What a boy saw in the Army

Prefatory Note

STRIPLING, in the stormy days of '6i, heard the blast of a bugle and the beat of a drum — signals that the great war had opened. The sounds made his blood tingle and stirred his soul as they lured him to the front. He was then in the plastic period of boyhood, and the things which he saw and heard and felt took hold of him, biting into the quick — like the acid used in etching — and impressing upon his memory indelible pictures, in which terror and fun, privation and frolic, sorrow and joy, heroism and pathos, vie with each other for mastery. These pictures have haunted him for years, until at last he has transferred them to paper, in so far as he has been able, in the effort to portray some of the scenes, experiences,. and surroundings amid which the boys who wore the blue and followed the starry flag lived, moved, and had their being, " for three years, or during the war." The lad was barely out of his teens when the struggle ended, in 1865, but his experience in camp, on the march, and in battle, is ineffaceably stamped into his life and character. He was trained in war times to love the Union and the flag ; to appreciate the meaning of the word " freedom ;" to revere the principles which, after a life-and-death struggle, became triumphant ; to glorify the heroic spirits who were then in the forefront of the battle — in the cabinet, in Congress, in the field, and in the White House; and to admire and emulate the martial virtues of obedience,

4 PREFATORY NOTE.

couraq;e, patience, alertness, and clashing enterprise. He has many blessings to be grateful for, but chief among them he reckons the privilege of having been a soldier boy in the armies of the Union.

Frank Beard, the artist whose remarkable pictures so aptly illustrate the story, was himself also a soldier in those days. He has said, in regard to the drawings, that " he just reached back into the knapsack which he used to carry and brought out of it these sketches of men and things as he saw them then ! " In the work of explicating and illuminating the graphic phases of this story Mr. Beard has been a most sympathetic and discerning artist. Jesse Bow^man Young.

Office of the Central Christian Advocate, St. Louis, Mo., February i, 1894.

Chapter I. Page

CHAPTER n.

Glittering Tinsel 28

CHAPTER HI.

A Brief Campaign Takes Some of the Shine Off « 44

CHAPTER IV.

Sight-seeing at Fort Donelson on Private Account. ....... 66

CHAPTER V.

Up the Tennessee River 84

CHAPTER VI.

The Boy Learns at Shiloh What His Legs were Made For 97

CHAPTER VII.

A Change of Front 121

CHAPTER VIII.

The Heights of Fredericksburg 133

CHAPTER IX.

The Army of the Potomac in Winter Quarters 158

CHAPTER X.

Out on the Picket Line 174

CHAPTER XI.

A Contraband's Wonderful Dream 185

6 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XII. PAGE Once More on the Eve of Battle 203

CHAPTER XIII.

Tfte Thickets of Chancellorsville , , ... 218

CHAPTER XIV.

A Battle Sunday in the Wilderness 233

CHAPTER XV.

"About, Face! Northward, March!" 252

CHAPTER XVI.

" Maryland, My Maryland ! " 267

CHAPTER XVII.

Smelling the Battle Afar Off 282

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Struggle for Round Top 300

CHAPTER XIX.

Gettysburg — The Charge on Cemetery Hili 316

CHAPTER XX.

Gettysburg^The Great Victory 331

CHAPTER XXI.

After the Battle 348

CHAPTER XXII.

Back to Old Virginia 362

CHAPTER XXIII.

Staff Duty in Washington 380

chapti:r XX IV.

