[Illustration: GENERAL GRANT REPRIMANDED BY A LIEUTENANT.]
HARDTACK AND COFFEE
OR
The Unwritten Story of Army Life
_INCLUDING CHAPTERS ON_
ENLISTING, LIFE IN TENTS AND LOG HUTS, JONAHS AND BEATS,
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS, RAW RECRUITS, FORAGING,
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES, THE WAGON TRAINS,
THE ARMY MULE, THE ENGINEER
CORPS, THE SIGNAL
CORPS, ETC.
BY JOHN D. BILLINGS
AUTHOR OF “THE TENTH MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY”; PAST DEPARTMENT
COMMANDER MASSACHUSETTS G. A. R.; FORMERLY OF SICKLES’ THIRD
AND HANCOCK’S SECOND CORPS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
Illustrated
WITH SIX ELEGANT COLOR PLATES; AND OVER TWO HUNDRED
ORIGINAL SKETCHES BY
CHARLES W. REED
MEMBER OF NINTH MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY; ALSO, TOPOGRAPHICAL
ENGINEER ON GENERAL WARREN’S STAFF, FIFTH
CORPS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
BOSTON
GEORGE M. SMITH & CO.
1887
COPYRIGHT, 1887,
BY JOHN D. BILLINGS.
ELECTROTYPED
BY C. J. PETERS AND SON, BOSTON.
BERWICK & SMITH, PRINTERS, BOSTON.
DEDICATION.
To my comrades of the Army of the Potomac who, it is believed, will find
rehearsed in these pages much that has not before appeared in print,
and which it is hoped will secure to their children in permanent form
valuable information about a soldier’s life in detail that has thus far
been only partially written, this work is most affectionately dedicated
by their friend,
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
During the summer of 1881 I was a sojourner for a few weeks at a popular
hotel in the White Mountains. Among the two hundred or more guests who
were enjoying its retirement and good cheer were from twelve to twenty
lads, varying in age from ten to fifteen years. When tea had been
disposed of, and darkness had put an end to their daily romp and hurrah
without, they were wont to take in charge a gentleman from Chicago,
formerly a gallant soldier in the Army of the Cumberland, and in a quiet
corner of the spacious hotel parlor, or a remote part of the piazza,
would listen with eager attention as he related chapters of his personal
experience in the Civil War.
Less than two days elapsed before they pried out of the writer the
acknowledgment that he too had served Uncle Sam; and immediately followed
up this bit of information by requesting me to alternate evenings with
the veteran from the West in entertaining them with stories of the war as
I saw it. I assented to the plan readily enough, and a more interested
or interesting audience of its size could not be desired than that knot
of boys who clustered around us on alternate nights, while we related to
them in an offhand way many facts regarded as too commonplace for the
general histories of the war.
This trifling piece of personal experience led to the preparation of
these sketches, and will largely account for the didactic manner in which
they are written. They are far from complete. Many topics of interest
are left untreated—they will readily suggest themselves to veterans;
but it was thought best not to expand this volume beyond its present
proportions. It is believed that what is herein written will appeal
largely to a common experience among soldiers. In full faith that such
is the case, they are now presented to veterans, their children, and
the public as an important contribution of warp to the more majestic
woof which comprises the history of the Great Civil War already written.
That history, to date, is a history of battles, of campaigns and of
generals. This is the first attempt to record comprehensively army life
in detail; in which both text and illustrations aim to permanently record
information which the history of no other war has preserved with equal
accuracy and completeness.
I am under obligations to many veterans for kindly suggestions and
criticisms during the progress of this work, to Houghton & Mifflin for
the use of Holmes’ “Sweet Little Man,” and especially to Comrade Charles
W. Reed, for his many truthful and spirited illustrations. The large
number of sketches which he brought from the field in 1865 has enabled
him to reproduce with telling effect many sights and scenes once very
familiar to the veterans of the Union armies, which cannot fail to recall
stirring experiences in their soldier’s life.
Believing they will do this, and that these pages will appeal to a large
number to whom the Civil War is yet something more than a myth, they are
confidently put forth, the pleasant labor of spare hours, with no claim
for their literary excellence, but with the full assurance that they will
partially meet a want hitherto unsupplied.
CAMBRIDGEPORT, Mass., March 30, 1887.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
The Four Parties—Their Candidates—Freedom of Speech
Abridged—Secession Decreed—Lincoln Elected—Oh,
for Andrew Jackson! Exit Buchanan—“Long-heeled
Abolitionists” and “Black Republicans”—“Wide-awakes” and
“Rail-splitters”—“Copperheads”—The Misunderstanding—Northern
Doughfaces—Loyal Men of All Parties Unite—The First
Rally—Preparation in the Bay State and in Other States—Her War
Governor—Showing the White Feather—The Memorable Fifteenth of
April—“The Sweet Little Man”—Parting Scenes—The Three-Months’
Men 15
CHAPTER II.
ENLISTING.
The President’s Error—“Three Years Unless Sooner
Discharged”—How Volunteer Companies were Raised—Filling
the Quotas—What General Sherman Says—Recruiting
Offices—Advertisements for Recruits—A War Meeting in
Roxbury—A Typical War Meeting in the Country—A Small-Sized
Patriot—Signing the Roll—The Medical Examination—Off for
Camp—The Red, White, and Blue 34
CHAPTER III.
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
The Distinction Noted Between the Militia and the U. S.
Volunteers—The Oath of Muster—Barracks Described—Sibley or
Bell Tents—A or Wedge Tents—Spooning—Stockading—Hospital or
Wall Tents—Dog or Shelter Tent Described—Chumming—Pitching
Shelters—Stockaded Shelters—Fireplaces—Chimneys—Door
Plates—“Willard’s Hotel”—“Hole in the Wall”—Mortars and Mortar
Shelling before Petersburg 43
CHAPTER IV.
LIFE IN TENTS.
