History of the 131st Penna. Volunteers, war of 1861-5

Front matter

THE JAMES VERNE R SCAIFE

COLLECTION

CIVIL WAR LITERATURE

Chapter I

THE 131st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, was recruited from the following counties : Lycoming, Northumberland, Union, Snyder and Mifflin; the companies being from the following towns : A, from Lewisburg, Mifffinburg and vicinity ; B, Watsontown and vicinity ; C, Shamokin, Sunbury and vicinity; D, Lewistown and vicinity; E, Milton and vicinity; F, Selinsgrove, Middleburg and vicinity; G, Williamsport; H, Muncy and vicinity; I, Williamsport and Jersey Shore; K, Lewistown and vicinity.

THE GREAT EMERGENCY OF 1862.

The excitement incident to the organization and equipment of the troops and their departure for the seat of war, in 1861, under the first call of President Lincoln, was, if possible, intensified a year later, when a call for 300,000 men was made. It was a very dark day in the history of our country. The defeat of the Union troops under McDowell, at Bull Run, was followed by the greater disaster, the defeat and retreat of the army under General McClellan on the Peninsula, after a series of battles in front of Richmond. Political dissensions also loomed up in threatening magnitude to dishearten the national leaders, and correspondingly elevated the hopes and redoubled the energies of the rebels.

In the efiforts which followed the great uprising after the battle of Bull Run, previous calls had taken away most of our young men, and those most ready and willing to enlist, so that this call for more men required still greater sacrifice, and the appeal came to men whose environments, family and business ties seemed to forbid their going. But in the face of defeat and notwithstanding unfortunate partisan influences, the call to duty could not be resisted, and greater sacrifices must be made by the men who would respond to the call to save our imperiled country.

The call of July, 1862, for 300,000 men, was supplemented by an arrangement which provided for the enlistment of men for a period of nine months. To expedite organization, men were offered commissions who should recruit a certain number of men. Under this call the 131st Regiment was recruited.

RECRUITING FOR THE WAR.

When the President's call for volunteers was made in July, 1862, the writer, who had previously served as a private in the three months' service, placed his newspaper interests in the MiffJinbiirg Telegraph, then just recently founded, in the care of a trusted and competent partner, the late Charles E. Haus, and hastened to Lewisburg, where great excitement then prevailed and strenuous efforts made to hasten the filling of the quota for the county. A conference resulted in an agreement that J. M. Moyer should recruit the captain's quota, and J. R. Orwig and Joseph W. Kepler the first and second lieutenant's, and that we should assemble at Lewisburg as speedily as possible, and thus harmoniously and quickly organize a company, which was the full quota for the county. This was done, and the company officers were mustered, bearing date August 6th, 1862, by Captain I.ane, of the Twelfth United States Infantry, at Harrisburg. The other companies in quick succession. Throughout Lycoming, Northumberland, Snyder and adjoining counties, where the other companies who were to become members of the 131st Regiment, these devoted and patriotic home supporters of our government and its great armies in the field, gave their time and their means, their sympathy and encouragement to the cause, and by their care for the dependent ones, deprived of their natural support, stood by the soldiers and performed a grateful and patriotic service in behalf of their country, second only to that of the men who took their lives in their hands and went to the front, and met and overcame the enemy, and preserved our beloved Union. These home scenes among the people, when our armies were recruited, present a vivid section of the greater picture — the great uprising of a nation, wrestling successfully with treason, and rising greater and stronger from the conflict, giving lustre and reflecting imperishable renown upon the United States, and elevating her to a leading rank among the great powers of the world. At these recruiting scenes fathers and mothers were giving their sons for the battlefield as nobly as any recorded in classic song or story. Death stood in their presence, for the daily papers were then filled with long lists of killed and wounded in the battles, down where the armies were meeting in the conflict, some of whom were comrades and playmates of the men who were enrolling their names for the Army of the Potomac in the 131st.

A year of war had passed, and we were beginning to realize that the battlefield was now the great Supreme Court where should be finally determined, not only the perpetuity of the Union, but also the question of human slavery.

