Personal reminiscences of the war

Preface

THE present volume is the outgrowth of a series of articles written by the author for publication in the Northern Christian Advocate. At the urgent request of many friends they are now published in book form, with the earnest hope that the story of privation, suffering, and danger — of valor, heroism, and loyalty — may serve to enkindle in the hearts of all who read this record an appreciation of these sacrifices and an undying love of our great, united, and free country, which is the strongest bond of our national unity and existence. In preparing these sketches the author has freely consulted Chaplain Craft's 'admirable history of the One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, has also been greatly aided by his diary, which was kept during the entire three years' service, but has been obliged to draw from memory for the principal details.

Tioga Center^ N. K,, December 13, i8g2.

Introduction

MILITARY, like civil history, must deal with men in the aggregate. Individuals come into distinctive notice only as they may be representative of classes or leaders of masses of other individuals. The soldier is lost in his company, regiment, brigade, division, army corps, and the historian who writes an account of a battle or a campaign concerns himself with the body of men who endured the march, bivouacked in the storm, made the attack, carried the redoubt, stormed the stronghold, resisted the assault, suffered the loss, and gained the victory ; possibly may delineate the character of the generals, criticise their plans, or approve their skill and bravery. But companies, regiments, and brigades are made up of individual soldiers, whose personnel, discipline, bravery, intelligence, and courage give character and tone to the organization which they form. The deeds of these individuals, the personal daring of one, the coolness and intrepidity of another, the clumsiness or skill of a third, or the dare-devil recklessness of some other, are phases of the personal life of an organization as truly as its patience on the march or its boldness and courage on the battlefield. Then, too, no inconsiderable part of a soldier's life is spent in camp, during which the military organizations, as such, are in comparative inactivity, but where the energy of the individual soldier finds full scope. During these periods of military quiet the private soldier was accustomed to display the greatest activity. Games in camp and tent, jokes, sometimes of an intensely practical turn, played upon a comrade, running of camp guards, evading camp law, were frequent sources of amusement and pastime. In the hospitals were the sick and the dying, in most instances away from friends and kindred, the wounded and the slain on the battlefields, where were displayed heroic fortitude in suffering, patience in the solitude of sickness, and faith in the hour of death, the patriotism of the soldier, the love and loyalty of the man, the kindliness of human sympathy, and the fraternity of the comrade.

Nor was soldier Hfe outside the divine influences of our holy religion. In many a one the hallowed and gracious power of spiritual life was conspicuous in camp and field. Loyalty to Christ, resistance to temptation, faithfulness to duty, honesty in purpose, and truthfulness to principle not infrequently shone out with more resplendent brightness in the exigencies and emergencies of military life than in the quieter ways of the home life.

If anyone, therefore, would fully acquaint himself with soldier life he must go back of the organization, with its marches and battles ; he must meet the men off duty. The dress parade may exhibit the soldier, the tent and camp life show the man.

It is this inner life of the regiment which is faithfully portrayed in this volume. Its accomplished author, now an honored clergyman in a great religious body, and a most acceptable pastor and preacher, was an enlisted private of Company I, of the One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment of Pennsylvania Infantry, promoted to a sergeant, wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863, and mustered out of the service at the close of the war with the record of being a good soldier, an efficient officer, and unswervingly loyal to his country and its flag. His rank and official duties brought him closer to the daily life of the rank and file, and, consequently, afforded him better opportunity of gathering the *' personal reminiscences " which are here recorded than a commissioned officer, who by military discipline is farther removed from the men he commands. It delineates soldier life as it was in the actual experiences of the men, and not as it appears in the movement of his regiment. To the surviving comrades, to the children and friends of the fallen, to all who desire to see the men as they lived day by day, this book must have a priceless value, and ought to have a place in every soldier's home.

