ARMY MORALS.
Some of General McDowell's aides had invited me to pass a night with
them at Warrenton Springs. Fully equipped, I joined Captain Ball, of
Cincinnati, and we rode southward, over a hard, picturesque turnpike,
under a clear moonlight. The distance was seven miles, and a part of
this route was enlivened by the fires, halloos, and the music of camps.
Volunteers are fond of serenading their officers; and this particular
evening was the occasion of much merry-making, since a majority of the
brass bands were to be mustered out of the service to-morrow. We could
hear the roll of drums from imperceptible localities, and the sharp
winding of bugles broke upon the silence like the trumpet of the
Archangel. Stalwart shapes of horsemen galloped past us, and their hoofs
made monotone behind, till the cadence died so gradually away that we
did not know when the sound ceased and when the silence began. The
streams had a talk to themselves, as they strolled away into the meadow,
and an owl or two challenged us, calling up a corporal hawk. This latter
fellow bantered and blustered, and finally we fell into an ambush of
wild pigs, which charged across the road and plunged into the woods.
There were despatch stations at intervals, where horses stood saddled,
and the couriers waited for hoof-beats, to be ready to ride fleetly
toward head-quarters. Anon, we saw wizard lights, as of Arctic skies,
where remote camps built conflagration; and trudging wearily down the
stony road, poor ragged, flying negroes, with their families and their
worldly all, came and went--God help them!--and touched their hats so
obsequiously that my heart was wrung, and I felt a nervous impulse to
put them upon my steed and take their burdens upon my back. Little sable
folk, asleep and ahungered, drawn to that barefoot woman's breast; and
the tired boy, weeping as he held to his father's hand; and the father
with the sweat of fatigue and doubt upon his forehead,--children of
Ishmael all; war raging in the land, but God overhead! These are the
"wandering Jews" of our day, hated North and South, because they are
poor and blind, and do no harm; but out of their wrongs has arisen the
abasement of their wrongers. Is there nothing over all?
We entered the beautiful lawn of the Springs' hotel, at ten o'clock, and
a negro came up to take our horses. By the lamplight and moonlight I saw
McDowell's tent, a sentry pacing up and down before it, and the thick,
powerful figure of the General seated at a writing-table within. Irvin
McDowell was one of the oldest officers in the service, and when the war
commenced he became a leading commander in the Eastern army. At Bull Run
he had a responsible place, and the ill success of that battle brought
him into unpleasant notoriety. Though he retained a leading position he
was still mistrusted and disliked. None bore ingratitude so stolidly. He
may have flinched, but he never replied; and though ambitious he tried
to content himself with subordinate commands. Some called him a traitor,
others an incompetent, others a plotter. If McClellan failed, McDowell
was cursed. If Pope blundered, McDowell received half the contumely. But
he loosened no cord of discipline to make good will. Implacable,
dutiful, soldierly, rigorous in discipline, sententious, brave,--the
most unpopular man in America went on his way, and I think that he is
recovering public favor again. The General of a republic has a thorny
path to tread, and almost every public man has been at one time
disgraced during the civil war. McDowell, I think, has been treated
worse than any other.
Our nags being removed, we repaired to one of the rustic cottages which
bounded the lawn, and I was introduced to several members of the staff;
among others, to a Count Saint Alb, an Austrian. He had been an officer
in his native country; but came to America, anxious for active service,
and was appointed to Gen. McDowell's Staff with the rank of Captain. I
understood that he was writing a book upon America. There are many such
adventurers in the Federal service, but the present one was clever and
amusing, and he spoke English fluently.
Our tea was plain but abundant, consisting of broiled beef, fresh bread,
butter, and cheese; and the inveterate whiskey was produced afterward,
when we assembled on the piazza, so that the hours passed by pleasantly,
if not profitably, and we retired at two o'clock.
In the morning I bathed in the clear, cold sulphur spring, where
thousands of invalid people had come for healing waters. A canopy
covered the spring, and a soldier stood on guard at the top of the
descending steps, to preserve the property in its original cleanliness.