This insidious enemy — slavery — seemingly secure in the folds of the Constitution and our laws, was warmed into life and activity by its devotees, and now, viper-like, it was striking its fangs into the vitals of the Republic. But this overt act also placed it outside the protection of the seemingly unchangeable law, and it was committing felo de se. Abraham Lincoln saw and he sealed its fate forever by his proclamation. Thus a long-suffering and trusting and hopeful people were led by a Providence in a way they knew not, through this great national convulsion, to a better, loftier and more enduring place among the nations of the earth.

Troops were hurrying to Washington, and the scenes along the great highways of railroad travel presented an intensely interesting object lesson. It was a panoramic view, upon a scale of great magnitude never before recorded. This new American Republic springing to arms in a fratricidal war ! Passenger cars failed utterly to fill the requirements of transportation, and box cars, platform cars, and anything available, were quickly brought into requisition by the great makers and movers of commerce — the railroads — and the new lives who were voluntarily offering their services were whirled away to the conflict.

All the men did not always rise to the necessities of the occasion, and there was no little complaint at times, especially by the recruit who probably had never been in a railroad car before. They reasoned, doubtless, as they were giving themselves willing sacrifices upon the altar of their country, they ought to be carried to the war "on flowery beds of ease," or at least in first-class passenger cars.

The railroads through our several counties — the Pennsylvania and the Northern Central — were representative arteries which throughout the North were pouring in men and treasures from East and West, and we were novi? about to step into this great vortex. The people along the railways, in every city, town and hamlet, exhausted every conceivable method of patriotic demonstration, in order to show their loyalty and to indicate a hearty "good bye" and a "Godspeed" to the valiant ones who were going to the front to aid our armies and to subdue the rebels and save the American Union. Lewisburg was the home of our Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Hon. Eli Slifer, in whom the officers and men of the 131st had a friend at court, in all matters pertaining to the enlistment of troops and their care and success. Transportation and every necessary arrangement for our speedy arrival at Harrisburg had been made by those in authority.

THE REGIMENT AT HARRISBURG.

These were strange sights and experiences for the new volunteers, just from their quiet farm and village homes and peaceful pursuits in Central Pennsylvania. Camp Curtin, then about two miles north of Harrisburg, was Pennsylvania's great military rendezvous throughout the war^ and it was now experiencing one of its periods of special activity, under urgent calls of the President and the Governor, to which the men of the 131st were responding.

Twenty-one regiments — Pennsylvania's quota — were to be organized and sent at once to the army in the field. The recruits were pouring into this great military camp, severally and by companies and regiments, as the result of the efforts as detailed, throughout other counties of the State, of which our recent experience, up in the heart of our State, was only a representative scene.

It would be difficult to imagine the thoughts of these men as they mingled with the great mass. As the scenes are recalled in fancy the pen would make but a sorry picture, if the attempt were made, or set forth on the printed page. They came from the farm, from the store, from the school-room, and represented all the various vocations of life. The law student, the miner, the theological student, the craftsman, the manufacturer and the laboring man — all voluntarily relinquishing homes — and their individuality, even — and henceforth "according to size" they would "fall in" and stand together, shoulder to shoulder, "obey orders," and in the fiery ordeal of battle would save the country from the enemy of our flag. And it is wonderful how easy such a condition becomes, under such circumstances, and is of interest, also, as a social problem. Here caste and poverty alike were eliminated. Henceforth the rich and the poor, the divinity student and the miner, the law student and the laborer, the city lad and the farm boy — all submitted willingly and cheerfully to a "detail" to perform any duty assigned, from the most menial service to the most heroic. Side by side they will dig trenches or bury a mule ; picket an outpost, or make a bayonet charge upon the enemy; perform clerical services at a general's headquarters or be cook for the company, and as all the sol'diers know, the labor was sweetened iDy the patriotic sense of duty. Not only these soldierly duties were thus performed, but, as it was subsequently well established, that almost every one of these Northern volunteer regiments' soldiers could be depended upon to furnish a detail to hold a court, build a railroad, man a boat, print and edit a newspaper, operate a mine or cultivate crops; or, indeed, perform any or all service necessary to the government, which the exigency of the war for the Union might possibly impose upon them.

We all entered upon our tent lives with avidity. Camp kettles and canteens, camp fires and rations, all was novelty, bttt right merrily did all take hold and most successfully did these men adapt themselves to their new relation. But home and friends and "the gal I left behind me" were now relegated to the inner consciousness, and the camp, the duty of the soldier, with all the "pomp and circumstance of glorious warj' alone should henceforth be manifest and give tone and prompt the actions of the new citizen soldiers.

