promoted him to sergeant-major of the regiment. While Joe Heenye was
enjoying the comforts and privileges of exemption from drill, from camp
duty and from picket, the other enlisted men were out in the sleet and
the snow and the mud. While Joe slept in a warm bed every night, his
comrades slept out in the dismal picket huts. No fault of Joe's. But
when he was promoted adjutant over the heads of many worthy
lieutenants, Col. Brown added greatly to the offense. Joe was a
gentleman. He was killed at Gettysburg.
Col. Brown from a settled policy, promoted officers and assigned them
to other companies than those in which they had enlisted. Such a scheme
was an exhibition of his arbitrary power and in some instances the
effect was demoralizing. When Lieut. Gates was transferred to Co. K,
the boys of his own company wondered and Co. K were offended. By and
by, Lieut. Pierce was assigned from Co. K to Co. G, and the scale was
righted. And when Bob Grant was made first lieutenant of Co. G, his own
company, Co. I, were inconsolable and the philosophical Co. G, were
correspondingly pleased.
That system of crossing-the-breed was peculiar to Col. Brown. Had the
good people of Madison discovered such propensity in time, undoubtedly
they would have suggested that Prof. Brown seek a colonelcy in some
other county. But the regiment is still on Folly Island.
Such a pity so good a regiment should have seen so much trifling. And
even yet were they to steam up rivers, to march, to camp, to wade
swamps, to fight and hang-on, for many months to come and after it all,
not one enterprise in which they were engaged--barring the siege of
Charleston--in that Department, has been deemed worthy of place in
standard history. The stubs of Gen. Grant's cigars, the white vests of
Gen. Sherman and the peculiar cast of Gen. Butler's eye, all are
immortal. Poor Co. G, you are making history and your valiant deeds
shall be chronicled. And your children may know, that while brave and
true men were required to perform these deeds, even the weakest of men
may record them. Such is fate.
In the latter part of December, Col. Carmichael was ordered North with
a recruiting party; winter had reached South Carolina, and in the
morning thin ice frequently was found upon the surface of bathing tubs.
Not the pleasantest season to journey northward.
As the weather grew colder drinking water was more agreeable. All the
water used on the island was obtained by digging below tide-mark and
curbing with barrels. The finest and best protected well in camp was
made by cutting into a sand dune and making a winding passage to the
water, thus placing the water continually in the shade and protecting
it from dust and dirt blowing around the camp.
The regiment remained on Folly Island until February 7th, 1864, when
orders came to prepare for a march with three days' rations and forty
rounds of ammunition. At dusk they were ferried over to Kiawah Island.
Three brigades and two batteries formed the expedition. They marched up
Kiawah, forded the narrow creek to Seabrook, and then over the bridge
to John's Island, tramping until daybreak, when they found themselves
near the center of the island. A line of skirmishers under Lieut. Gates
was thrown forward to meet the advancing rebels, then a lively exchange
of shots ensued, resulting in the enemy falling back. Next the brigade
was advanced about a mile until they came up with the skirmishers. A
large quantity of arms and accoutrements were found in some buildings
near Edisto River and were destroyed. The rebels were found well posted
behind a hedge. The first brigade fell back again and bivouaced. Next
day the second brigade went to the front and stirred up the rebs a
little. The third day the first brigade (in which was Co. G) again went
to the front and supported a battery. At midnight the pickets were
withdrawn and after setting fire to a mansion the expedition returned
to Folly Island. The demonstration was to draw the enemy from the army
opposing Gen. Seymour, who was then about to fight the disastrous
battle of Olustee, Florida.
In that trip to John's Island one man was killed and one wounded, of
the 157th regiment, both of Co. I.
On the 22nd of February Co. G, under Lieut. Grant, (Capt. McWilliams
had gone north with Col. Carmichael) were ordered to pack up, for Gen.
Seymour had been roughly handled and he wanted Co. G to come down to
Jacksonville with the other boys. Gen. Seymour had exceeded his
instructions. He deserved to have been cashiered, but Grant ordered him
North, gave him another command, and the rebs soon after captured him.
The 157th landed in Jacksonville Feb. 25th, 1864, with two hundred and
eighty-six muskets, or one hundred less than at Gettysburg. They were
commanded by Col. Brown.