TnK Pageant Fades 389

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

An Old-fashioned Training Day ii

The Trains that Ran Southward were All Laden with Soldiers. . i8

"How Would You Like to Go Along with Me?" 22

The Boy has His Picture Taken 29

Ned, the Cook c . 37

Saber-Practice by the Raw Recruit 39

"Halt! Who Goes There?" 45

"Here, Old Fellow, is Your Revolver!" 60

Gunboat Assault on Fort Donelson 75

A Pen and Ink Recollection of General Grant as He Appeared on

THE Field 79

"OLE Aunt Betty." 87

Bringing the Mail 92

He had Known for Some Years that He Had Legs. loi

Pen and Ink Sketch of General Sherman, 1864 103

The Boy Recognized General Grant no

"O, Where's Reuben?" . 127

"You are Absent from Your Regiment Without Leave." . . . . .129

Fredericksburg Lay at Their Feet. . 138

Bullets Whistled and Hissed and Rattled All About Them. . . . 142 As He Spoke He Doubled Himself up Convulsively and Groaned with

Agony 149

"Thank God, the Christian Commission has Come." 152

He Lay on the Earth Hugging the Ground 154

"Wake Up! We are Going to Retreat!" 155

8 ILLUSTRATIONS.

PACK

An Undercurrent of Comment and Criticism 160

"Rock of Ages." 167

A Picket from Each Side Met in Midstream 179

A Figure Stealthily Creeping Along ihrough the Garden 183

The Center of an Interested Group 186

"DAT WAS de Day Trubble Come to Our Cabin." 190

Pen and Ink Sketch of President Lincoln 197

"Father Abe." 201

They Tossed Him in a Blanket 208

They Set Out to Make Calls of Ceremony on Their Generals . . .214

"Halloo, Major, Have You Not Lost Your Alignment?" 225

"Forward, Charge!" 229

"Do Not Skulk Here." 237

"How Can We Get Back to the Boys.'" 243

They Proceeded to Prepare a Meager Meal 246

The Roads were Dusty, and the Day was Hot 257

Sergeant McBride 265

A Newsboy Came Galloping by Laden with the Dailies 272

"Colonel, Don't You Know You're Inside the Rebel Lines .'" .... 289 She Asked for One of the Pennsylvania Reserve Regiments. . . .295

Hancock the Magnificent 311

" I Picked Up a Stone and Knocked Him to the Earth." 325

"Boys, Never Give Up Your Battery!" 337

"I'm, Give Them One More Shot." 343

The Glorious Flag 353

Jack Took a Good Look at the Prisoner 375

"Richmond has Surrendered!" 39-

Pen and Ink Sketch of General Phil. Sheridan, 1863 395

Peace and Liberty Born From the Mouth ok the Cannon 399

WHAT A BOY SAW IN THE ARMY.

CHAPTER I.

SOME SKIRMISHING, TO BEGIN WITH.

N the closing month of 1861 — that far-away time of tumult and danger which has already receded into myths and shadows — a certain boy, still in his teens, responded to the invitations of the drumbeat and the bugle note which then were inviting volunteers to the front. His name, for the purposes of this record, shall be Jack Sanderson; but it must be understood that he was a real boy, and not merely a character in a story manufactured out of somebody's head and made up for the occasion. This boy was actually a live boy in the days of '61 and the aftertime ; he went into the Union army and saw what was to be seen there ; he took part in some of its campaigns, and shared in the dangers and excitements and terrors of some important battles, and came through it all without serious harm, and is now a man with children of his own, who love to hear stories about the war, and often beg him to tell them of life in the army. For their sake, and also to give pleasure to a host of young people who are interested in accounts of hardship, exposure, and romantic adventure, such as the volunteers realized in the late struggle, this boy has permitted me to write down some of the experiences through which he passed while he was a soldier for the Union.

In i860, and the first half of 1861, when the storm of war was brewing, Jack was away from home at a boarding school. He had some notion of going to college after he had finished the preparatory course of study at the academy, for he was fonder of books and school than of anything else. He was a thin, pale, delicate-looking fellow, who liked to read an interesting tale better than play townball ; who always felt afraid of getting hit when he helped to storm a snow fort, and who did not care for violent romps, outdoor sports, and active games. Indeed, he was so disposed to mope over his book and become absorbed in a story that very often he had to be chased from the house into the fresh air before he could be forced to take any outdoor exercise. Of course nobody supposed that such a boy ever would make a soldier.