The first duty, now that we were snugly in camp, seemed to require that the company organizations should be completed. The first days spent will be remembered by officer and men as presenting many interesting incidents, the details of which would lend interest to these pages could the stories be told.

Some of these are submitted which occurred in Company A, and were repeated with variations in each of the companies so soon to become associated in the 131st.

IT WAS ALL so NOVEL.

Most of the men were not much over eighteen years of age, and a number of them were younger. How they expected to pass the mustering officer, and how they subsequently did pass, it is not recorded. None were put down as less than eighteen, and one — William Dollard — was put down at forty-five. He must have been nearer fifty-five. But eighteen and forty-five were the limits as to age. Notwithstanding youth, the tenderness of the home-leaving, or the gravity of the new relation — a volmiteer soldier — many of them for the first time beyond the farm or their village homes, the "boys" gave themselves alike to duty and the lighter pastimes of the camp, as merrily, seemingly, as the very kittens at play. It was all so novel. Housekeeping by camp fires, and the tents, and every one his own cook, laundryman and housekeeper, and withal an American soldier, sworn to obey nobody and nothing save the Constitution and the officers ! Henceforth they must respond to every call, for any duty required. They must "fall in" — how familiar that command became — and according to size, without a question, regardless of wealth, character, fitness, social or "other previous condition."

The school of the soldier and of the company — what the respective duties and how shall they be performed ? These were exercising the minds of the thotightful and those who were responsible. The new sergeants and corporals, the private soldiers and the commissioned officers, all in a sort of "town-meeting"-like manner, determined for the first time upon the place of each — officer and private, from the highest rank to the shortest private at the end of the ranks. Thus companies and regiments were first formed, and appeared in "magnificent array" on the company grounds. What a train of memories now are started as we glance over the muster rolls, and contemplate the proud record which they made !

Many amusing incidents probably ought to be recorded to indicate the way the men deported themselves. It was not in the mind of any one present, probably, to make a note at this time, for that purpose, and it has been found that now, after the lapse of so many 3'ears, it is difficult to gather the experiences from the actors themselves. What was going on in the Ilnion count}' company was probably nearly a representative case for many of them, wherever regiments were recruited.

M-'hen this company was formed for the first time it was found that the tall men, who were modest, had to be ordered to the front, and the small ones who had been bold, had to be ordered to the rear. Sergeants and corporals of various sizes had been chosen, long and short ones, so that when its officers for the first time got them into ranks, and every one, including the officers, found their places, and the company stood in line — • our first formation — it was such a gratifying success that soon all the little misunderstandings and disappointments incident thereto, were either entirely forgotten or never spoken of again. None of the men, probably, ever forgot the examining officers, as their unceremonious and seemingly heartless and rude methods were unfolded to every member of the companies. They were probably excusable, but their hurried demand upon the recruit that he should appear before them just as Ham saw his father, was not a little shocking, and their hurried examinations and the wonderful evolutions through which they passed them, were bewildering, and their several experiences were long sources of jest and merriment, even to the day of muster out. One man was rejected. The woe-begone look of private William Bordner indicated how greatly he was disappointed when he returned and reported that he had been rejected. He was a first-rate young man, determined to go, and he shed tears of disappointment because he had recently scalded his foot with molten iron, and for this cause he had been declared incapacitated. He begged that we should intercede for him, and after an interview with the examining officer he agreed to a re-examination. The man was, in all other respects, so well fitted, that although they feared, they nevertheless yielded tO' his appeals and permitted him to pass. He did excellent service and was a good soldier, but that recreant foot got him into trouble. On a forced march in Virginia, when his company was detailed to conduct an ammunition train through the enemy's country, the foot began to inflame and soon placed him hors du combat. He was compelled to fall out, no ambulance or other escape available. We left him most reluctantly, and he was soon picked up by the rebels, who were hanging upon our rear, and he became a prisoner to the "Johnnies." After many months he was exchanged, and being incapacitated for further service, he was honorably discharged.