Life in a Sibley—The Stove—The Pastimes—Postage Stamps as
Money—Soldier’s Letter—“Nary Red”—Illustrated Envelopes—Army
Reading—The Recluse—Evenings of Sociability—Pipe and Ring
Making—Home Gossip—Music and the Contrabands—War Song
Revived—The “Mud March” Prayer 61
CHAPTER V.
LIFE IN LOG HUTS.
The Plan of a Camp—Inside a Stockade—The Bunks—The Arrangement
of the Furniture—Æsthetic Dish-washing—Lighting by Candles
and Slush Lamps—Candlesticks—Night-Gowns and Night-Caps—The
Shelters in a Rain—“I. C.” Insect Life—_Pediculus Vestimenti_,
the Old-time Grayback—Not a Respecter of Rank—The First
Grayback Found—(K)nitting Work—“Skirmishing”—Boiling Water
the Sovereign Balm—Cleanliness—The Versatile Mess-Kettles—No
Magee Ranges Supplied the Soldiers—Washerwomen—No “Boiled
Shirts”—Darning and Mending—Government Socks—Cooks—Green Pine
as Fuel—Camp Barbers—Future Tacticians 73
CHAPTER VI.
JONAHS AND BEATS.
The Jonah as a Guardsman—A Midnight Uproar—“Put him in the
Guard-house”—The Jonah Spills Pea-Soup, and Coffee, and
Ink—Always Cooking—Steps on the Rails—Tableau—Jonah as a
Wood-chopper—Beats—The Beat as a Fireman—Without Water,
and Rations, and Money—His Letters Containing Money always
Miscarry—Allotments—The Beat as a Guard Dodger—His Corporal
Does the Duty—As a Fatigue Detail—Horse-Burying as a
Civilizer for Jonahs and Beats—The Detail for the Burial—The
Over-worked Man—The Rheumatic Dodge—The Sick Man—The Chief
Mourner—The Explosive Man—The Paper-Collar Young Man—Forward,
Grave-diggers!—Hurrah! Without the H 90
CHAPTER VII.
ARMY RATIONS.
Were They Adequate?—Their Quality—A List of Them—What
was Included in a Single Ration—What was a Marching
Ration?—Officers’ Allowance—The “Company Fund”—“Hardtack”
Described—Its Faults Three in Number—Served in Twenty Different
Ways—Song of the Hardtack—“Soft Bread”—The Capitol as a
Bake-house—The Ovens at Alexandria and Fort Monroe—Grant’s
Immense Bake-house at City Point—Coffee and Sugar—How
Dealt Out—How Stored—Condensed Milk—Company Cooks—The
Coffee-Dipper—The Typical Coffee-Boiler—Bivouac and Coffee—How
the Government Beat the Speculators—How a Contractor Underbid
Himself—Fresh Meat—How Served—Army Frying-Pans—Steak from a
Steer’s Jaw-Bone—“Salt Horse” Not a Favorite Dish—Salt Pork
and its Uses—The Army Bean—How it was Baked—Song of the Army
Bean—Desiccated Vegetables—The Whiskey Ration—A Suggestion as
to the Inadequacy of the Marching Ration 108
CHAPTER VIII.
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
The Offences Enumerated—“Back Talk”—Absence from Camp
without Leave—The Punishments—The Guard Tent—The Black
List—Its Occupations—Buck and Gag—The Barrel and its Uses—The
Crucifixion—The Wooden Horse—The Knapsack Drill—Tied
up by the Thumbs—The Sweat-Box—The Placard—The Spare
Wheel—Log-Lugging—Double Guard—The Model Regiment—Commanders
often Tyrants by Nature, or from Effects of Rum, or Ignorance—A
Regiment with Hundreds of Colonels—Inactivity Productive
of Offences and Punishments—Kid-Glove Warfare—Drumming
out of Camp—Rogue’s March—Ball and Chain—Sleeping on
Post—Desertion—Death of a Deserter Described—Death of a Spy
Described—Bounty-jumpers—Amnesty to Deserters—Desertion to
Enemy—Hanging of Three Criminals at Once for this Offence
Described—Number of Executions in the War 143
CHAPTER IX.
A DAY IN CAMP. “ASSEMBLY OF BUGLERS.” “TURN OUT!” “ASSEMBLY.”
How the Men Came into Line—A Canteen Wash—The Shirks—“I Can’t
Get ’Em Up”—“All Present or Accounted For”—“Stable Call”—Kingly
Cannoneers and Spare Horses—“Breakfast Call”—“Sick Call”—“Fall
In for Your Quinine”—The Beats again—“Lack of Woman’s
Nursing”—“Water Call”—Where the Animals were Watered—Number
of Animals in the Army—Scarcity of Water—“Fatigue Call”—What
it Included—Army Stables—The Picket-Rope—Mortality of
Horses—Scarcity of Wood—“Drill Call”—Artillery Drill—Standing
Gun Drill—Battery Manœuvres—Sham Fights—Drilling by Bugle
Calls—“Dinner Call”—“Retreat”—Scolding Time—“Assembly
of Guard”—The Reliefs—Fun for the Corporal—Some of His
Trials—“Next Tent Below”—“Tattoo”—Reminiscences—Taps—“Put out
that Light!”—“Stop that Talking!” 164
CHAPTER X.
RAW RECRUITS.
A Scrap of Personal History—A Parent’s Certificate—The Lot of
a Recruit—Abused by the Old Hands—Flush with Money—A Practical
Joke—Two Classes of Recruits—The Matter-of-fact Recruit a Final
Success—The High-toned Recruits—Their _Loud_ Uniform—Scoffers
at Government Rations—As Hostlers—The Awkward Squad—The
Decline in the Quality of Recruits—Men of ’61-2—Unschooled
Soldiers—Hope Deferred—“One Last Embrace”—French Leave
Furloughs—Life in Home Camp—Family Knots—A Mother’s Fond
Solicitude—Galling Lessons of Obedience—Bounties Paid
Recruits—“I’m a Raw Recruit”—“The Substitute” 198
CHAPTER XI.
SPECIAL RATIONS. BOXES FROM HOME.
