony. We
had contests at wrestling and sparring, base-ball play¬
ing, horse racing, and shooting; and there was a great
deal of gambling done in our winter camp. Every
game of chance known in America was played by the
troops: but " straight poker " was the favorite game,
upon which most money was lost and won. I have
known a private soldier to win $1000 (about £200) at
a " sitting." It is a game that depends, not so much
upon the value of the cards, as upon the nerve, voice,
and countenance of the player. It was well known
that the bravest soldiers (if they played at all) were
the heaviest and best betters. During the winter we
spent on the Rapidan there was a rifle match between
the officers of my regiment and those of the 119th
Pennsylvania. A small target was made fast to a
large tree in our camp, and upon a bracing day in
December the shooting began. Colonel Clark was
about to fire when one of our men cried out: " Five
hundred to fifty he doesn't hit the tree!" The genial
Pennsylvanian was frightened by this exclamation,
and, verily, he missed the tree. The banter and
betting of the men who stood around went on during
152 Four Years in tJie Army of iJie Potomac,
the match, and the appearance of the target at the
finish was the reverse of complimentary to the officers.
But our Glee Club was a never-failing source of
pleasure and amusement during winter. The members
of the club and their friends occasionally made moon¬
light excursions to the quarters of favorite officers.
A serenade was a distinctive compliment, which con¬
veyed our esteem and good wishes. One night we sur¬
prised General Russell, then our brigade commander,
with one of these musical visitations. He was a brave,
accomplished soldier; a modest, silent man. By a
combination of circumstances, he was unattended: his
staff officers were all absent on this occasion. When we
had sung a few things, the General came out of his cabin,
and said: "I thank you for this compliment." He then
went into his commissary tent, procured some whisky
and glasses, and invited us to drink. The Badger
Glee Club gave an entertainment while we wintered
on the Rapidan. It consisted of music, recitations,
oyster soup, and whisky toddy. I remember reading
Barbara Fritchie on that occasion : the poem was then
fresh from Whittier's pen. When the war was over I
visited Madison, where my friend Colonel Bull lived.
I traced him to a ball-room: he insisted upon my
joining in the dance. Imagine my surprise and dis¬
comfiture when the colonel presently mounted the
platform, having first stopped the music, and an¬
nounced in a glowing little speech—for he is an
elocutionist of the very first rank—that Major Jones
Every-day Life in Camp.
153
would favor the company by reciting Barbara Fritchie !
We loved one another; and no act that the one would
do could offend the other. He once put me under
arrest; but the step did not in the least lessen my
friendship for him.
The original ten companies which constituted our
regiment gradually melted until it became necessary
to consolidate into a battalion of three companies.
Late in the Fall of 1864 we were recruited by seven
new companies, and the officers of these were for a
time subjected to much practical joking. An order
was concocted one night, and sent to the new com¬
pany commanders, requiring them to report certain
particulars to General Allen on the following morning.
Curran and myself were at headquarters when the
officers one after another came up, and, saluting the
General, delivered themselves after this fashion:—
"I have to report sixty-eight muskets, sixty-nine
bayonets, seventy-five cartridge boxes, and seventy-
four waist-belts," etc. We watched the smile on Allen's
face, as he listened to catalogues of company property
from captain after captain. The reports were apropos
of nothing: no requisition had been sent out for them.
The old officers stood around and enjoyed the farce.
But when the procession was finished. General Allen
turned to Curran and myself, and said:—Now, Jones
and Hank, this thing has got to be stopped!" We
protested that we knew nothing of the imposition upon
the new officers. " I don't ask you," replied Allen,
154 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac^
"but it must be stopped." If''these practical jokes
were repeated, I am not aware of it.
During the last winter of the war a premium was
set upon cleanliness among the troops. Furloughs
were granted, after the weekly inspections, to a num¬
ber of men from each brigade who excelled in the
cleanliness, neatness, and good order of their persons,
uniforms, arms, and accoutrements. The first com¬
petition took place before the colonel, at regimental
headquarters, where three were selected from ten men
representing the ten companies. Three from each
regiment in the brigade were next sent up to brigade
headquarters, where further inspection and selec¬
tions were made for a similar ordeal at division, and
finally at corps headquarters. When men of my
company were selected as competitors for this novel
and laudable distinction, I naturally took a lively
interest in the result; and, in company with other
officers in similar circumstances, I followed the men
first to the brigade contest, and, if successful, then to
the still more trying ones at division and corps head¬
quarters. The person and uniform were examined;
the arms and accoutrements were inspected, with great
minuteness. The inspectors would wipe the musket,
its barrel, bayonet, rammer, trigger-guard, hammer,
and screw heads, with a clean white handkerchief: a
single stain produced from oil or dirt sealed the fate
of the soldier. It was always a most difficult task to
determine who were best entitled to the favors. Upon
Every-day Life in Canip. 155
one occasion two of my men were competitors before
General Wheaton, our Division Commander. One
was rather below medium height; a handsome, dark
man, and a brave and skilful soldier—^Jaque by
name. The other was very tall—being about six feet
three inches in height, lean as a skeleton, and a cun¬
ning, cowardly fellow. The feeling of sympathy ran
high in favor of Jaque; but the other gained the
slight advantage, though the contest was so close
that furloughs were granted to both men.
It was asserted by those who knew that the tall
man, distinguished at all times for neatness and clean¬
liness, had never been seen in a fight; that, during
the "double quick" and rapid manoeuvering, which
generally preceded actual conflict, he managed to
drop out unseen, and stay away till the danger was
past. While we were hurrying up to the Battle of
Five Forks, this man began to lag behind. I
called him up, and said :—
" It is no use your trying that game to-day. I have
made up my mind that you shall go into this fight
with us, if it takes half the company to bring you up."
" I mean to go into the fight," he answered, sullenly.
"Very well; then take your place in the ranks!"
We were now marching at an awful pace through a
swampy, dwarfish forest. As we reached an open
field upon the elevated ground. General Allen called
out, " Forward into line! By the right of companies
to the front; double quick, march!"
[56 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
When the movement was executed, and we stood
facing the enemy's breastworks, I looked for my man;
but he was not to be found. I then determined to
have him tried by court-martial for cowardice. But
from that day until the surrender of Lee we never had
time to prepare and prosecute charges other than
those designed by Grant and his lieutenants. After
Appomattox, " malice towards none, and charity to
all," even at the expense of justice, animated officers
and men at the front.
I am inclined to think that phrenology comes very
near being a science. It is as impossible for some
men to fight as it is for others to lurk in the rear when
their comrades are engaged with the enemy. While
in winter quarters on the Rapidan, one of our men,
who had been tried by court-martial and sentenced,
was drummed out of the army to the time of " The
Rogue's March." It was a painful sight. The culprit's
captain had talked to him upon several occasions of
his disgraceful conduct before the enemy. The man
asserted that he tried to be brave, but utterly failed.
He was a highly-respected member of society at home.
He was quite sensible of the disgrace his cowardly
conduct reflected upon his family. But he contended,
what I believe was quite true in his case, that it was
a physical impossibility for him to advance to the
enemy's fire with his comrades. He became quite
helpless ; trembled violently from* head to foot when
the charge upon St. Marye's Heights was begun, and
Every-day Life in Camp.
157
failed to do his duty. He was drummed out of the
service in disgrace for cowardice, especially on that
occasion. When his company commander, Captain
Cook (afterwards killed in battle), spoke to me of this
unfortunate and irresponsible coward, grief was de¬
picted in his mild, kindly face.
The very opposite of the coward was illustrated in
one of our drummers—a small, solidly-built, dark man.
As soon as a fight began, he dropped his drum, took a
musket from some dead, wounded, or sick soldier, and
rushed to the front. He was the most uniformly
happy man I ever knew: and in a fight, he laughed
and swore, and blazed away at the "Johnnies," utterly
oblivious of fear. The drum-major used to watch him
to prevent his escaping to the front at the first sound
of musketry; but his vigilance was unavailing, and
George generally turned up during the fight, to the
great delight of the regiment. He was a universal
favorite: men of conspicuous bravery generally are.
It was interesting to watch the type of men who
" chummed," and became tent-mates, and shared each
other's blankets. Fast, undying army friendships were
generally formed between a man of robust and one of
delicate constitution, a rough and a gentle nature, a
light and a dark complexion. And the death of one
was often a terrible blow, a source of lasting grief to the
other. But occasionally, the selfish and the generous,
the lazy and the willing, cast their lot together. " Now
Tshon," said a type of the cunning and selfish to his
158 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
tent-mate one day, " You go and get der rations, and
you gook it, Tshon—^you are such a good gook—and
ve eat it!" This soldier would fight well under his
commander's eye: not otherwise.
There is no career of life in which a man's true
nature is so clearly seen at every angle as that of a
soldier during war.
CHAPTER XVI.
SHERIDAN'S RIDE.
" No half measures. No squeamishness in resolution. Nemesis is
not a conceited prude. Let us be terrible and useful. Does the
elephant stop to look where.he sets his foot? We must crush the
enemy."— Vide Victor Hugo's '' Ninety-Three."
"He taught the doubtful battle when to rage."—Addison.
HE passage of the James River by the Army
of the Potomac was accomplished about
the middle of June, 1864. Grant was
then south of Richmond and Petersburg, threatening
Lee's communications with the interior of the Con¬
federacy. The Southern Chief recognised the peril in
which he stood from Grant's mischievous left, and
Sheridan's troopers, and he planned a third Northern
invasion, with a view to forcing the Union Com¬
mander to raise the siege. General Early, at the head
of 20,000 men, was despatched up the Shenandoah
Valley to clear it of Federal troops, cross the Potomac,
i6o Four Years in tJie Army of the Potomac.
and threaten Washington. Early's troops reached
Maryland and Pennsylvania during the first days
of July. Plundering expeditions were sent out
in all directions. The Confederate Chief made a
requisition upon the inhabitants of Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania, for $500,000; but since the cash was
not forthcoming he burnt the town. Union men in
Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania were panic-
stricken, flying, with all their worldly wealth, at the
approach of the " Early bird," who devoured every¬
thing within reach. Thousands of Marylanders,
friends of the rebellion, hailed the head of the
Southern column with open arms and shouts of joy.
Towards the middle of July, Early was converging on
Washington; his marches had been unusually rapid,
and his calculations warranted a hope that the Union
citadel would fall before him. But the Departments
were no longer filled with Southern sympathisers;
and the citizen clerks shouldered their muskets. The
city was one grand hospital; and the crippled and
feeble soldiers manned the forts—these, together with
a small garrison, held the defences until the Sixth
Corps arrived from the front.
It was evening, and dusk, when we reached Wash¬
ington. We were much surprised at the cheering and
clapping of hands which hailed us. We had always
been in the enemy's country, expecting nothing but
sulks from civilians, and this friendly greeting from
the throng which lined the streets imparted firmness
Sheridan's Ride.
i6i
and elasticity to the tired veteran's tread. A portion
only of our corps was engaged with the enemy, for,
upon discovering that heavy .reinforcements had
arrived, Early withdrew beyond the Potomac with his
spoils, which included 7000 horses and cattle. Our
brigade remained in the vicinity of Washington for
one day after the pursuit was ordered. Passes for a
few hours were issued to soldiers to visit the city.
Orders to march suddenly came—the men had not
returned, and were left behind. Nor was it to be
wondered that men, whose only diet for years had
been hard bread, pork, and coffee, should tarry at the
restaurants for a short-lived feast of daintier food,
and drinks more palatable than raw "commissary"
whisky. When they discovered that their regiments
had marched, cabs were at once engaged to overtake
the column. They continued to arrive at intervals;
and we were probably ten or. twelve miles on the
march when the last cab came up, profusely
decorated with knapsacks, haversacks, accoutrements,
frying-pans, and canteens, while the hilarious occu¬
pants—private soldiers—flourished champagne bottles
at the troops, and caused universal merriment. When
ordered by their company commanders to . take their
places in the ranks, they argued the absurdity of
walking when cabs could be procured. Officers were
disposed to treat the whole matter good-naturedly.
The offenders were men who would gallantly "face
the music " in the event of battle ; and during active
L
162 Four Years in tJie Army of the Potomac.
campaigning, a soldier known to be brave is treated
and considered with kindness and leniency by his
commanding officers.
General Wright was in command of our army,
composed of the 8th, 19th, and his own (6th) corps.
He showed lack of genius for independent command ;
but succeeded in marching the shoes off our feet to
no obvious purpose. Early retired up the valley, and
deceived our generals into the idea that he was hasten¬
ing to rejoin Lee at Petersburg. Our corps had returned
as far as Georgetown, en route for the Army of the
Potomac, on the James, when General Early counter¬
marched rapidly, fell upon our forces near Winchester,
under Crook, and gained a signal victory. Grant,
.growing impatient with the want of success on the
Shenandoah, came himself upon the scene, and placed
Sheridan in command. Having examined his sub¬
ordinate's plan of campaign. Grant "saw that but
two words of instruction were necessary—' Go in !"'
and Sheridan went in accordingly.
Ascending the valley, we passed through Charles-
town, where, five years before, John Brown had been
imprisoned, and finally hung, for his efforts to liberate
the slaves.
Let me here make a digression anent the old hero
whose name grows brighter with time. I have not
much sympathy with the guerrilla method of con¬
ducting either war or politics; but I entertain a
boundless admiration for the sublime heroism of old
Sheridan^s Ride,
163
John Brown, who made a faulty and fruitless attempt
to free the Southern slaves. He was sixth in descent
from Peter Brown, the Puritan pilgrim, who reached
Plymouth Rock in the " Mayflower " on the 22nd of
December, 1620. He was, at various periods of his
life, a tanner, farmer, and wool merchant. He
eschewed all party politics, and despised politicians.
John Brown was an Abolitionist of the heroic school,
who distrusted the Republican party, and declined all
leadership, including that of Garrison, Gerrit Smith,
and Wendell Philips. The Golden Rule and the
Declaration of Independence constituted his political
creed. "He believed in human brotherhood, and in the
God of Battles. He admired Nat Turner, the negro
patriot, equally with George Washington, the white
American deliverer. He could not see that it was
heroic to fight against a petty tax on tea, and war
seven long years for a political principle, yet wrong to
restore, by force of arms, to an outraged race the right
with which their Maker had endowed them, but of
which the South, for two centuries, had robbed them.''
Acting upon these principles he, with his sons, fought
for liberty in Kansas; and finally inaugurated the
insane movement for freeing the slaves of the South,
which led to his death on the gallows. Harper's
Ferry, Virginia, a village of some 5000 inhabitants,
containing the United States Armory, with many
thousand stand of arms, was selected by Brown as the
point upon which the first blow for liberty should fall.
i64 Four Year's in the Army of the Potomac.
The old man, with his little following of some twenty-
five people, entered the village on Sunday evening,
the i6th of October, 1859, capturing the Arsenal
and other Government buildings without difficulty.
During that night and the following morning the
insurrectionists imprisoned about sixty Virginians,
and freed the negroes of their prisoners. They pro¬
claimed that their object was " to free the Slaves;"
and that they were acting " by the authority of God
Almighty." But towards noon troops began to pour
into Harper's Ferry from all directions ; and by night¬
fall Brown's party, reduced to three unwounded white
men, besides himself, and some half-a-dozen negroes,
was surrounded by 1500 soldiers. Colonel Washing¬
ton, one of Brown's prisoners, and consequently an
eyewitness, declared to Governor Wise of Virginia,
"that Brown was the coolest man he ever saw in
defying death and danger. With one son dead by his
side, and another shot through, he felt the pulse of
his dying son with one hand, held his rifle with the
other, and commanded his men with the utmost com¬
posure, encouraging them to be firm and to sell their
lives as dearly as possible." At seven o'clock on the
following morning. Brown's last stronghold, the engine-
house, was burst open, and the defenders captured.
