1863.
PORTSMOUTH, ON TO RICHMOND.
After the siege was raised, the regiment remained in Suffolk until the
middle of June, when they removed to Portsmouth, and encamped about
three miles from the city, on the western branch of the Elizabeth
river. This camp was formerly occupied by the 22d Georgia (rebel)
regiment. The site was in a splendid grove and being on the bank of
the river, afforded a fine place for the men to bathe, row, sail, and
catch fish and oysters. I recollect of no place where the regiment
lived so well, and enjoyed themselves so much as there. We had been
there but two days when we were ordered to build a fort; but after
working on it two days, it was abandoned by an order to be ready to
march in light marching order with three days rations the next
morning. Every thing was made ready and the men retired as usual at
nine o'clock. But at half-past eleven the long roll sounded, and after
forming in line the regiment marched through the woods to Portsmouth,
a distance of three miles, in pitch darkness, and embarked on a
transport, which left at 3 A.M.
YORKTOWN, WHITE HOUSE LANDING.
At eleven o'clock we found ourselves at Yorktown, encamping on the
grounds where many a soldier had fought. The works built by McClellan
and even those of the revolutionary war were still visible as was also
the spot where the sword of Lord Cornwallis was surrendered by General
O'Hara to General Lincoln, who was designated by Washington to receive
it.
At half-past one on the morning of the 26th, the long roll beat again,
and after falling in, the regiment marched to the wharf where they
waited in the rain till 10 o'clock for a transport. At eleven all was
ready, and after sailing up the Pamunkey river, which is one of the
crookedest rivers in the country, as well as one of the finest and
most picturesque, we disembarked at White House Landing.
Spier's cavalry had gone ahead of us one day and surprised the rebels,
they barely having time to get aboard a train which stood in readiness
to take them to Richmond. The cavalry then made a little raid through
three counties, returning on the evening after the day of our arrival.
They reported one severe fight and the capture of Brig. Gen. Wm. H.F.
Lee, one Lieutenant-Colonel, one Surgeon, and one hundred prisoners.
They also brought with them thirty-five wagons, besides burning
eighty-five wagons and several railroad bridges. On the 28th, General
Dix and Staff arrived and preparations were at once made for a move
towards Richmond. Captain Pasco, of Company A, received his commission
as Major on this day.
BLACKBERRY RAID.
On the morning of July 1st, the reveille sounded early and the
division crossed the river, and after marching hard all day encamped
for the night near King William's Court House. The next morning we
were aroused at three o'clock, and marched to Brandywine, a distance
of eight miles. On July 3d the reveille sounded at three o'clock, but
we did not commence to march till five, when we marched pretty steady
until one o'clock. The entire army had to stop then on account of the
heat. This was the hottest day of the summer, and between the hours of
twelve and one, sixty-five men fell out of the Sixteenth, fifteen of
them having received a severe sunstroke. Four out of our Brigade died
almost instantly. At five in the afternoon, the division commenced to
march again and did not halt till nine in the evening, making in all
about twenty miles that day. The name of this place was Taylor's
Ferry.
The next day being July 4th, was a legal holiday in times of peace,
but was not so for this division. The 11th and 16th Connecticut
regiments and a section of battery were left at this point to guard a
bridge and the supply train. The rest of the army moved to Hanover
Court House, where they had a rather tough time. After marching all
day, they had to tear up three miles of railroad, cut telegraph wires
and burn bridges, all under the fire of the enemy. This did a great
deal of good, for Lee was in Pennsylvania, and finding his
communication cut in the rear, retreated.
The next morning the Sixteenth was up at three, moved their position
at five, and at eight the troops who had gone to Hanover Court House,
returned. At noon three regiments were detailed to forage on the
country and take all the beef, mules, horses, sheep and salt, which
they could find. At two o'clock a supply train from White House
Landing arrived with two days rations. At eight in the evening, we
found that the enemy were after us, and we started on the retreat.
Contrabands followed us in large numbers. At ten the rebels were close
on our heels, as we passed through Mongoheck. At three o'clock the
next morning we had gained somewhat on the rebels and were allowed an
hour's rest at the Town of Ayletts. The men were so tired on this
march, that they actually slept while marching, and when we halted at
3 o'clock that morning the men fell as if struck by lightning and were
all sound asleep in two second's time. But our position was not safe,
and the bugle sounded the reveille at four and after partaking of a
scanty breakfast, we marched till half-past two in the afternoon, when
we encamped about a mile this side of King William's Court House in a
hard rain storm. This was certainly a hard fate for those who went to
Hanover Court House, too fearful to be believed, making three days and
two nights of hard labor with only one hour's rest. But it had to be
done. Several who were unable to keep up and fell out were mercilessly
shot dead by guerrillas who harassed the rear. A great many of the men
provided themselves with horses, which they took out of barns by the
road-side. The reveille as usual sounded at an early hour (three A.M.)
the next morning and we marched to White House Landing, reaching there
at eleven. The next day the division took up their line of march and
marched to Hampton through a heavy rain storm and mud knee deep.
