LIFE IN NEWBERN.
At an early hour on the long-expected day, the detail for guard left
the camp, and soon after breakfast, the rest of the regiment started,
in the best possible spirits, for its new quarters, making quite a
triumphal entry into the captured city, with band playing and colors
flying. Crossing the railroad bridge, we marched directly to Broad
street, the parade-ground of all troops occupying the city. There the
out-going regiment, the 17th Mass., were drawn up in line to welcome
the new-comers; and after the customary manoeuvres required by military
etiquette, the command of the city was tendered to Colonel Codman, and
the companies ordered to their respective quarters.
The lines of Company A had ever fallen in pleasant places, and our
good luck did not desert us, for we found ourselves in possession of
the nicest of the houses assigned to the regiment; in fact, one of the
prettiest places in the town. It was a two-storied, wooden building,
on Pollock street, the principal street of Newbern, lighted with gas,
but of course wholly destitute of furniture. It had flower-gardens in
front and on both sides, while in the rear were one or two acres of
land covered with various kinds of fruit-trees, several fig-trees among
the number. There was also a cook-house, barn, and out-buildings, all,
except the barn, fitted up with bunks for the accommodation of those
who could not obtain a corner in the main building.
All the rooms in the house, excepting those reserved for the officers,
were lined with bunks, the parlor alone having seventeen occupants. The
name of "Pierce" still adorned the front door, and we would embrace
this opportunity to tender to the individual rejoicing in the name of
"Pierce," our most sincere thanks for the noble manner in which he
retired to the country and generously yielded up his house and grounds,
rent free, to the use of the Yankee soldiery.
Company K occupied the next house, and opposite them were the quarters
of Company D, while across the street was the house occupied by General
Hill, the rebel commander, for his headquarters when in the city. Just
below, on the next corner, was the building employed by the provost
marshal, and the headquarters of the provost guard. The companies were
somewhat scattered, for the greater security of the city.
The duty of the provost guard was somewhat as follows. The city was
divided into three districts; the first district was the south-eastern
part of the town, and embraced the business quarter, having its
headquarters at the provost marshal's. Here was the guard-house,
where all persons arrested were kept till examination was made and
sentence passed over them,--like the station-house of the police.
The second district comprised the northern portion of the town,
having its headquarters in the old office of the Atlantic and North
Carolina Railroad. This was situated next the depot, and the desk and
safe of the company remained in their old places. General Foster's
headquarters, and the house occupied by his family, were in this
district, and under the especial care of the guard. The third district
covered the remainder of the town, the south-western portion, and was
the least important of the three.
The daily detail for guard was as follows: One captain, three
lieutenants, three sergeants, ten corporals and one hundred and
ninety-seven privates. The absence of two companies, G and I, and the
large number of men on detached service, rendered the duty of the
privates quite arduous, as the large detail necessitated their going
on guard every other day, with an occasional interval of two days; but
the officers, non-commissioned as well as commissioned, had a very easy
time of it.
Guard-mounting took place on Broad street, every morning at eight
o'clock, and was quite an attraction for idlers, the band always taking
part. After the customary manoeuvres, each lieutenant marched his guard
to the district assigned him, so that it was nearly ten o'clock by
the time the old guard was relieved and returned to quarters. The men
at the head of the line were assigned to the first district, and as
that was the most popular of the three, there was a regular race every
morning for the first place, and sometimes an enterprising company
would be on hand half an hour before the required time. But, after a
while, the companies alternated in their position in the line, and so
all competition was at an end.
The guard was divided into three reliefs; the first being on duty from
nine to one, both morning and night; the second from one to five, and
the third from five to nine. The first relief was through with its
labor at one o'clock A. M., while the third had the whole night from
nine to five to sleep, and the day to loaf, so the choice between these
two was about equally divided, but the second relief, being a sort of
nondescript, was scouted by all.
There were two detached stations, both under command of a corporal,
which were very much liked by the men. The first was at the railroad
bridge, which, as the main entrance to the city, for all on foot or
horseback, was an important point. More than one poor corporal lost
his stripes when at this post, for some slight dereliction of duty.