How the men got their new uniforms, and how they got into them, will be among the amusing incidents which none of them can ever forget. All found out that for their comfort, as well as for appearance, it was necessary to seek exchange of goods, and many exchanges were necessary before all were fairly fitted, for every soldier drew a uniform just as he drew^a musket or a ration. The companies were marched to the quar- 1-ermaster's department to be uniformed — caps, blouses, pantaloons, underclothing, shoes and stockings. It proved an eventful day. The department was a busy place, as may well be supposed. Rush orders for 24,000 men, to be rigged out cap-apie, all in a hurry to be off on important business — to Washington and the South ! Business had necessarily to be expedited, and the clerks had become expert salesmen. They just took the muster roll of the companies, and, as each name was called, the bill was charged against the soldier, and the whole outfit was most unceremoniously flung at the astonished man. The boys said the suits were all one price and were "all wool but the buttons, and they were of rams' horns," a witticism which became common during the war whenever and wherever clothing was issued to the men. It required but a short time to supply a company, but it was a sight ! That instantaneous change from citizen to soldier. A cap would fall to a diminutive recruit which would cover his head below the ears, or shoes that were too large or too small; pantaloons that were too long or too short, and coats too wide or too narrow. The men only had time to get out of their citizen suit and get into, the military tacklings. What a ridiculous transformation as each emerged in the lot which he had drawn ! Then there was a hustling for exchanges. The ill-fitted latitudinous ones sought out the ill-fitted spare ones. The tall men with short pantaloons sought for the short ones with the longer ones ; the big heads with the small caps for the little heads with the big caps — each sought the other to find the goods of his size, and there was no end of the merriment occasioned by the highly ludicrous occurrences of that hour or two when we were uniformed. But all were ultimately nearly fitted, and probably only one who could not get shoes large enough. His case was remedied, temporarily, in a very simple manner — by cutting oiif the shoes an inch or two, thus liberating his imperiled toes. The captain later on put in a special requisition for one pair of shoes — size i6!

Then express packages flew thick and fast homeward — they were the citizens' clothing, which would henceforth be "contraband" in the knapsack of the soldier campaigning down in Dixie, and would be dangerous in the possession of a good soldier.

FORMING THE REGIMENT.

Camp Curtin did not present a striking resemblance to West Point or Annapolis. Officers of various rank — from generals to lieutenants and sergeants and corporals, in squads, sections, and by companies and regiments, were busying themselves in camp, morning, noon and night, in the intricacies of their duties, the position of the soldier and the various movements, steps, changes of direction necessary in drilling. At the same time the organization of a regiment representing the interior or central portion of the State, was agitating the minds of the aspiring ones, and the authorities, and a keen rivalry, often reaching an intensity not unlike that to be seen upon the eve of a political State convention, when candidates are to be chosen as standard bearers of the dominant party of the State.

The Union county company had friends at court. The Governor and the Secretary of the Commonwealth were personally acquainted with many of the men, whose parents were their friends and neighbors. Their early arrival also entitled them to first place in a new regiment of the central counties.

All were looking forward to an early departure for the seat of war, down in Virginia. The cities of Philadelphia, Allegheny and Lancaster counties seemed to be receiving consideration first in the matter of regimental organization and transportation southward. But the association of ten interior county companies upon the parade grounds, now indicated that the organizaiton problem had finally been solved. The grouping, geographically, also seemed to be a natural association, and indicated an agreement having the good of the service only in consideration. The Union county company. Lieutenant Orwig commanding, was at the right of the line, and with us were nine other companies — the first formation of the 131st Regiment— representing our neighboring counties of Lycoming, Northumberland, Snyder and Mifflin — one company each from Union and Snyder, two from Mifflin, and three each from Lycoming and Northumberland. The Union county company claimed to represent the home of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and it was given the place of honor, and was henceforth to be known as Company A. The other companies of the new regiment were first placed according to the following arrangement, and were so recorded in the adjutant general's department, upon the records at Harrisburg : Company B, Capt. Joseph S. Waream, of Lewistown ; Company C, Capt. David Bly, of Watsontown ; Company D, Capt. Thomas R. Jones, of Sunbury ; Company E, Capt. David McManigal, of Mifflin ; Company F, Capt. Isaiah B. Davis, of Milton ; Company G, Capt. George W. Ryan, of Middleburg; Company H, Capt. Charles B. Davis, of Williamsport ; Company I, Capt. Benjamin F. Keefer, of Mimcy; Company K, Capt. Frank T. Wilson, of Jersey Shore. This formation, however, was not maintained, and the change led to considerable confusion throughout the service, and subsequently. In the final adjustment, after all rivalries ceased, and all the questions of rank and position were harmonized, the roster was made up as follows, and the regiment received the numerical number 131 of the line, with the following field, staff and line officers, in the order indicated, and in which order they served throughout their term of service :