Thence by boat they proceeded to Portsmouth, reaching their old camps
on the afternoon of the 14th.
This raid in history is called the "Blackberry Raid," there being no
end of blackberries, of the most luscious kind. It was during this
raid that a new Chaplain, (Charles Dixon, of the Eighth Conn. Vols.,)
reported for duty. There seemed to be at first serious objections,
both among the officers and men, to our having a chaplain, but they
were soon dismissed; for he was one of those rare men whom all learned
to love, and his bravery in battle and southern prisons won him a good
name. On our return to Portsmouth, through a special order, a
Regimental Band was organized, which grew to be a most excellent one,
and added not a little to our military standing.
CAMP TENNANT.
July 15th, 16th, and 17th, was spent in fixing up our camp. But the
19th, 20th, and 21st was spent entirely in _trying_ to have a review.
The first day we marched two miles, stood in a broiling sun for two
hours, and then returned to camp. The next day the same performance
was gone through with and no reviewing officer came. Finally, on the
last day, just as General Foster got within a few rods of us the rain
came down in torrents, and continued till General Foster went away.
The rain stopped at five, and as the men were all ready for the review
it was agreed that the ceremony should be gone through with by Colonel
Burnham acting as reviewing officer, and Major Pasco taking the
command. From this time until the ninth of September there was but
little to attract attention, except the general routine of parades,
picket and police duty. The regiment therefore had a little time of
rest.
On the 30th of July, Colonel C.H. Prentice, J.G. Rathbun, J.A. Case,
and J.S. Brooks, of Hartford, made a visit to the regiment. As nearly
the entire regiment were acquainted with them, they were _very_
welcome, and we presume they enjoyed their visit, especially the day
that they visited the outposts, a distance of seven miles from camp,
when one of those southern rain-storms came up, and they got a
thorough soaking. This delayed their visit another day, in order to
have their clothes dried. The quartermaster temporarily supplied them
with brogans and clothes, but the amusing part of it was that Col. P.
was so large and tall that the soldier's sizes could not be gotten
only half on, and therefore with a cap and coat half on, and pants
that reached a little below the knees, and with a huge pair of
brogans, he looked so badly that he stayed in the Colonel's tent and
played euchre all day and night. It was about this time that we had
some terribly hot weather, the thermometer reaching 118 deg. on August 2d,
and 115 deg. on August 3d. The pious members of the regiment went to work
and built a chapel, which turned out to be a very fine edifice, and
together with a temperance organization which started about this time,
effected a great deal of good. The chapel was dedicated with
impressive ceremonies, and a church organization was formed, the
fruits of which last even to this day. The surgeons ordered some
hospitals built, which were also dedicated by a fine dance. The
_morale_ of the regiment at this time was about perfect, and I can not
better write of it than in the words of Surgeon Nathan Mayer, in his
address to the regiment, at its reunion in 1867.
"Gradually the finest camp but one, which it has been my fortune to
see, grew up. The most perfect order, the most civilized condition
prevailed. The tents were neatly and prettily furnished, as our
Connecticut country homes are, and the ground was always in beautiful
condition. As winter approached the men built a hospital of logs,
log-houses for the officers, log-kitchens, and eating saloons for the
companies. Our pioneers erected a perfect village. Everybody purchased
pine slats and made pretty huts, using their tents as peaked roofs to
the structures. A chapel of considerable pretensions was raised--and
here the difference between Connecticut and New York soldiers was
apparent in more than one way, but in none more than in this. While
the New York battery at our side thought first of all of erecting a
theatre, _we_ built a hospital and a chapel. While _they_ gave their
leisure to studying parts and rehearsing them, _we_ organized prayer
meetings, a choir, and endeavored in various ways to perfect ourselves
as soldiers and men. Of great benefit was the presence of ladies in
our camp. A number of officers and men had asked their wives to visit
them in camp, and ere long a pretty row of cottages extended on the
right flank of the grounds; in these there was singing, and chatting,
and playing euchre or whist, and other social games almost every
evening. And the demeanor of every soldier in the camp of the
Sixteenth Connecticut at that time was _gentlemanly_. Not an oath was
heard, not a phrase that in any way could offend the ear of a virtuous
female; not an act perpetrated that savored of anything but deference
and respect toward the sex. To complete the softening influence thus
cast on the regiment the Colonel's mother, Mrs. Burnham, paid us a
visit, and went among the men as such a good, sensible old lady, with
a heart full of kindness, and a head full of shrewd Connecticut sense,
would naturally do. She advised and comforted those in trouble,
listened to complaints and nursed the sick. She was regarded as a
representative of the good respectable home life which we had left,
and to which we would sooner or later return, and the veneration and
affection of the regiment for her was unbounded.