There were but few martial influences or heroic surroundings, indeed, in this lad's neighborhood to develop soldierly inclinations. Once in a long while the people came from the back townships to the place where the militia, with their plumes and old-fashioned accouterments, went through the movements of training day — a great occasion in the young lad's life. His earliest impressions of "a trainer" left stamped iij)on liis childish vision a vivid picture of a prancing steed and a dashing, be-feathered, full-armed creature, of an order higher than the human race, in some strange way permanently united to the animal which he proudly bestrode, the horse and rider making but one magnificent being, which appeared on earth once in a groat wliilt! to delight the assembled people ! The sham battles of that time were frightful to the little lad, and it is within his distinct recollection that on the first occasion when he heard the cannon fired off on the Fourth of July he ran home as fast as his shivering legs would carry him and hid under a bed, ashamed to let anybody know how terrified he was, stifling his sobs as best he could, and striving to stop his ears at the same time and shut out the horrible sound of the big black gun. A standing memorial of one of these national salutes was known through the country in the shape of a ghastly articfiial arm, ending in a steel hook, worn by a poor fellow who had been maimed by a premature discharge of the cannon. Once, it is true, the boy saw some real soldiers, a forlorn, sunburnt, weather-beaten body of volunteers, returning from the war in Mexico. The sight of these brave men, who had actually been in battle, some of them wounded and a few of them very ill, crowded upon a canal boat and greeted with cheers and enthusiasm and tears by the people on the banks, a touorh little drummer wakinof the echoes with his drum, and a torn flag waving proudly overhead — this is one of the boy's very earliest memories of childhood. There was not much in these things, it is clear, to prompt him ever to become a soldier. But there dawned an hour when the boy became a man, when, althouofh still in his teens, frasfile and unmuscular, there was roused within him a love for his country, a spirit of devotion to the Stars and Stripes, an appreciation of the meaning of the words liberty and union, such as belong to full-fledged manhood. How all this came about we shall see in due course of this story.

One day at the school there was a serious commotion. Among the students were some boys and young men from Maryland and Virginia. Carter Burton, the recognized leader of these Southern students, was a handsome, graceful, hot-headed youth, who had been brought up on a plantation, with slaves to wait on him and plenty of money at command. He used to sneer at the " Abolitionists" and berate the Northern people because some of them opposed slavery.

On the day in question news had come that Fort Sumter was in danger ; the very air resounded with the threats which had been made by South Carolina troops that they would destroy and take the fortress. The school was in a buzz of confusion all day long ; the teachers themselves could hardly give attention to their tasks, much less keep the boys at their studies, and everybody seemed to be impressed that something dreadful was going to happen. It appeared as though a volcano was on the eve of an eruption or as if a mine was just ready to blow up.

In the late afternoon, as the boys were coming in to chapel exercises. Burton was noticed in the center of an excited and noisy group ofstudents who were arguing, threatening, quarreling, almost fighting. Just as they reached the chapel door some one called out,

" Burton, what is that rosette which you have pinned on your coat ? "

The speaker was a tall, ungainly youth from the mountain region of Pennsylvania, to whom the nickname of Lanky Jones had been given by his fellows in the school — a sturdy, quiet, hard-working lad, who was earning his way through the academy by ringing the bell and sweeping the halls of the institution.

" None of your business. Lanky," was the sharp retort. " If you mind your bell rope you will have enough to do without meddling with my affairs."

" Carter, that's a secession badge, isn't it } " persisted Lanky, approaching the Southerner, who, eyeing the questioner coolly, replied,

"Why do you ask me? You seem to know all about it bf'forchand."