Sending for a Box—A Specimen Address—A Typical List of
Contents—Impatience at its Non-arrival—Its Inspection at
Headquarters—Its Reception at Camp—The Opening—Box-packing as
an Art—The Whole Neighborhood Contributes—Soldiers Who Had
No Boxes—The Box of the Selfish Man—His Onions—“We’ve Drank
from the same Canteen”—THE ARMY SUTLER—His Stock-in-trade—His
Prices—The Commissary—Army Fritters—Sutler’s Pies—Sutler’s
Risks—Raiding the Sutler—What a Sutler Lost near Brandy
Station—War Prices in Dixie 217
CHAPTER XII.
FORAGING.
Strictly Prohibited at First—Two Reasons Why—The Right and
Wrong of It—Innocent Sufferers—Unauthorized Foragers—The
Destitution of Some Families—The Family Turnout—Wantonness at
Fredericksburg—Authorized Foragers—Their Plunder—Foraging at
Wilcox’s Farm—Tobacco Foragers—The Cavalry in Their Rôle—The
Infantry—Incidents—Risks Assumed by Foragers—Union Versus
Confederate Soldier as a Forager 231
CHAPTER XIII.
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES.
What was an Army Corps?—How the Army of the Potomac was
Organized—Brigade and Division Formations—“All quiet along
the Potomac”—“Why don’t the Army move?”—How Corps were
Composed—Their Number—Corps Badges—Their Origin—The Kearny
Patch—Worn First by Officers, then by the Privates—Hooker’s
Scheme of Corps Badges—Its Extension to other Armies—The Badge
of each Army Corps Described 250
CHAPTER XIV.
SOME INVENTIONS AND DEVICES OF THE WAR.
Improvements in Firearms—In War Vessels—Catch-penny Devices
for the Soldiers—Combination Knife, Fork, and Spoon—Water
Filterers—Armor Vests and Greaves—Havelocks—Revolvers and
Dirk Knives—“High-toned” Haversacks—Compact Writing-desks
Smoking-caps and the Turkish Fez—Hatter’s Caps _Versus_
Government Caps—The Numbering and Lettering of
Knapsacks—Haversacks and Canteens—How these Equipments Changed
Hands 269
CHAPTER XV.
THE ARMY MULE.
Where Raised—Where the Government Obtained Them—What They were
Used for—Compared with Horses—Mule Fodder—How a Mule Team was
Composed—How it was Driven—How Mules were Obtained from the
Corral—The Black Snake and its Uses—An Incident—Mule Ears—His
Pastimes—As a Kicker the Original Mugwump—What Josh Billings
Knows about Him—His Kicking Range—How He was Shod—The Mule as
a Singer—Under the Pack-saddle—The Mule as a Stubborn Fact—His
Conduct under Fire—Captured Mules at Sailor’s Creek—What Became
of All the Mules?—The Mule Mortal—“Charge of the Mule Brigade” 279
CHAPTER XVI.
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCES.
The First General Hospitals—The First Medical Director—Army
Regulations Insufficient—Verdancy of Regimental
Surgeons—Hospital Tents—The Origin of Field Hospitals in
Tents—Their Capacity—No Ambulances before the War—Two-Wheeled
and Four-Wheeled Ambulances—Organization of the Ambulance
Corps—The Officers and Privates—The Outfit—Field
Hospitals—Their Location—The Men in Charge—Captured Hospitals—A
Paroled Prisoner—A Personal Reminiscence—Legs and Arms
Unnecessarily Amputated—Anecdote of a Heavy Artilleryman—The
Escort of the Wounded—The Insignia of the Ambulance Corps—A
Personal Experience—Hospital Railway Trains and Steamboats—The
Cacolet 298
CHAPTER XVII.
SCATTERING SHOTS. THE CLOTHING.
The Allowance—The Losses of Infantry—Clothing of
Garrisons—First Maine Heavy Artillery—Their First Active
Campaigning.—ARMY CATTLE—The Kind Referred to—Where They Came
from—Wade Hampton as a Cattle-stealer—Cattle on the March—Their
Route by Day and Night—The Sagacious Leader—The Slaughter—The
Corps Herd—HEROIC HORSES—Their Conduct in Action—When Wounded—A
Personal Reminiscence—Anecdote of General Hancock—Sagacious
Horses 316
CHAPTER XVIII.
BREAKING CAMP. ON THE MARCH.
Marching Orders—When They Came—What was Done at Once—The
Survival of the Fittest—“Waverly” Correspondents—The
Night in Camp after Marching Orders Came—Camp Fires and
Hilarity—“The General”—The Wait in Camp—Forward, March!—The
Order of March—Corps Headquarters—Division Headquarters—The
Division Flags Described—Brigade Headquarters—Brigade Flags
Described—Battle Flags—The Mule of Regimental Headquarters—His
Company—Light Batteries—Lightening Loads—The Chafed and
Footsore—Fording of Streams—The Same by Night—Personal
Reminiscences—“Close up!”—Marching in a Rainstorm—Camping
in a Rainstorm—Horses in the Rain and Sloughs—A Personal
Reminiscence—Flankers—“Column, halt!”—Double quick!—“They’ve
found um” 330
CHAPTER XIX.
ARMY WAGON TRAINS.
Grant’s Military Railroad—The Impedimenta—An Army Wagon—An
Army Minstrel Troupe—The Transportation of a Regiment—What
They Originally Carried—Baggage Trains on the Peninsula—Chaos
Illustrated—The Responsibility of Train Officers—What
They had to Contend with—The Struggle for the Lead—Depot
of Transportation—The Officers of the Quartermaster’s
Department—What Wagons Took Into the Wilderness—The Allowance
on the Final Campaign—Incident—Early Order of McClellan—General
Orders, No. 153—The Beginning of the Supply Trains—What General
Rufus Ingalls Did—Meade’s General Orders, No. 83—Strength
of a Corps Supply Train—Of the Army—Its Extent—Its Place on
the March—A Reminiscence of the Race for Centreville—General
Wadsworth’s Bull Train—Its Rise and Fall—Trials of a Train
Quartermaster—He Runs Counter to Meade and Sheridan in the
Discharge of his Duty 350
CHAPTER XX.