There were sentry-boxes on the bridge for stormy weather, and a cosy
little guard-room with a nice bed of shavings, much more comfortable
than the hard boards in the other guard-rooms. No one was allowed to
pass over the bridge in either direction without a permit, and special
instructions were issued against allowing any vehicle to cross without
an order from department headquarters.
The other station was at the Pollock Street Jail,--jail in name, but
nothing but a large wooden dwelling-house. It was occupied by rebel
prisoners, disloyal citizens, and occasionally by a United States
officer under arrest. The jailer was a great burly corporal of the 23d
Massachusetts, who was afterwards promoted to a lieutenancy in the
North Carolina native regiment. The guns of the sentries here were
always loaded, and the orders were to shoot on the slightest attempt
to escape,--a very necessary precaution, where but two men kept guard
over a house having at times as many as sixty prisoners. Their fare
was the same as that furnished to our men, and often better. The
prisoners brought in were for the most part a wretched-looking set of
men; dirty to filthiness, ragged, ignorant and stupid, many of them the
clay-eaters of North Carolina. There was a rebel surgeon confined there
for a long time, an intelligent, educated man from New Orleans, with
whom we had many a talk on the topics of the day, upon which he kept
himself well informed.
There was a great choice in the sentry-stations over the city, and
the men very quickly became acquainted with their various excellences
and respective merits. Some were under cover, others were not needed
at night; at this one a breakfast was furnished by a kind neighbor,
at another, the guard was sure of some dinner, while some were wholly
undesirable, being on some bleak, unprotected corner, exposed to wind
and rain.
Guard duty had sufficient variety to relieve it from monotony, and
while many a ludicrous scene happened, occasionally, occurrences not
wholly devoid of danger, served to keep us alive. Some one would
report a disturbance, and ask for a guard to restore peace; whereupon
volunteers would be called for, and two or three start off, ready
for anything that might turn up. Some drunken soldier has, perhaps,
made himself at home in a house, to the obvious discomfort of the
inmates, and refuses to be dislodged; but the ugly look of the bayonet
soon brings him to terms, and he is marched off to the guard-house,
and allowed an opportunity to consider his evil ways, in solitary
confinement. Occasionally, one with enough liquor to make him ugly,
refuses to show his pass, and even attempts to seize the gun of the
guard, when most unexpectedly, he receives the butt of the musket in
his face, and, beginning to realize that "discretion is the better part
of valor," submits, and is led off, a soberer and wiser man.
When some of the old New York and Pennsylvania regiments were encamped
near the town, their men were very apt to make trouble during their
visits to Newbern, and it often ended in their passing the night at the
guard-house. One afternoon, two six-foot Irishmen came over the bridge,
and on entering the town, refused to show their passes. Both had
guns and bayonets, and threatened to kill any one who should attempt
to arrest them. It was not until aid arrived from the guard-house,
and they had been stretched out with the butt of a pistol, that they
quieted down and consented to go and be locked up. Once we were stopped
in the street by a native, and asked to come and arrest a drunken
fellow, who had threatened to stab his wife, the niece of my informant.
Although unaccustomed to interfere in family troubles, such a summons
could not be neglected. The man was a citizen of Newbern, and on our
arrival was asleep on a sofa, while the poor wife was weeping in the
cook-house. Arousing him, we made known our errand; and the accusations
and tears of the wife, together with the maudlin stupidity of the man,
were pitiful to witness. It is to be hoped that three day's solitary
confinement, on bread and water, brought him to a realizing sense of
his conjugal duties.
One day, a person just arrived from Fortress Monroe, made complaint
at the provost marshal's, of the theft of some of his baggage by one
of the hands employed on the steamer. A guard was immediately sent to
the steamer to arrest the criminal, and a portion of the stolen goods
was found among the effects of one of the firemen, but the man himself
was missing. Feeling convinced however, that the fellow was concealed
somewhere on the vessel, they commenced a search, high and low, for
the guilty one, and just as they were about to give up in despair,
one of the guard chanced to look under one of the boilers, and there
discovered the culprit, squeezed in almost out of sight. On being
requested to come forth, he refused flatly, and being out of reach
he could not be dragged out. A loaded pistol was produced, and aimed
at his head, when some one suggested the hose, and a stream of dirty
water was quickly brought to bear on the hapless victim. In vain did he
squirm and writhe; he had to succumb, and finally crawled out from his
hiding-place more dead than alive, and was carried in triumph to the
guard-house to answer for his sins.