Colonel, Peter H. Allabach, of Harrisburg ; Lieutenant- Colonel, William B. Shaut, of Williamsport; Major, Robert

W. Patton, of Lewistown; Surgeon, John F. Huber, of Lancaster; Adjutant, Samuel H. Pollock, of Milton; Quartermaster, C. J. A. Chapman, of Luzerne ; Assistant Surgeons, L. R. Kirk, of Chester, and David J. Evans, of Berks county ; Chaplain, C. W. Sanders, of Selinsgrove; Sergeant-Ma j or, R. S. Parker, of Lewistown ; Quartermaster-Sergeant, William F. Thompson, of Williamsport ; Commissary-Sergeant, Henry M. Edwards.

Company A. — Captain, Jacob M. Moyer, of Lewisburg; First Lieutenant, Joseph R. Orwig, of Mifflinburg; Second Lieutenant, Joseph W. Kepler, of Lewisburg.

Company B. — Captain, David Bly, of Watsontown ; First Lieutenant, Joseph G. Hutchison, of Watsontown ; Second Lieutenant, Joseph M. Irvin, of McEwensville.

Company C. — Captain, T. R. Jones, Lewisburg University ; First Lieutenant, Joseph Reeder, of Shamokin ; Second Lieutenant, Andrew N. Brice, of Sunbury.

Company D. — Captain, David A. McManigal, of Mifflin; First Lieutenant, David B. Wilson, of Hartleton ; Second Lieutenant, D. D. Muthersbaugh, of Lewistown.

Company E. — Captain, Isaiah B. Davis, of Milton; First Lieutenant, William A. Bruner, of Sunbury; Second Lieutenant, William H. Wolfe^ of Lewisburg.

Company F. — Captain, George W. Ryan, of Middleburg; First Lieutenant, Lewis Miller, of Globe Mills; Second Lieutenant, Jeremiah Snyder, of Selinsgrove.

Company G. — Captain, Charles B. Davis, of Williamsport; First Lieutenant, James M. Wood, of Williamsport; Second Lieutenant, George W. Jack, of Williamsport.

Company H. — Captain, Benjamin F. Keefer, of Muncy; First Lieutenant, Robert S. Maxwell, of Muncy ; Second Lieutenant, De La Green, of Muncy.

Company L — Captain, Frank T. Wilson, of Jersey Shore; First Lieutenant, James M. Wolf, of Waterville; Second Lieutenant, Albert D. Lundy, of Williamsport.

Company K. — Captain, Joseph S. Waream, of Lewistown ; First Lieutenant, Grant F. Waters^ of Lewistown; Second Lieutenant, David B. Weber, of Lewistown.

Colonel Allabach was a citizen of Harrisburg, a dentist by profession, and had been in the service in the war with Mexico. His commission bore date of August i6, 1862.

Lieut.-Col. William B. Shaut was a resident of Williamsport, and by occupation a journeyman tailor.

Maj. Robert W. Patton, of Lewistown, was a jeweler, and engaged in mercantile pursuits.

Adjt. Samuel H. Pollock, of Milton, was a student, the son of ex-Governor James Pollock.

The quartermaster and surgeons did not join the regiment until some time after our departure from Harrisburg. Captain Meyer, of Company A, was detailed as c[uartermaster, and subsequently in the commissary, and continued to serve in these positions, with brief intervals, during the time he remained with the regiment. His brother, George W. Moyer, was appointed commissary sergeant, but was discharged soon after the captain left the service. Captain Moyer was tendered the position of quartermaster, but declined and sought the position in the commissary in accordance with his rank as captain, the official rank of a quartermaster being that of a lieutenant.

The turmoil incident to the organization of companies and regiment, and all the regiments of Camp Curtin, was now happily over, and was quickly forgotten in the greater events which were so soon to occupy the attention of the new soldiers on the great battlefields of recreant old Virginia.