This was one of the most famous medical springs on the American
continent; the water was so densely impregnated that its peculiarly
offensive smell could be detected at the distance of a mile. The place
was going to ruin now. All the bathing-rooms were falling apart, the
pipes had been carried off to be moulded into bullets, and the great
hotel was desolate. I walked into the ball-room; but the large gilded
mirrors had been splintered, and lewd writings defaced the wall. Some
idlers were asleep upon the piazzas, and the furniture was removed or
broken. Some rustic cottages dotted the lawn, but these were now
inhabited by officers and their servants. A few days were to finish the
work of rapine, and a heap of ashes was to mark the scene of
tournament, coquetry, and betrothal. I witnessed a review of troops in a
field contiguous, at nine o'clock. The heat was so intense that many men
fell out of line and were carried off to their camps. McDowell passed
exactingly from man to man, examined muskets, clothing, and knapsacks,
and the inspection was proceeding, when I bade my friends good by and
set out for Culpepper.
I crossed the North Rappahannock, or Hedgemain river, upon a precarious
bridge of planks. A new bridge for artillery was being constructed close
by; for the river beneath had a swift, deep current, and could with
difficulty be forded. Patches of wagons, squads of horse, and now and
then a regiment of infantry, varied the monotony of the journey. The
country was high, woody, and sparsely settled. At noon I overtook
Tower's brigade, and observing the 94th N. Y. Regiment resting in the
woods, I dismounted and made the acquaintance of its Colonel. He was at
this juncture greatly enraged with some of his soldiers who had been
plucking green apples.
"Boy," he said to one, "put down that fruit! Drop it, or I'll blow your
head off! Directly you'll double up, pucker, and say that you have the
"di-o-ree," and require an ambulance. Orderly!"
A sergeant came up and touched his cap.
"Take your musket," said the Colonel; "go out to that orchard, and order
those men away. If they hesitate or object, shoot them!"
A few such colonels would marvellously improve the volunteer
organization.
The Hazel or North Anne river, a branch of the Hedgemain, interposed a
few miles further on, and passing through a covered bridge, I turned
down the north bank, crossed some spongy fields, and at length came to a
dry place in the edge of a woods, where I tied my nag, spread out my
bed, and prepared to dine. A box of sardines, a lemon, and some fresh
sandwiches constituted the repast, and being dusty and parched I
stripped afterward and swam across the river. Seeing that my horse
plunged and neighed, with swollen eyeballs, and every evidence of
terror, I hastened toward him and discovered a black snake, six feet or
more in length, which seemed about to coil itself around the nag's leg.
The size and contiguity of the reptile at first appalled me, and my mind
was not more composed when the serpent, at my approach, manifested an
inclination to assume the offensive. Its folds were thicker than my arm,
and it commenced to revolve rapidly, at length running up a sapling,
suspending itself by the tail, and hissing vehemently. It belonged to
the family of "racers," and was hideous and powerful beyond any specimen
that I had seen. I blew it into halves at the second discharge of my
pistol, and at once resumed my saddle, indisposed to remain longer
amidst such acquaintances.
At four o'clock I saw Culpepper, a trim little village, lying in the
hollow of several hills. A couple of steeples added to its
picturesqueness, and a swift creek, crossed by a small bridge,
interposed between myself and the main part of the place. It looked like
Sunday when I rode through the principal street. The shutters were
closed in the shop windows, the dwellings seemed tenantless, no citizens
were abroad, no sutlers had invaded the country; only a few cavalry-men
clustered about an ancient pump to water their nags, and some military
idlers were sitting upon the long porch of a public house, called the
Virginia Hotel. I tied my horse to a tree, the bole of which had been
gnawed bare, and found the landlord to be an old gentleman named Paine,
who appeared to be somewhat out of his head. Two days before the
Confederate cavalry had vacated the village, and the army had been
encamped about the town for many months. A sabre conflict had taken
place in the streets; and these events, happening in rapid succession,
combined with the insolence of some Federal outriders, had so agitated
the host that his memory was quite gone, and he could not perform even
the slightest function. There is a panacea for all these things, which
the faculty and philanthropy alike forbid, but which my experience in
war-matters has invariably found unfailing. I produced my flask, and
gently insinuated it to the old gentleman's lips. He possessed instinct
sufficient to uncork and apply it, and the results were directly
apparent, in a partial recovery of memory. He said that meals were one
dollar each, board four dollars a day, or by the week twenty-five
dollars. These terms are unknown in America; but when Mr. Paine added
that horse provender was one dollar per "feed," I looked aghast, and
required some stimulant myself to appreciate the enormity of the
reckoning. I discovered, however, that the people of the village were
almost starving; that beef had been fifty cents a pound during the whole
winter, flour twenty-five dollars per barrel, coffee one dollar and a
quarter a pound, and corn one dollar per bushel. The army had swept the
country like famine, and the citizens had pinched, pining faces, with
little to eat to-day and nothing for to-morrow.