The trip down was very unpleasant for the men on the lower deck and a
number of them were seasick. The comments of Nick Snyder and John
Miller can be left to the imagination of readers. For they felt glad
they were fighting for Yankee land, instead of beastly, blasted,
blinkety-blank ships on a r-r-rolling ocean.
Feb. 25th the boys landed at Jacksonville, at the time only a
good-sized village. Gen. Ames led his men to the outskirts. Rumors came
of a threatened attack and preparations were made accordingly. It may
be put down here at once, that no rebel ever attacked Jacksonville
(except by rumor) during Co. G's stay at the place, and if any other of
the companies had been attacked, Co. G would have heard of it,
promptly.
In a day or two the regiment was busy with picks and shovels, throwing
up breast-works and redoubts, nor did the work stop until a line was
built nearly a mile in length. The redoubts were protected with chevre
du frieze and trip-wires were stretched along the front of the works.
The regiment had been eating hard-tack for some time because facilities
for supplying them with fresh loaves were not perfected. Capt. Gates
obtained leave to draw flour from the commissary and arrange a bakery
for his company. He took possession of a bakery in town, detailed men,
with Ike Perry of Co. H at their head, and in a short time Co. K were
eating fresh bread. The plan succeeded so well that the bakery was
called upon to supply the regiment.
The bakery was a saving scheme, for the flour allowed by the
government, was in excess of the amount required for an abundant supply
of bread, and in a few weeks hundreds of dollars commutation for such
excess was allowed the 157th.
At Folly Island Col. Carmichael had organized a brass band and armed
those men with a varied assortment of instruments. The grand revelation
at Jacksonville in the one item of bread, opened a way to purchasing a
set of fine German silver instruments. Strange it was that Capt. Gates
was soon after relieved from the bread management and from that time,
the regimental fund ceased to be a matter of history. The query often
passed around the camp--if two hundred men can save a thousand dollars
in a few weeks by commutation of rations, how much should a regiment or
an army save in one year? and from one item of bread. The good people
at home, also were being bled by army sharks.
This little work is not designed for the purpose of paying-off old
grudges. The above item is history. Col. Brown, let it be known, is
believed to have been innocent of any meanness in providing for his
men. They usually were well supplied with plenty of good food. He
looked after their sanitary welfare, and in proof of this last
assertion can be given the fact that during its entire service, no
severe epidemic raged among the men. Credit is due also to the surgeons
of the regiment, Drs. Hendrick, Crawe and Beebe, who were faithful in
the performance of their duties.
During the battle of Gettysburg Dr. Crawe remained in the town; and
while shells were flying over and bullets pattering against the walls,
faithfully, with other Union surgeons, continued to labor for the
relief of the suffering wounded.
While work was being done on the fortifications regular details were
sent out for picketing. And with all preparations for a reception the
rebels did not come.
Pollard in his "Lost Cause," says, the battle of Olustee "was decisive,
as it resulted in the expulsion of the enemy from Florida, and the
preservation of this state to the Confederacy." Co. G did not agree
with Mr. Pollard of Richmond, any more than they agreed with those Army
of the Potomac critics who so strongly intimate that when Jackson drove
back the 11th Corps at Chancellorsville the Army of the Potomac was
defeated. The 11th Corps never assumed to be the bulwark of that army.
Gen. Seymour was not the forlorn hope of the North. The brigade of Gen.
Ames was soon to hold Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Fernandina. Co. G
was not so easily expelled.
On the 12th of April came the news that the brigade was to be dissolved
and Gen. Ames was ordered north with the 10th Corps. Co G had never
seen that army corps assembled during the six months they had been
attached. While on the John's Island excursion they were in the largest
assemblage of that corps with whom they ever had marched. There "Little
Schimmel" was at their head once more, in charge of the expedition, and
the general had not forgotten them. The boys had learned to like Gen.
Ames, because he was a good officer, if a little rough at times. This
new arrangement made the 144th and the 157th N.Y. regiments virtually
the town guard at Jacksonville. The 17th Conn. was sent to St.
Augustine and the 107th Ohio to Fernandina, while the 75th Ohio was to
be mounted for scouting purposes. To these forces should be added the
artillery and not least, the gunboats in the river.