In some respects the One Hundred and Forty-first Pennsylvania Regiment was quite remarkable. It was mustered from contiguous territory in the northeastern part of the State, six and one half companies being from eastern Bradford, a half company from Sullivan, two companies from Susquehanna, and one from Wayne County. They were mostly young men who represented the very best famiHes and the best blood of the region whence they came, intelHgent, earnest, loyal, and patriotic. They went into the service not to have a holiday, but to put down the rebellion and preserve the integrity of the Union and the government. The war had been going on for more than a year. It had ceased to be a novelty or an adventure to go soldiering. Their officers, from the colonel down, were from the same neighborhoods and men of like spirit. It is doubtful if any regiment mustered from the rural districts entered the service in which there was greater homogeneity, so great social equality, or bound more closely by personal ties than this. And this bond was welded in the fires of more than a score of battles, where, as might have been expected, the regiment was decimated again and again, so that in its percentage of losses it ranks third the greatest of all those which composed the Federal armies. Its colonel and lieutenant colonel were prominent members of the Bradford County bar, its major a large farmer and business man, and the staff officers were holding important positions in their respective homes. Two of its captains were clergymen, one of whom was shot dead while bearing the colors at Chancellorsville. Others of its commissioned officers were lawyers, merchants, school-teachers, and farmers, and there were hundreds who were in the ranks as competent to command as their officers. The lieutenant colonel and major were each fatally wounded on battlefields, and the colonel carries in his thigh a bullet received near Appomattox Court House. Since the war he has represented his county in the Legislature, has been register and recorder, and is now holding the office of prothonotary. The adjutant and one of the captains are each the president judge of their respective districts, Susquehanna and Bradford Counties ; one of its noncommissioned officers is cashier of a bank, has been commander of the Pennsylvania Department of the G. A. R., and is now the treasurer of the county ; two have been sheriffs, several have been representatives, others have held other offices of trust, and still others are holding important and responsible business positions ; one is in the National Museum at Washington, and several others

INTRODUCTION. I I

are in the pension department of the government.

While reminiscences of army life are always read with interest, as shown by the large sales of books of this character, the recollection, incidents, the camp life of such men as made up this regiment must have a thrilling interest for all who are interested in its history.

While neither the author nor his book need introduction to his readers from me, yet for those whom it may concern it may be said that the writer hereof knew him while in the service, that subsequently for three years they wrought together in the holy ministry in the same village, that the author of the history of the regiment received from him many valuable facts, and has read with interest some of the sketches from his pen as they have appeared in the public press ; and it is more than a pleasure, it is an abundant joy, to introduce him and his work and most heartily commend them to the larger public. David Craft.

Lawrenceville, Tioga County, Pa., November 30, [S92.

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR.

Chapter I

ON the morning of August l8, 1862, the writer, then a boy of nineteen, and a dozen young companions of about the same age, met in a Httle town in northern Pennsylvania, with our faces turned steadfastly toward the scenes of actual war. The President of the United States had recently issued a call for three hundred thousand additional troops to serve for three years or during the war. There was intense excitement all through the North, and from the hilltops of Maine to the golden slopes of the Pacific men laid aside the implements of peace, girded on the sword or shouldered the musket, bade farewell to weepingwives, mothers, sisters, and friends, determined that, come what might, the Union, cemented by the blood of patriot sires, should be preserved.

With sad hearts we bade adieu to our friends, who had gathered in large numbers to see us off, and were soon on the way to our place of rendezvous, the village of Troy, Pa., on the Northern Central Railway, where we met the balance of the company, which numbered nearly a hundred men.

The only incident worthy of note occurring on this preliminary march was the marriage of one of our boys, who, passing by the home of his best girl that day, halted for a few moments ; the services of the writer's father — a local preacher, who accompanied us to Harrisburg — were called into requisition, and the twain were made one. He kissed his weeping bride, jumped into the wagon, and was off for Dixie.

That night we were quartered in a large hall, and although weary and exhausted by our long ride in the hot sun we had the privilege of sleeping on the softest plank we could find, without any other bed or bedding.

At four o'clock the next morning we were served with a small lunch, and then marched to the station, where we took the train to Harrisburg, reaching that city at 2 o' clock p. M., and were immediately marched to Camp Curtin, a general place of rendezvous for Pennsylvania troops, situated one mile north of this city, and consisting of about sixty acres of ground inclosed by a high board fence, and as destitute of any green thing as the middle of a country road in midsummer. I have no pleasant memories connected with my stay in Camp Curtin, and I have never heard any soldier who was there speak well of it. Coming as we did from pleasant homes to such a barren, dreary, uninviting spot, it is no wonder that the change was anything but agreeable.

Here we found thousands of men from all parts of the State waiting to be examined, mustered into the United States service, uniformed, armed, equipped, and sent on to the seat of war.

The next day after our arrival, August 20, we were taken before the United States examining surgeon, who gave us a thorough examination, which resulted in sending two of our squad back to their homes, but the rest of us were accepted. We were then sworn into the service of Uncle Sam for three years or during the war, and received our uniforms, consisting of overcoat, dress coat, pants, cap, two shirts, two pair drawers, two pair socks, pair of shoes, haversack, canteen, knapsack, and blanket. We next received our arms and accouterments, consisting of cartridge box, cap box, belts, and an Austrian rifled musket.