ARMY ROAD AND BRIDGE BUILDERS.
The Engineer Corps—Their Duties—Corduroying—Trestle
Bridges—Slashing—Making of Gabions, etc.—As Pontoniers—Xerxes
as an Early Pontonier—His Bridge over the Hellespont
Described—Our Earliest Pontoon—Bridges of Canvas Boats; of
Wooden Boats—Pontoon Bridge Material Described—Balks, Bays,
Chesses, Rack Lashings—Pontoon Train—Pontoon Bridge Building
Described—Taking Up a Pontoon Bridge—The ’62 Bridge over the
Chickahominy—Over the James—Pontoon Bridge Laying before
Fredericksburg—The Stability of such Bridges—Incident—Life of
an Engineer 377
CHAPTER XXI.
TALKING FLAGS AND TORCHES.
Old Glory—Signal Flags—The Signal Corps—Its Use—Its
Origin—The Kit—The Talking—The Code—A Signal Party—Sending
a Message—Receiving a Message—The Torch—General Corse’s
Despatch—Signal Stations—Lookouts before Petersburg—“Which
one?”—What Longstreet Said—What a Paper Correspondent
Did—Reading the Rebel Signal Code—Signal Station at
Poolesville, Md.—The Perils of Signal Men—Death of a Signal
Officer—At Little Round Top—Anecdote of Grant 394
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page.
1. General Grant reprimanded by a Lieutenant _Frontispiece_
2. Rending the Flag 15
3. A Bell-and-Everett Campaigner 16
4. Southerners discussing the Situation 17
5. A Lincoln Wide-Awake 20
6. “Nayther av us” 21
7. The Minute Man of ’61 23
8. Sweet Little Men of ’61 27
9. Adjutant Hinks notifying Captain Knott V. Martin 29
10. Captain Martin’s Company on its way to Faneuil Hall 31
11. A Drum 33
12. A Dismounted Cavalryman 34
13. A War Meeting 39
14. A Bugle 42
15. On the Lookout 43
16. Mustering in Recruits 44
17. Readville Barracks (from a photograph) 45
18. Sibley Tents 46
19. A, or Wedge Tents 48
20. Spooning Together 49
21. The Hospital or Wall Tent 50
22. Officer’s Wall Tent with Fly 51
23. The Dog or Shelter Tent 52
24. Shelters as sometimes Pitched in Summer 53
25. Shaded Shelters 54
26. A Poncho on 55
27. A Chimney on Fire 56
28. A common Bomb Proof 57
29. A 13-inch Mortar 58
30. A Bomb Proof in Fort Hell before Petersburg, Va. 59
31. A Sleeping Soldier 60
32. Two of a Kind 61
33. Sibley Tent—inside view 62
34. Writing Home 63
35. Stockaded A Tents 66
36. Drafting 68
37. The Camp Minstrels 70
38. Our Silverware 72
39. Building a Log Hut 73
40. Inside View of a Log Hut 75
41. Army Candlesticks 77
42. Pediculus Vestimenti 80
43. (K)nitting Work 81
44. “Turning Him Over” 82
45. Boiling Them 83
46. A Wood-Tick 83
47. Cleaning Up 84
48. A Housewife 86
49. The Camp Barber 88
50. The Musket on Hooks 89
51. “Beating It” 90
52. The Jonah Spilling Pea-Soup 92
53. The Camp Fire before the Jonah Appears 93
54. The Camp Fire after the Jonah Appears 94
55. The Unlucky Man 95
56. Going after Water 96
57. The Rheumatic Dodge 100
58. Water for the Cook-House 101
59. The High-tempered Man 104
60. The Paper-collar Young Man 105
61. The Mourners 106
62. “Hurrah without the H” 107
63. Off for the War 108
64. The Cooper Shop, Philadelphia 109
65. The Union Volunteer Saloon, Philadelphia 111
66. A Brigade Commissary at Brandy Station, Va. 113
67. A Hardtack—full size 114
68. A Box of Hardtack 116
69. Frying Hardtack 117
70. An Army Oven 120
71. Soft-Bread, Commissary Department Headquarters, Army of
Potomac 121
72. Apportioning Coffee and Sugar 122
73. The Milk Ration 125
74. The Company Cook 126
75. Going into Camp 127
76. Broiling Steaks 133
77. Mess-kettles and Mess-pans 136
78. A Coffee-cooler 142
79. A Ball and Chain Victim 143
80. Carrying a Log 144
81. Bucked and Gagged 146
82. Posted 147
83. A Loaded Knapsack 148
84. Isolated on a Platform 148
85. On the Spare Wheel 149
86. On a Wooden Horse 150
87. In the Sweat-box 151
88. On the Chines 152
89. A Wooden Overcoat 153
90. Strapped to a Stick 154
91. Drumming out of Camp 155
92. Tied Up by the Thumbs 156
93. A Plan of the Troops at an Execution 158
94. Death of a Deserter 159
95. Digging a Sink 163
96. Waiting for Headquarters 164
97. A Canteen Wash 166
98. Fall in for Roll-call 167
99. At the Grain Pile 170
100. “Fall in for your Quinine” 175
101. The Picket-Rope 176
102. Going to Water 188
103. Stockaded Sibley Tents 192
104. Taps 197
105. A Raw Recruit 198
106. A Wood Detail 203
107. Recruits in Uniform 205
108. A Spare Man with Spare Horses 207
109. Drilling the Awkward Squad 208
110. Drafted 215
111. Indifferent to Consequences 216
112. Opening a Box from Home 217
113. A Wagon-load of Boxes 220
114. We Drank from the same Canteen 223
115. A Sutler’s Tent (from a war-time photograph) 225
116. Cooking Pancakes 226
117. Serving out Rations at the Cook’s Shanty 228
118. Departed Joys 230
119. Vis-a-vis 231
120. A Discovery, Act I. 233
121. A Discovery, Act II. 233
122. Going to Army Headquarters 236
123. A Corn-Barn and Hayrick 238
124. Tobacco Drying-Houses 239
125. Scene at a Wayside Farm-House 243
126. No Joke 246
127. The Turkey He Didn’t Catch 247
128. A Dilemma 248
129. The Soldier’s Friends 249
130. Logan’s Corps Badge 250
131. A Color-plate of Corps Badges, opposite 258
132. St. Andrew’s Cross 259
133. A Color-plate of Corps Badges, opposite 260
134. An original Ninth Corps Badge 261
135. Eleventh and Twelfth Corps Badges combined 261
136. A Color-plate of Corps Badges, opposite 262
137. First and Fifth Corps Badges combined 263
138. A Color-plate of Corps Badges, opposite 264
139. A Color-plate of Corps Badges, opposite 266
140. A Torpedo 269
141. A Gunboat 271
142. A Mortar Boat 272
143. A Double-turreted Monitor 273
144. A Havelock 276
145. A Haversack and Dipper 276
146. A Zouave 277
147. A Breech-Loader 278