Lanky came up gradually through the crowd nearer to Burton, his face pale and his voice trembling with excitement. He took a closer look and saw that the Southern colors were woven together in a knot of red and white ribbon on which was mounted a Confederate seal of some kind. As soon as he made the discovery he put forth a sudden and impulsive plunge with his hand, and, snatching the offensive badge from its place on the coat, he threw it to the floor and angrily stamped upon it. Instantly Burton dealt him a heavy blow, which was partly parried, and amid increased excitement and rage the two antagonists clinched and attempted to settle their dispute with the fist. The confusion brought one of the teachers out of the chapel, and before either of the young combatants had received any very serious hurt they were separated, and the boys were directed to come into the service that was just commencing.

This incident is a sample of scenes that were constantly taking place in various sections of the land. Many of the boys and girls of that time were just as patriotic as the grown-up people. They did not know much about the causes that led to the war ; they could not see all the dangers that threatened the nation- — ■ they were but boys and girls — but they loved their flag, and they adored the Union, and they trusted Mr. Lincoln, and they were ready to do their share toward saving the government from destruction.

Since the people everywhere were agitated over the situation of things in the South, it is no wonder that there was during that winter of '60 and '61 a state of continual disturbance among the boys on account of politics. In the literary societies week after week they had very exciting debates over the two questions of slavery and secession, which were then alarming and troubling the whole country. Once or twice, when the character of John Brown, who had just been executed for treason, was under dis-

10 WHAT A MOV SAW IN THE ARMY.

cussion, and, after that, when the labors and principles of Abraham Lincoln were debated, the youths proceeded from bitter and hasty words to sturdy blows, and sometimes the meetings broke uj) in a rt)w.

Those wIk) are old enough to remember those months of uncertainty and tumult, of wrath and alarm, will ever pray that the country may be kept in all the future from such disturbances. Nobody knew what was before the nation. The very air was full of strife and hate and signs of danger. The wisest and the soberest men trembled for the safety of the government. Society was like the troubled sea, tossing and heaving in a terrible tempest. The angr\' and threatening proceedings of Congress that winter were repeated in the same spirit of violence in the homes and schools and business places of the people in all parts of the country.

One day the whole communit)- was moved by the discovery that a Confederate Hag was ll\ing over the academy. Of course the offensive banner was removed and torn to pieces in a fervor of loyalty as soon as it was discovered, but the incident made a deep impression on the students, who gathered in noisy and contentious knots about the grounds in the intervals between recitations and discussed the situation. No one could be found to defend the act, as most of the b<)\s were from loyal Pennsylvania, an<l in the prt-scnt Ic-mpcr of the town and of tlie school secession sentiments were not popular.

" I believe it was Burton," said Lanky Jones. " He has the daring and audacity for just such a trick. You know what he wore yesterday, lie believes the South is going to establish a great empire, and that all the North must succumb to it. I've heard him say he did not want to livt- under the Stars and Stripes."

"There he comes now, Lanky. Stick it at him. Say like a man before his face what you've just said behind liis back."

"Certainly I will," said Lanky; and as the young Southerner came up he accosted him : " Burton, I remarked something about you just n,ow that the boys want you to hear. I said that I believed it was you who put that flag on the belfry."

Burton stopped, and his cheeks glowed like fire. " Well," said he, after a short pause, " what if I did .'' What have you to say or do about it } "

" I have just this to say, Carter Burton. You'd better go and live under that thing you call the Stars and Bars. You're nothing but a rebel at heart, and you come North to flaunt your secession doctrines in our faces. If you do not clear out it will not be well for you. I give you fair warning."

" Curses on you and your flag! " said the hasty and imperious Burton. " It was I who unfurled that Confederate flag up yonder. It is the banner of my people and the sign of the rights and doctrines I believe in. I am ready to back up my opinions with my life, too. I'm sick of the whole Yankee tribe. I wish the Mayflozuer had sunk with her entire cargo before — "

A savage shout of indignation came from the crowd. They had heard enough to madden them. Half a dozen Southerners with like sentiments and sympathies ranged themselves about Burton, who was reckless and angry enough to defy the whole throne alone. In the midst of the brawl and before violence could strike a blow the principal appeared. He had overheard the conversation, and his presence quelled the turmoil for the time.