Brown is said to have been " struck in the face with a
sabre and knocked down, after which the blow was
several times repeated, while a soldier ran a bayonet
twice into the old man's body."
Sheridafis Ride.
165
The prisoners were lodged in jail at Charlestown.
John Brown was tried and convicted ; and on the
1st of November he was taken into Court to hear
the judgment. When required to say why sentence
should not be passed upon him, he spoke, "quietly
and tenderly," as follows :—
" In the first place, I deny everything but what I
have all along admitted—the design on my part to
free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made
a clean thing of that matter, as I did last, winter, when
I went into Missouri, and there took slaves without
the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them
through the country, and finally left them in Canada.
I designed to have done the same thing again, on a
larger scale. That was all I intended. I never did
intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of pro¬
perty, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to
make insurrection.
" I have another objection : and that is, it is unjust
that I should suffer such a penalty. Had l interfered
in the manner which I admit has been fairly proved—^
for I admire the truthfulness and candor of the
greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in
this case—had I so interfered in behalf of the. rich,
the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in
behalf of any of their friends, either father, mother,
brother, sister, wife, or children, or any of that class,
and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this inter¬
ference, it would have been all right, and every man
166 Four Years in tJie Army of the Potomac.
in this Court would have deemed it an act worthy of
reward rather than punishment.
" This Court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity
of the Law of God. I see a book kissed here which I
suppose to be the Bible, or, at least the New Testament,
that teaches me that all things * whatsoever I would
that men should do unto me, I should do even so to
them.' It teaches me, further, to * remember those
that are in bonds as bound with them.' I endeavored
to act upon that instruction. I say, I am yet too
young to understand that God is any respecter of
persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have
done, as I have always freely admitted I have done,
in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but
right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should
forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice,
and mingle my blood further with the blood of my
children, and with the blood of millions in this
slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked,
cruel, and unjust enactments—I submit; so let it be
done.
" Let me say one word further:
" I feel entirely satisfied with the treatment I have
received on my trial. Considering all the circum¬
stances, it has been more generous than I expected.
But I feel no consciousness of guilt. I have stated from
the first what was my intention and what was not.
I never had any design against the life of any person,
nor any disposition to commit treason, or excite slaves
Sheridai^s Ride.
167
to rebel, or make any general insurrection. I never
encouraged any man to do so, but always discouraged
any idea of that kind.
" Let me say, also, a word in regard to the statements
made by some of those connected with me. I hear it
has been stated by some of them that I have induced
them to join me. But the contrary is true. I do not
say this to injure them, but as regretting their weak¬
ness. There is not one of them but joined me of his
own accord, and the greater part at their own expense.
A number of them I never saw, and never had a word
of conversation with, till the day they came to me,
and that was for the purpose I have stated.
" Now I have done."
At eleven o'clock on the 2nd of December old John
Brown walked out of jail, "with a radiant countenance,"
on his way to the gallows. He passed a black slave
mother with her child in her arms. He stopped and
kissed the little black one affectionately. " God bless
you, old man !" exclaimed another black mother ; " I
wish I could help you, but I can't!" Brown now
mounted a wagon and rode to the gallows accompanied
by Captain Avis, his jailor, whom he thanked heartily
for the kindly and considerate treatment he had
received from him. He spoke the last word to some
acquaintance at the foot of the gallows, which he
mounted with a firm tread, and a calm, noble bearing.
As he stood pinioned, with the cap drawn over his
eyes, the rope already around his neck, the Sheriff
168 Four Years in tJie Army of tJie Potomac,
said :—" Captain Brown, you are not standing on the
dr6p. Will you come forward ?"
" I can't see : you must lead me," was the answer.
He was led forward. " Shall I give you a handkerchief,
and let you drop it as a signal ? " inquired the Sheriff.
" No; I am ready at any time. But do not keep
me needlessly waiting," was the calm, rational answer.
An answer that was not respected: for the military
was out in thousands, and formation against impossible
attacks had to be executed. At length, however, the
Pioneer of American Liberty was sent to his reward.
But let us now return to Sheridan's campaign.
As the head of our column entered Charlestown, the
leading regiment struck the tune; and ten thousand
men, marching to certain victory, swelled the mighty
chorus of—
" Jokn Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave,
But his soul goes marching on."
We found Early strongly posted behind forts
and parapet on Opequan Creek. By the 19th of
September, Sheridan's preparations were completed;
and he moved his forces out and offered battle. The
plan of action which made "Stonewall" Jackson
famous throughout the world was here adopted by
the intrepid Northern Chief. By a wide sweep, the
Eighth Corps passed around the enemy's left, gained
his flank and rear, and then fell upon the out¬
manoeuvred foe, with deafening cheers. The Sixth
and Nineteenth corps responded along the entire
Sheridan's Ride.
169
front, and Early's command was soon in a panic.
Torbert's cavalry, on the extreme right, now sounded
the charge, and galloped down upon the retreating
fugitives, capturing hundreds, and driving the rest
pell-mell through the streets of Winchester, to the
great chagrin of all the inhabitants, excepting the single
Union family that continued to live in the town during
the entire war. General Robert E. Rhodes, one of
Early's corps commanders, and formerly a professor
in the Virginia Military Institute, was killed on this
field. Among the Union dead was General David
A. Russell, commander of my own brigade. The
nation's gratitude will long be accorded to his memory
for his suoerhuman and successful efforts to save the
Union's right in the Wilderness. General Upton was
wounded on this field. I remember assisting him into
an ambulance: he was enthusiastic over the grand
result of the day's fighting. The " Infantry Tactics,"
perfected by this accomplished officer, have been
adopted by the American Army.
The enemy fell back to Fisher's Hill—the strongest
position in the valley—closely pursued by our forces.
We were marched forward at a pace which no troops
on earth could long sustain, when musketry was heard
towards the head of the column. " There," said a
soldier named Watson; " thank God for that!"
"What are you returning thanks for now," I asked.
" For that sound ahead," he answered. " I may live
through a fight," continued the old veteran, " but a few
I/O Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
more miles of this racing will kill me dead as a salt
mackerel." Within a few hours the battle of Fisher's
Hill was raging, and our philosopher was "peppering"
away at the "Johnnies." Here, again, Sheridan got
on the enemy's left flank and rear, and completely
routed Early's army, with a loss of sixteen pieces of
artillery, 1200 prisoners, besides wagons, ambulances,
etc. Torbert made vigorous pursuit at the head of our
cavalry, compelling the Confederate Chief, with his
foot-sore, demoralised army, to take to the mountains.
Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley was terrible.
He carried the sword of victory in one hand, and the
torch of destruction in the other. Grant had given
his great lieutenant these instructions: " Nothmg
should be left to invite the enemy s i^eturn. Take all
provisions, forage, and stock wanted for the use of
your command. Such as cannot be consumed, de¬
stroy. It is not desirable that the buildings should be
destroyed—they should rather be protected ; but the
people should be informed that, so long as an army
can subsist among them, occurrences of those raids
must be expected; and we are determined to stop
them at all hazards."
In obedience to this order, the torch was applied to
2000 barns filled with wheat and hay, and upwards of
seventy mills filled with corn and flour. 3000 sheep
were issued in fresh-meat rations to the troops;
and 4000 head of cattle were driven down the valley
before our army. Had our commander foreseen that
Sheridafis Ride.
171
the end was so near, all this valuable property might
have been spared to replenish the devastated fields of
the impoverished South.
After the repeated defeats inflicted upon the enemy,
which left the rebel force in the valley greatly
demoralised and reduced in number, the idea of Early
again assuming the offensive entered into the thoughts
of neither officers nor soldiers in the Union Army.
We were encamped near Middletown, when Sheridan
made a flying visit to Washington. Meanwhile, the
Confederate Chief, strongly reinforced, chafing under
his misfortunes, and anxious to avenge the destruc¬
tion of his supplies by Sheridan, again advanced
against our forces. On the night of the i8th of October
he divided his army into two columns. The men
were ordered to leave their canteens behind, to avoid
all noise, lest the movement should be discovered by
our pickets. Cautioned not to speak, the columns
were marched over rugged footpaths along the opposite
hills, reaching their respective positions upon our
flanks and rear long before daylight. The Union men
were calmly sleeping, and our guards and pickets
presumed the enemy to be many miles away. Sheri¬
dan had returned as far as Winchester, twenty miles
distant from his camp, little suspecting that Early had
crept like a panther around the flanks of his army, and
was then awaiting the light by which he could spring
upon and destroy his old foe. I was sleeping in my
dog-tent, on the left of the turnpike road, when
1^2 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
thundering volleys from flank and rear disturbed and
bewildered me. " What can this mean ? " I asked my
tent-mate, who, like myself, was getting his boots on
as quickly as possible. "Jones," said he, seriously,
" by , we are surrounded." Several musket balls
had by this pierced our little tent. The " long rolls "
were sounding. Orderly sergeants were rushing about,
crying, " Fall in, men ! Fall in !" Men, bareheaded;
men, without coats or boots, were grasping their guns
and accoutrements, and rushing into line. The enemy
was advancing. Brigades were hurriedly thrown for¬
ward to check the enemy until proper formation could
be effected; these were hurled back. Our flanks retired,
offering the best resistance they could. The whole
army was next ordered to fall back to a more
favorable position—for our only line of retreat was
imperilled. The movement was well executed : our
organisation was improving : the enemy was not eager
in his pursuit: there was a lull in the storm.
The roar of the cannon had reached Sheridan's
experienced ear at Winchester, twenty miles away;
and as we were executing this retrograde movement,
cheers were heard in the rear. A single horseman is
seen approaching—the horse galloping at a swift
easy pace. The breast of the charger is covered
with foam, and his mane is grey with dust. We
recognise the rider—and deafening cheers greet
him. A short, stout man, with dark piercing eyes;
black wiry hair, closely cut; a moustache and slight
Sheridan's Ride^
173
imperial; a smile on his face and a curl on his
lip; his presence imparts confidence even to the
stragglers, for they follow him back, voluntarily, to the
battlefield—GENERAL SHERIDAN. He takes his cap
in his hand, and talks kindly and rapidly to the men :
Face the other way, boys. This would not have
happened if I had been with you.'' We felt that this
was true. Sheridan inquired for General Wright's
headquarters, and commenced at once tp make his
dispositions for an advance upon the victorious enemy.
Our cavalry was massed on our flanks, ready for the
expected emergency. The Nineteenth Corps was to
force the enemy's left towards the turnpike; the whole
army would advance simultaneously. Having com¬
pleted his plan of battle, Sheridan rode along the line
from left to right, charging every soldier with con¬
fidence and enthusiasm, which seemed to fill the air
wherever he rode. Dashing past our regiment, waving
his cap at the men, his neck-tie fell from him, and
was picked up by Captain Butterfield, who, I believe,
still treasures it as a souvenir of one of the most
remarkable feats of the war. When the general
advance was ordered, our lines moved forward, with a
loud cheer, in the face of fifty pieces of artillery—
including nearly all our own captured in the morning
—and a perfect sheet of infantry fire; but without
repulse. The enemy's lines were broken—hurled back
in confusion: the charge was sounded: our cavalry
came down like a torrent upon the retreating foe ;
174 Four Years in the Army of the Potouiac.
and the victory was complete. We captured every¬
thing on wheels, and destroyed Early's army. The
power of genius over the fate of armies was never
more clearly established than at the battle of Cedar
Creek, where an army defeated in the morning
achieved before sunset one of the most signal victories
recorded in the annals of warfare, though reinforced by
but a single man.
Thomas Buchanan Read, artist of well-earned
fame, and much-neglected poet, wrote a picture of
Sheridan's ride from Winchester. The poem will
claim a page in the volumes of our language when
the canvas of the " Lost Pleiad " shall have crumbled
to dust. Here it is :—
" Sheridan's Ride.
"Up from the South at break of day,
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,
The affrighted air with a shudder bore.
Like a herald in haste to the chieftain's door.
The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar,
Telling the battle was on once more,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.
And wider still those billows of war
Thundered along the horizon's bar ;
And louder yet into Winchester rolled
The roar of that red sea uncontrolled.
Making the blood of the listener cold,
As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray.
And Sheridan twenty miles away.
Sheridan's Ride,
175
But there is a road from Winchester town,
A good broad highway leading down ;
And there, through the flash of the morning light,
A steed as black as the steeds of night
Was seen to pass as with eagle flight—
As if he knew the terrible need.
He stretched away with his utmost speed ;
Hills rose and fell; but his heart was gay.
With Sheridan fifteen miles away.
Still sprung from those swift hoofs, thundering South,
The dust, like smoke from the cannon's mouth.
Or the trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster.
Foreboding to traitors the doom of disaster.
The heart of the steed and the heart of the master
Were beating, like prisoners assaulting their walls.
Impatient to be where the battlefield calls ;
Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play,
With Sheridan only ten miles away.
Under his spurning feet the road
Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed ;
And the landscape sped away behind.
Like an ocean flying before the wind :
And the steed, like a bark fed with furnace ire,
Swept on, with his wild eye full of fire.
But lo ! he is nearing his heart's desire ;
He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray.
With Sheridan only five miles away.
The first that the General saw were the groups
Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops.
What was done ? What to do ? a glance told him both ;
Then striking his spurs, with a terrible oath,
1/6 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
He dashed down the line, 'mid a storm of huzzas,
And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because
The sight of the master compelled it to pause.
With foam and with dust the black charger was grey ;
By the flash of his eye, and the red nostrils' play,
He seemed to the whole great army to say:—
* I have brought you Sheridan, all the way
From Winchester, down to save the day !'
Hurrah ! hurrah for Sheridan !
Hurrah ! hurrah for horse and man !
And when their statues are placed on high,
Under the dome of the Union sky—
The American soldiers' Temple of Fame—
There, with the glorious General's name.
Be it said, in letters both bold and bright,
* Here is the steed that saved the day
By carrying Sheridan into the fight,
From Winchester—twenty miles away I'"
CHAPTER XVII.
THE FORTUNES OF WAR.
"It is expedient to have an acquaintance with those who have
looked into the world."—Horne.
AM quite safe in asserting that less than
half the infantry of McClellan's army
reached Harrison's Landing with their
respective organisations at the end of the Seven Days*
Fighting before Richmond. This is true of the regi¬
ment to which I belonged. Sickness and exhaustion
had decimated our ranks. Rolls were called when
we reached the position selected for defence; and I
think some honorable mention was made of the men
who, through superior heart and prowess, kept their
places in the ranks from first to last. In groundless fear
of desertion the commander of our army had ordered
"roll-call" at frequent intervals—every two hours I
think. The men were in a filthy condition. Our
camp was at a considerable distance from the river in
M
178 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
our rear—so distant that we could not possibly get to
it, cleanse ourselves and mud-besmeared clothing, and
return without missing one of these roll-calls. How¬
ever, three of us—Carver, Murray, and myself—after
making a secret treaty with the first sergeant, deter¬
mined to risk the possible punishment for the sake of
a bath and clean clothes. But our absence was
noticed by the company commander, and when we
returned to camp we were ordered before him. Now,
this officer, through no fault of his own, had succumbed
to the extraordinary exertion and fatigue of the
" Seven Days:" had not been with the company, as we
had been, through every fight and bivouac, and every
midnight march: therefore, we became impatient at the
lecture upon discipline which he ostentatiously vouch¬
safed us. Private Carver, a superior educated man,
made some caustic observations in reply. My friend
Murray offered a similar contribution; and I added,
" Never mind the essay; let us have the punish¬
ment !" We were sent to the guard-house, and made
to do some police duty, while an armed soldier, with
fixed bayonet, accompanied us to-and-fro. We felt in
no way disgraced by our position; on the contrary,
we were rather proud of it. Moreover, we wore the
only clean shirts in the regiment. Captain Ross was
a kind, amiable, generous man. When, soon after the
date of this incident, he left the army, and returned to
his large business interests in Chicago, he invited all
" the boys " to call upon him when passing homeward
The Fortunes of War. 179
through the city. And they did call, to enjoy his
hospitality, and occasionally to borrow his money !