During all these weeks the military standing of the regiment rose
perceptibly. There was not a cleaner, prompter, more loyal, reliable,
and honest regiment in the service. No brighter arms, no quicker
evolutions, no greater perfection in drill was to be found any where.
The dress parade every evening gathered a crowd of lookers on. The
guards, if detailed to other points, attracted attention. And the name
of the Sixteenth was a good name in every man's mouth."
EXCURSION THROUGH DISMAL SWAMP.
On September 9th, five companies were detailed to go to South Mills,
to do two weeks picketing. South Mills was about twenty-two miles from
our outposts, and within seven miles of Elizabeth City. It was
infested by guerrillas, and was merely held that no rebels might come
through Dismal Swamp and surprise us. It was about the only place in
that famous swamp where a few houses could be built and called a
village. The detachment, under the command of Major Pasco, reached
Deep Creek that morning, at half past nine. At Deep Creek the five
companies, together with two wagons loaded with provisions, embarked
on two canal boats, and hitching mules to the boats we were on the way
to North Carolina. The scenery through the swamp was novel. This mode
of traveling was new to the soldiers, and was highly enjoyed. Some
footed it on the tow-path, some played chess, or cards, others smoked
and read, and others danced to music from a fiddle and guitar, played
by Dennison and Thompson. The canal was filled with turtles, snakes,
and frogs of large dimensions. Thousands of snakes were killed that
day, as the boat moved slowly along by the men cutting them in two
with willow switches.
Arriving at South Mills at 7 P.M. we immediately proceeded to encamp
in the dark by the side of Spier's cavalry about half a mile from the
wharf; but before we could pitch our tents a terrible thunder storm
came up and continued all night. Such a storm of lightning, thunder
and rain, but few of us ever witnessed before. We were about drowned
out by morning. The next day was a lively one. We changed camp in the
morning, and three of the cavalry who were on picket were fired into
by a party of about 40 guerrillas. One of the men was shot in three
places and expired immediately. His horse was also shot in three
places, the other two escaped all injuries. Two companies of cavalry
were immediately sent out and scoured the woods, but could find
nothing. One of our spies came in and informed us that the guerrilla
camp numbering about 800, had found out our strength and position and
they would probably attack us. So we moved our camp to our original
position by the side of the cavalry for safety. In the evening a
guerrilla, while trying to crawl through the lines, was caught by the
pickets. The next day three men were arrested, one of which proved to
be a guerrilla, and was sent to General Getty for sentence. His name
was Finley. Late in the evening three more companies of the 5th
Pennsylvania cavalry came to reinforce us. On September 14th a spy
came into camp and informed us that the commander of the guerrilla
band was in town, and that he was to leave that night with four
recruits. Captain Robinson, with 26 picked men, were detailed to go
out and lay in ambush, where he was to pass. But we lost them as they
had passed there in the afternoon.
On Tuesday, September 15th, three scouting parties, consisting of the
5th and 11th Pennsylvania cavalry went out in the morning on three
roads and returned in the evening, bringing with them five rebel
soldiers and a colored man. On the 21st, five companies of the 15th
Connecticut relieved us and the next day we returned to our old camp
at Portsmouth. This trip, although dangerous on account of guerrillas,
who were continually shooting at us if we strayed a short distance
from our command, was much enjoyed by the men. The excursion we shall
always look back upon with pleasure. The beautiful scenery, and many
incidents and exciting times we shall never forget. The frightful
noises of Dismal Swamp in the night cannot be imagined by one who has
never been there. A night in Dismal Swamp is never forgotten.
After our return from South Mills there was another of what the boys
called "a long spell" of quiet, the time being used up mostly by
picket duty. Thanksgiving was observed as well as possible. On the 6th
of December Sergeant Major Herbert Landon and 1st Sergeant B.F.
Blakeslee received commissions as Second Lieutenants; and on New
Year's Day Lieutenant Turner was promoted to be Captain. On the 3d of
January, the Chapel was dedicated with ceremonies, the Chaplains of
the 11th Pennsylvania, 13th New Haven, 5th Pennsylvania cavalry, and
8th and 16th Connecticut regiments taking part. The building was
filled to overflowing and excellent music was furnished by a choir of
ladies and gentlemen. In the evening a prayer meeting was held. The
next day a few recruits came, being the only ones the regiment ever
had, for while other regiments recruited largely, no one cared to
enlist in the Sixteenth, a regiment noted for having severe hardships.
And it was very unfortunate for those who joined us that day, for
nearly all of them died in prison. On the 20th of January orders came
to be ready to move at an early hour the next morning. In accordance
with the order the men were up as early as one o'clock; and at
precisely three o'clock the camp was fired and in a few moments
nothing was left of the finest camp we ever had. Taking the cars we
went to Portsmouth.