Chapter II. Off To The Army Of The Potomac

C4/^RDERS FOR WASHINGTON!" This was the cry \J that rang throughout our camp on the evening of the i7tli of August, and it only required a look to convince you that something important had taken place, from the hurried movements of men and the gathering of crowds in company streets ; and then cheers were soon heard from every direction, and it was known that orders had been received at regimental headquarters for our immediate transportation to Washington to join the gathering armies at the National Capital. The military situation in Virginia was alarming, and was the exigency which so hurriedly demanded these large levies, aroused our State to such enthusiasm and necessitated the first steps toward a draft in order to carry on the war. General McClellan had failed in his advance upon Richmond by way of the Peninsula, and the Army of the Potomac was massed in a defensive attitude at Harrison's Landing, on the James river. His battles are known as the seven days' battles, commencing on the 25th of June, 1862, and ending on the ist of July. General McClellan's attitude towards the President and the War Department; the menacing attitude of Great Britain and France ; the activity of the rebel agents to secure foreign intervention ; the discouragements of defeat and the threatened resistance to enlistments and the draft in New York and elsewhere, all conspired to give the most serious alarm at Washington and to the loyal citizens throughout the North. Generals Fremont, Banks and McDowell were so placed as to constitute the defense of the Capital upon the movement of the Army of the Potomac to the south of Richmond. General Pope had command of three army corps extending their lines from Fredericksburg up to the Shenandoah valley. These extended Washington defenses were now in danger of being overwhelmed, as was feared at Washington, by the rebel army under Lee. McClellan's retreat rendered co-operation of the LTnion armies impossible. The country was in a state of intense excitement and alarm.

The same day, August 3, General McClellan was ordered to withdraw his army from the Peninsula, via the James river and the Chesapeake bay to Aquia and Alexandria, on the Potomac. But on the 15th of August, and before McClellan began to leave the James, the rebel army under Lee had been divided, the Richmond wing to guard against McClellan, and the main body to move overland one hundred miles north;, and was threatening to overwhelm General Pope before the Union armies could be united. On the i8th of August, the day the regiment left Harrisburg for Washington, General Pope's entire line was compelled to retire before General Lee. The main body of McClellan's army evacuated the camp at Harrison's Landing on the 17th, and embarked at Williamsburg, Yorktown, Newport News and at Fortress Monroe, on the 20th. This was what a bird's eye view of the situation at the front disclosed. It was a crisis in the war for the Union never again equalled in importance and magnitude of dangers, and it required no prophetic vision to forsee that our new regiment would find serious work ahead.

We learned to look upon marching orders in a somewhat different light later on. Although, such was the monotony of camp life, that soldiers were unusually eager for a movement of the army, notwithstanding the dangers which it implied.

The few weeks of preparation in Camp Curtin had been effective, and it was rem^arkable how quickly companies and regiments could be formed with new recruits, at least to appear effective ; although we learned subsequently that it required constant, long and severe drilling and discipline to acquire that skill which would enable a company or a regimentto be moved quickly and compactly at the word of command, especially in the presence of an enemy or in battle.

It was on the i8th of August when we left Camp Curtin and boarded a train of box cars for Washington. No one looking upon such a body of soldiers going to war could fathom what was going on in their thoughts. They had long before measured and mastered what would be new to and what would likely be expressed by the lookers-on. There was nothing perceptible, nor did it ever become apparent, even when in line of battle and ready to charge upon the enemy, that there was any fear ; or that men would exhibit an)' other than at least an outward and cheerful obedience and ready compliance to orders. It was with cheers and every demonstration of pleasure that the command to "fall in" was received by the regiment. The usual activity along the way by patriotic citizens in their demonstrations of loyalty were only calculated to increase the buoyancy of spirit. If there were fears they were repressed by the individual, and none would be likely to know of their existence. The journey to Washington was without incident. The approach to places of historical interest were pointed out by those familiar with the route to the National Capital ; the destroyed railroad bridges, the vicinity of the home of the noted rebel, Harry Gilmore, the city of Baltimore, Relay Station, historic Bladensburg, were successively pointed out- — then the first glimpses of Washington — each were lustily cheered by the enthusiastic soldiers. We arrived on the same day over the Northern Central railway. Washington was thronged with soldiers, but all was calm and orderly, and every effort seemed to be to hasten reinforcements south of the Potomac. We remained only until next day, when we were ordered South and marched down to and across the Potomac, upon the "sacred soil of Virginia."