******
It was a custom in our regiment, and throughout
the army I believe, for the officer and sergeant of the
camp-guard to divide the duties, of the night between
them—the commissioned officer remaining, in charge
until after midnight, and then calling the. sergeant,
who attended to the guard until early morning, when
the officer was awakened, and returned to the station.
This was the order of things followed by myself and
Sergeant Hall upon one occasion, while our army lay
in front of Petersburg. At this time it was suspected
that Lee contemplated piercing our line and escaping
with his army to form a junction with General John¬
ston, in North Carolina. For this reason the troops
had to be under arms and in line of battle at day¬
break. It was the duty of officers of the guard to see
that company commanders were awakened in time
to get their respective companies into line at the
appointed hour. The sergeant should execute, though
the officer was responsible for this order. The com¬
pany officers were slow in turning their companies out
on the occasion of which I write. General Allen, com¬
manding our brigade at the tim^, rode down the line,
and found only a few companies of his own regiment
at the breastworks. Through some accident I was
not awakened. I had risen, however, and was dressing
hurriedly, when the door of my hut was thrown open
l8o Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
by Lieut.-Col. B who, with much dramatic power
and effect, placed me in arrest for neglect of duty!
My old comrade. Sergeant Hall, insisted, among other
things, that he had roused everj' line officer according
to instructions, and that General Allen appeared
before the usual hour. But I was largely responsible,
though not personally to blame, for what had tran¬
spired. Colonel B ^ who had placed me in arrest,
was a comparatively new officer to our regiment. He
came to us from the Twenty-third Wisconsin, and
through the Governor's favor was placed in position
over older and more experienced officers of our own
regiment. But he was in no sense to blame for this.
The promotion was offered him, and he accepted it, as
any one of our officers who complained would have
done under like circumstances. I was among the first
to defend his position, even before he joined us; the
very first to offer him my hand when he came. He
was a brave man, of brilliant abilities; handsome,
generous, enthusiastic, impulsive. I was grieved, but
not surprised, when, during the forenoon of the day of
my arrest, he deprived me of my sword. I doubt if
he ever forgave himself for this piece of dramatic
claptrap. I know that, had the charge against me
been serious, he would have moved heaven and earth
to serve me. I can never believe that he ever medi¬
tated a wrong act or injury to any living soul; but he
was hasty, and therefore liable to err in judgment.
I at once set to work to prepare my defence; and
The Fortu7ies of Wan
i8i
to coin the thoughts and mould the sentences of my
speech to the Court. After the lapse of several days,
I wrote a formal request for a copy of the charge and
specifications preferred against me. I received no
answer. It was becoming obvious by this time that
my superiors—who were and are among my best
friends—deeply regretted my position. The acting
adjutant—my friend Captain Curran—strongly urged
me to write General Allen, requesting my release from
arrest. I replied that I would die first! So hot and
foolish is young blood.
But the paymaster soon arrived in camp, and we
were " dead broke." On the day following his arrival
our regiment was paid off. Towards evening I was
informed that if I asked to be released from arrest,
my request would be granted. But I pozed as a
much-injured man! and rejected the olive branch.
That night every officer, save myself, received his
money. An officer under arrest cannot sign the pay¬
rolls or draw his salary. Several of my friends and
messmates urged me to make the very trifling conces¬
sion required of me. But no: I would not yield a
single hair's breadth. At last I was released. I then
walked up to the colonel's tent, signed the pay-rolls,
received my money, guarded against the possibility
of entering into conversation with any one at head¬
quarters, and at once walked back to my cabin. Next
day, General Allen honored me by a visit. He talked
to me wisely and kindly from the depth of his noble
182 Four Years m the Army of the Potomac,
heart; and the soreness caused by my arrest was all
removed.
During the campaign and the fighting which fol¬
lowed, it was thought by some that I had acquitted
myself pretty well; and one night, as the officers
stood around the blazing camp-fire, recounting the
incidents of the day's battle. Lieutenant McCabe came
up, and, in his hearty, manly style, addressed me thus
across the burning logs : " By y they wouldn't put
you under arrest now, Jones!" Every one laughed at
John's remark, and none heartier than Allen and
Bull; but no reply was offered.
But I little suspected that, while preparing my own
defence, I was educating, myself for the position of
Judge-Advocate. And yet, so it was. First, I was de¬
tailed as a member of a Court-martial. This extra ser¬
vice relieved me from picket duty, which was a great
boon. I attended the Court day by day, and contented
myself with merely voting in silence when the causes
had been heard. Finally, two men were put upon their
trial for attempting to desert the enemy. The specifi¬
cations set forth, among other particulars, that these
men were formerly in the Southern Army : that they
had made their escape to the North, and had enlisted
to serve in our army in a New Jersey regiment: that
they had been arrested and made prisoners, by a
sergeant of the Provost Guard, beyond our cavalry
outposts, while endeavoring to reach the enemy's
lines The evidence was fairly conclusive in support
The Fortunes of Wan
183
of the prosecution. The prisoners were very stupid
men. When requested to make a statement in their
own defence, they muttered something about having
bought a canteen of whisky; and of having relations
in that part of Virginia. The sergeant of the Provost
Guard strongly impressed me that he was a braggart
and "a fraud." By questions submitted to the
prisoners through the Judge-Advocate, I elicited several
important facts—^viz., that the prisoners had called at
a house, situated between the two picket lines, to
inquire the way to the house of a relation : that they
found the sergeant tea-drinking and enjoying himself
with the woman of the house: that the prisoners were
drunk at the time. I was reminded, by a much older
officer than myself, that I was wasting the tiipe of the
Court to no earthly good purpose. A vote was taken,
and a verdict of guilty returned. I knew that this
" finding" involved capital punishment: the thought
deeply moved me; and though I had hitherto failed to
do so, I now mustered sufficient courage to rise and
offer my respectful protest againt the character of the
evidence, the conduct of the trial, and the injustice of
the verdict, I then advanced my own theory of the
case, which may here be briefly stated—viz., that the
prisoners, while in a drunken state, were indiscreetly
endeavoring to pay a visit to a relative, innocent of
the fact that the object of their search was beyond our
outposts; that the provost-sergeant, and principal
witness, belonged to that class of warriors who
184 Four Years in the Anny of the Potomac,
tried to extract the greatest possible amount of
honor and glory out of the least possible expendi¬
ture of service and risk; and that this woman, with
whom the sergeant was upon very friendly terms,
would be able to clear up the mystery, and establish
the guilt or innocence of the prisoners. I pleaded for
a reopening of the case, and insisted that this im¬
portant witness should be brought before us.
But the President of the Court replied that what
I proposed would be entirely out of order: that,
having found the prisoners guilty, nothing remained
but to pass the sentence. My gallant friend Captain
Doughty, also a member of the Court, came to my
assistance; and, after a spirited contest, we carried
our point, and the Court adjourned without passing
the sentence. Next morning, the female witness was
brought to Court: she substantially supported my
theory. The old " findings" were allowed to stand ;
and the men were sentenced to carry knapsacks, of a
given weight, in front of the guard station of their
regiment, for a stated number of days. The sentence
was not according to the verdict! When the proceed¬
ings were examined at division headquarters they were
found quite irregular, and the Court was adjourned.
" Well, we brought it on ourselves," said Doughty to
me, some ten days later, as we tried to drink our
coffee, and eat our pork and " hard tack," in a blind¬
ing snow-storm on the picket line. After forty-eight
hours sleepless duty, I returned one morning with my
♦
The Fortunes of War,
185
men to camp. Sheldon was preparing my breakfast.
I was lying half-asleep on my bunk, when some one
knocked sharply at the door. " Come in!" An
"orderly" poked in his head, handed me a large
parcel of papers, and disappeared. I opened the
envelope addressed to me, which laid uppermost, and
read it. I was completely surprised by its contents.
" Sheldon," I said to my comrade, " this is an order
from division headquarters dissolving the old Court,
and forming a new one with myself as Judge-Advocate.
The thing is absurd! I am not a lawyer. There
must be some mistake."
"No mistake at all; and why absurd, sir ?"
answered Sheldon.
" Simply because I don't know the first thing about
military law."
"Lieutenant," said he, in deliberate reply, "don't
you permit yourself to say that you don't know the
first thing about this subject and the other: don't
depreciate yourself I You will find, before you reach
niy age, a great many men only too happy to do that
for you."
" Good heaven I Sheldon," I replied, " you would
not have me undertake this important work without a
day's education or training for the position I"
" Certainly 1" he said. " The books will tell you all
about it; and after a few days experience it will all
come easy to you."
After breakfast, I acknowledged the receipt of the
186 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
order, and the parcel of cases for trial which ac¬
companied it; and accepted the post for which I was
designated. I next made a requisition for a copying
clerk, and another for a horse. I then scoured the
brigade for works on military law and Court-martial;
and found a goodly number, which I devoured by
night and day. When I first stood up to administer
the oath, which I had committed to memory, to the
Court, the teachings of Sheldon could not remove from
my mind the conviction that I was an imposter.
But it is due to my old friend that I should add that,
though the Court was remodelled more than once,
through death, discharge, or other causes, I continued
to be its Judge-Advocate until I left Virginia for
my Western home.
CHAPTER XVIII.
OUR LAST CAMPAIGN, AND LEE'S SURRENDER.
" Brave minds, howe'er at war, are secret friends ;
Their generous discord with the battle ends."
Tickell.
" 0 beauteous Peace,
Sweet union of a State ! what else but thou
Gives safety, strength, and glory to a people !"
Thomson,
HE last winter of the war was one of
sleepless vigilance and activity for the
contending armies on the James and
Appomattox rivers. Grant's left flank was aggres¬
sive, fighting its way day by day in the direction of
Lee's communications southward; while the appre¬
hension that the Confederate Chief would attempt to
cut his way through the Union lines, and form a
junction with Johnston, confronting Sherman, kept
our army constantly on the alert.
During the dark nights of winter, deserters in con-
188 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
siderable numbers reached our picket line from the
enemy's camp. Most of them were of the conscript
class; while some were old soldiers whose reason
prevailed over their devotion to the new flag: they
were unwilling to fight longer in a hopeless cause.
To run the gauntlet from the Confederate to the
Union line was a very precarious business. The flight
of the truant was generally discovered by his late
comrades while he was still within the range of their
rifles; pickets generally fired with deadly intent, but
the deserter, with scarcely an exception, made good his
escape. Where my brigade did picket duty, a belt of
timber, thick with underbrush, extended from our line
to that of the enemy: this was a favorite point at
which to steal away. I have known fugitives to reach
our line wounded and bleeding; the bullets whizzing
over their heads; their hands and faces severely
scratched by the brush and branches ; hats lost and
clothes in tatters. Three came together one night;
one of them especially attracted my attention. He
was young and beardless; tall and slender. He wore
his hair long, after the Southern style. Bareheaded,
ragged, and panting for breath, he sat upon a log,
and accepted a cup of coffee, proffered by one of our
men, and commenced to weep bitterly. The disgrace¬
ful nature of the act he had just committed seemed
then to break upon his mind. " Oh God, what have I
done!" he exclaimed. Then, turning to his com¬
panions, he asked in a most piteous tone: " Why did
Our Last Cafnpaign,
189
you persuade me to do this ? Oh that I were back
again where I came from, though I died the next
moment." We tried to cheer him with assurances
that the destruction of Lee's army and the downfall of
the Rebellion were inevitable; still he would not be
comforted. He was a mere boy, but his grief was
great and his tears honest. I sympathised with him
deeply, and pitied him from my heart. I sent the
three to brigade headquarters under guard, and, of
course, never saw or heard of them more.
When a ship at sea is foundering, and the waves are
mountain high, people begin to look for their beads or
their Bibles. When every hope of earth is vanishing,
men and women turn their faces heavenward, and pray
to the God of Abraham for miracles. During the last
winter of the Great Rebellion, a cloud of despondency
settled upon the Confederate camp. There was pray¬
ing in every tent: a great revival spread through the
Army of Northern Virginia. There are those who
maintain that troops in this frame of mind make the
bravest of soldiers. I do not agree with them. Men
must be enthusiastic for the cause in which they are
engaged, or else they cannot fight. Blind fanaticism
is a different thing: it is like brandy, and guano—
a flash in the pan—it lacks what the soldier calls
staying power." Mark how suddenly Lee's forces
became disorganised and demoralised, when at last
they sought to reach the Roanoke. We may have
had revivals in the Army of the Potomac at some
190 Four Years in tJu Army of the Potomac.
period of the war, though I must confess I do not
remember the circumstance. I attended Divine ser¬
vice one Sunday morning just before the opening of
our last campaign. The chaplain was, I believe, a
Baptist. He preached an orthodox sermon: future
reward and punishment: irresistible grace and predes¬
tination. There was about as much spirit of fairplay
and Christian charity contained in that sermon as
could be expected from the advocate of a creed
founded by the persecutor of Bolsec, Servetus, and the
starving Castellio. Our colonel, who was present at
the service, was a man of generous impulse; and
nothing but his sense of decorum kept him in his seat
while the sermon was being delivered. When the ser¬
vice was over, several of the officers remained near
the tent, where the chaplain—a worthy man—soon
joined us.
" Mr. ," said the colonel, addressing the chaplain,
" I don't want any more of that doctrine preached in
this regiment. Every one of my boys who fall fighting
this great battle of Liberty is going to Heaven, and I
won't allow any other principle to be promulgated
to them while I command the regiment." This was
our last sermon in the army.
The final campaign for the capture of Richmond
and the Army of Northern Virginia was inaugurated
on the 29th of March, 1865. Sheridan, with 10,000
cavalry, (acting under special instructions from Grant)
started towards Dunwiddie Court House, on our left
Our Last Campaign,
191
rear, for the purpose of cutting off Lee's communica¬
tions southward ; while two corps of infantry went in
search of the enemy's right flank, which rested in
comparative security amid swamps and woods not far
from Five Forks. Heavy skirmishing was the extent
of this day's work. By a sudden inspiration, Grant
decided to abandon the cavalry raid upon the enemy's
railroads, and bring on a general engagement if he
could do so with advantage. In his despatch to
Sheridan our Commander said: now feel like
ending the matter, if it is possible to do so, before
going back. I do not want you, therefore, to cut
loose and go after the enemy's roads at present. In
the morning push around the enemy and get on his
right rear. We will act together as one army here
until it is seen what can be done with the enemy."
Lee soon discovered the intent of his adversary, and,
stripping his lines around Petersburg to the lowest
point consistent with the safety of his defence, he
hastened to the support of his right. By this move¬
ment of the enemy, Sheridan and his corps of cavalry
were separated from the infantry; Grant's com¬
munication with his Lieutenant was interrupted. A
corps of infantry was at once ordered to the support
of the cavalry. Rain had fallen in torrents since
Grant's movement commenced ; but after a hard and
trying march, continued throughout the night, the
Fifth Corps reached Sheridan before daylight on the
1st of April. After heavy fighting with varying for-
192 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
tune throughout the forenoon, the enemy fell back
upon Five Forks, closely followed by our cavalry.
By two o'clock in the afternoon Sheridan's forces of
infantry and cavalry were in position and ready for
action. A mounted division was upon the enemy's
outer flank and rear; the Fifth Corps of infantry was
ready to strike his left, while dismounted cavalry
pressed the centre. Generals Pickett and Johnson,
in command of the enemy, conscious of their criti¬
cal situation, refused both flanks, and entrenched.