148. A Long-eared Patriot 279
149. A Six-Mule Team 280
150. A Mule Eating an Overcoat 281
151. A Corral 283
152. Dismounted 284
153. Oats for Six 285
154. Dumped into the Potomac 288
155. The Rear-Guard of the Regiment 290
156. Mules Loaded with Ammunition 292
157. “But the noblest thing that perished there was that old Army
Mule” 294
158. Charge of the Mule Brigade 295
159. Loose 297
160. A Cot in the Hospital 298
161. A Two-wheeled Ambulance 302
162. A Four-wheeled Ambulance 305
163. A Medicine Wagon 307
164. A Folding Litter 309
165. A Stretcher 309
166. Placing a Wounded Man on a Stretcher 311
167. Carrying a Wounded Man to the Rear 312
168. Trying on Clothing 316
169. In Heavy Marching Order 318
170. Leading the Herd 322
171. The Last Steer 323
172. General Hancock at Ream’s Station 325
173. Real Horse Sense 328
174. A Buzzard’s Paradise 329
175. Striking Camp 330
176. Packing Up 332
177. Waiting for Marching Orders 335
178. Color-plate of Second Corps Flags, opposite 340
179. A Footsore Straggler 343
180. “Headquarters” in Trouble 345
181. The Flankers 347
182. A Halt of the Column 348
183. A Wagon Park 350
184. A Mule-Driver 352
185. Wagon Train on a Pontoon Bridge 359
186. Commissary Depot at Cedar Level 365
187. A Mule-team under Fire 367
188. The Bull Train 369
189. General Meade and the Quartermaster 373
190. Old Cronies 376
191. Present Badge of Engineer and Pontonier Corps 377
192. Corduroying 378
193. A Trestle Bridge, No. 1 379
194. A Trestle Bridge, No. 2 380
195. A Large Gabion 381
196. Fascines 381
197. Chevaux-de-frise 381
198. Abatis 382
199. The Fraise 382
200. A Canvas Pontoon Boat 384
201. An Angle of Fort Hell 385
202. A Wooden Pontoon 387
203. A Pontoon Bridge at Belle Plain, Va. 389
204. Poplar Grove Church 392
205. Bridging the Rappahannock under Fire 393
206. Signalling 394
207. A Flagman, Plate 1 396
208. A Flagman, Plate 2 397
209. A Flagman, Plate 3 397
210. A Signal Tree-Top 402
211. A Signal Tower, before Petersburg, Va. 403
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
CHAPTER I.
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
A score of millions hear the cry
And herald it abroad,
To arms they fly to do or die
For liberty and God.
E. P. DYER.
And yet they keep gathering and marching away!
Has the nation turned soldier—and all in a day?
There’s the father and son!
While the miller takes gun
With the dust of the wheat still whitening his hair;
Pray where are they going with this martial air?
F. E. BROOKS.
[Illustration]
On the 6th of November, 1860, Abraham Lincoln, the candidate of the
Republican party, was elected President of the United States, over
three opponents. The autumn of that year witnessed the most exciting
political canvass this country had ever seen. The Democratic party,
which had been in power for several years in succession, split into
factions and nominated two candidates. The northern Democrats nominated
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, who was an advocate of the doctrine of
_Squatter Sovereignty_, that is, the right of the people living in a
Territory which wanted admission into the Union as a State to decide for
themselves whether they would or would not have slavery.
The southern Democrats nominated John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, at
that time Vice-President of the United States. The doctrine which he and
his party advocated was the right to carry their slaves into every State
and Territory in the Union without any hindrance whatever. Then there
was still another party, called by some the _Peace Party_, which pointed
to the Constitution of the country as its guide, but had nothing to say
on the great question of slavery, which was so prominent with the other
parties. It took for its standard-bearer John Bell, of Tennessee; and
Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, was nominated as Vice-President. This
party drew its membership from both of the others, but largely from the
Democrats.
[Illustration: A BELL AND EVERETT CAMPAIGNER.]
Owing to these divisions the Republican party, which had not been in
existence many years, was enabled to elect its candidate. The Republicans
did not intend to meddle with slavery where it then was but opposed its
extension into any _new_ States and Territories. This latter fact was
very well known to the slave-holders, and so they voted almost solidly
for John C. Breckenridge. But it was very evident to them, after the
Democratic party divided, that the Republicans would succeed, and so,
long before the election actually took place, they began to make threats
of seceding from the Union if Lincoln was elected. Freedom of speech was
not tolerated in these States, and northern people who were down South
for business or pleasure, if they expressed opinions in opposition to
the popular political sentiments of that section, were at once warned to
leave. Hundreds came North immediately to seek personal safety, often
leaving possessions of great value behind them. Even native southerners
who believed thoroughly in the Union—and there were hundreds of such—were
not allowed to say so. This class of people suffered great indignities
during the war, on account of their loyalty to the old flag. Many of
them were driven by insult and abuse to take up arms for a cause with
which they did not sympathize, deserting it at the earliest opportunity,
while others held out to the bitter end, or sought a refuge from such
persecution in the Union lines.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF SOUTHERNERS DISCUSSING THE SITUATION.]