We were by no means idle on the days off guard. Four times a week,
when the weather permitted,--and the days were rare when it did not
permit,--we were indulged in the delights of brigade drill. Coming
off guard at ten o'clock, the order would sound through the yard,
immediately after dinner, which was earlier on those days, "Fall in
for brigade drill, blouses and caps!" and at noon we formed regimental
line on Broad street, and from there marched a long two miles over the
railroad bridge, to the plain near our old barracks on the Trent. Here
we were joined by the 17th, 43d and 51st Mass., and manoeuvred by
Colonel Amory for two or three hours. "Echelon by battalion at forty
paces," "form line of battle on third battalion, right in front," etc.,
became as familiar as household words, and all of us felt competent
to handle a brigade. Still it was always a happy moment when we saw
our commander sheathe his long sabre, and no order was obeyed with
such celerity and precision, as the one which invariably followed this
action, "march off your battalions." The men were always in the best of
spirits on the march back to town, and many a song and joke beguiled
the weary way.
Twice a week, also, we had battalion drill, sometimes in the streets,
and occasionally in one of the fields on the outskirts of the town.
As we were very apt to have spectators during our street drills, the
colonel was especially vexed at any blunders committed by the officers,
and woe betide the unfortunate one who incurred his censure on those
days, for he spoke his mind on the spot, to the great delight of the
file, and the discomfiture of the rank.
But all this drill was not thrown away, and for accuracy and quickness
of movements, we yielded the palm to no regiment in the department.
The great feature of the day, however, was the dress-parade. Every
afternoon, a little before five o'clock, there was a general struggle
for blacking and brushes, "dress coats and hats" being the countersign
for the hour. Nightly, with our white gloves and good clothes, we
formed company in the back yard, where we had a preliminary drill in
the manual, to get our hand in for the show performance. Then off we
marched to the parade-ground on the next street, occasionally going
through with a battalion drill, on our own account, while on the way to
our place in line.
The regiment stretches along the north side of the street and the
colonel takes his station on the opposite sidewalk, which is regularly
occupied by a long row of lookers-on. Here, as elsewhere, our company
was in good luck, having the centre of the line, and as the best
drilling was to be seen there, it was accordingly directly opposite
the fair faces, who deigned to grace our parade with their presence.
Many thanks, fair ladies, for the innocent pleasure your bright faces
afforded us poor fellows, many of whom, for eight weary months, did not
so much as speak to a lady. Nor was your presence simply a pleasure but
a benefit to the regiment; for what man could look aught but neat and
tidy with such eyes to criticise? who would not excel in drill to win
applause from such lips?
When, occasionally, the familiar face of some Boston gentleman appeared
in the crowd, it was pleasant to see the start of amazement with which
he greeted the first strains of music as the band beat down the line.
Could these be the same men who labored so hard at Readville to produce
some semblance to music? The band had indeed improved wonderfully,
and it was now a positive pleasure to hear them play. Guard-mounting
and dress-parade, from being a decided bore, had come to be really
enjoyable. Nothing is more enlivening and inspiriting than good martial
music; it relieves the monotony of all military parades, and refreshes
the weary both in body and soul. When one is exhausted with marching,
and to drag one leg after the other is a sore task, let the band strike
up, and the inspiring sounds infuse new life into the tired frame;
it makes the way look short and easy, which, but the moment before,
had seemed interminable. Nor were the duties of the band confined to
the department of music; for on the field of battle they did excellent
work as members of the ambulance corps, and all who had need of their
assistance will remember with unceasing gratitude their kind service
and tender care.
[Illustration: HELIOTYPE PRINTING CO. BOSTON.
REAR VIEW OF QUARTERS OF COMPANY A.]