These guns were very inferior arms, about as dangerous at one end as the other, but perhaps the best the government could obtain under the circumstances. We each drew a tin plate and cup, a knife, fork, and spoon, and then were fully equipped for war. The reader can form something of an idea of the weight of the " mule load," as the boys used to call it, which we had to carry. Added to the above were always forty and sometimes sixty rounds of ammunition, never less than three days' rations, often six, a canteen full of water, when we could get it, and many other trinkets, odds and ends, which new soldiers especially would pick up. At a low estimate the total weight of the above would reach forty-five pounds, and on a long march would get to weigh a ton — in the soldier's estimation, at least.

This, then, was the job we had undertaken, at the magnificent price of thirteen dollars a month, with an allowance of forty-five dollars a year for clothing — rations and rebel bullets and shells thrown in. Very few had much respect for the soldier's recompense of reward, though very many had families at home dependent upon them for support ; it was no such motive that led them to take up arms in defense of their country, but a high and noble patriotism, a burning love of country, a hatred for rebellion and treason which transformed so many of our peaceful citizens into stern, heroic warriors.

Among the many base epithets applied to our soldiers there was none which he repelled with such fierce scorn and contempt as that of ''Lincoln's hirelings." On the morning of August 28 we were ordered to get ready to start for Washington. Then all was bustle and excitement. Our tents were taken down, knapsacks packed, and about five o'clock we were loaded into common box-cars, two deep, and started on our journey toward the sunny South. We rode all night, but sleep was out of the question. About daylight we reached Camden Street station on the outskirts of

Baltimore, were formed in line and marched through the same street where the Baltimore mob had fired on the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment a few months before. All was quiet, however, and we soon arrived at the Washington depot, got breakfast, and were soon on our way to the national capital, which we reached about noon.

As we unloaded from the cars the roar of hostile cannon for the first time greeted our ears. It came from the historic battlefield of Bull Run, where for the second time the two opposing armies had met in deadly conflict. Although twenty miles away we could distinctly hear the heavy thunder of the artillery. In Washington all was intense excitement and confusion. Officers and orderlies galloped to and fro, giving and receiving orders. We began to think that Lincoln's story illustrating the great number of general officers in Washington was literally true. He said that a boy threw a club at a dog on Pennsylvania Avenue and hit five brigadier generals.

Before we left Harrisburg a regimental organization had been effected by the union of seven companies from Bradford County, two from Susquehanna, and one from Wayne. This regiment became the One Hundred and Forty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers, numbering nearly one thousand men, rank and file. After a short stay in Washington we started for Arlington Heights. Arriving at Long Bridge, we found an almost endless train of ambulances on their way to the battlefield after the wounded. We were obliged to wait till long after dark for them to pass before we could take up our line of march. We finally got under motion once more, and about ten o'clock reached our destination, utterly exhausted. We threw ourselves upon the ground, too tired to be hungry, and were soon lost in unconscious slumber.

But, alas ! our slumbers were soon broken by the arrival of a messenger with an order from headquarters directing us to proceed without delay to Chain Bridge, about ten miles farther up the Potomac River. It was with great difficulty that the men were aroused and formed in line again. But the order was imperative. The Union army under General Pope had been defeated at Bull Run, and was falling back on Washington, closely pressed b}- the enemy's forces, and the nation's capital was in jeopardy. We hurriedly found our places and started off in the pitchy darkness. Our guide lost his way, and it seemed as if we tramped all over Virginia that night. About daylight we found ourselves at our destination, but now it began to rain as if the fountains of the great deep had been broken up. We had no tents or shelter of any kind except our blankets. Many threw themselves on the ground, and lay and slept while the merciless clouds poured forth their contents upon them.

It was a severe ordeal for fresh troops to undergo, and sufficient to dampen the ardor of the most enthusiastic. To add to our discomfort, our rations had given out and hunger of the most positive form was added to other troubles.

The next day the rain ceased to fall, our tents arrived and were put up, some wagons came up from Washington and brought us some supplies, and we began to feel better.