As early as the 25th of October, several southerners who were or had been
prominent in politics met in South Carolina, and decided by a unanimous
vote that the State should withdraw from the Union in the event of
Lincoln’s election, which then seemed almost certain. Some other States
held similar meetings about the same date. Thus early did the traitor
leaders prepare the South for disunion. These men were better known at
that time as “Fire-eaters.”
As soon as Lincoln’s election was announced, without waiting to see
what his policy towards the slave States was going to be, the impetuous
leaders at the South addressed themselves at once to the carrying out of
their threats; and South Carolina, followed, at intervals more or less
brief, by Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and Texas,
seceded from the Union, and organized what was known as the Southern
Confederacy. Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee seceded
later. The people at the North stood amazed at the rapidity with which
treason against the government was spreading, and the loyal Union-loving
men began to inquire where President Buchanan was at this time, whose
duty it was to see that all such uprisings were crushed out; and “Oh for
one hour of Andrew Jackson in the President’s chair!” was the common
exclamation, because that decided and unyielding soldier-President had
so promptly stamped out threatened rebellion in South Carolina, when she
had refused to allow the duties to be collected at Charleston. But that
outbreak in its proportions was to this one as an infant to a giant, and
it is quite doubtful if Old Hickory himself, with his promptness to act
in an emergency, could have stayed the angry billows of rebellion which
seemed just ready to break over the nation. But at any rate he would have
attempted it, even if he had gone down in the fight,—at least so thought
the people.
The very opposite of such a President was James Buchanan, who seemed
anxious only for his term of office to expire, making little effort
to save the country, nor even willing, at first, that others should
do so. With a traitor for his Secretary of War, the South had been
well supplied with arms under the very nose of the old man. With a
traitor for his Secretary of the Navy, our vessels—not many in number,
it is true—had been sent into foreign waters, where they could not be
immediately recalled. With a traitor as Secretary of the Treasury, the
public treasury had been emptied. Then, too, there began the seizure of
arsenals, mints, custom-houses, post-offices, and fortifications within
the limits of the seceding States, and still the President did nothing,
or worse than nothing, claiming that the South was wrong in its acts,
but that he had no right to prevent treason and secession, or, in the
phraseology of that day, “no right to coerce a sovereign State.” And so
at last he left the office a disgraced old man, for whom few had or have
a kind word to offer.
[Illustration: A LINCOLN WIDE AWAKE.]
Such, briefly, was the condition of affairs when Abraham Lincoln, fearful
of his life, which had been threatened, entered Washington under cover
of darkness, and quietly assumed the duties of his office. Never before
were the people of this country in such a state of excitement. At the
North there were a large number who boldly denounced the “Long-heeled
Abolitionists” and “Black Republicans” for having stirred up this
trouble. I was not a voter at the time of Lincoln’s election, but I had
taken an active part in the torchlight parades of the “Wide-awakes” and
“Rail-splitters,” as the political clubs of the Republicans were called,
and so came in for a share of the abuse showered upon the followers of
the new President. As fresh deeds of violence or new aggressions against
the government were reported from the daily papers in the shop where I
was then employed, some one who was not a “Lincolnite” would exclaim,
in an angry tone; “I hope you fellows are satisfied now. I don’t blame
the South an atom. They have been driven to desperation by such lunatics
as Garrison and Phillips, and these men ought to be hung for it.”...
“If there is a war, I hope you and every other Black Republican will be
made to go and fight for the niggers all you want to.”... “You like the
niggers so well you’ll marry one of them yet.”... And, “I want to see
those hot-headed Abolitionists put into the front rank, and shot first.”
These are mild quotations from the daily conversations, had not only
where I was employed, but in every other shop and factory in the North.
Such wordy contests were by no means one-sided affairs; for the assailed,
while not anxious for war, were not afraid of it, and were amply supplied
with arguments with which they answered and enraged their antagonists;
and if they did not always silence them, they drove them into making
just such ridiculous remarks as the foregoing. If I were asked who
these men were, I should not call them by name. They were my neighbors
and my friends, but they are changed men to-day. There is not one of
them who, in the light of later experiences, is not heartily ashamed of
his attitude at that time. Many of them afterwards went to the field,
and, sad to say, are there yet. But this was the period of the most
intemperate and abusive language. Those who sympathized with the South
were, some months later, called Copperheads. Lincoln and his party were
reviled by these men without any restraint except such as personal shame
and self-respect might impose; and these qualities were conspicuously
absent. Nothing was too harsh to utter against Republicans. No fate was
too evil for their political opponents to wish them.
Of course all of these revilers were not sincere in their ill-wishes,
but the effect of their utterances on the community was just as evil;
and the situation of the new President, at its best a perplexing and
critical one, was thus made all the harder, by leading him to believe
that a multitude of the citizens at the North would obstruct instead of
supporting him. It also gave the slave-holders the impression that a very
considerable number of northern men were ready to aid them in prosecuting
their treasonable schemes. But now the rapid march of events wrought a
change in the opinions of the people in both sections.
[Illustration: “NAYTHER AV US.”]
The leading Abolitionists had argued that the South was too cowardly to
fight for slavery; and the South had been told by the “Fire-eaters” and
its northern friends that the North could not be kicked into fighting;
that in case war should arise she would have her hands full to keep
her enemies _at home_ in check. Alas! how little did either party
understand the temper of the other! How much like that story of the two
Irishmen.—Meeting one day in the army, one says, “How are you, Mike?”
“How are you, Pat?” says the other. “But my name is not Pat,” said the
first speaker. “Nather is mine Mike,” said the second. “Faix, thin,”
said the first, “it musht be nayther of us.”
Nothing could better illustrate the attitude of the North and South
towards each other than this anecdote. Nothing could have been more
perfect than this mutual misunderstanding each displayed of the temper of
the other, as the stride of events soon showed.