I remember seeing General Warren, upon his white
horse, surrounded by a group of mounted officers, on
this field. I don't know why I thought so, but it cer¬
tainly did run through my mind that there was some¬
thing wrong; that there was confusion. Perhaps the
sight of several officers, grouped upon the battle-field,
with Warren on his conspicuous white horse as the
central figure, suggested the idea. Certainly the sight
was a most unusual one. However, within a very
short time, the rumor reached us that Sheridan had
relieved Warren from command for refusing to charge
the enemy. Grant was thoroughly dissatisfied with
Warren's conduct after the Mine Explosion. He
believed, that if he " had obeyed orders we would have
broken Lee's army in two and taken Petersburg;"
and had authorised Sheridan " to relieve Warren if he
at all failed him. Sheridan did so," says Grant, " and
no one regretted the necessity more than I did."
Griffin assumed command of the Fifth Corps. At
Our Last Campaign.
193
dusk, Sheridan ordered a general charge; the infantry
rolled up the enemy's left in confusion; the cavalry
responded gallantly from left and centre, charging
right through the Confederate ranks, completely rout¬
ing Lee's right, with a loss of several batteries and
5000 prisoners. This was the beginning of the end.
That night the Union guns opened along the entire
line. The heavens were illuminated by shot and shell
as they went screeching through the air with light¬
ning speed on their mission of destruction. Men stood
around in silent groups watching the fiery archer, whilst
others discussed the probable nature of the work
evidently at hand. I remember three of us—mess¬
mates—sitting on a log that night, calculating the cost
of the work in the morning (for we had been privately
informed that our corps would charge the enemy's
works at daybreak). Captain Doughty, an English¬
man by birth, said : " At least one-third will fall, and
of us three, I feel a strange presentiment that I shall
not come out of it." At eleven o'clock we silently
marched outside of our entrenchments, and formed for
the assault. For the early spring it was a warm, plea¬
sant night. The sound of heavy guns had died away;
and save an occasional crack from the rifle of the ever-
vigilant picket, the stillness of the night was undis¬
turbed. With the dim grey light of the morning,
the advance was ordered, when, with a loud cheer,
we swept over the open space between the lines.
A sheet of musketry light greeted our advance, but
N
194 Four Years m tite Army of the Potomac,
we sped along on the run ; tore away the double line
of abattisj climbed up the forts and parapet, drove the
enemy pell-mell towards the rear, capturing many
guns and thousands of prisoners. This charge, made
in comparative darkness, had thoroughly disorganised
the formations, especially of the leading regiments;
and the growing light of the morning displayed the
men of the Sixth Corps scattered far and wide over
the open ground within the Confederate works. Here
and there, in all directions, over the vast plain, the
Union flag was waving, with only a score of men to
guard it in many instances: all were rushing forward.
We formed one grand skirmish wave, which nothing
could check: the enemy was retiring. Aide-de-camps
were galloping about endeavoring to drive us back,
that the battalions might reform. We knew nothing
of the designs of Grant, nor of the extent of our
victory as a whole. I was imbued with the idea that
the South Side Railroad should be torn up; and, with
the regimental colours and about twenty men, I
pressed forward to accomplish the task, trusting that
we should find tools for the purpose in some captured
wagon. A staff officer of our division ordered us to
retire towards the captured works, where we found
our colonel with the greater part of the regiment:
many had fallen. In passing through the first line of
abattis, I was struck on the thigh by a partially-spent
cannister shot: it knocked me down. Several men
jumped over me before I could gain my feet again;
Our Last Campaign,
195
and the report reached Colonel Allen that I was
gone. While approaching my comrades, with the flag
and my brave little band, the colonel—a tall handsome
man—came forward to meet us: he took me in his
arms. He inquired for Doughty. Alas for the gallant
captain! my friend and messmate! He girded on
his armor to the sound of the first gun on Sumter,
and fell when crowning victory was ours—to the
booming of the last hostile cannon in the land! The
corps of Parke and Ord had also been successful, and
Lee's position was no longer tenable; therefore, he
telegraphed to the President of the tottering Con¬
federacy, saying: " My lines are broken in three
places. Richmond must be evacuated to-night." The
message was handed to Mr. Davis in church during
morning service—it was Sunday. No prophet was
here necessary to decipher the handwriting on the
wall.
Lincoln's hopes, and Grant's eflbrts, looked to the
total destruction rather than the mere defeat of Lee's
army. The Confederate Chief headed his column
towards North Carolina, in hopes to form a junction
with Joe Johnston, then confronting Sherman. Sheri¬
dan led the pursuit "almost with the force of voli¬
tion." No general can tell what his next move
shall be until the result of a previous move is
known. During the pursuit of Lee, following
the capture of Petersburg, the design of Grant
and Meade were at cross purposes. The Army of
196 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
the Potomac was divided into three grand divisions,
under Meade, Sheridan, and Ord; Grant was with
Ord's column. When he came into camp one evening,
having been in the saddle all day, two soldiers in
Confederate uniforms were brought before him as
prisoners; they were Union scouts, in disguise, sent
through Lee's lines to avoid a wide detour, with a
message from Sheridan to the Commander-in-Chief.
One of them," says Grant, " took out of his mouth
a quid of tobacco, in which was a small pellet of
tinfoil. This, when opened, was found to contain a
note from Sheridan to me, written on tissue paper,
saying that it was most important for the success of
the movement then being made, that I should go at
once to his headquarters ; that Meade had given his
part of the army orders to move in such a manner
that Lee might break through and escape. I started
off at once, taking a fresh horse, without waiting for
a cup of coffee. Although Sheridan's headquarters
were not more than ten miles away, I had to make
such a detour round the rebel lines that I rode at
least thirty miles before reaching them. I remem¬
ber," continues Grant, " being challenged by pickets ;
and sometimes I had great difficulty in getting
through the lines. I remember picking my way
through the sleeping soldiers bivouacked in the open
field. I reached Sheridan about midnight. He was
very anxious ; he explained the position. Meade had
given him orders to move on the right flank and
Our Last Campaign,
197
cover Richmond. This, Sheridan thought, would be
to open the door for Lee to escape toward Johnston.
Meade's fear was that, by uncovering Richmond, Lee
would get into our rear and trouble our communica¬
tions. Sheridan's idea was to move on the left
flank, swing between Lee and the road to Johnslon,
leave Richmond and our rear to take care of them¬
selves, and press Lee and attack him wherever he
could be found. Meade's view was that of an engi¬
neer; and, no doubt, there were reasons of high
military expediency in favor of his plan. His theory
secured the safety of our army, the safety of Rich¬
mond, and all the triumphs of the campaign; but, at
the same time, it left the door open to Lee. My
judgment coincided with Sheridan's. I felt we ought
to find Lee, wherever he was, and strike him. The
question was not the occupation of Richmond, but the
destruction of the army. I started to find Meade, who
was not far off. He was ailing, in bed. He was very
cordial, and began talking about the next day's march,
and the route he had laid down. I listened, and then
told him I did not approve of his march. I did not
want Richmond so much as Lee ; that Richmond was
only a collection of houses, while Lee was an active
force, injuring the country, and that I thought we
might take the risk. I took out my pencil, and wrote
out an order for the movement of the army, changing
Meade's orders, and directing the whole force to have
coffee at four o'clock, and move on the left flank.
198 Four Years in tJie Army of tJie Potomac.
When I handed it to Meade, I told him it was then
very late, and that he had not much time to lose. He
immediately went to work, in the most loyal manner,
and moved the army according to my instructions.
Meade's loyalty and soldierly qualities were so high,
that, whether he approved or disapproved a movement,
he made no difficulty about the performance of his duty."
Lee directed his shattered columns towards Amelia
Court House, where a train of provisions had been
collected by order of the General for his ill-rationed
army. The President, however, needed the train, and
it was at once despatched to Richmond, to facilitate the
flight of Davis and his followers. The General's
arrangements were thus frustrated; and he was obliged
to remain at the Court House during part of two days,
endeavoring, with indifferent success, to procure food
for his half-starved, demoralised army. Meanwhile
Sheridan, leaving the enemy on his right, pushed for¬
ward to Jetersville, and entrenched himself across Lee's
road to Danville. Before nightfall, Meade and his
infantry were also at Jetersville. But the Confederates
knew every road and path in the district, and, by a
wide detour to the right, they managed to escape under
cover of darkness. Sheridan forged ahead with his
cavalry at early dawn, and, by charging the retreating
army with a single brigade, he compelled Lee to make
a stand. Custer, with a division of horse, was now
impelled forward to Sailor's Creek, were Ewell's
Corps—Lee's rear-column—was cut off.
Our Last Campaign.
199"
This was the fifth day since the fighting commenced.
We had received no rations during that time, and our
haversacks were empty. It was late one night when
our brigade filed into a field to await the supply
train, and bivouac for a time, as we supposed. The
wagons containing the much-needed hard bread,,
coffee, and sugar, were driving into camp when we
were ordered to " fall in." A despatch was read to the
troops asking us to go to Sheridan's assistance—we
had been with him in the Shenandoah Valley. Cheer
after cheer responded to the call; the onward march
was at once commenced and continued throughout the
night. We felt that the end was not far off—home
was looming in the distance, and enthusiasm answered
the purpose of food. Before noon the next day we
were up with Ewell's Corps of infantry. The enemy's
position was well chosen in the edge of a hard wood
forest, with open fields in front. His skirmishers were
also admirably placed along a ridge covered with brush
and skirted by a deep swamp. We were at once sent
forward against the enemy. Sheridan was on the field.
We passed him as we advanced in line-of-battle to
carry the enemy's position. " There's Phil!" "There's
Phil!" ran along the ranks. The sight of that man
upon the field was more gratifying than rations ; more
inspiring than reinforcements. Officers and men were
losing their heads: Allen rode his horse in front of
our battle-line advancing. I had done a considerable
share of skirmishing during the campaign. Crossing
200 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
the narrow swamp, of which I have spoken, I sank to
my waist in the mud, and was hauled out by two men.
When Allen told his adjutant. Captain Curran, to send
my company out to skirmish, and clear the ridge, my
friend, taking pity on my tired state and muddy
plight, offered to take his own company, and thus
relieve me. He was permitted to do so. Presently
Allen came up to me and said: "Jones, go and help
Hank !" The enemy held the ridge by a double line
of skirmishers; too many for the single company. I
deployed my handful of men, as brave and true as ever
shouldered a musket, and advanced till I came to
Curran's line. ' We agreed to charge the ridge on
the double quick instead of skirmishing it. Those
who were looking on thought we did it rather well.
Sheridan had his eye upon us. Some of our men sent
back with the horses stood near him at this moment
•
They told us he clapped his hands and cheered the per¬
formance in his heartiest manner. A general advance
was now ordered. The cavalry was upon the enemy's
rear. Ewell and his staff saw that resistance was hope¬
less, and endeavored to escape. They were overhauled
by our skirmishers. Sheridan's lines were closing in
upon the discomfited foe in all directions; and Ewell's
Corps of 6000 men threw down their arms. We
bivouacked for the night near the battle-field. Officers
and men were grouped around the camp-fire recount¬
ing the incidents of the fight. We were worn out and
without food.
Otir Last Campaign.
201
My man—a faithful soldier disabled at St. Marye's
Heights, and a valued friend—was about the first n'on-
combatant to join the regiment after the battle. I
had not seen him during several days. On the night
before we stormed the works at Petersburg I had
made a brief will; this, together with my watch and
money, I had left with my old friend, with directions
where to send them in the event of my being killed.
I was sleeping in rear of my company when at night¬
fall on the day of Sailor's Creek he came up; and I
was told by one who witnessed the scene, that my old
comrade replaced the will, watch, and money, in my
pockets, with great tenderness, and with tears of joy
in his eye. He then prepared my frugal meal of fried
pork, coffee, and hard bread. A few months afterwards
I visited him on his farm near Watertown, Wisconsin.
Grant saw that the escape of the Army of Northern
Virginia was impossible; therefore, he despatched a
considerate note to the Confederate Commander, ask¬
ing for its surrender, "to shift from himself the re¬
sponsibility of further effusion of blood." But the
pursuit was vigorously prosecuted with both cavalry
and infantry. The correspondence between the great
captains of the war continued : it may be found in
full in every history on the American conflict. Lee
was unwilling to admit that further resistance would
be unavailing. On the 8th, while replying to Grant's
second note, he said: "To be frank, I do not think
the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender
202 Four Yeai's in tJie Army of the Potomac.
* ' "" —— - —
of this army." Next day, however, the great Vir¬
ginian found himself surrounded on Clover Hill,
near Appomattox Court House. I saw the white flag
coming down the road. Lee now sought an inter¬
view, which Grant accorded with great satisfaction.
General Grant was formerly subject to severe head¬
aches, attended by nervous prostration. He suffered
intense pain from one of these attacks on the night
before Lee surrendered his army. But commanders
of armies are not supposed to be influenced by the
ailments and afflictions of ordinary men. Had Lee and
his army reached the Roanoke, the Union com¬
mander's prostrating headache would have been the
last and the least satisfactory excuse that could be
offered to the army and the North. The mere phy¬
sical endurance of Grant during this campaign is only
surpassed by his extraordinary labors in rear of Vicks-
burg. In military skill and celerity of execution
these two campaigns are the most brilliant achieve¬
ments of our war. Sheridan sent word to his Com¬
mander-in-Chief that Lee desired an interview, and
Grant at once rode forward towards the headquarters
of his intrepid lieutenant. He was dressed in an old
suit, splashed with mud, with nothing to indicate his
rank save the shoulder-straps of a lieutenant-general
upon a simple woollen blouse—his sword was with
his baggage ; and the conqueror became very anxious
lest the Southern Chief should view his rough-and-
ready personal appearance as a deliberate mark of
Our Last Campaipi, 203
want of courtesy and proper respect. But his uniform
was far away in the rear beyond his reach. Grant's
anxiety upon the question of personal appearance
was heightened when, upon entering McLean's house
where the world-remembered meeting took place, he
found General Lee in a splendid full-dress uniform,
worn for the first time. He expressed his regrets at
being obliged to meet him in so unceremonious a
manner; whereupon Lee explained that the only
suit available in his case was the one he wore—a
present from some of his admirers "in Baltimore.
The two commanders next spoke of old friends in the
Union army, and the Mexican War, where they fought
together. Lee so far out-ranked Grant during that cam¬
paign, that it would have been quite excusable had he
not known the Union General: but the Confederate
Chief remembered him very well. Lee now broached
the painful subject which called them together. Grant
explained his terms; Lee listened attentively, and
finally requested the Union Commander to reduce
them to writing. This he did, in pencil: they were
accepted by Lee. Grant then handed the draft to
his aide to be written out in ink. His terms of
surrender were in the following words:—
"Appomattox Court House,
"9th April, 1865.
" General R. E. Lee, Commanding C.S.A.
" General,—In accordance with the substance of
my letters to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive
204 Four. Years in the Army of the Potomac,
the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on
the following terms, to wit:
" Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in
duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer designated
by me, the other to be retained by such officer or
officers as you may designate.
" The officers to give their individual paroles not to
take up arms against the United States until properly
exchanged; and each company or regimental comman¬
der sign a like parole for the men of their commands.
"The arms,-artillery, and public property to be
packed and stacked, and turned over to the officers
appointed by me to receive them.
" This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers,
nor their private horses or baggage.
"This done, each officer and man will be allowed
to return to his home, not to be disturbed by
United States authority so long as they observe
their paroles and the laws in force where they may
reside.—^Very respectfully, U. S. Grant, Lieut.-
General."
Lee formally accepted the terms in the following
letter:—
"Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia,
" 9th April, 1865.
" Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant, Commanding U.S A.
"General,—I have received your letter of this
date, containing the terms of surrender of the Army
of Northern Virginia, as proposed by you.