The Army of the Potomac, lately from the peninsular campaign under McClellan, began to pass by our camp, crossing the Chain Bridge into Maryland, trying to head off the rebel invasion in the North. Returning to camp one day from an excursion out into rebeldom after supplies, I was most agreeably surprised to find an older brother in camp who had been in the service over a year in the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. Of course we both greatly enjoyed the visit, but it was not the last one, for we afterward saw each other frequently. One day a few of our squad went down to Chain Bridge, which was about a half-mile distant from our camp. Our forces had planted batteries on each side of the bridge, had also placed barrels of gunpowder under each end, preparatory to blowing it up if the enemy should attempt to cross. On reaching camp we found the regiment drawn up in line of battle, with loaded muskets, waiting for the appearance of the enemy. I imagine, however, that we would not have been a very dangerous body of warriors, for we had had no time to drill, and many of the boys were totally ignorant of the use of firearms, and in the excitement of battle would have been just as likely to get the ball down first as otherwise. Of course I knew better than that, but nevertheless I have a distinct recollection of having a big time getting that ball out of my gun. No enemy came in sight, and after remaining here a few days we took up our line of march, retraced our steps, and camped opposite Alexandria, where we were assigned to the First Brigade, First Division, Third Corps, which was commanded by General S. P. Heintzleman. The brigade to which we were assigned consisted of the Sixty-third and the One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania and the Twentieth Indiana, which were veteran regiments, while thc'Sixty-eighth and One Hundred and Fourteenth Pennsylvania, both new regiments, were assigned to the brigade at the same time we were. The old Third Corps, which had passed through the whole of the Peninsular campaign, as also through the second battle of Bull Run, where it had lost heavily, was left in the defenses of Washington on the reserve, so tliat we did not participate in the Maryland campaign which culminated in the battle of Antietam.

Chapter II

AFTER a series of marching and countermarching through mud or dust, as the case happened to be, we at length settled down for a season of rest and of drill in a camp which in honor of our division commander was called Whipple. Here we turned in our large A tents, and received what was known in army parlance as shelter tents, but which we soon designated as " dog tents." These consisted of pieces of canvas about two yards square, with a row of buttons and buttonholes on three edges like the side of a double-breasted coat. Two of these were buttoned together, and being stretched over a pole supported by two upright forked sticks constituted the roof, while another piece was buttoned on for a rear gable end, while the front side was generally left open, especially in warm weather, for a doorway, a window, and a ventilator combined.

In these little huts, covering a space of about five by six feet, three men were to eat.

sleep, live, and store all their arms and equipments, rations, etc. Then when orders came to march these tents were taken down and added to the already heavy burden which we had to carry.

The daily routine of army life in camp was about as follows : At 5 o'clock A. M., reveille was sounded, followed by roll call, at which every man on duty must be in line to answer to his name. It was amusing to see how quickly a silent, slumbering camp would be aroused to full life and activity. Often men would be seen rushing out of their tents half dressed, putting on their clothes on the run, anxious to get in line before the band ceased to play ; for the penalty for delinquents was a trip of extra duty. At 7 o'clock the call for breakfast sounded ; at 8 the sick call ; at 9 guard mount; at 10 drill, which lasted till 12; then came dinner. Drill call came again at 2 P. M., and lasted till 4; then came dress parade at 5, supper at 6, tattoo at 9, with roll call and taps at a quarter past 9, w^hen all lights must be put out and everything quiet.

A good deal of interest, to the average soldier, centered in the bill of fare which Uncle

Samuel provided for his boys. This was about as follows: for o*ne day, twelve ounces of pork or bacon, or twenty ounces of fresh beef or twenty-two ounces of salt beef ; eighteen ounces of soft bread or flour, or one pound of hard bread (hard-tack), or twenty ounces of corn meal. To every one hundred rations fifteen pounds of beans or peas, ten pounds of rice or hominy, eight pounds of roasted coffee or two pounds of tea, fifteen pounds of sugar or two gallons of molasses, four quarts of vinegar, twenty-four ounces of candles, four pounds of soap, four pounds of salt, and occasionally dried vegetables of different kinds. This amount of food was sufficient in quantity to satisfy any reasonable appetite, and the quality was generally good ; and yet there were a good many soldiers that had a strange hankering, especially when in an enemy's country, for chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigs, fresh mutton, ham, and other articles of food not prescribed in the army regulations as good for soldiers.

In the creed of the average soldier there

were two parties from which he never esteemed

" it any harm to steal, or, to use his own term,

to " confiscate " or " draw ** from. These were, first, the sutler ; second, the rebel citizen. The first he looked upon as little better than a robber, and the second he knew would use his supplies, if opportunity afforded, to feed the rebel army ; and he considered it a good deal more pleasant to starve his enemy than to shoot him, inasmuch as to do the latter he must himself get within range of the enemy's musket, while the starving process could be done at long range and in perfect security to his own body, and with great satisfaction to his stomach.

One day while sitting in my tent writing a letter one of my messmates came up to the opening, or door, with a whole armful of Bologna sausage, which he threw down on a blanket with the remark, *^ There ! you like Bologna sausage; now pitch in."

*' Where in creation did you get that?" said I.

" I drew it from the sutler," he replied.