The story of how Major Anderson removed his little band of United States
troops from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, for
reasons of greater safety, is a familiar one, likewise how the rebels
fired upon a vessel sent by the President with supplies intended for
it; and, finally, after a severe bombardment of several days, how they
compelled the fort to surrender. It was these events which opened the
eyes of the “Northern Doughfaces,” as those who sympathized with the
South were often called, to the real intent of the Seceders. A change
came over the spirit of their dreams. Patriotism, love of the Union, at
last came uppermost. They had heard it proposed to divide the old flag,
giving a part to each section. They had seen a picture of the emblem thus
rent, and it was not a pleasing one. Soon the greater portion of them
ceased their sneers and ill-wishes, and joined in the general demand that
something be done at once to assert the majesty and power of the national
government. Even President Lincoln, who, in his inaugural address,
had counselled his “countrymen, one and all, to take time and think
calmly and well upon this whole subject,” had come to feel that further
forbearance was no virtue, and that a decent respect for this great
nation and for his office as President demanded that something should be
done speedily. So on the 15th of April he issued a proclamation calling
out 75,000 militia, for three months, to suppress the Rebellion, and to
cause the laws to be executed.
Having been a Massachusetts soldier, it is but natural that I should
refer occasionally to her part in the opening of this momentous crisis
in the country’s history, as being more familiar to me than the record
of any other State. Yet, proud as I am of her conspicuous services in
the early war period, I have no desire to extol them at the expense of
Pennsylvania, New York, and Rhode Island, who so promptly pressed forward
and touched elbows with her in this emergency; nor of those other great
Western States, whose sturdy patriots so promptly crossed Mason’s and
Dixon’s line in such serried ranks at the summons of Father Abraham.
[Illustration: THE MINUTE MAN OF ’61.]
It has often been asked how Massachusetts, so much farther from the
National Capital than any of the other States, should have been so prompt
in coming to its assistance. Let me give some idea of how it happened.
In December, 1860, Adjutant-General Schouler of that State, in his
annual report, suggested to Governor (afterwards General) N. P. Banks,
that as events were then occurring which might require that the militia
of Massachusetts should be increased in number, it would be well for
commanders of companies to forward to head-quarters a complete roll of
each company, with their names and residence, and that companies not full
should be recruited to the limit fixed by law, which was then one hundred
and one for infantry. Shortly afterwards John A. Andrew, now known in
history as the _Great War Governor_ of Massachusetts, assumed the duties
of his office. He was not only a leading Republican before the war, but
an Abolitionist as well. He seemed to clearly foresee that the time for
threats and arguments had gone by, and that the time for action was at
hand. So on the 16th of January he issued an order (No. 4) which had for
its object to ascertain exactly how many of the officers and men in the
militia would hold themselves ready to respond immediately to any call
which might be made upon their services by the President. All who were
not ready to do so were discharged at once, and their places filled by
others. Thus it was that Massachusetts for the second time in her history
prepared her “Minute Men” to take the field at a minute’s notice.
This general order of the Governor’s, although a very wise one as it
proved, carried dismay into the ranks of the militia, for there were in
Massachusetts, as in other States, very many men who had made valiant and
well disciplined _peace_ soldiers, who, now that one of the real needs
of a well organized militia was upon us, were not at all thirsty for
further military glory. But pride stood in the way of their frankness.
They were ashamed in this hour of their country’s peril to withdraw from
the militia, for they feared to face public opinion. Yet there were men
who had good and sufficient reasons for declining to pledge themselves
for instant military service, at least until there was a more general
demand for troops. They were loyal and worthy citizens, and could not
in a moment cast aside or turn their back on their business or domestic
responsibilities, and in a season of calmer reflection it would not have
been expected of them. But the public pulse was then at fever-heat, and
reason was having a vacation.
General Order No. 4 was, I believe, the first important step taken by
the State in preparing for the crisis. The next was the passage of a
bill by the Legislature, which was approved by the Governor April 3,
appropriating $25,000 for “overcoats, blankets, knapsacks, 200,000 ball
cartridges, etc., for two thousand troops.” These supplies were soon
ready. The militiamen then owned their uniforms, and, as no particular
kind was prescribed, no two companies of the same regiment were of
necessity uniformed alike. It is only a few years since uniformity of
dress has been required of the militia in Massachusetts.
But to return to that memorable 15th of April. War, that much talked-of,
much dreaded calamity was at last upon us. Could it really be so? We
would not believe it; and yet daily happenings forced the unwelcome
conclusion upon us. It seemed so strange. We had nothing in our
experience to compare it with. True, some of us had dim remembrances of
a Mexican war in our early childhood, but as Massachusetts sent only one
regiment to that war, and that saw no fighting, and, besides, did not
receive the sympathy and support of the people in the State generally, we
only remembered that there was a Scott, and a Taylor, and a Santa Aña,
from the colored prints we had seen displayed of these worthies; so that
we could only run back in memory to the stories and traditions of the
wars of the Revolution and 1812, in which our ancestry had served, for
anything like a vivid picture of what was about to occur, and this, of
course, was utterly inadequate to do the subject justice.
I have already stated that General Order No. 4 carried dismay into many
hearts, causing the more timid to withdraw from military service at
once. A great many more would have withdrawn at the same time had they
not been restrained by pride and the lingering hope that there would be
no war after all; but this very day (the 15th) came Special Order No.
14, from Governor Andrew, ordering the Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth
Regiments to assemble on Boston Common forthwith. This was the final
test of the militiamen’s actual courage and thirst for glory, and a
severe one it proved to many of them, for at this eleventh hour there was
another falling-out along the line. But the moment a man’s declination
for further service was made known, unless his reasons were of the very
best, straightway he was hooted at for his cowardice, and for a time his
existence was made quite unpleasant in his own immediate neighborhood.
If he had been a commissioned officer, his face was likely to appear in
an illustrated paper, accompanied by the statement that he had “shown
the white feather,”—another term for cowardice. A reference to any file
of illustrated papers of those days will show a large number of such
persons. Such gratuitous advertising by a generally loyal, though not
always discreet press did some men gross injustice; for, as already
intimated, many of the men thus publicly sketched and denounced were
among the most worthy and loyal of citizens. A little later than the
period of which I am treating, Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the following
poem, hitting off a certain limited class in the community:—
THE SWEET LITTLE MAN.