He simply said, " Mr. Burton, walk up to my room." The young man obeyed, and the two were closeted together for more than an hour. What passed between them no one ever found out. At the end of the interview Burton came out, went to his apartment, packed his trunk, and took the first train for his Southern home.

WHA r A BOV SAW IN THE ARMY.

Soon after this event a dispatch was received that the Confederates had fired on Fort Sumter. The news set the boys clean crazy with patriotic excitement. A military company was organized, called " The Seminary Cadets," and drilling began. Jack Sanderson enrolled himself as a member of it, and wrote home to his mother for permission to go right into active service. He wanted to abandon school and enlist im-

THF. TRAINS THAT RAN SOUTHWAkH WERE AI.I. LADEN WITH SOLDIERS.

mediately, in a fever of loyalty. The thought that the flag had been insulted and one of the national forts bombarded stirred his deepest soul. He could not study ; he was not able to think about anything else than the troubles that had overwhelmed the country ; for a while, indeed — but this was not a long while — he even lost his appetite ! When that event overtakes a boy it is a sure sign that something has occurred which really and deeply moves him !

Meanwhile the town was in commotion. The President had called for seventy-five thousand volunteers, and enlistment was going on everywhere. The sound of the merry fife and the rattling drum was heard by night and day. The trains that ran southward, passing the academy, were all laden with soldiers. Bluecoats appeared by hundreds on the streets. The glitter of bayonets and the flash of brass buttons shone out at every turn. Mass meetings were held, and impassioned speeches were made to great audiences of people, who were profoundly agitated at the incidents that were daily occurring at Washington and farther south. Thousands, amid tearful partings and patriotic admonitions, and, alas! sometimes dismal forebodings, hurried off to the front.

In a few days Jack had a letter from his mother. It ran thus :

"My Dear Boy: I am not surprised at your request. I have been looking for it duringr these troubled weeks. The war which some wise men have been for a long time foretelling is upon us. I am glad that my son has his heart full of love for his country. I am proud of his patriotism. But, my dear Jack, you are too young to think of enlisting. You would only risk, and maybe lose, your life without doing any service worth while.

" And have you forgotten that you are my only boy, and that I am left in widowhood to make my own way in the world, and that you will have to help care for and support your little sisters ? If you should go off to the war and be wounded or killed, O, what would we all do } I dare not think of it. It almost breaks my heart, the very thought of such a fate for my son. .

" There are plenty of men for the service. Let them do the fighting. The boys are not called to go.

" No, Jack, I cannot, my dear boy — I cannot let you go. " In much love, Your Mother."

Jack read the letter hurriedly. He knit his brows and wiped his eyes and read it ac^ain. Then he folded it up and began to pace the room, compressing his lips and twitching his face and makin*'- random irestures with his hands and arms. Then he sat down and went over the epistle once more. At last he said :

"Well, I suppose I'll have to give up going with the boys just now. I can't get over this letter. She has been too good a mother for me to flatly disobey her — that is, just at this time! Hui there's no use trying to keep me out of the army. I musl go. I feel it in my bones. I cannot stand it to have this thing continue — the country in danger, men needed, our glorious flag fired on, the capital threatened, and everything going to sticks — while I,stay at home and do nothing to help save the land from ruin. I can't do it! One of these days I mus^ go into service ! "

And thus the question was settled for the time being, and thus the reason appears why Jack did not start out with those who went in the spring of '6i into the army.

Hut, nevertheless, he kept thinking over the question, and wondering how the way would be opened for him to enlist without wounding and squarely disobeying his mother. Sometimes he was about ready to go against her will, and then he would halt, and reconsider his plans. So matters continued for several montlis.

When th<.' disaster at Inill Run occurred he was on the point of rushingoff at once, but the recruiting officer would not accept him on account of his youth. What the outcome might be was a i)roblem which gave him constant perplexity. At last an event occurred which changed the situation and secured for him a provisional consent from his mother.