Our Last Campaign.
205
"As they are substantially the same as those ex¬
pressed in your letter of the 8th inst., they are
accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper
officers to carry the stipulations into effect.—R. E.
Lee, General."
Several officers now entered the room, where the
surrender had been arranged and concluded, including
Longstreet, Gordon, and Pickett from the South; Sheri-
idan and Ord from the North; and the conversation
became general. Reader, mark the fact that the con¬
queror never asked for—did not accept—the sword of
the conquered ; and the spirit here displayed has ever
animated him towards the South. General Lee ex¬
plained to Grant that most of the animals in his cavalry
and artillery belonged to the men: he inquired
whether they would be regarded as public or private
property under the terms. The Union Commander
replied that they belonged to the Government. Lee
examined again the conditions, and admitted that it
was so. And here Grant gave further proof of his
great foresight and generosity. He expressed his
belief that the war was virtually over; spoke of the
wisdom of these disbanded soldiers getting home to
work upon their farms and plantations as soon as
possible, and added that he would give orders that any
officer or soldier claiming a horse or a mule should
have it. This further proof of Grant's magnanimity
and tender spirit was more than the Great Virginian
could bear, and he gave way to emotion. The Union
2o6 Four Years in tJte Army of the Potomac.
Chief shared the experience: he was doubly a con-
»
queror this day, for he won the heart of Lee.
Within a short time of the event the news of surrender
reached us. Cheer after cheer hailed the fruit of all
our sufferings and privations. We looked forward
with joy to the time when we should again meet our
friends and loved ones in our Northern homes. And
we talked of our gallant comrades—tried friends of
many a doubtful hour—buried long since, somewhere—
God alone knows where I The 9th of April, 1865, was
a day of cheers and tears: a point where joy and
sorrow met within the soldier's heart. Our task was
accomplished: Government of the people was vindi¬
cated : millions were made free: and the Federal
Volunteers became peaceful citizens of the Republic
again—settling back into their old vocations at the
desk and the forge, the plough and the plane—with
nothing to distinguish them from other men but the
inward consciousness of having served and saved their
country.
CHAPTER XIX.
LINCOLN AT THE FRONT,
"And in this world's great hero list •
His name shall lead the van."
REMEMBER seeing President Lincoln at
the front upon two anxious, memorable
occasions—occasions widely different in
military significance and prospects. He first visited
us while the Army of the Potomac was huddled
together at Harrison's Bar, after the severe fighting of
the "Seven Days." We had been driven from the
gates of Richmond; our front was menaced by Lee's
victorious troops; the object of the campaign had
been defeated; our army was reduced in number by
about one-half; and the conquest of the Confederacy
could only be looked upon as a remote possibility.
One day early in July, 1863, our brigade was ordered
into line. Soon thereafter we were reviewed by the
President and McClellan. Lincoln was an excellent
2o8 Fotir Years in tJie Army of the Potomac.
rider; but upon this occasion he seemed utterly to
disregard his horse, looking intently, kindly at the
men, waving his hand at us as he rode along. What
a depth of devotion, sympathy, and reassurance were
conveyed through his smile: how our hearts went
out to him. We knew that " Old Abe—as he was
called by the people who loved him, trusted him—
was true. The second time I saw Lincoln in camp
was just before the last campaign of the war was
inaugurated. It will be remembered that, during the
winter of 1864, an unsuccessful attempt was first
made to capture Fort Fisher, which commanded the
approach * towards Wilmington, North Carolina.
After this failure, the "Johnnies" loudly and fre¬
quently called from their picket line to ours: " Have
you heard from Fort Fisher ?" Our silence was
significant. But within a month the stronghold was
again assailed, and this time captured. It then
became our turn to cry out from the picket line:
"Have you heard from Fort Fisher?" The enemy
was now as silent upon the subject as we at first had
been. Well, a large earthwork was built in front of
our brigade line, and it was christened "Fort Fisher;"
and I last saw President Lincoln walking along the
parapet of this newly-built stronghold. He was
accompanied by the Lieutenant-General and several
officers.
The circumstances attending his visit to the army
are worth recounting:—A member of General Grant's
Lhicoln at the Front,
209
staff inquired of his Chief one day: "Why don't
you ask the President to come down and visit you ? "
The General replied that the President, being Com¬
mander-in-Chief of the army, could come and go at
pleasure. But when it was intimated that the Chief
Magistrate stayed away from a sense of delicacy, and
to avoid being charged with interfering with com¬
manders in the field. Grant immediately telegraphed
that it would afford him the greatest pleasure to see
the President and have him see the army. Lincoln
came to the front at once, and remained with Grant
until Richmond fell. Concerning. this visit the ex-
President spoke to Mr. Russell Young as follows :—
" Lincoln, I may almost say, spent the last days of
his life with me. I often recall those days. He came
down to City Point in the last month of the war, and
was with me all the time. He lived on a despatch-
boat in the river, but was always around headquarters.
He was a fine horseman, and rode my horse Cincin¬
nati. We visited the different camps, and I did all I
could to interest him. He was very anxious about
the war closing ; was afraid we could not stand a new
campaign, and wanted to be around when the crash
came. I have no doubt that Lincoln will be the con¬
spicuous figure of the war; one of the great figures
of history. He was a great man, a very great man.
The more I saw of him the more this impressed me.
He was incontestably the greatest man I ever knew.
What marked him especially was his sincerity, his
o
210 Four Years in tlie Army of the Potomac.
Tcindness, his clear insight into affairs. Under all
this he had a firm will and a clear policy. People
used to say that Seward swayed him, or Chase, or
Stanton. This was a mistake. He might appear to
go Seward's way one day, and Stanton's another, but
all the time he was going his own course, and they
with him. It was that gentle firmness in carrying out
his own will, without apparent force or friction, that
formed the basis of his character. He was a wonder¬
ful talker and teller of stories. It is said his stories
were improper. I have heard of them, but I never
heard Lincoln use an improper word or phrase. I
have sometimes, when I hear his memory called in
question, tried to recall such a thing, but cannot.
I always found him pre-eminently a clean-minded man.
I regard these stories as exaggerations. Lincoln's
power of illustration, his humour, was inexhaustible.
He had a story or an illustration for everything.
I remember, as an instance, when Stephens of Georgia
came on the Jeff. Davis Peace Commission to City
Point—Stephens did not weigh more than eighty
pounds, and he wore an overcoat that made him look
like a man of two hundred pounds. As Lincoln and
I came in, Stephens took off his coat. Lincoln said,
after he had gone, ' I say. Grant, did you notice that
coat Aleck Stephens wore ?' I said, yes. * Did you
ever see,' said Lincoln, * such a small ear of corn in
so big a shuck?' These illustrations were always
occurring in his conversation."
Lincoln at the Fro7it.
211
President Lincoln never asked any questions con¬
cerning army movements; but he listened anxiously
to the Lieutenant-General's recital of what had been
done. Let me again quote General Grant:—
" I was then making the movement by the left which
ended in the surrender of Lee. When I returned to
Washington, Lincoln said, * General, I half-suspected
that movement of yours would end the business, and
wanted to ask you, but did not like to.' Of course, I
could not have told him if he had asked me, because
the one thing a general in command of an army does
not know, is what the result of a battle is until it is
fought. I never would have risked my reputation
with Mr. Lincoln by any such prophecies."
After the surrender of Lee my brigade marched
back to the neighborhood of Petersburg. The fighting
being over, I was recalled to my duties as Judge-Advo¬
cate. In less than a week after the great event at
Appomattox the Court was again convened. The
first meeting of the members was filled with fresh
memories of sad bereavements. Even from this little
group several faces had disappeared for ever. The
President of the Court was gone; and the proud and
trusty heart of my friend Doughty had been cold and
still since that awful morning of the second of April.
Other officers had been detailed to fill the gaps; and
the trials went on as usual. Colonel Bull was the new
presiding officer. He and I were once returning to
camp as darkness began to spread. Everything seemed
212 Four Years in-tlie Army of the Potomac.
unusually quiet and silent. The whistling and sing¬
ing ; the chopping and splitting of wood ; the cleaning
and washing of arms and clothing; the never-ending
raking and sweeping of company streets—all these
things were suspended. The few men we saw wore
solemn faces, and paced the camp with slow and
heavy tread. We walked towards our respective
tents. Sheldon was getting my meal ready.
" Have you heard the news ? " he asked, in subdued
voice, without looking up.
"No," I answered; "what is it, Sheldon?"
He kept on preparing his simple dishes without
once looking up.
" Lincoln has been assassinated."
" Sheldon !" I exclaimed.
" I am afraid it's true, sir."
I took up my cap and hurried off to headquarters.
Allen stood at the door of his tent. I saw by my
commander's face, before a word was spoken, that
Sheldon's story was true. The General related to me
the official communication. Lincoln had been shot
through the head by John Wilkes Booth, the actor, at
half-past ten on the night before—14th of April—
at Ford's Theatre, Washington. Seward had been
seriously wounded in an attempt upon his life. The
President was still living when the news left Washing¬
ton, but his recovery was beyond the range of possi¬
bility. Next day we heard of his death. The army
was stunned, and held its breath in anxious suspense.
Lincoln at the Front.
213
There was mourning throughout our camps, and sorrow
in every tent, and an aching void in every faithful heart.
The air seemed heavy; and we breathed with diffi¬
culty as we draped the flag, and decked our camps
with the habiliments of woe.
It was a terrible loss to humanity, to the country, and
especially to the South; for the successor to ]:he Presi¬
dency, Andrew Johnson, was an able, courageous man,
without political judgment, and unfitted for the extra¬
ordinary responsibilities which the high office involved
at this trying time. He seemed to me to be emulous
of Andrew Jackson's fame, and talked an infinite deal
of bosh about making " treason odious." He offered
a reward for the capture of Jefferson Davis, which was
followed by that humiliating chapter connected with
the imprisonment, bailment, and release of the ex-
President of the late Confederacy. Johnson was
determined upon the arrest of all Southern officers,
and the arraignment of Lee for treason. He pro¬
tested at a Cabinet meeting that General Grant, who
defended Lee against this rash man, had no right
" to protect an arch-traitor , from the laws !" The
silent Western soldier was roused by this insulting
language. He spoke out grandly for his great though
conquered rival, and closed by saying that his terms
of surrender were according to military law, and that
" so long as Lee was observing his parole he would
never consent to his arrest!" And Mr. Johnson's
fury was calmed, his designs frustrated, his threats
214 Four Yea7^s in the Army of the Potoinac.
silenced. Suddenly, however, he rushed off like a
rocket in the opposite direction; made war upon
Congress, and upon the great War Secretary. Stan¬
ton had been " the lion of Buchanan's Cabinet"—he
now became the watchdog of Johnson's. Had Lincoln
survived, all these unseemly wrangles would have been
avoided. By his great abilities, tact, kindness, and
all-embracing generosity—by the absolute faith re¬
posed in him by all the people—he was pre-eminently
fitted, beyond all other men, to carry out the work of
conciliation and reconstruction. But Johnson stirred
anew the sleeping ire; and the battle fought out on
the field was renewed on the floor of Congress.
Nations are weighed and measured, in some sense,
by their greatest men. Scipio became " the height of
Rome." In our time, the greatest altitude attainable
by Englishmen is registered by Gladstone ; Germany
points to Bismarck as the nation's first representative
in character and genius ; France to Gambetta; Italy to
Cavour; Austria to Beust; Russia to Gortschakoff;
Spain to Castellar—and with just pride. The Western
Republic will rest its claim for title and priority
among nations with the poor boy of Kentucky—the
Redeemer of the Slave—Abraham Lincoln.
" O Captain ! my Captain ! our fearful trip is done !
The ship has weathered every wrack, the prize we sought is
won.
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and darinj^.
Lmcoln at the Front.
2IS
But, O heart! heart! heart !
Leave you not the little spot
Whereon the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
" O Captain ! my Captain ! rise up and hear the bells !
Rise up ! for you the flag is flung, for you the bugle trills :
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths, for you the shores
a-crowding:
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning.
O Captain ! dear father !
This arm I push beneath you.
It is some dream that on the deck
You've fallen cold and dead ! .
" My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still:
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will.
But the ship, the ship is anchored safe, its voyage closed and
done:
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won !
Exult, O shores ! and ring, O bells !
But I, with silent tread.
Walk the spot my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead."
CHAPTER XX.
WAR AND CREDIT.—^A FINANCIAL RETROSPECT.
prognosticated that, in the event of war, England
•could "crumple" Russia like a piece of paper. King-
lake's account of the Crimean War makes a false
prophet of the great PTee Trader. Whilst the rela¬
tions between England and Russia were strained to
the utmost limits during the occupation of San
Stefano by the Czar's army, a probable war between
the two Powers was the most common topic of con¬
versation. During that exciting period, when so
many people lost their heads, well-informed English¬
men maintained, with but few exceptions, that Russia
was already on the verge of bankruptcy, and could
not stand another campaign. It is remarkable that
these people were oblivious to the following facts :—
T is a popular custom to exaggerate the
influence of national credit in warfare.
No less a man than Richard Cobden
War and Credit,
217
1st. That Turkey was bankrupt in fact, though not
in form, before it accepted war with Russia; 2nd.
That it made a gallant and vigorous defence against
a higher-class Power; and 3rd. That it was not con¬
quered at last for want of money, but through the
superior force and skill of the enemy. To assume
that Russia, or any other Power, would decline battle
through fear of bankruptc)^, whilst its securities were
quoted at 81 to the 100 at Lombard Street, in the
capital of its prospective enemy, is the wildest of
dreams—the greatest of delusions. Let us suppose
that Russia would be required to pay 50 per cent,
more for Gatling guns. Spencer rifles, clothing, coffee,
hard bread, and pork, than their value in American
or English currency, during the first year of the
war; 100 per cent, more during the second year,
and so go on, paying more in its currency and secu¬
rities, as their value declined in the international
market, as they gravitated downward from the gold
standard—What difference would it make, from a
military point of view, provided the arms and ammu¬
nition, the commissary and quartermaster stores, were
supplied regularly and abundantly to the military
forces ? While marching through Fredericksburg,
towards St. Marye's Heights, I picked up a piece of
paper. It contained a statement of the expense of
an entertainment given by some Confederate officers.
I remember that the eggs consumed on that festive
occasion had cost ninety dollars (about ;^i8) per
218 Four Years in tJie Amiy of the Potomac.
dozen. But the eggs were procured and paid for in
Confederate notes; and so far as the banquet was
concerned, it was of comparatively little consequence
what the eggs had cost. That somebody must ulti¬
mately suffer, because of lost credit and cheap money,
is a fact beyond controversy.
The Southern Confederacy commenced the war for
secession without coin at home or credit abroad worth
talking about. But the Government of Jefferson
Davis established, equipped, and rationed immense
armies; and prosecuted campaigns upon a grand
scale. Certainly the Confederacy was neither sup¬
ported nor inspired by its national credit; and yet,
for upwards of four years, it carried on the struggle
for separation with an ability, a determination, and
a courage that astonished the world. Nor did it fail
at last for want of money or credit: it fell before
the superior armed force of the Union, wielded by
such an incomparable combination of military genius
as Grant and Sheridan. The history of the fiscal
policy of the defunct Confederacy reads more like
an extravagant romance than a chapter in finance.
The system adopted by the Richmond Government
was certainly simple enough. Confederate notes, re¬
deemable after the ratification of a treaty of peace
between the Confederate States and the United States,
were printed in sufficient numbers to meet all demands
upon the treasury. To what extent this stuff was struck
off no one ever knew. As the value of the currency
War and Credit.