_Dedicated to the Stay-at-Home Rangers._
Now while our soldiers are fighting our battles,
Each at his post to do all that he can,
Down among Rebels and contraband chattels,
What are you doing, my sweet little man?
All the brave boys under canvas are sleeping;
All of them pressing to march with the van,
Far from the home where their sweethearts are weeping;
What are you waiting for, sweet little man?
You with the terrible warlike moustaches,
Fit for a colonel or chief of a clan,
You with the waist made for sword-belts and sashes,
Where are your shoulder-straps, sweet little man?
Bring him the buttonless garment of woman!
Cover his face lest it freckle and tan;
Muster the Apron-string Guards on the Common,—
That is the corps for the sweet little man!
Give him for escort a file of young misses,
Each of them armed with a deadly rattan;
They shall defend him from laughter and hisses,
Aimed by low boys at the sweet little man.
All the fair maidens about him shall cluster,
Pluck the white feather from bonnet and fan,
Make him a plume like a turkey-wing duster,—
That is the crest for the sweet little man.
Oh, but the Apron-string Guards are the fellows!
Drilling each day since our trouble began,—
“Handle your walking-sticks!” “Shoulder umbrellas!”
That is the style for the sweet little man.
Have we a nation to save? In the first place
Saving ourselves is the sensible plan.
Surely, the spot where there’s shooting’s the worst place
Where I can stand, says the sweet little man.
Catch me confiding my person with strangers,
Think how the cowardly Bull-Runners ran!
In the brigade of the Stay-at-home Rangers
Marches my corps, says the sweet little man.
Such was the stuff of the Malakoff takers,
Such were the soldiers that scaled the Redan;
Truculent housemaids and bloodthirsty Quakers
Brave not the wrath of the sweet little man!
Yield him the sidewalk, ye nursery maidens!
_Sauve qui peut!_ Bridget, and Right about! Ann;—
Fierce as a shark in a school of menhadens,
See him advancing, the sweet little man!
When the red flails of the battlefield’s threshers
Beat out the continent’s wheat from its bran,
While the wind scatters the chaffy seceshers,
What will become of our sweet little man?
When the brown soldiers come back from the borders,
How will he look while his features they scan?
How will he feel when he gets marching orders,
Signed by his lady love? sweet little man.
Fear not for him though the Rebels expect him,—
Life is too precious to shorten its span;
Woman her broomstick shall raise to protect him,
Will she not fight for the sweet little man!
Now, then, nine cheers for the Stay-at-home Ranger!
Blow the great fish-horn and beat the big pan!
First in the field, that is farthest from danger,
Take your white feather plume, sweet little man!
[Illustration: SWEET LITTLE MEN OF ’61.]
The 16th of April was a memorable day in the history of the Old Bay
State,—a day made more uncomfortable by the rain and sleet which were
falling with disagreeable constancy. Well do I remember the day.
Possessing an average amount of the fire and enthusiasm of youth, I had
asked my father’s consent to go out with Company A of the old Fourth
Regiment, which belonged to my native town. But he would not give ear
to any such “nonsense,” and, having been brought up to obey his orders,
although of military age (18), I did not enter the service in the first
rally. This company did not go with full ranks. There were few that did.
Several of my shopmates were in its membership. As those of us who
remained gathered at the windows that stormy forenoon to see the company
go by, the sight filled us with the most gloomy forebodings.
[Illustration: ADJUTANT HINKS NOTIFYING CAPTAIN KNOTT V. MARTIN.]
So the troops went forth from the towns in the shore counties of
Massachusetts. Most of the companies in the regiments that were called
reported for duty at Boston this very 16th—two companies from Marblehead
being the first to arrive. One of these companies was commanded by
Captain Knott V. Martin, who was engaged in slaughtering hogs when
Adjutant (now Major-General) E. W. Hinks rode up and instructed him
to report on Boston Common in the morning. Drawing the knife from the
throat of a hog, the Captain uttered an exclamation which has passed
into history, threw the knife with a light toss to the floor, went
immediately and notified his Orderly Sergeant, and then returned to his
butchering. In the morning he and his company were ready for business.
But their relatives who remained at home could not look calmly on the
departure of these dear ones, who were going no one knew just where,
and would return—perhaps never; so there were many touching scenes
witnessed at the various railway stations, as the men boarded the trains
for Boston. When these Marblehead companies arrived at that city the
enthusiasm was something unprecedented, and as a new detachment appeared
in the streets it was cheered to the echo all along its line of march.
The early months of the war were stirring ones for Boston; for not only
did the most of the Massachusetts regiments march through her streets
_en route_ for the seat of war, but also the troops from Maine and New
Hampshire as well, so that a regiment halted for rest on the Common, or
marching to the strain of martial music to some railway station, was at
times a daily occurrence.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN KNOTT V. MARTIN’S COMPANY ON ITS WAY TO FANEUIL
HALL.]
It has always seemed to me that the “Three months men” have never
received half the credit which the worth of their services to the country
deserved. The fact of their having been called out for so short a time
as compared with the troops that came after them, and of their having
seen little or no fighting, places them at a disadvantage. But to have
so suddenly left all, and gone to the defence of the Capital City, with
no knowledge of what was in store for them, and impelled by no other
than the most patriotic of motives, seems to me fully as praiseworthy
as to have gone later under the pressure of urgent need, when the full
stress of war was upon us, and when its realities were better known, and
the inducements to enlist greater in some other respects. There is no
doubt whatever but what the prompt appearance of these short-term men
not only saved the Capital, but that it served also to show the Rebels
that the North at short call could send a large and comparatively well
equipped force into the field, and was ready to back its words by deeds.
Furthermore, these soldiers gave the government time to catch its breath,
as it were, and, looking the issue squarely in the face, to decide upon
some settled plan of action.
[Illustration]