I acquiesced in the charge, as no choice remained, and asked to be shown
to my room. A burly negro, apparently suffering _delirium tremens_,
seized my baggage with quaking hands, and lifting a pair of red eyes
upon me, shuffled through a bare hall, up a stairway, and into a
bedroom. I never saw a more hideous being in my life, and when he had
flung my luggage upon the floor, he sank into a chair, and glared
wofully into my face, breathing like one about to expire.
"Young Moss," said he, "cant you give a po' soul a drop o' sperits? Do
for de good Lord's sake! Do, Moss, fo' de po' nigga's life. Do! do!
Moss."
I poured him out a little in a tumbler, less from charity than from
fear; for he knew that I was provided with a bottle, and I seemed to
read murder in his eyes.
He drank like one athirst and scant of breath, making a dry, chuckling
noise with his throat. When he had finished, he leaned his powerful neck
and head upon the bed and groaned terribly.
"Moss," he said again, "ain't you got no tobacco, Moss? I haint had none
since Christmas. I's mos dead I'm po' sinful nigga'. Do give some
tobacco to po' creature, do!"
I told him that I did not chew the weed, but gave him a crushed cigar,
and he thrust it into his mouth, as if it was food and he was perishing.
This wretched animal performed the duties of a chambermaid upon the
premises; he made the beds, attended to the toilets, answered the bells,
etc. He finally became so offensive that I forbade him my room, and he
revenged himself by paltry thefts. There were two other servants, a
woman with a baby, and a shrewd, dishonest mulatto man, who was the
steward and carver. This fellow secreted provender in the kitchen and
sold it stealthily to hungry soldiers. A public house so mismanaged I
had nowhere met. Sometimes we could get no breakfast till noon, and
finally the price of dinner went up to one dollar and a half, with
nothing to eat. The table was protected from flies by a series of paper
fans, pendant from the ceiling and connected by a cord, which an ebony
boy pulled, at the foot of the room to keep them in motion. This boy
being worked day and night, often fell asleep upon his stool, when the
yellow man boxed his ears, or knocked him down; and then he would fan
with such vigor that a perfect gale swept down the table. The landlord
was a kindly old man, but he could not "keep a hotel," and the
strong-minded part of the house consisted of his wife and four
daughters. Gen. Ben Butler would have sent these young women to Ship
Island, five times of a day. They were very bad-mannered and always sat
apart at one end of the cloth, talking against the "Yankees." As there
was no direct provocation to do so, this boldness was gratuitous, and
detracted rather than added to my estimate of the heroism of Southern
women. I have known them to burst into the office, crowded with
blue-coats, and scream--
"Pop, Yankees thieving in garden!" or, "Pop, drive these Yankees out of
parlor!"
Every afternoon when the pavement was unusually patronized by young
officers, these women would sally out, promenade in crinoline, silk
stockings, and saucy hoods, and the crowd would fall respectfully back
to let them pass. A flag hung from a hospital over the sidewalk, and
with a pert flourish, the landlord's daughters filed off the pavement,
around the ensign, and back again. This was amusing, I thought, but not
very clever, and rather immodest. Had they been handsome, some romance
might have attached to the act; but being homely and not marriageable, I
smiled at the occurrence and entered it in my diary as "patriotism run
mad." The stable arrangements were, if possible, worse. One had to be
certain, from actual presence, that his horse was fed at all, and during
the first three days of my tenure, the black hostler lost me a breast
strap, a halter, a crupper strap, and finally emptied my saddle-bags.
Now and then a woman made her appearance at a front window, stealthily
peeping into the street, or a neighboring farmer ventured into town upon
a lean consumptive mule. The very dogs were skinny and savage for want
of sustenance, and when a long, cadaverous hog emerged from nowhere one
day, and tottered up the main street, he was chased, killed, and
quartered so rapidly, that the famous steam process seemed to have been
applied to him, of being dropped into a hopper, and tumbling out, a
medley of hams, ribs, lard, and penknives. The stock of provisions at
the hotel finally gave out, and I was compelled to purchase morsels of
meat from the steward. Dreadful visions of famishing ensued, but
ultimately the railway was opened to town, and a sutler started a shop
in the village. I lived upon sardines and crackers for two days, and a
Major Fifield, Superintendent of Military Railroads, gave me savory
breakfasts of ham afterward. Troops were now concentrating in the
neighborhood of Culpepper, and a bevy of camps encircled the little
village. Crawford's Brigade, of Banks's Corps, garrisoned the place, and
a Provost Marshal occupied the quaint Court House. Reconnoissances were
made southward daily, and I joined one of these, which left the village
on the second of August, at three o'clock, for Orange Court House,
seventeen miles on the way to Richmond. Detachments of a Vermont and a
New York cavalry regiment composed the reconnoitring party, and the
whole was commanded by Gen. Crawford, a clever and unostentatious
soldier. We bivouacked that night near Raccoon Ford, on the river
Rapidan. No fires were built; for we knew that the enemy was all around
us, and we slept coldly and imperfectly till the gray of Sunday morning.
