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THE BOYS OF '61;
or,
FOUR YEARS OF FIGHTING.
PERSONAL OBSERVATION WITH THE ARMY AND NAVY,
_FROM THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN TO THE FALL OF RICHMOND_
BY
CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,
AUTHOR OF "THE BOYS OF '76," "THE STORY OF LIBERTY," "WINNING HIS
WAY." "MY DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE BATTLEFIELD," "FOLLOWING THE FLAG,"
"OUR NEW WAY ROUND THE WORLD," ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY ESTES AND LAURIAT,
301-305 WASHINGTON STREET.
1886.
Copyright, 1881 by
ESTES AND LAURIAT.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of
Massachusetts.
[Illustration: Charge through an abattis.]
PREFATORY NOTE.
This volume, though historic, is not a history of the Rebellion, but a
record of personal observations and experiences during the war, with
an occasional look at affairs in general to give clearness to the
narrative. The time has not arrived for the writing of an impartial
history of the conflict between Slavery and Freedom in the United
States. Reports of military operations are incomplete; documents in
the archives at Washington are inaccessible; much material remains to
be gathered before the patient historian can sift the wheat from the
chaff. More than this, the war of ideas is not yet ended. Defeated
Rebels in some parts of the South are bent on exterminating the
African race. Few of those lately in rebellion plead guilty of having
committed a crime; taking up arms against the government they consider
to have been a blunder only. We are, therefore, too near the great
events to render proper judgment upon questions in which our
principles and sympathies have been enlisted.
The chapter concerning the Confederate Cotton Loan may seem to be out
of place in a volume of which so large a portion is given to
narrative, but I trust that it will be acceptable to the general
reader, inasmuch as it reveals the efforts of the Rebels to array all
Europe against the United States in the late struggle. The
correspondence in my possession was picked up in the streets of
Richmond, and will be of value to the future historian. The chapter in
question is but an outline of the operations of the Confederates
abroad.
In looking over the sheets as they came from the press, several errors
relative to the organization and formation of troops in battle have
been detected, which, however, will appear in but a few copies.
Undoubtedly there are others, and the writer will esteem it a favor to
be put right wherever he is in the wrong. Few official reports of
regimental and brigade officers have been published, while the reports
of division and corps commanders are only general in their statements.
The true history of battles cannot be given till the history of
regiments is written.
My stand-point as an observer is that of one whose instincts from
early childhood have been on the side of Freedom. I have ever believed
that Civil Liberty is the birthright of all men, and from the firing
upon Sumter to the close of the contest had full faith that the
people, under God, would subdue the Rebellion, and give freedom to the
slave.
The four years have been worth a century of ordinary life; for in the
mighty contest Right has triumphed over Wrong, and the human race,
with a clearer perception of Truth and Justice as the sure foundation
of government, is moving on to a higher civilization.
C. C. C.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
BEGINNING OF THE CONFLICT.
Page
Ideas and Principles. -- Battles witnessed. -- The Leaders. --
State of Affairs. -- Baltimore. -- Dulness in the Streets. --
Baltimore Women. -- Raw Troops. -- Visit to Fort McHenry. --
Washington. -- Material of the Army. -- Generals in Command. --
General Scott. -- His Position. -- Newspaper Reports. -- Troops
organized. -- The Gathering of the Rebels. 1
CHAPTER I.
AROUND WASHINGTON.
Alexandria. -- The Massachusetts Fifth. -- A Song for Bunker
Hill -- The Review. -- The Distant Gun. -- The Affair at
Vienna. -- A Dinner in the Field. -- Vallandigham and the Ohio
Boys. -- Patriotism of the Soldiers. -- The Rogues' March. --
Mutiny of the Garibaldi Guard. -- An Adventure. -- Broken
English. -- Unpleasant Position. -- General Mansfield's Wrath.
-- The Lager-Beer Business. -- A Faded Aristocracy. -- Living
on a Name. -- The Sirens of Virginia. -- A South Carolina
Chattel. -- His Search for Chickens. -- How he found Freedom 8