It seems that a large crowd of soldiers was gathered in front of the sutler's tent, one end of which was open. A board supported at each end by a barrel formed a sort of counter over which trade was being briskly carried on.

Some inquisitive veteran had shoved the board in at one end and discovered a prize in the shape of a barrel of Bologna sausage. Keeping a close watch on the busv sutler, he thrust one hand into the barrel and pulled out a huge piece of sausage, which he quickly passed around behind him, where it was taken by my chum, who happened to be next to the confiscator. This process was repeated until the receiver got all he could well carry, when he backed out of the crowd and started for camp and another took his place. The look of astonishment and indignation which overspread that sutler's countenance when he discovered his loss can better be imagined than described.

While the Army of the Potomac, under McClellan, was resting on the north side of the Potomac, after the battle of Antietam, the Confederate General Stewart, with eighteen hundred cavalry, started, October lo, on a raid into Pennsylvania and pushed up as far as Chambersburg, twenty miles in the rear of the army, spreading destruction and consternation in his pathway. General Stoneman was ordered to take such portions of the Third Corps as were

28 PERSONAL REMINISCExNCES OF THE WAR.

available and hasten up the river and attempt to head off the dashing trooper before he could recross the Potomac.

On the evening of the loth, after a hard day's drill, we received orders to get ready for marching immediately. We tore down our tents, packed our knapsacks, and awaited orders to start. By and by it commenced raining and kept it up all night, soaking our clothing, arms, and accouterments clear through. The best we could do was to patiently endure it and hope for daylight and better weather. About four o'clock we formed in line, and two brigades of infantry, Robinson's and Ward's, both of which contained a large number of new troops, started on a wild goose chase after the flowpr of the Confederate cavalry. Our generals, it seemed, had not yet learned, what they afterward found out, that infantry had no business trying to compete with cavalry on a long march. We crossed the Potomac at the Georgetown bridge, and leaving Washington to the right passed through Darnestown and reached Rockville about sundown, having marched a distance of twenty-three miles over roads made very slippery by the recent rains, and carrying loads which grew heavier and heavier with every step.

I never had been so tired in my hfe. Every bone, nerve, muscle, and fiber of my body was demoralized, lame, aching, and exhausted. Only a short rest was allowed.

At two o'clock the next morning we were called up, and after a hasty breakfast we resumed our march. After covering about ten miles we received orders from General Stoneman to hurry up, and the last ten miles were made without a halt. The advance reached the Potomac at White's Ford just as the rear of Stewart's force was crossing the river. The enemy had escaped after all our efforts to head him off. Many of our regiment made their last march that day, being completely disabled by their almost superhuman efforts to keep their places in the ranks. Our surgeon reported that there were more than one hundred cases of hernia traceable to that march. Of course many were disabled in other ways.

After resting for a day or two we went on picket along the river, guarding the fords and keeping a sharp lookout for the enemy. But another foe now assailed us. Our supply train had not reached us, and our rations were exhausted. Hunger began to distress us. We waded into the Potomac and fished out softshelled clams or mussels, which we cooked and ate. A corn field was near at hand, and we parched and roasted the hard, glazed ears, and found them much better than nothing. After a few days we were relieved and marched back on the hill and established our camp near the village of Poolesville. Here we remained for some days, which were well improved in drilling and getting ready for an " advance on Richmond," which McClellan again proposed to make.

On the morning of October 2/ we received orders to march. We packed up, and, as usual, the rain began to pour down in torrents and the wind to blow a hurricane. All day the storm continued to rage, and after everybody and everything were completely drenched and chilled the order was countermanded till the next day. At seven o'clock we were in line headed for the river, which we soon found we must cross by fording.

The Potomac here was about a half-mile wide, very rapid, the bottom covered with sharp stones and rocks. It was swollen by recent rains ; the water was icy cold and from two to three feet deep. I never shall forget that experience. I took off my pants, boots, and stockings and waded in. The rocks cut my feet, the water chilled my blood ; a rheumatic pain seized my knee, and it seemed to me I was more than an hour getting across. But my troubles were not yet ended. The opposite bank, clayey and steep, was made slippery by the water dripping from the garments of hundreds of men, and when I attempted to climb it I found it was no easy task. Once, twice, thrice I almost reached the top, when, losing my foothold, I slid back on my hands and feet to the water's edge. But I was not alone in this trouble. In fact, the whole river bank for rods was scored by the marks of fingers and toes made by backsliding warriors. Finally I reached the bank, where I could put on my boots. But such looking feet ! By the aid of a stick I got rid of enough of the sacred soil to get my boots on, and then went on to where the regiment was encamped in a wheat field.