The incident itself was in brief and abruptly announced to Jack one day early in December. iSGi.by one of the boys of the town in which they both lived, as they met on the street, in these words: " Halloo, Jack, your Uncle Sam has arrived in a new uniform, and he looks like a general." Jack, as he hurried home, found that the whole community — an interior town in Pennsylvania — had within an hour been thrown into a tremulous condition of excitement and pleasure by the arrival of a tall and distinguished-looking gentleman in uniform. The whole family to which Jack belonged was thereby put in commotion, and throughout a wide circle of relatives the news was quickly carried that " Uncle Samuel " had come home to say good-bye before finally joining his regiment in the Western army. The person thus familiarly addressed and alluded to by his nephews and nieces on the Susquehanna was known now as Major Bowman. In the early settlement of California he had gone to that State, practicing his profession as a lawyer with high success in the city of San Francisco for ten or twelve years. He had come East the year before the war broke out to tone up his overtaxed brain and broken-down nerves ; and for twelve months or so he had been huntine and fishingf and runninor about over the moun-

<r> o o

tains of the Alleghenies regaining his lost health. He had been for some time assisting to recruit an Illinois regiment of cavalry, and was now on his way to rejoin it at Cairo in that State.

This incident stirred up Jack's war spirit afresh. The autumn had gone by without seeing him enlist ; but now that this military relative had arrived the whole question came up for reconsideration. The boy's mind was in a whirl of hope and wonder and perplexity. He had an idea that in some way the road would be opened now for the fulfillment of his cherished wishes.

Major Bowman had but a few hours to tarry, and these were busily occupied. Soon after he arrived he met Jack and said to

WHAT A I'.OV SAW IX THE ARMY.

liiin in a casual way. " How would you like to go along with me out into the Western arnn- ? "

The boys eyes Hashed with eagerness and his lips trembled with feeling as he replied :

" O, uncle, you do not mean that you have any thought of taking me with you, do you ? I have been dreaming and hoping and longing to

00 into service ever since last spring,but mother is not willing for me to enlist.

1 cannot stand it to stay at home while all the rest of the fellows go to the front.

Besides, I should not like to think, after the war is over, that I did not help to save the Union."

Major Bowman smiled at the boy's impulsiveness, and said : *' I have been thinking over the matter very seriously. I need some one to go with me for the present, at least, to act as my secretary. In the organization of the regiment there is a good deal of writing to do. and I will have to get some one to do it. I think you are entirely too young to enlist as a soldier now. You arc not rugged, and the exposures and hardships of a single campaign would soon kill you, I fear, even if you should escape the bullets of the enemy. What I have to suggest is this: I will take

"HOW WOl'I.n YOII I.IKF. TO GO ALONG WITH MK?"

you along as an experiment, and maybe some position may open up that will be just the thing for you. For example, you might make a good quartermaster's clerk — "

" Quartermaster ? who is he ? What does he do in the army ?" said Jack, in his ignorance.

" The quartermaster," said the major, " is the officer whose duty it is to procure and issue supplies of various sorts to the troops, such as clothing, tents, forage for the horses, and matters of that kind. He supplies wagons for transporting baggage, and has a certain number of sergeants and clerks to aid him."

" Does he go out and do any fighting } " said the ambitious youth.

" No, quartermasters usually have no actual fighting to do ; but they often pass through all the danger and excitement they care about in an active campaign. Or you might get a place with the sutler of the regiment. He needs several assistants, and I do not know but that you — "

"You will have to explain your words again. I do not know what a sutler is. What are his duties in service ? " was the further inquiry of the unsophisticated boy.

" The sutler is a man authorized by the government to sell certain kinds of goods to the soldiers. He keeps the camp store and makes money by the sale of various articles that are wanted by the men,"

" Does the sutler ever sfo into a battle ? "