At this time the regiment had one hundred and fifty-two men, as I recall
it, present for duty; there were eleven men and no officers in my
company. We were ordered to Ball's Cross Road to refit, where we got new
clothing and horses; a number of recruits were sent to us, and some of
our sick and wounded men returned to duty. We were then sent out in the
neighborhood of Centerville, where we were engaged in scouting and
skirmishing with the enemy's cavalry while the Army of the Potomac was
in Maryland during the Antietam campaign.
On the return of Lee's army to Virginia, my regiment in Bayard's brigade
was engaged in the various movements on the advance to Fredericksburg.
The incident I most readily recall during this movement was the
relieving of General McClellan from the command of the army and
superseding him by General Burnside. At that time the army idolized
McClellan. I went to a stream for water one night, where I met an
infantryman. He looked so badly that I asked him what the matter was,
when he replied, "Haven't you heard the news?" I said, "No." He then
told me that General McClellan had been removed, whereupon he began to
cry. I went back to our bivouac, as we were on the march, and reported
this. I recall that we sat up in groups till well into the night
discussing this, and our conclusion was that we were being used as an
examining board to try candidates for the next presidency. Of course, in
writing of our impressions from our limited point of view at that time,
I do not wish to convey the idea that I now think McClellan should not
have been superseded. The only mistake was in selecting the man that
superseded him.
In due time the captain of my company, J. F. B. Mitchell, finding out
that I had some clerical ability, as the sergeant who was present when I
made out my enlistment papers prophesied, detailed me to make out the
company's pay-rolls and do whatever company writing there was to do, in
consideration of which I was, for the time being, relieved from doing
guard duty. This fact was known to the members of my company who were
then very friendly to me.
The night before the battle of Fredericksburg I was on picket on the
river's bank opposite the town, where I heard the enemy's artillery
being put in position and men making speeches to the troops. During the
battle, the regiment was on the field in reserve, occasionally under
fire from shells but otherwise not actively engaged. General Bayard, our
brigade commander, was mortally wounded by a shell, dying the next day,
the date set for his wedding, he having requested a postponement of his
leave of absence when he learned there was to be a battle. When our
regiment recrossed the Rappahannock I had no idea the army had been
defeated; indeed, until we saw the New York papers we were ignorant of
the fact.