219
depreciated, and prices went up, wages were advanced
in all directions. It was a fast and fairly even race
until the premium upon gold reached the incredible
height of TWELVE THOUSAND PER CENT! But it
seems that some Government clerks at Richmond
resigned their Post Office appointments and entered
the army because they found it difficult to maintain
life on nine thousand dollars (;£"i,8oo) a year! The
"easy" state of the money market is well illustrated
by an incident related by Mr. Eggleston, a gallant
soldier of the " lost cause," in his interesting volume, en¬
titled " A Rebel's Recollections." He says: " A cavalry
officer entering a little country store, found there one
pair of boots which fitted him. He inquired the price.
*Two hundred dollars,' said the merchant. A five
hundred dollar bill was offered, but the merchant
having no smaller bills could not change it. * Never
mind,' said the cavalier, * I'll take the boots anyhow.
Keep the change; I never let a little matter of three
hundred dollars stand in the way of trade.'"
During the last two years of the war the finances of
the Confederacy were in a hopelessly demoralised
condition. There was no fixed value upon anything;
and the relative prices of things were out of harmony
with past experience—controlled by rule of thumb,*
For instance, the authority just quoted paid forty
dollars (;£"8) per pound for coffee, and only thirty
dollars {fiS) for tea, on the same day : twenty dollars
(;£'4) for a dinner at a hotel, but only five dollars
220 Four Years m the Army of the Potomac.
for a seat in the dress circle at the theatre ; one dollar
for a copy of the Examiner, fifty cents for a copy of
the Whig, and two dollars for a half-pint of cider. A
Southerner once made the following pertinent remark
upon the condition of the currency:—" Before the
war," he said, " I went to market with the money in
my pocket, and brought back my purchases in a
basket; now, I take the money in the basket, and
bring the things home in my pocket."
When the end came with the surrender of Lee
and Johnston, Confederate notes ceased to have any
value at all; and the poverty and privation of the
people was terrible. "Bankruptcy" is a word infi¬
nitely too limited in its meaning to express the
condition of the South when the war was over.*
* General Grant treated tlie conquered army with a generosity that
finds no parallel in the history of warfare. Horses and food were freely
given to the disbanded troops ; and their homes were protected from
desperate outlaws, while they made a fresh start in life. Regarding
the spirit displayed towards the Southern people by Union soldiers at
the close of the war, Mr. Eggleston says :—
" It is with a good deal of pleasure that I bear witness to the uniform
disposition shown by such Federal officers as I came in contact with,
to protect all quiet citizens, to restore order, and to forward the
interests of the community they were called upon to govern. In one
case I went with a fellow Confederate to the headquarters nearest me—
eighteen miles away—and reported the doings of some marauders in
my neighbourhood which had been especially outrageous. The
general in command at once made a detail of cavalry, and instructed
its chief to go in pursuit of the highwaymen, and to bring them to
him dead or alive. They were captured, marched at a double-quick to
War and Credit.
221
- National credit is a powerful engine, a most desir¬
able auxiliary, in warfare. But the brief and bloody
history of the Southern Confederacy proves that a
brave people can make a gallant fight without it.
The credit of nations in ordinary times is not in¬
fluenced by the amount of their debt, nor yet by their
natural wealth and resources; but rather by the
punctuality with which interest upon Government
bonds is paid, and by the integrity shown by Admin¬
istrations in keeping the national faith untarnished.
Moreover, it would be difficult to exaggerate individual
influence upon the credit of a Government. The
history of finance furnishes many striking instances
where a capable minister has extricated the exchequer
from chaos, and improved the national credit, without
the camp, and shot forthwith, by sentence of a drumhead court-
martial, a proceediug which did more than almost anything else could
have done to intimidate other bands of a like kind.
"At another time I took to the same ofi&cer's camp a number of stolen
horses which a party of us had managed to recapture from a sleeping
band of desperadoes. Some of the horses we recognised as the property
of our neighbours, some we did not know at all, and one or two were
branded 'C.S.' and 'U.S.' The general promptly returned all the
identified horses, and lent all the others to farmers in need of them."
There was everywhere, both in civil and military society, a genuine
disposition to assist the conquered South, and set that section on the
high road to prosperity. Eations were issued without stint to the
people ; and the faithful North hastened forward bountiful cargoes of
corn, where but recently glistening bayonets had been sent, that the
devastated fields of the sunny South might smile again with fruitful
crops.
222 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
change of conditions—sometimes under most em¬
barrassing conditions—purely through superior skill
and energy. England is the greatest debtor: its credit
is the best. The debt of the United States only
amounted to 64,842,287 dollars on the 30th June, i860,
about nine months before the outbreak of the war; and
yet the national credit was anything but satisfactory.
Howell Cobb of Georgia, President Buchanan's
Finance Minister, sought to float a small loan of
10,000,000 dollars in the autumn of i860 (before
Lincoln was elected President), but succeeded only
to the extent of 7,022,000 dollars. And Cobb resorted
to the contemptible expediency of selling treasury
notes, payable in one year, at discounts ranging from
6 to 12 per cent.
President Lincoln assumed the direction of affairs
on the 4th of March, 1861. Salmon P. Chase became
Secretary of the Treasury in the new Administration.
Within a month of his installation in office, Mr. Chase
offered a loan of 8,000,000 dollars. He declined all
applications at a greater discount than 6 per cent.;
and, after a sharp encounter with professional bond-
buyers, he placed his loan on his own terms: terms
by no means flattering to the national pride at the
best. This was the miserable state of American credit
and finance when the country stood upon the brink of
the most gigantic war the world had ever witnessed :
a war for which we were utterly and ridiculously
unprepared, and which involved the maintenance
War and Credit.
223
of large and costly navies, and armies numbering
a million of men: a war which cost the American
people upwards of Four Billions of Dollars! It is
noteworthy that, in i860, the Apierican Treasury
found it most difficult to float a trifling loan of
8,000,000 dollars, at 6 per cent, interest, and at 6
per cent, less than the face of the bond, though the
national debt was under 65,000,000 dollars. To-day,
America owes the world, but principally its own
people, nearly 2,000,000,000; and yet the Secretary
of the Treasury could borrow a billion dollars upon 3
per cent, interest bonds, at par, without the slightest
difficulty.
" How is the betting ? " asked a candidate for Con¬
gress of me upon one occasion. I told him that he
was the favorite at evens. His face brightened
at the news: he was elected too. Speculation in
gold is a species of betting or gambling. The
premium paid upon the precious metal was a perfect
index of public opinion concerning the prospects
of our war; the New York stock exchange was the
microphone which repeated and intensified the beat
of the national pulse.
The heavy demands of the Treasury for gold to
supply the requirements of the war brought about a
suspension of specie payment throughout the North in
December, 1861. Unerringly consequent upon this
suspension, paper currency depreciated in value. Gold
at once began to be quoted at a premium. Under the
224 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
financial administration of Mr.. Chase the Legal
Tender Act :was passed by Congress on the 25 th of
February, 1862; and the well-known "greenback"
made its appearance. This currency was made lawful
money " at its face value of all debts, public and
private, except duties on imports, and interest upon
the public debt." This paper did not represent, in
any proportion, money deposited anywhere. Its
value rested solely . and entirely . upon • the faith
of the Government. The Legal Tender Act, which
created it, was opposed by many able financiers,
friends of the Administration indeed, who declared it
unconstitutional. The objections were doubtless cor¬
rect in principle. The law sounded more like the
mandate of an irresponsible monarch than the deli¬
berate act of a popular Assembly in a free country.
But circumstances made necessary the usurpation of
authority: the Republic could probably not have
been maintained without it; and history has already
more than justified the action of the Government.
Well, notwithstanding the national character of the
paper, and the recommendation we have quoted, which
each note carried upon its back, the currency was at
a discount from the day it appeared fresh and glossy
from the Government press in March, 1862, until the
month of December, 1878. As early as January,
1862, when "all was quiet on the Potomac," gold
reached 5 per cent, premium. The Legal Tender notes
were not issued until the March following, when gold
War and Credit.
225
premium dropped, and fluctuated between 2^ and
4^ per cent In the spring of 1862, General
McClellan inaugurated a campaign against the Con¬
federate capital by way of the Peninsula formed by
the York and James rivers; and this evidence of life
in the Federal army sent the gold premium down to
2 per cent. But when, in- June of the same year, our
army was beaten back from the vicinity of Richmond,
the financial barometer, responding to public opinion,
suddenly registered gold at 20 per cent, premium.
The national debt had been fast accumulating, and the
credit of the country was already strained. The receipts
of the Government, from all sources, for the fiscal year
ending June 30th, 1861, was 86,835,900 dols.; expendi¬
ture during the same period, 84,578,034 dols.; leaving
a balance in the treasury of 2,257,065 dols. By the
date mentioned, the national debt had mounted to
90,580,873 dols. By the end of the next fiscal year the
receipts of the treasury, from all sources, including
Government bonds sold, had increased seven-fold upon
the preceding year; and, including a balance brought
forward of 2,257,065 dollars, amounted to 583,885,247
dollars. The disbursement for the same year were as
follows:—On account of Congressional, Executive, and
Judicial expenses, 5,939,009dollars; Foreign Relations
1,339,710 dollars; miscellaneous expenses, including
the mint, postal deficiencies, collection of revenue,
etc., 14,129,771 dollars; Interior Department, 3,102,985
dollars; War Department, 394,368,407 dollars; Navy
P
226 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
Department, 42,674,569 dollars; interest on the public
debt, 13,190,324 dollars ; payment of public debt, etc.,
96,096,922 dollars; total, 570,849,700 dollars. At the
close of the financial year ending June 30th, 1862, the
national debt had increased to 524,176,412 dollars.
But Congress continued to endorse the demands of
the Treasury, to vote authority to print "greenbacks,"
and to empower the Government to borrow money,
promptly and without stint. During the session of
1863 the Secretary of the Treasury was authorised to
borrow, upon Government security, 900,000,000 dollars,
at 6 per cent, interest; to issue interest-bearing
notes to the extent of 400,000,000, and " greenbacks,"
bearing no interest, for 150,000,000 dollars. The
Paymaster-General was in arrears at this time, and
the troops were calling for their pay; therefore, to
facilitate the payment of the army and navy. Congress,
by a joint resolution, authorised the issue of xoo,ooo,ooo
dollars in treasury notes for that purpose.
The requirements of the Government continued to
increase, while the credit of the nation was fast
declining at home and abroad; and the purchasing
power of the " greenback " had sunk to about one-half
that of the gold coin. When the financial panic
consequent upon McClellan's retreat from Richmond
ceased, and it became evident that Lee was by no
means eager to assail the Army of the Potomac at
Harrison's Bar, gold fell from the neighbourhood of
20 to about 13 per cent, premium. But when the
War and Credit.
227
Confederate Chief inflicted a series of defeats upon
General Pope, and continued his triumphant progress
into Maryland, up went the financial indicator, the pre¬
mium fluctuating between 24 and 36^ per cent. The
Government currency appreciated about 10 per cent,
after our victory at Antietam. The unerring tendency
of gold, however, was upward. There was a feeling
of uncertainty and distrust largely prevailing during
the autumn and winter of 1862. Pope had been
superseded in the command of the army by McClellan,
and McClellan by Burnside. The last-named com¬
mander assailed Lee's strongly-entrenched position
around Fredericksburg, and was repulsed with terrible
slaughter; and gold rushed up to 160—that is to
say, 60 per cent, premium. General Burnside soon
started upon another campaign; his army was over¬
taken, while on the march, by a most violent storm,
and was obliged to return to its old camp. Conse¬
quent upon this "mad march," gold rushed up to
72 per cent, premium. After the panic had subsided,
it settled down to rise and fall gradually between 45
and 55 per cent. The highest point touched by gold
in June, 1863, was 149)^ ; the lowest, 140per cent.
The cost of carrying .on the war was increasing
daily. The receipts of the Government during the
fiscal year, 1863, amounted to 901,125,675 dollars;
the disbursements were 895,796,630 dollars ; leaving a
balance in the treasury of 5,329,044 dollars. The
bulk of the income—viz., 776,682,361 dollars, had been
228 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
derived from loans ; while the War Def)artment con¬
sumed 599,298,600 dollars—the lion's share of the
expenditure.
The national debt had by this time, June 30th, 1863,
reached 1,119,772,138 dollars.
With the turn of this financial year there came a
break in the cloud, with two inspiring rays of sun¬
shine. Grant captured Vicksburg and its defenders ;
the Army of the Potomac, under Meade, achieved a
signal victory over the forces of Lee; and down came
gold with a rush. The premium hovered between 40
and 50 per cent, during June, a month before these
Northern triumphs: after them it fell as low as 33
per cent, in July, and 22j^ per cent, in August. But
subsequent to these sudden and substantial declines,
premium again began to gravitate upwards; and in Jan¬
uary, 1864, it registered 59premium—just one-half
per cent, lower than where it stood in January, 1863,
Grant assumed personal direction on the Potomac
in the spring of 1864. But this important acquisition
of a great and successful commander had only a very
trifling influence upon the price of our currency. Gold
continued to be forced upwards by the great and ever-
increasing weight of public debt and expenditure;
and when the Army of the Potomac crossed the
Rapidan early in May, 1864, it stood at 164. The
battles of the Wilderness and of Spottsylvania were
fought; neither Grant nor Lee had gained substantial
triumph. The country was watching the campaign.
War and Credit,
229
and awaiting tidings of the results in breathless
anxiety, when suddenly, on the i8th of May, a pro¬
clamation appeared in all the great financial centres
of the North, purporting to emanate from President
Lincoln, confessing Grant's campaign against Rich¬
mond a failure, and ordering fresh levies of men to
be made, that the terribly thinned ranks of our armies
might be recruited I This was a disgraceful and
treasonable piece of stock-jobbing trickery; but it pro¬
duced the expected effect upon the country. Gold
rushed up to 95 per cent, premium at a single bound.
Of course, the false character of the proclamation was
at once made known, but not until the infamous
stratagem had enriched the thieves who conceived
and executed it.
By the end of June, 1864, the national debt had
reached 1,815,784,370 dollars—an increase during the
year of 696,012,232 dollars.
But the gold dollar reached its highest price in the
month of July, 1864, when it was rated at $2*85, or
185 premium; while the Legal Tender dollar—the
Government promise to pay—was only worth about
35 cents. Nor need we wonder at the stupendous
price of gold at this time. The country was on the
eve of a Presidential election, and the Democratic
party in the North, declaring the war for the Union
"a failure," clamored for "peace at any price." The
Republican party was divided against itself. Many
of the most prominent leaders, including Senators
230 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
Wade, Winter-Davis, and Sumner, as well as Horace
Greeley and Governor Chase, were opposed to the
re-nomination of Lincoln. Grant, with his mighty
army, had passed through the Wilderness, crossed the
James River, and had finally planted himself south
of Petersburg and the Confederate capital. But the
country had expected the capture of Richmond or the
destruction of the Southern Army; it was disap¬
pointed. The losses of the Army of the Potomac
during 1864 in killed, wounded, and missing were
upwards of 70,000 men : there was mourning and
murmuring, and not without cause.
Lee, profiting by the disaffection in the North
and the exposed position of Washington, sent
General Early with a large force up the Shenandoah
Valley to threaten and, if practicable, capture the
Federal capital. And on the nth of July, Early's
guns were hurling shot and shell into its forts and
parapet, thinly manned by citizen clerks from the desks
of Departments, and by crippled soldiers from hospitals
and convalescent homes. Those within the city knew
that the lines could not be held against a determined
attack in force by Early. These were the most trying,
most desperate hours in the history of America.
Even the Government then despaired. Steam was
kept up in a vessel in the Navy Yard, and President
Lincoln and his Cabinet were prepared to embark in
her, taking the archives of the Departments with them,
in the event of Early forcing the Federal lines and
War and Credit.
231
capturing the city. Yes, one gold dollar was worth
nearly three in Legal Tender notes then ! During
July it went up to 2*90 dollars; for the month of
August it averaged 2*54 dollars. Had Early taken
Washington at this time—and he might have done it
—who can calculate the effect upon gold, upon the
Republic, upon human liberty ? But he lost the rare
opportunity. During that very night of awful anxiety
to the President and his Cabinet, the Sixth Corps
arrived from Grant's army in front of Pittsburg; and
after a brisk encounter with Early, the next morning,
we induced him to fall back. The President and
his Ministry took a long breath, and the premium
upon gold fell in Wall Street from 190 to 129 per
cent.
Sheridan's brilliant campaign in the Shenandoah
Valley, during the Autumii of 1864, where he anni¬
hilated Early's army, had a most salutary influence
upon politics and finance. Gold fell to 8 5 per cent,
premium in September. Moreover, Lincoln was re¬
elected President by an overwhelming majority in
November.
The cost of the war at this time was immense:
Government disbursements reaching the fabulous
sum of nearly 4,000,000 dollars a day. But the
purchasing medium, the paper dollar, was depreciated
currency: a mere promise to pay without assigning any
date upon which payment would be made. And when
the war was over the country was inundated with these
232 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
"greenbacks." On the 30th of June, i860, the paper
currency of the United States was 207,102,477 dol¬
lars. Four years later it amounted to 837,719,984.
dollars, and went on increasing; but by the end of
1878 it had been contracted to 688,597,275 dollars.
Let me show at a glance the average price of gold
during each month, from 1862 to 1878.
The table on the following page has been compiled
from a Report of Mr. Joseph Nimmo, junr.. Chief of
the Bureau of Statistics, Washington.
CURRENCY VALUE OF GOLD.
T -A- DB Xj IE3
Showing the average Value in Currency op One Hundred Dollaus in Gold in the New York
IVIarket, by Months, prom January 1st, 1862, to December 31st, 1878, both inclusive.
Periods.
1862.
1863.
1864.
1865.
1866.
1867.
1868.
1869.
1870.
1871.
1872.
1873.
1874.
1875.
1876.
1877.
1878.
January -
102.5
145.1
155.5
216.2
140.1
134.6
138.5
135.6
121.3
110.7
109.1
112,7
111.4
112.5
112.8
106.3
102.1
February
103.5
160.5
158.6
205.5
138.4
137.4
141.4
134.4
119.5
111.5
110.3
114.1
112.3
114.5
113.4
105.4
102.0
March -
101.8
154.5
162.9
173.8
130.5
135.0
139.5
131.3
112.6
111.0
110.1
115.5
112.1
115.5
114.3
104.8
101.2
April - -
101.5
151.5
172.7
148.5
127.3
135.6
138.7
132.9
113.1
110.6
111.1
117.8
113.4
114.8
113.0
106.2
100.6
May - -
103.3
148.9
176.3
135.6
131.8
139.4
139.6
139.2
114.7
111.5
113.7
117.7
112.4
115.8
112.6
106.9
100.7
June - -
116.5
144.5
210.7
140.1
148.7
148.8
140.1
138.1
112.9
112.4
113.9
116.5
111.3
117.0
112.5
105.4
100.8
July - -
115.5
130.6
258.1
142.1
151.6
143.4
142.7
136.1
116 8
112.4
114.3
115.7
110.0
114.8
111.9
105.4
100.5
August -
114.5
125.8
254.1
143.5
148.7
143.5
145.5
134.2
117.9
112.4
114.4
115.4
109.7
113.5
111.2
105.0
100.5
September
118.5
134.2
222.5
143.9
145.5
139.6
143.6
136.8
114.8
114.5
113.5
112.7
109.7
115.8
110.0
103.3
100.4
October -
128.5
147.7
207.2
145.5
148.3
134.8
137.1
130.2
112.8
113.2
113.2
108.9
110.0
116.4
109.7
102.8
100.5
November
131.1
148.0
233.5
147.0
143.8
137.0
134.4
126.2
111.4
112.9
112.9
108.6
110.9
114.7
109.1
102.8
100.2
December
132.3
151.1
227.5
146.2
136.7
134.8
135.2
121.5
110.7
112.2
112.2
110.0
111.7
113.9
107.9
102.8
100.1
I
10
oa
oa
234 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac.
Lincoln was with Grant at the front during the last
days of the war. He was most anxious for the
destruction of Lee's army and the consequent ter¬
mination of the conflict, not alone for the sake of
liberty and peace and Union, but because he feared,
according to General Grant, " that the country would
break down financially under the terrible strains upon
its resources." " I knew," continues the General, " that
when we met it was a standing topic of conversation.
If Lee had escaped and joined Johnston in North
Carolina, or reached the mountains, it would have
imposed upon us continued armament and expense.
It was to put an end to this expense that Lee's capture
was necessary."
Judging from my own feelings, and from the
opinions entertained by officers and men in the regi¬
ment to which I belonged, I conclude that the rank-and-
file believed that the capture of Petersburg involved the
fall of the Confederacy itself. We did not share the
great anxiety of Lincoln and his Cabinet—of Grant
himself—as to the consequences which might follow
should Lee escape to North Carolina, form a junction
with Joe Johnston, and prolong the war. We were in
ignorance of the terrible financial straits of the country;
of the fact that the current daily expense of the Govern¬
ment had reached the stupendous aggregate of Four
Millions. A thought of the possibility of the war for
the Union failing for want of money, or through na¬
tional bankruptcy, never once occurred to us. Even
War and Credit,
235
now, with all the evidence before me, I think that the
great anxieties of the Administration on the score of
money were certainly exaggerated, though perfectly
natural.
During the war, and subsequent to its close, the
United States borrowed money both at home and in
Europe upon bonds, mainly drawing 6 per cent,
interest, redeemable at any time after five years, at
the option of the American Government, and payable
in twenty years if not previously called in. Both
principal and interest were payable in gold. A large
sum of the Five-Twenty Loan has been paid off from
time to time. The Government has found no diffi¬
culty during recent years in borrowing money at
lower rates of interest. The payment in gold of the
Five-Twenty Bonds (which had certainly been bought
at much less than their face value), was magnified
into a popular grievance by aspiring politicians.
These men advocated the payment of the national
debt in the depreciated currency of the country.
But the advocates of this form of repudiation lost
sight of the fact that the Government securities were,
and still are, held far and wide in sums ranging from
fifty dollars upwards by artizans and laborers at home
—by the people of the United States in fact. More¬
over, repudiation in any form, under whatever guise,
is a dishonorable expediency which no respectable
American citizen will countenance. Hence the failure
of the leading exponent of this financial scheme to
236 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
secure the Democratic nomination for the Presidency
in 1868; and hence the ignominious defeat of the
so-called National party in the autumn of that year.
When the great commercial depression which over¬
took the trading nations of the world in 1873 began
to press upon all classes in the United States, short¬
sighted politicians seized the occasion to make a
crusade against the resumption of specie payment.
They attributed the "hard times" to the contraction
of the currency insisted upon by the statesmen of
the country, regardless of party. Restoration of
specie payment had been pledged when the "green¬
back " was issued; and Garfield, Blaine and Bayard,
and Conkling and Lamar, representative men North
and South, leaders in both parties, demanded that
the public faith should be kept, and pronounced
the opposition to resumption as dishonest and
unpatriotic—detrimental to the best interests of the
country.
The period of depression continued and increased
in severity; and the so-called National party, in spite
of its wild and ridiculous teachings, became a com¬
paratively strong political organisation, and even
succeeded, through coalition with the Democrats, in
sending a few representatives to Congress. This new
party demanded that Government paper money
should be made absolute money: gold and silver, as
money, being in their estimation relics of heathenism.
They favored the abolition of the national banks, and
War and Credit,
237
the issue of 324,000,000 dollars of this absolute money.
By' this new political faith a man might own improve¬
ments, but not lands. The territory was to be under
the control of the Government. This party also
demanded Protection, and a reduction of the hours
of labor. Strange as it appears to us now that
the dangers threatened • by these financial and poli¬
tical heresies have passed away, the success of the
Nationals at one time seemed probable. But they
have been crushed for ever under the heel of resump¬
tion. It is noteworthy that, when the great panic
struck the United States in 1873, the outstanding
currency was 1,750,000,000 dollars, over three times
what it was in i860, the year of peace and compara¬
tive prosperity just preceding the civil war. And yet
party leaders of the new-born and short-lived organi¬
sation attributed the commercial distress to "the
merciless policy of contracting the currency, hoarding
gold, and increasing the value of money." The charge
was as reckless as it was unfounded.
Nearly all the prominent politicians who trimmed
their sails to catch the capricious breeze fanned by the
economic fallacies of a moment, have been sent to
their retirement by the American elector. But the
men who spoke out bravely from their convictions for
the honor of their country are being rewarded for
their fidelity. Garfield, who led the battle in Ohio, is
President of the United States to-day; Blaine, who
made the fight in Maine, and stampeded the heretics
238 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
at last, is now Secretary of State; and Conkling
leads his party in the Senate. Depend upon it, the
American people, like those of Britain, have great
regard for men of courage: but none—none for
trimmers.
The following table shows the rise and fall of the
National Debt of the United States from the last
year of peace, before the war, to the end of 1881:—
PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES.
On 1st of July, 1860 - - -
164,842,287.88
if
99
1861 -
90,580,873.72
99
1862 -
524,176,412.13
ft
99
1863 .
1,119,772,138.63
it
99
1864 -
1,815,784,370.57
it
99
1865 -
2,680,647,869.74
it
99
1866 - -
2,773,236,173.69
it
99
1867 -
2,678,126,103.87
it
99
1868 -
2,611,687,851.19
))
99
1869 -
2,588,452,213.94
It
99
1870 -
2,480,672,427.81
it
99
1871 -
2,353,211,332.32
it
99
1872 -
2,253,251,328.78
it
99
1873 -
2,202,752,993.20
a
99
1874 -
2,192,930,468.43
it
99
1875 -
2,173,869,531.95
it
99
1876 -
2,147,555,067.15
it
99
1877 -
2,150,341,392.10
it
99
1878 -
2,209,450,892.53
it
99
1879 -
2,319,197,482.04
On 1st of Jan. J
1880, less cash in the Treasury
2,011,798,504.87
ft
„ Mar.
,1881 ,, ,,
it
1,879,956,412.00
Amount paid oiOf since 1866 -
m •
$893,279,761.69
Detailed Statement op the Public Debt of the United States on the 31st day op
December, 1879, with Amount op Debt up to 1st March, 1881.
Interest bearing Debt,
Principal.
Interest.
Totals.
Bonds at 6 per cent. - - - - $273,400,550 *00
Bonds at 5 per cent. - ... 508,440,350 "00
Bonds at 4^ per cent. ... 250,000,000*00
Bonds at 4 per cent. - ... 738,490,550*00
Refunding Certificates ... 2,355,400*00
Navy Pension Fnnd - - - - 14,000,000*00
Debt on which Interest has ceased since maturity
Debt bearing no Interest.
Old Demand and Legal Tender Notes $346,742,366*00
Certificates of Deposit- ... 10,245,000*00
Fractional Currency - - - - 15,674,303*78
Gold and Silver Certificates - - 21,050,010*00
Unclaimed Pacific Railroad Interest - - - -
Total Debts
Total Cash in the Treasury
Debt, less cash in the Treasury, January 1st, 1880
Amount paid off up to March 1st, 1881 - - -
Debt of the United States, March 1st, 1881
$1,786,686,850*00
14,691,925*26
393,711,678*78
$23,686,697*89
997,658*83
7,597*03
$2,195,090,455*04
$24,691,953*75
$2,219,782,408*79
207,983,903*92
2,011,798,504*87
131,842,092
$1,879,956,412*87
Ck>
vo
240 Four Years in the Army of the Potomac,
It will be noticed that the total amount of our
national debt in i860, the year immediately preceding
the war, was 64,842,287 dollars. With each succeed¬
ing year the sum increased until it reached its
highest point in 1866, when it stood at 2,773,236,173
dollars, showing an increase of 2,708,393,886 in six
years. Since 1866 the debt has been gradually and
continually decreasing (though the foregoing table
does not seem so to exhibit it, a discrepancy easily
accounted for by the necessary action of the Treasury)
until the present time. On the ist of March, 1881, as
I have stated, it was 1,879,956,412*87 dollars, showr
ing a total decrease since the ist of July, 1866, of
893,279,761*69 dollars.
The cost of the war to the National Government
was, in round numbers, about 3,000,000,000 dollars.
To this sum must be added the expenditures of cities
and States, in the form of bounties to the soldiers and
provisions for the widows and orphans of the war, which
must have reached 500,000,000 dollars. Then comes
the amount spent by those incomparable national
charities, the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, in
the noble work of providing, by the free-will offerings
of the faithful North, necessaries and delicacies for the
sick and wounded of all our armies: this expenditure
may safely be stated at 500,000,000 dollars. Thus the
cost of the American War, ascertained from reliable
sources, and estimated with great caution, reaches the
stupendous aggregate of 4,000,000,000 dollars!
iisrxDEiiK:-
Page
Abraham Lincoln nominated for
President
Abraham Lincoln, sketch of .
See also "Lincoln"
Adams, John Quincy, quoted
African Slaves first brought to
America
Albany, N. Y., Fifth Wisconsin
stationed at
Allen, General, leads a charge on
St. Marye's Heights
Allen, General, at Sailor's Creek .
American Finance ....
American Party nominates Bell and
Everett for President and Vice-
President
American Party,political principles
of ...... .
Antietam Creek, battle at
Army (U.S.) defeated at Bull's Run
Army of the Potomac, strength of.
Army of the'Potomac transferred
to the Peninsula ....
See also " Battle "
Army of the Potomac at Freder¬
icksburg
Army of the Potomac stuck in the
mud
Army of the Potomac reorganised .
Anny of the Potomac, Meade as¬
sumes command of . . .
Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg
Army of the Potomac reorganised
under Grant
Army of the Potomac, last Cam¬
paign of the . . . , .
18
19
91
89
123
102
199
222
16
16
80
48
55
58
99
101
102
107
109
128
196
B
Badger Glee Club
Battle of Antietam
124
80
Page
Battle of Cedar Creek . . . 171
„ Centreville . . .78
,, Chancellors ville . . 103
,, Crampton's Gap . .79
„ Fair Oaks . . .61
„ Fisher's Hill . . . 170
„ Five Forks . . . 191
„ Fredericksburg . . 99
„ Gaines' Mill . . .65
,, Gainsville . . .78
„ Gettysburg . . .109
„ Malvern Hill . . .72
„ Opequan Creek. . . 168
„ Petersburg . . . 194
„ Sailor's Creek . . . 198
,, Savage Station . . .68
„ South Mountain . . 79
„ Spottsylvania . . . 133
,, The Wilderness . . 129
„ White Oak Swamp . . 68
„ Williamsburg . . .59
Bayard, General, death of . . 101
Beauregard, General, proclama¬
tion by . . . . , .50
Beecher, Henry Ward, referred to. 30
Bell, John, of Tennessee, nominated
for President . . . .16
Bell and Everett, vote polled for . 16
„ „ „ States carried by 17
Blacks, their fidelity to Southern
Masters 98
Blair on Emancipation . . .93
Booth, John Wilkes, assassinates
President Lincoln . . . 212
Breckinridge, John C., nominated
for President . . . .13
Breckinridge, John C., sketch of . 13
„ „ declares Lin¬
coln elected President . . .14
Breckinridge, John C., becomes a
General in the Southern Army . 15
242
Index.
Page
Breckinridge, John C., his address
to the people of Kentucky . . 15
Brown, John, sketch of . . . 162
„ „ captures Harper's
Ferry 163
Brown, John, Col. Washington's
testimony concerning . . . 164
Brown's, John, address to the Court 165
Brown, John, death of, on the
gallows 168
Buckner, General, referred to . 15
Bumside, General, assumes com¬
mand of Potomac Army . . 99
Bumside, General, defeated at
Fredericksburg .... 101
Bumside, General, superseded by
Hooker 102
c
Calhoun, John C., his views on
secession 27
Calhoun, John C., his views on the
tariff 27
Calhoun, John C., his views on
nullification 28
Calhoun, John C., conversation
with Reverdy Johnson . .28
Castleman, Dr., on the feeling
entertained towards General Pope 77
Camp life 147
Centreville, battle of . . .78
Channing quoted ... 21,30
Charleston Convention ... 9
Chase, Salmon P., Secretary of the
Treasury 222
Chase, Salmon P., his Legal Tender
act 224
Chase, Salmon P., views as to
colored troops . . . .93
Charlestown, John Brown im¬
prisoned at 162
Charlestown, Sheridan's army
enters 168
Chesney, Colonel (the author), error
by, corrected 131
Childe, Edward Lee, quoted . . 68
Chief Justice Taney quoted . . 80
Clingham, Senator, quoted . . 33
Clarkson, anti-slavery work of . 88
Cobb, Howell, of Georgia, his
views on secession . . .28
Cobb, Howell, becomes a Major-
General in the Southem Army . 29
Cobb, Howell, Secretary of the
Treasury under Buchanan . . 222
Cobb, Amasa, Colonel, at the battle
of Williamsburg . . . .59
Cobb, Amasa, at the battle of
Golden's Farm . . . .67
Cobb, Amasa, assumes command
of Hancock's Brigade . . .84
Page
Congress, Secession in . . .32
,, speech by Rep. Iverson,
of Georgia, in .... 32
Congress, speech by Senator Cling¬
ham, of North Corolina, in . .33
Congress, humble pie eaten by
Northem members of . . .33
Congress, feelings in the West
concerning 34
Congress, speech of Senator Wade
in 34
Congress, Conscription Act passed
by 115
Congress, grade of Lieut.-General
revived by 128
Conscription Act passed by Con¬
federate Congress.... 115
Confederate money, value of . . 220
Cook, Captain, remarks about
cowardice 157
Correspondent of the Tribune
quoted 70
Count de Paris on McClellan's
sta£f ...... 64
Court-Martial 182
Cowardice 156
Credit in warfare . . . 216
Curran, Henry, wounded in the
Wilderness 105
Curran, Henry, Captain, at Sailor's
Creek 199
D
Davis, Jefferson, rumours con¬
cerning 39
Davis Jefferson, his Government . 218
Democratic Convention at Charles¬
ton 9
District of Columbia, Slavery abo¬
lished in 93
Douglas, Stephen A., sketch of . 12
Douglas, Stephen A., his popular
sovereignty doctrine . . .10
Douglas, Stephen A., nominated for
President 11
Doughty, Captain John B,,death of 195
E
Early, General, marches upon
Washington .... 159
Early, General, burns Chambers-
burg 160
Early, General, is defeated by
Sheridan 168
Early, General, his victory at Win¬
chester . . 216
Early, General, his defeat at Cedar
Creek 171
Index^
243
Page
Eggleston, George Gary, quoted . 219
Emancipation . . - . 98
England's attitude during the war 88
„ „ disappointment
caused by 88
Everett, Edward, nominated for
Vice-President . . . .16
Everett, Edward, his opinions on
Slavery "91
Everett, Edward, address at
Gettysburg 112
Every-day life in Camp . . . 147
EweU, General, his defeat at
Williamsburg . . . .59
Ewell, General, capture of, at
Sailor's Creek .... 200
F
Fail-child, General, at Gettysburg 110
Fifth Wisconsin Regiment at
Williamsburg . . . .58
Fifth Wisconsin Regiment com¬
plimented by Commander-in-chief 59
Fifth Wisconsin Regiment at
Gettysburg Ill
Fifth Wisconsin Regiment ordered
to New York .... 118
Fifth Wisconsin Regiment on the
Hudson 119
Fifth Wisconsin Regiment, Skir¬
mishers of, capture Ewell . . 199
Fifth Corps at Five Forks . . 193
Final Campaign .... 190
Financial Retrospect . . . 216
Fisher's Hill, battle of . . . 170
Fitzpatrick, Benjamin, nominated
for Vice-President . . .11
Franklin's Grand Division at
Fredericksburg . . . .99
Fredericksburg, battle of . . 99
Free States invaded . . .108
Fortunes of War . , . .177
G
Garrison, William Lloyd, his teach¬
ings denounced . . . .80
Gaines' Mill, battle of . . .65
Gettysburg, battle of . . . 109
» » Hancock at . Ill
Gordon, General,assails Union right
in "the Wilderness " . . . 130
Grant, General, assumes command
on the Potomac . , . .128
Grant, General, reorganises the
army 123
Grant, General, sounds the advance 129
Grant, General, his Wilderness cam¬
paign
'Page
Grant, General, crosses the James 134
Grant, General, sends Sheridan to
the Shenandoah Valley . . 162
Grant, General, midnight ride to
Sheridan and Meade . . . 196
Grant, General, correspondence
with Lee 201
Grant, General, indisposition dur¬
ing last Campaign . . . 202
Grant, General, meeting with
General Lee 203
Grant, General, surrender of
General Lee to. . . . 203
Grant, General, generosity towards
the conquered army . . . 205
Grant, General, asks Lincoln to
visit the army .... 209
Greeley, Horace, quoted . . .30
,, ,, ,, . . . 82
Griffin, General, supersedes War¬
ren at Five Forks . . . 192
H
Hamlin, Hannibal, elected Vice-
President 26
Hancock, General, W. S., "Out-
generalled" 54
Hancock, General, at Antietam . 80
Hancock, General, assumes com¬
mand of Richardson's Division . 83
Hancock, General, wounded at
Gettysburg 110
Hancock, General, commands 2nd
Corps in the Wilderness . . 130
Hancock, General, at Spottsyl-
vania 133
Hancock, General, characteristic
reply to General Stuart . . 134
Harper's Ferry captured by John
Brown 163
Harper's Ferry captured by McLaw 79
Harrison's Landing occupied by
McClellan's Army . . .74
Harrison's Landing evacuated . 76
Hartford Convention, opinions ex¬
pressed at the . . . - 26
Heintzelman's Corps at the battle
of Fair Oaks . . . .60
Henry, Mr. Alexander, Mayor of
Philadelphia, quoted . . .31
Henry, Patrick, views on Slavery . 91
Hooker, General, assumes com¬
mand of Potomac Army . . 102
Hooker, General, defeat of, at Chan-
cellorsville 103
Hooker, General, superseded by
Meade 106
Hospital Life ... 136
Hutchinson Family singing to the
troops 55
244
Index,
I Page
Independence Day in the Army . 74
Iron Brigade of the West at Gaines¬
ville 78
Iron Brigade of the West at Gettys¬
burg 110
J
Jackson, " Stonewall," ioins Lee . 65
Jackson, "Stonewall," destroys
Baltimore and Ohio Railway . 79
Jackson, " Stonewall," mortally
wounded 103
Jefferson quoted . . . .89
Johnson, Herschell V., nominated
Vice-President . . * .11
Johnson, Reverdy, conversation
with Calhoun . . . .28
Johnson, Andrew, becomes Presi¬
dent 213
K
Kavanaugh, Charles, referred to . 67
Kearney, General, death of . 78
L
Lane, Joseph, nominated for Vice-
President 13
XiOe, Generar Robert E., assumes
command of the Army of Northern
Virginia 65
Lee, General Robert E., drives
McCleUan from near Richmond . 66
Lee, General Robert E., assails
Pope
Lee, General Robert E., invades
Maryland and Pennsylvania . 79
Lee, General Robert E., fights the
battle of Antietam . . .84
Lee, General Robert E., again in¬
vades the North .... 108
Lee, General Robert E., is defeated
at Gettysburg .... 110
Lee, General Robert E., his lines
broken at Petersburg . . . 194
Lee, General Robert E., his message
to President Davis . . . 195
Lee, General Robert E., retreats to¬
wards North Carolina . . 195
Lee, General Robert E., correspond¬
ence with Grant .... 201
Lee, General Robert E., surrounded
at Clover Hill .... 201
Lee, General Robert E., his meet¬
ing with Grant .... 202
Lee, General Robert E., surrenders
his army to Grant . . .204
Page
Legal Tender Act passed . . 224
Life in Camp of Instruction . . 46
Lincoln, Abraham, nominated for
President 18
Lincoln, Abraham, sketch of . .19
Lincoln, Abraham, his views on
Slavery 20
Lincoln, Abraham, elected Presi¬
dent 26
Lincoln, Abraham, offers cabinet
appointments to Southern Demo¬
crats 35
Lincoln, Abraham, his Inaugural
Address quoted . . . .92
Lincoln, Abraham, his first call for
troops 36
Lincoln, Abraham, his Emancipa-*
tion Cabinet meeting . . .93
Lincoln, Abraham, postpones Eman¬
cipation 93
Lincoln, Abraham, signs Emancipa¬
tion '^oclamation . . .95
Lincoln, Abraham, remarks on a
rival candidate . . . .99
Lincoln, Abraham, his Gettysburg
speech 113
Lincoln, Abraham, visits Columbia
College Hospital . . . 140
Lincoln, Abraham, at the front,
Petersburg 207
Lincoln, Abraham, at Harrison's
Landing 208
Lincoln, Abraham, assassination of
Lincoln, Abraham, feeling in the
army concerning assassination of 214
Lincoln, Abraham, Walt Whit¬
man's poem on the death of . 215
Louisville, Journal quoted . . 16
Longstreet, General, his charge at
Gettysburg . . . . _ . 110
Longstreet, General, wounded in
"the Wilderness" . . • 130
M
Madison, James, his views on the
Constitution . . . .28
Madison, City of, Camp of instruc¬
tion at 43
Magruder, General, at Savage
Station ..... 69
Malvern Hill, battle of . . .72
Mansfield, General, death of . 84
Maryland invaded by Lee . . 79
Master and Slave meet at Antietam 82
" Mayflower," arrival of . . 88
McCleUan, General Geo. B.,assumes
command of the Army of the
Potomac 51
McCleUan, General Geo. B., his ad¬
dress to Fifth Wisconsin Regiment 59
Index.
245
Page
McClellan, General Geo. B., is de¬
feated by Lee in the Peninsula . 66
^IcClellan, General Geo. B., defeats
Lee at Antietam . . . .80
McClellan, General Geo. B., re¬
lieved from command . . 99
McLaws, General, captures Har¬
per's Ferry . . . . . 79
3Ieade, General George G., reHeves
Hooker in command of the army 106
Meade, General George G., his
general order .... 107
Meade, General George G., and
Grant at cross purposes . . 196
Meade, General George G., Grant
on his loyalty and soldierly quali¬
ties 198
Meagher, General, death of . .84
Milwaukee, Republican demonstra¬
tion at 24
IMilwaukee Zouaves leave home . 43
Milwaukee Zouaves assigned to
Fifth Wisconsin Regiment . . 44
Milwaukee Zouaves ordered South 47
N
National Debt of the United States 225
Newcastle Chronicle of 1776 quoted 81
New York City, riots at . .118
Northern States, peace overtures by 30
O
Opequan Creek, battle of . . 168
P
Peace-olBferings of the North . . 30
,, conference at Washington . 34
Pennsylvania invaded by Lee's army 79
Petersburg, battle of . . . 194
Pettigrew^s command at Gettysburg 111
"Picket of the Potomac," a poem
quoted 56
Pickett's division at Gettysburg . Ill
Pleasanton's Cavalry . . . 118
Political struggle of 1860 , , 9
Pope, General, disaflPection of
general officers towards . . 77
Pope, General, defeat of . . 78
Popular Sovereignty Doctrine of
Senator Douglas . . . .10
Prim, Marshall, in camp . . 64
Proclamation of Emancipation •. 93
Protestant Clergymen's interview
with Lincoln . . . .94
Public Debt of the United States . 222
R Page
Rappahannock Station, battle of . 127
Read, Thomas Buchanan, his poem
quoted 174
Reno, General, death of . . .. 79
Republican Convention meet at
Chicago 17
Republican Convention, Party,
" Platform" of . . . .17
Republic Party Demonstration at
Milwaukee 24
Rebel's Recollection, quoted . . 219
Retreat of Lee from Antietam . 85
Reynolds, General, death of . . 112
Rhodes, General, killed at Opequan
Creek 169
Richardson, General, mortally
wounded 85
Robert E. Lee. See Lee. . * .
Russell, General David A., killed
at Opequan Creek . . . 169
Russell's Brigade - . . . 108
s
Sumter, Fort, fired upon . . .36
Savage Station, battle of . . 68
Scott, General Winfleld, resigna¬
tion of 51
Secession in American politics . 26
„ in Congress . . .32
„ in Hartford Convention . 26
„ Calhoun's views on . ,27
„ Howell Cobb's views on 28
„ the right of . . .27
„ _ James Madison's views on 28
Sedgwick, General, death of . . 132
Serenading in the Army . .124
Seven days' fighting before Rich¬
mond . . . . . .66
Seward, William H., Candidate be¬
fore the Chicago Convention . 18
Seward, William H , quoted . . 93
Seymour, Governor, Horatio, quoted 116
„ „ „ attacks of,
on the Administration . . 116
Seymour's Division routed in the
Wilderness 131
Sheridan, General, in the Shenan¬
doah Valley 159
Sheridan, General, his victories over
Early les
Sheridan, General, at the battle of
Cedar Creek .... 172
Sheridan, General, in the last cam¬
paign 190
Sheridan, General, Grant's ride to 196
" Sheridan's Ride," the poem . 174
Sherman, General, interview with
Lincoln 38
Slavery in Congress . . .90
246
Index.
Page
Slavery, Taney on . . . .87
„ Clarkson and . . .88
„ abolished in District of
Columbia 93
Slavery at the Charleston Conven¬
tion 10
Slavery, Adams, Franklin, and
Harrison on .... 90
South Carolina Legislature convened 24
„ ,, speech by Govenor of 25
,, ,, secedes . . .29
Southern Confederacy formed . 29
,, ,, feeling in Europe
towards the 91
South Mountain, battles of . .79
Southwick family of Albany . . 125
Stuart, General, captured by
Hancock 133
St. Marye's Heights, charge on . 101
Story, Judge, on the Constitution . 28
Stewart's Cavalry threatening Han¬
cock's Brigade . . . .74
Sumner's Corps at Fair Oaks . . 61
„ „ White Oak Swamp 69
Surrender of Lee . . . .205
T
Taney, Chief Justice, his opinion 87
Torbert, General, charges through
Winchester 169
Totten, Major, calls on Virginia
Regiment to surrender . . 130
Totten, Major, gallantry in the
Wilderness 130
Tribune correspondent quoted . 70
Turner's Gap, battle at . . .79
U Page
United States, Public Debt of the 222
Upton, General, wounded at Ope-
quan Creek 169
V
Value of commodities during the
War 219
Virginia, winter-quarters in . . 140
Volunteers called for . .. .36
W
War and Credit, a Financial Retro¬
spect 216
War for the Union, cost of the . 240
Warren, General, at Five Forks . 192
„ ,, relieved from com¬
mand by Sheridan . . . 192
Washington, Peace Conference at . 34
,, threatened by Early . 160
White Oak Swamp, battle of .68
Whitman's poem on the death of
Lincoln, quoted .... 215
WMlberforce, Anti-Slavery work of 88
Wilderness, battle of the . . 129
Winchester, Early's victory at . 162
,, Union victory at . . 169
Winter-quarters in Virginia . . 140
Wright, General, assumes command
of the Sixth Corps . . . 132
Wright, General, commands Union
force in the Shenandoah Valley . 162