Our Daily Duties.
In Camp.
Among the Last Rencounters.
Lieutenant Gibson, Corporal Stone and Others Hold a Council of War and
Determine to Advance and Drive McClellan from Arlington Heights.
March to the Outposts.
Graybacks.
Religious Exercises.
Incidents of Camp.
Depletion of the Army.
Re-enlistments and Furloughs.
Retreat from Manassas Behind the Rappahannock.
Albert and Snidow.
Gordonsville.
Our duties in camp during the Winter were not onerous, save quarter
guard in inclement weather, especially rain and extreme cold, for it
will be remembered that we had no shelter on quarter guard post--that
is, none while on post and on the beat, as a guard must always be in
the open, both as to weather and to the foe. The guards were divided
into three reliefs: the first went on at 9 o'clock A.M., the second at
11, the third at 1. This order was observed during the twenty-four
hours. When off post we were required to remain at the guard house,
unless by special permission of the officer of the guard. The quarter
guard were supposed to be the special custodians of the quiet and
safety of the camp. The mode of placing guard on post was as follows: A
sergeant or corporal commenced at the top of the roll, the number of
men being equal to the number of posts. Beginning with post number one,
we marched around the entire camp, relieving each sentinel with a new
man. When this was to be performed at night, the countersign (a pass
word adopted at army headquarters and transmitted to the various
subordinates) was delivered in a whisper to the guards by the officers
thereof, so that as the sergeant with the relief guard approached the
sentry, he was required to halt and give the countersign.
Colonel Kemper, still a member of the General Assembly of Virginia, was
absent for the greater part of the Winter. Lieutenant-Colonel L. B.
Williams, a rigid disciplinarian, who was left in command, endeavored
by watchfulness, to have everything done in strict military style;
frequently visiting the guard house, having the officer turn out the
guard, call the roll, and woe to the man absent or out of line when his
name was called. Punishment was sure to follow in the way of double
duty or otherwise. On one occasion Lieutenant Anderson and W. H.
Layton, having both imbibed too freely, took a jaunt to the guard
house, where they had no business, and here Colonel Williams, on one of
his visits, found them. Layton was placed in the guard house and the
lieutenant in arrest.
During this stay in Winter quarters, Privates Mays, Farley, Thompson
and John W. East had an altercation, the last (save two) which occurred
in the company. It was not an uncommon thing for the soldiers to
discuss the conduct of the war, the remissness and failure of
commanders, the probabilities and improbabilities of success, peace,
the plan of battles, and the war policy, offensive and defensive. A
discussion of this kind is well remembered as having occurred between
Lieutenant Gibson, then officer of the day; Corporal Stone, Sergeant
Peters, Sarver, Hare and others, in the quarters of my mess, while
at Centerville. It was at night; the boys had gotten in a little
stimulant. Lieutenant Gibson dropped in, and with the others, imbibing
freely, began in a very serious way the discussion of the surest and
quickest way or mode of ending the war, and restoring peace to our
distracted country. After much discussion pro and con, which lasted
practically throughout the night, Corporal Stone submitted a plan to
which all readily assented, and which was as follows: To "attack
immediately General McClellan's army, drive it from Arlington Heights,
capture the Federal capital, then propose an armistice and congress
of the states." Stone was for starting that night, for prompt and
aggressive action, but Peters favored postponement until morning, which
was by this time at hand. Just then the long roll sounded to arms, and
a march toward Washington, sure enough, began, but with only our
regiment. And, oh! such headaches as Stone, Peters, Gibson and the
others in the war council had, and how formidable and impregnable now
appeared Arlington, which a few hours before was to them but a mole
hill. Our mission was to relieve a Louisiana regiment then on picket
near Fairfax, where we remained for a week, occupying the quarters just
vacated by the Louisianians. Here it was that we formed our first
acquaintance with the "graybacks," which filled our clothing and
blankets, much to our discomfort. Oh! the digging under the shirt
collar, under the arm pits, and every point where the cruel pest found
the flesh of the poor soldier. It was a difficult matter to rid
ourselves of them--they seemed over anxious to remain with us. Nothing
short of boiling them hard in water got rid of them. The next Summer on
the peninsula, in the swamps of the Chickahominy, and around Richmond,
we had them in abundance, the boys often saying that they had stamped
upon their backs the letters, "I.F.W.," which, interpreted, meant "In
for the war."
During our stay in Winter quarters at Centerville, there was little, if
any, preaching or religious exercises, as there was no place to have
public services, and the weather was too severe to hold services in the
open. The mess of J. Tyler Frazier, in which were Thomas S. Taylor,
James B. Henderson, F. H. Farley, John F. Jones, William C. Fortner,
Joseph Eggleston, James Eggleston, and perhaps others, never neglected
their religious duties, and in quarters invariably read a chapter of
the Bible, sang a hymn, and prayed before retiring at night. These men,
by their upright conduct, observance of their religious duties, their
Christian character and conversation, had great influence over their
comrades, and especially upon the conduct and morals of the company.
The expiration of the term of service, twelve months, of most of the
men was rapidly approaching; the ranks having been much depleted by
sickness, death and other causes. No adequate provision had yet been
made for the retention of those already in the field, or for the
filling of the ranks. It was evident that if the war was to be
prolonged, and the contest maintained, we must have an army. With one
year's service many were satisfied; the fever had worn off, enthusiasm
was on the wane. The government, to induce re-enlistment, was offering
fifty dollars bounty and thirty-day furlough. Quite a number availed
themselves of an opportunity to go home by accepting the bounty and
re-enlisting. Some eighteen of Company D took advantage of the offer,
among them E. M. Stone, John D. Hare, J. W. Mullins, A. L. Fry, J. W.
Hight, John W. East, R. H. Bane, J. B. Young, Tom Young, W. H. Layton,
Tom Davenport, John Palmer, and the writer. Tom Young, Davenport,
Layton and Palmer never returned--deserted.
On our return to the army we were accompanied by Christian Minnich, who
enlisted in the company, having two sons therein. The question of
re-enlistment was soon settled by an act of Congress, which placed
every man in the Confederate states between the ages of 18 and 35 in
the army for three years, or until the close of the war, retaining all
that were under 18 and over 45 for ninety days, continuing the
organizations then existing, with the right to elect regimental and
company officers.
March 1, or thereabouts, in 1862, the enemy began to push his lines
closer up, and to make more frequent reconnaissances, and to extend his
lines toward Aquia Creek on the Potomac, on the right flank of the
Confederate army, causing our commander uneasiness, no doubt, as to the
tenableness of our position, and hence on or about the 10th of the
month orders were issued to cook rations, and be prepared to march. The
movement began three days later, with the head of the column directed
toward Warrenton and the Rappahannock River, which was crossed the
second or third day. At Centerville we left burning immense quantities
of provisions and army supplies, of which later we stood in dire need,
the inadequacy of transportation being the excuse for the destruction.
At a point either in Culpeper or Rappahannock, near where we one night
encamped, was a distillery, of which some of our men took possession,
procuring Old Man Riley Albert to make a run of applejack, with which
they tanked up, then filled their canteens, with no way to transport
the residue. Harry Snidow and others from a nearby store procured jars,
with which they trudged along until the jars were emptied. No one was
drunk, but the boys were happy and jolly.
Gordonsville, in Orange County, near the junction of what was then the
Central and Orange and Alexandria railroad, was reached, where we went
into camp.