In the month of March one hundred recruits arrived who had been secured
by the recruiting party under Col. Carmichael; they were soon after
followed by that officer and his attachment. Of those recruits Co. G
received twenty-two, increasing the company to about forty men. With
but few exceptions those new men were excellent material.
To those boys of Lenox it seemed always summer, a country where snow
never fell; yet, they knew spring had come in Florida, when the
magnolias spread their blossoms.
The trying experiences of Jacksonville were at an end. No more digging
by day and by night, no more sleeping in those trenches to be preyed
upon by fleas. The regiment was to be divided.
One hot morning, April 21st, 1864, the boys moved down to the St.
John's river. Companies A, B, C, D, E and F under Col. Brown, embarked
upon one boat for Fernandina, and Co. G, H, I and K under Col.
Carmichael, on another boat, for Picolata twenty-five miles up the
river.
With Col. Brown went the state colors and the band. With the Picolata
detachment was the beautiful flag presented the regiment by the ladies
of Cortland.
When the two boats swung out into the stream the boys cheered, and
moisture gathered in some eyes, for it was the parting of a family.
Then the band struck up a lively tune, and a bend in the river
intervened, drawing the attention of Co. G to the subject of torpedoes.
The gunboats and other boats, most of them, were provided each with a
torpedo-rake at the bows, nevertheless there was great uncertainty in
the air as well as in the dark colored water upon which they were
riding. At the wide water some distance above Jacksonville, lay two
large side-wheel steamers, sunk by torpedoes. On one of these boats a
large number of colored troops perished. The trip was not entirely
comfortable and Co. G was too intently listening, to note many really
novel and entertaining features of this first excursion on the upper
waters. There was danger, as afterwards proved, as a steamer was sunk
near Jacksonville shortly after. So when Picolata was reached the boys
were not sorry to step on dry land.
The 157th boys relieved a detachment of colored troops, pitched their
tents under the trees and softened their beds with gray moss.
Duty at Picolata was picketing. Men were sent up the river to Orange
Mills and to other points. At night a picket boat lay in the river
below the post. Really, the Picolata station was an outpost of St.
Augustine some twelve or fourteen miles distant. It was a crossing
point on the St. John's.
The river is sluggish and water coming from many swamps is not
wholesome. For a few days the men drank river water, then barrels were
filled and brought into camp from springs outside the lines and
drinking from the river was prohibited. Dr. Crawe, to whom the matter
was referred, decided the water of the St. John's was well-fitted for
breeding alligators, but not wholesome as a beverage for men.
As an additional safeguard, a small stockade was erected in the rear of
the camp, armed with two small brass pieces which had been captured at
Pilatka, a few months previous. To man those guns men were detailed
from the post and drilled by an artilleryman.
On the 27th of April, Gen. Birney came up the river with a colored
regiment and two steamers. Companies G, H, and K were ordered to draw
fourteen days' rations and to be supplied with sixty rounds of
cartridges, all of which was promptly done and the colonel and his
three companies embarked on the small steamer, Harriet Weed. Then,
convoyed by the gunboat Ottawa the expedition moved up the river. The
gunboat stopped opposite Pilatka--not an inhabitant was in sight--and
the huge amidships gun bore threatening upon the small city. Leaving
the Ottawa, the other steamers passed up the River to Welaka, where Co.
G was hurried ashore and thrown out as skirmishers, while the other
troops were rapidly landing and getting into line. With a guide, the
157th in the advance, the column proceeded up the river. It was a dark
night, the deep foliage along the roadside added to the gloom.
Soon after dark the boys reached a house. For some reason Col.
Carmichael suspected a rebel was hidden about the premises. A search
was made and he was found hiding under the house. When the man was
brought forth, his family made pitiful appeals, to which the colonel
kindly replied, assuring them the union troops would take good care of
Mr. Shook, who was blacksmith for the troop called Steven's cavalry.
And so the unfortunate man was marched away from his weeping family, a
prisoner of war.
Gen. Birney halted the column near old Fort Gates (a relic of the
Seminole war) and the boys laid down behind their stacked arms. They
had been asleep but a little while when a gun was fired, then another,
and more.
Col. Carmichael called his men to "attention" and they stood at their
guns, until it was learned that the colored pickets had mistaken
shadows for men moving about. Co. G were again nicely dreaming the
hours away, when bang! bang! went the guns.
"Lie still, boys," said the colonel, "there is nothing out there but
stumps and bushes."
And the tired men snuggled down under their blankets, not very well
pleased with the picket-line.
Next day, the 28th, the column left the river and marched out into the
country, halting at a place called Granville Priests, a small and
varied assortment of poor houses and negro cabins. At that place the
157th parted from Gen. Birney and the colored regiment.
At Priests a fine lot of sweet potatoes were found. The cooks arranged
their kettles and the boys held a feast.
Col. Carmichael and his men were ordered to return to Picolata driving
as many cattle as could be secured. Native herdsmen were employed and
the colonel, with no escort, started with them, all mounted, in advance
of his men, promising to await them at Middle Haw Creek.
Capt. McWilliams was then ranking officer. He led his men to Middle Haw
and camped. The colonel was not there and every one worried, for they
knew he was among natives.
Next day, April 30th, they were marched fourteen miles through the pine
woods and saw no house until reaching Sander's corral. There they found
a sort of cabin built of poles, raised two feet above the ground.
There, also, they found Col. Carmichael, safe and sound, with several
herdsmen and a large drove of cattle, and when night dropped over the
scene the epicures of the detachment gathered a few of the Sanders
chickens.
The door of the cabin suddenly opened and a tall woman appeared,
holding high a lighted candle.
"Colonel," she screamed, "your men are taking my chickens. I heard them
squawking."
"Oh, no, madam, I guess they will not hurt your chickens?" was the
reply.
It was fine to have the colonel a little hard of hearing, sometimes.
Very well he knew his boys had no hold on any chicken that "squawked."
Some chicken roosts were too near the house, anyway.
May 1st was Sunday. The route led over the usual flat country, through
stretches of pine, across savannas, and occasionally here and there a
basin-shaped pond or sink-hole. The column passed around the head of
Dunn's Lake, the boys supplying themselves with sour oranges from trees
near the landing. At night they bivouaced near a corral. They had made
eighteen miles.
The boys of Co. G long remembered the camp of that night near Dunn's
Lake. It was decided that one of the herd should be butchered. John
Wise of Co. G was the butcher of the detachment, but the night in
question he politely waived his privilege and an officer was allowed to
do the shooting. The result was amazing. The poor creature had been
driven all day and yet was strong enough, when dressed, to have pulled
a cart. He was a patriarch of the herd. And the boys cut him into small
bits and toasted him on sharpened sticks; they threw the meat on the
coals to see it curl up like bark; they nibbled at it, they tried to
chew it, but the patriarch was to be eaten only in lumps. Many
compliments were launched at John Wise, who came forward, explained and
was excused. For John was a good fellow.
May 2d was the anniversary of the Chancellorsville fight. After an easy
march camp was reached about 5 p.m., at Middleton's farm. As evening
came on the cows were driven into a yard and milked by women. No
milking stools were necessary, as the native cow of Florida is built on
the elevated plan. Milkers placed their heads in front of the cow's hip
and slightly bending, drew the milk into the gourd. Each cow yielded
nearly one quart of milk, or as one woman said, the forty cows gave, "I
reckon, about a bushel." Co. G gathered around the corrall and when
milking was over they held out their canteens and had them filled,
paying for the milk in cash. When Colonel Carmichael said, "no
foraging," he was obeyed.
May 3d the boys marched to Moccasin Branch, an easy tramp of eight
miles. There they found the most primitive methods of farm life in the
wilderness, still in operation. The old man had his tan vat behind the
house. A stump was scooped out to serve as a mortar for making samp or
hominy. His apparatus for sugar-making--the rollers for crushing cane
and the sugar out-fit generally, all were of the simplest design. But
the sour oranges there were fully up-to-date in their intensity.
May 4th, after an absence of one week, Co. G found themselves again in
camp at Picolata. The detachment had marched one hundred miles and
brought in fifteen hundred cattle of all sizes and ages. Co. G were
becoming accustomed to good old Florida beef. The cattle were taken to
Jacksonville for army and navy consumption.
The jaunt was rather enjoyed by the old trampers. On the recruits,
however, it bore heavily, that being their first march in harness; but
they did remarkably well.
The routine of camp life was again established, and quite easy it was.
The heat of a far southern sun was becoming stronger and the boys felt
languid. Moored along the river banks were dozens of dug-outs of every
pattern, prizes taken along the shores; and these little boats afforded
a diversion for any who could handle them. Some of the boys set
night-lines and caught cat-fish. Others fished at night with torch and
spear for the gar fish. Alligators were often seen floating with the
current, or at night they were heard among the rushes bellowing like
young bulls. Occasionally an alligator was shot.
The greatest pests Co. G found in Florida were mosquitoes and gnats.
Many a blacksnake was seen with an occasional venomous snake, and water
snakes, but no member of the regiment was bitten although they spread
their blankets for the night, on the ground, without thought or
precaution. Often small scorpions were found in the tents and rarely a
centipede. But fleas were sometimes secreted in the hanging moss.
East Florida in those days, was mostly wilderness. Deer and other game
abounded. Outside the picket line, for some time, the men on post were
frequently annoyed by prowling wildcats, whose running about and
snarling, broke the monotony of dark nights.
The view about Picolata was very pleasant when the plains were bright
with flowers, when the land appeared worthy of its fair name. Florida
is much improved in population and thrift in these later days and may
be enjoyable. But for all their sunshine and flowers, their oranges and
"'arly sarce," Co. G would not, in 1864, have parted with a single
square acre out of old Lenox,--not for all East Florida.
Sunday, May 22nd, while the Picolata force were drawn up for inspection,
two steamers arrived, together with the gunboat Ottawa.
Before this time, Col. Brown had been ordered to Hilton Head as Provost
Marshall of the Department of the South. That change made Col. Carmichael
ranking officer and he accordingly made requisition for companies A and
F and also for the band, all of whom were at Fernandina.
Maj. Place had returned from imprisonment, and came up to Picolata in
charge of the two companies. When the boys marched aboard the gunboat
Ottawa the major was left in charge of the camp.
This time a landing was made opposite Pilatka, the men halting for the
night seven miles further up the river.
May 23d the column marched to Middle Haw Creek, nearly twenty miles,
reaching camp at 9 p.m. A junction was made there with troops from St.
Augustine.
May 24th was hot and sultry. One day's rations were issued and the boys
took the back-track for Picolata.
Near noon a halt was made near a large water hole and the men were told
to fill their canteens, as no more water would be found until night. In
the afternoon as they moved along the narrow trail they grew very
thirsty, so that long before night many of the canteens were empty. As
the night came on and no water was found, Col. Carmichael suspected
some trickery from the guide, and he detailed two men with loaded
pieces to escort the man and to shoot upon the first indication of
treachery. And so they moved along, the poor guide insisting that he
was right, only he had miscalculated distance. The boys of the 144th N.
Y., were suffering from thirst and their colonel ordered his pioneers
to dig for water. The guide called out,
"You'll not get water there."
"Where will we find it?" growled back a chorus of voices.
"Jist about two mile from yere."
"Are you sure?" asked Col. Carmichael.
"Yes, cunnel, I'm dead sure."
The colonel called to several mounted officers, and away they all went
out into the darkness. Co. G sank upon the ground and waited patiently.
After a time the colonel returned and reported water a short distance
ahead and marching about a mile they reached Middleton's and were again
on familiar ground. It was midnight before the boys had drank their
coffee and were under the blankets. They were very tired, having
marched thirty miles.
March 25, an easy march was promised the men and they made eight miles
to Moccasin Branch, where they halted for dinner. Again taking the road
the march was increased to thirteen miles, part of the way through a
brisk summer shower.
The boys were halted that night in a lane not far from the shack where
the colonel was quartered. Air to breathe seemed scarce and fleas
appeared to be unusually active. At the miserable house the officers,
lying on the floor, were much annoyed by the persistent occupation of
hogs underneath them. Fleas gnawed the officers and they scratched and
scolded. Fleas tortured the saw-backs and they humped themselves and
rubbed against the floor-joists, and as they toiled they grunted. Out
in the lane the men of Co. G were too busy to sleep. That little farm
in the wilderness might have been the main supply station for all East
Florida fleadom.
It was an easy march May 26th of only nine miles to Picolata. When the
boys approached the camp Maj. Place came out to meet them with the
band. Then Co. G braced up in style and stepped off to the good old
tune of "The Girls We Left Behind Us." Co. G remembered the girls.