At daylight we galloped into the main street of Orange Court House,
having first sent a squadron around the village, to ride in at the other
end. At the very moment of our entry, a company or more of Confederate
horse was also trotting into town. Both parties sounded the charge
simultaneously, and the carbines exploded in the very heart of the
village. For a minute or more a sabre fight ensued, alternated by the
firing of revolvers; but the defenders were overmatched, and several of
them having been slain, they turned to escape. At that moment, however,
our other squadron charged upon them, effectually blocking up the
street, and the whole party surrendered. A major, who exhibited some
obstinacy, was felled from the saddle by a terrible cut, which clove his
skull, and a very dexterous young fellow, who attempted to escape by a
side street, dodged a bevy of pursuers and saved his head by the loss of
both his ears. The disfigured corpses of those freshly slain were laid
along the sidewalk in a row; and after some invasion of henroosts and
private pantries, we remounted, and with fifty or more prisoners
crossed the Rapidan, and were welcomed into Culpepper with cheers. The
prisoners were lodged in the loft of the Court House, and their officers
were paroled, and boarded among the neighbors. They complied with the
terms of their parole very honorably, and bore testimony to the courtesy
of their captors. I talked with them often upon the tavern porch, but an
undue intimacy with any of them might have brought me into disrepute.
Although the larders of the village were supposed to be empty, savory
meals were nevertheless sent daily to these cavalry-men, and it was
evident that the people on all hands sympathized with their soldiery.
The stringent orders of Pope, relative to removing the disaffected
beyond his lines, were never enforced. I doubt if the veritable
commander himself meant to do more than intimidate evil doers; but I saw
frequent evidences of scrupulous humanity on the part of his general
officers.
One day, when I was negotiating with the Provost for the purchase of
some port wine, stored upon the premises of a village druggist, a
sergeant elbowed his way into the presence of the Marshal, and pushed
forward two very dirty lads, who gave their ages respectively, as ten
and thirteen years. They were of Hibernian parentage, and belonged to
the class of newsboys trading with the different brigades. The younger
lad was wiping his nose and eyes with a relic of a coat sleeve, and the
elder was studying the points of the case, with a view to an elaborate
defence. The sergeant produced a thick roll of bills and laid them upon
the desk.
"Gineral Crawford," said he, "orders these boys to be locked up in the
jail. They have been passing this stuff upon the country folks, and
belong to a gang of young varmints who follers the 'lay.' The Gineral is
going to have 'em brought up at the proper time and punished."
The bills were fair imitations of Confederate currency, and were openly
sold in the streets of Northern cities at the rate of thousands of
dollars for a penny. These lads probably purchased horses, swine, or
fowls with them, or perhaps paid some impoverished widow for board in
the worthless counterfeit.
The younger lad sobbed and howled when the order for his incarceration
had been announced, but the elder made a stout remonstrance.
He didn't know the Gineral would arrest him. Everybody else passed the
bills. He thought they wos good bills; some man gave 'em to him. They
wan't passed, nohow, upon nobody but _Rebels_! He could prove that! He
"know'd" a quartermaster that passed 'em. Wouldn't they let him and Sam
off this wunst?
They were both sent to Coventry, despite their tears, and down to the
last day of our tenure in Culpepper, I saw these wicked urchins peeping
through the grates of the old brick jail, where they lay in the steam
and vapor, among negroes, drunkards, and thieves,--an evidence of
justice, which it is a pleasure to record, in this free narrative.
I joined a mess in the Ninth New York regiment finally, and contrived to
exist till the fifth of the month, when Pope moved his head-quarters to
a hill back of Culpepper, and thereafter I lived daintily for a little
while. On the 8th of August, however, an event occurred, which disturbed
the wisest calculations of the correspondent and the Generals, THE
BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN.