importance: all its houses were shut up; but the natives were in the
streets, or at the upper windows, looking in a scowling and bewildered
manner at the Confederate troops, who were marching gaily past to the
tune of Dixie's Land. The women (many of whom were pretty and well
dressed) were particularly sour and disagreeable in their remarks. I
heard one of them say, "Look at Pharaoh's army going to the Red Sea."
Others were pointing and laughing at Hood's ragged Jacks, who were
passing at the time. This division, well known for its fighting
qualities, is composed of Texans, Alabamians, and Arkansians, and they
certainly are a queer lot to look at. They carry less than any other
troops; many of them have only got an old piece of carpet or rug as
baggage; many have discarded their shoes in the mud; all are ragged and
dirty, but full of good-humour and confidence in themselves and in their
general, Hood. They answered the numerous taunts of the Chambersburg
ladies with cheers and laughter. One female had seen fit to adorn her
ample bosom with a huge Yankee flag, and she stood at the door of her
house, her countenance expressing the greatest contempt for the
barefooted Rebs; several companies passed her without taking any notice;
but at length a Texan gravely remarked, "Take care, madam, for Hood's
boys are great at storming breastworks when the Yankee colours is on
them." After this speech the patriotic lady beat a precipitate retreat.
Sentries were placed at the doors of all the principal houses, and the
town was cleared of all but the military passing through or on duty.
Some of the troops marched straight through the town, and bivouacked on
the Carlisle road. Others turned off to the right, and occupied the
Gettysburg turnpike. I found Generals Lee and Longstreet encamped on the
latter road, three-quarters of a mile from the town.
General Longstreet and his Staff at once received me into their mess,
and I was introduced to Major Fairfax, Major Latrobe, and Captain Rogers
of his personal Staff; also to Major Moses, the Chief Commissary, whose
tent I am to share. He is the most jovial, amusing, and clever son of
Israel I ever had the good fortune to meet. The other officers on
Longstreet's Headquarter Staff are Colonel Sorrell, Lieutenant-Colonel
Manning (ordnance officer), Major Walton, Captain Goree, and Major
Clark, all excellent good fellows, and most hospitable.[54]
Lawley is to live with three doctors on the Headquarter Staff: their
names are Cullen, Barksdale, and Maury; they form a jolly trio, and live
much more luxuriously than their generals.
Major Moses tells me that his orders are to open the stores in
Chambersburg by force, and seize all that is wanted for the army in a
regular and official manner, giving in return its value in Confederate
money on a receipt. The storekeepers have doubtless sent away their most
valuable goods on the approach of the Confederate army. Much also has
been already seized by Ewell, who passed through nearly a week ago. But
Moses was much elated at having already discovered a large supply of
excellent felt hats, hidden away in a cellar, which he "annexed" at
once.
I was told this evening the numbers which have crossed the Potomac, and
also the number of pieces of artillery. There is a large train of
ammunition; for if the army advances any deeper into the enemy's
country, General Lee cannot expect to keep his communications open to
the rear; and as the Staff officers say, "In every battle we fight we
must capture as much ammunition as we use." This necessity, however,
does not seem to disturb them, as it has hitherto been their regular
style of doing business.
Ewell, after the capture of Winchester, had advanced rapidly into
Pennsylvania, and has already sent back great quantities of horses,
mules, waggons, beeves, and other necessaries; he is now at or beyond
Carlisle, laying the country under contribution, and making Pennsylvania
support the war, instead of poor, used-up, and worn-out Virginia. The
corps of Generals A.P. Hill and Longstreet are now near this place, all
full of confidence and in high spirits.
[54] Having lived at the Headquarters of all the principal Confederate
Generals, I am able to affirm that the relation between their Staffs and
themselves, and the way the duty is carried on, is very similar to what
it is in the British army. All the Generals--Johnston, Bragg, Polk,
Hardee, Longstreet, and Lee--are thorough soldiers, and their Staffs are
composed of gentlemen of position and education, who have now been
trained into excellent and zealous Staff officers.
* * * * *
_28th June_ (Sunday).--No officer or soldier under the rank of a general
is allowed into Chambersburg without a special order from General Lee,
which he is very chary of giving; and I hear of officers of rank being
refused this pass.
Moses proceeded into town at 11 A.M., with an official requisition for
three days' rations for the whole army in this neighbourhood. These
rations he is to seize by force, if not voluntarily supplied.
I was introduced to General Hood this morning; he is a tall, thin,
wiry-looking man, with a grave face and a light-coloured beard,
thirty-three years old, and is accounted one of the best and most
promising officers in the army. By his Texan and Alabamian troops he is
adored; he formerly commanded the Texan Brigade, but has now been
promoted to the command of a division. His troops are accused of being a
wild set, and difficult to manage; and it is the great object of the
chiefs to check their innate plundering propensities by every means in
their power.
I went into Chambersburg at noon, and found Lawley ensconced in the
Franklin Hotel. Both he and I had much difficulty in getting into that
establishment--the doors being locked, and only opened with the greatest
caution. Lawley had had a most painful journey in the ambulance
yesterday, and was much exhausted. No one in the hotel would take the
slightest notice of him, and all scowled at me in a most disagreeable
manner. Half-a-dozen Pennsylvanian viragos surrounded and assailed me
with their united tongues to a deafening degree. Nor would they believe
me when I told them I was an English spectator and a noncombatant: they
said I must be either a Rebel or a Yankee--by which expression I learned
for the first time that the term Yankee is as much used as a reproach in
Pennsylvania as in the South. The sight of gold, which I exchanged for
their greenbacks, brought about a change, and by degrees they became
quite affable. They seemed very ignorant, and confused Texans with
Mexicans.
After leaving Lawley pretty comfortable, I walked about the town and
witnessed the pressing operations of Moses and his myrmidons. Neither
the Mayor nor the corporation were to be found anywhere, nor were the
keys of the principal stores forthcoming until Moses began to apply the
axe. The citizens were lolling about the streets in a listless manner,
and showing no great signs of discontent. They had left to their women
the task of resisting the commissaries--a duty which they were fully
competent to perform. No soldiers but those on duty were visible in the
streets.
In the evening I called again to see Lawley, and found in his room an
Austrian officer, in the full uniform of the Hungarian hussars. He had
got a year's leave of absence, and has just succeeded in crossing the
Potomac, though not without much trouble and difficulty. When he stated
his intention of wearing his uniform, I explained to him the invariable
custom of the Confederate soldiers, of never allowing the smallest
peculiarity of dress or appearance to pass without a torrent of jokes,
which, however good-humoured, ended in becoming rather monotonous.
I returned to camp at 6 P.M. Major Moses did not get back till very
late, much depressed at the ill-success of his mission. He had searched
all day most indefatigably, and had endured much contumely from the
Union ladies, who called him "a thievish little rebel scoundrel," and
other opprobrious epithets. But this did not annoy him so much as the
manner in which everything he wanted had been sent away or hidden in
private houses, which he was not allowed by General Lee's order to
search. He had only managed to secure a quantity of molasses, sugar, and
whisky. Poor Moses was thoroughly exhausted; but he endured the chaff of
his brother officers with much good-humour, and they made him
continually repeat the different names he had been called. He said that
at first the women refused his Confederate "trash" with great scorn, but
they ended in being very particular about the odd cents.
* * * * *
_29th June_ (Monday).--We are still at Chambersburg. Lee has issued a
remarkably good order on non-retaliation, which is generally well
received; but I have heard of complaints from fire-eaters, who want
vengeance for their wrongs; and when one considers the numbers of
officers and soldiers with this army who have been totally ruined by the
devastations of Northern troops, one cannot be much surprised at this
feeling.
I went into Chambersburg again, and witnessed the singularly good
behaviour of the troops towards the citizens. I heard soldiers saying to
one another, that they did not like being in a town in which they were
very naturally detested. To any one who has seen _as I have_ the ravages
of the Northern troops in Southern towns, this forbearance seems most
commendable and surprising. Yet these Pennsylvanian Dutch[55] don't seem
the least thankful, and really appear to be unaware that their own
troops have been for two years treating Southern towns with ten times
more harshness. They are the most unpatriotic people I ever saw, and
openly state that they don't care which side wins provided they are left
alone. They abuse Lincoln tremendously.
Of course, in such a large army as this there must be many instances of
bad characters, who are always ready to plunder and pillage whenever
they can do so without being caught: the stragglers, also, who remain
behind when the army has left, will doubtless do much harm. It is
impossible to prevent this; but everything that can be done is done to
protect private property and non-combatants, and I can say, from my own
observation, with wonderful success. I hear instances, however, in which
soldiers meeting well-dressed citizens have made a "long arm" and
changed hats, much to the disgust of the latter, who are still more
annoyed when an exchange of boots is also proposed: their superfine
broadcloth is never in any danger.
General Longstreet is generally a particularly taciturn man; but this
evening he and I had a long talk about Texas, where he had been
quartered a long time. He remembered many people whom I had met quite
well, and was much amused by the description of my travels through that
country. I complimented him upon the manner in which the Confederate
sentries do their duty, and said they were quite as strict as, and ten
times more polite than, regular soldiers. He replied, laughing, that a
sentry, after refusing you leave to enter a camp, might very likely, if
properly asked, show you another way in, by which you might avoid
meeting a sentry at all.
I saw General Pendleton and General Pickett to-day. Pendleton is Chief
of Artillery to the army, and was a West Pointer; but in more peaceable
times he fills the post of Episcopal clergyman in Lexington, Virginia.
Unlike General Polk, he unites the military and clerical professions
together, and continues to preach whenever he gets a chance. On these
occasions he wears a surplice over his uniform.
General Pickett commands one of the divisions in Longstreet's
corps.[56] He wears his hair in long ringlets, and is altogether rather
a desperate-looking character. He is the officer who, as Captain Pickett
of the U.S. army, figured in the difficulty between the British and
United States in the San Juan Island affair, under General Harney, four
or five years ago.
[55] This part of Pennsylvania is much peopled with the descendants of
Germans, who speak an unintelligible language.
[56] M'Laws, Hood, and Pickett are the three divisional commanders or
major-generals in Longstreet's _corps d'armée_.
[Illustration: GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE.]
* * * * *
_30th June_ (Tuesday).--This morning, before marching from
Chambersburg, General Longstreet introduced me to the Commander-in-Chief.
General Lee is, almost without exception, the handsomest man of his
age I ever saw. He is fifty-six years old, tall, broad-shouldered,
very well made, well set up--a thorough soldier in appearance; and
his manners are most courteous and full of dignity. He is a
perfect gentleman in every respect. I imagine no man has so few
enemies, or is so universally esteemed. Throughout the South, all agree
in pronouncing him to be as near perfection as a man can be. He has none
of the small vices, such as smoking, drinking, chewing, or swearing, and
his bitterest enemy never accused him of any of the greater ones. He
generally wears a well-worn long grey jacket, a high black felt hat, and
blue trousers tucked into his Wellington boots. I never saw him carry
arms;[57] and the only mark of his military rank are the three stars on
his collar. He rides a handsome horse, which is extremely well groomed.
He himself is very neat in his dress and person, and in the most arduous
marches he always looks smart and clean.[58]
In the old army he was always considered one of its best officers; and
at the outbreak of these troubles, he was Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2d
cavalry. He was a rich man, but his fine estate was one of the first to
fall into the enemy's hands. I believe he has never slept in a house
since he has commanded the Virginian army, and he invariably declines
all offers of hospitality, for fear the person offering it may
afterwards get into trouble for having sheltered the Rebel General. The
relations between him and Longstreet are quite touching--they are almost
always together. Longstreet's corps complain of this sometimes, as they
say that they seldom get a chance of detached service, which falls to
the lot of Ewell. It is impossible to please Longstreet more than by
praising Lee. I believe these two Generals to be as little ambitious and
as thoroughly unselfish as any men in the world. Both long for a
successful termination of the war, in order that they may retire into
obscurity. Stonewall Jackson (until his death the third in command of
their army) was just such another simple-minded servant of his country.
It is understood that General Lee is a religious man, though not so
demonstrative in that respect as Jackson; and, unlike his late brother
in arms, he is a member of the Church of England. His only faults, so
far as I can learn, arise from his excessive amiability.
Some Texan soldiers were sent this morning into Chambersburg to destroy
a number of barrels of excellent whisky, which could not be carried
away. This was a pretty good trial for their discipline, and they did
think it rather hard lines that the only time they had been allowed into
the enemy's town was for the purpose of destroying their beloved whisky.
However, they did their duty like good soldiers.
We marched six miles on the road towards Gettysburg, and encamped at a
village called (I think) Greenwood. I rode Lawley's old horse, he and
the Austrian using the doctor's ambulance. In the evening General
Longstreet told me that he had just received intelligence that Hooker
had been disrated, and that Meade was appointed in his place. Of course
he knew both of them in the old army, and he says that Meade is an
honourable and respectable man, though not, perhaps, so bold as Hooker.
I had a long talk with many officers about the approaching battle,
which evidently cannot now be delayed long, and will take place on this
road instead of in the direction of Harrisburg, as we had supposed.
Ewell, who has laid York as well as Carlisle under contribution, has
been ordered to reunite. Every one, of course, speaks with confidence. I
remarked that it would be a good thing for them if on this occasion they
had cavalry to follow up the broken infantry in the event of their
succeeding in beating them. But to my surprise they all spoke of their
cavalry as not efficient for that purpose. In fact, Stuart's men, though
excellent at making raids, capturing waggons and stores, and cutting off
communications, seem to have no idea of charging infantry under any
circumstances. Unlike the cavalry with Bragg's army, they wear swords,
but seem to have little idea of using them--they hanker after their
carbines and revolvers. They constantly ride with their swords between
their left leg and the saddle, which has a very funny appearance; but
their horses are generally good, and they ride well. The infantry and
artillery of this army don't seem to respect the cavalry very much, and
often jeer at them.
I was forced to abandon my horse here, as he was now lame in three legs,
besides having a very sore back.
[57] I never saw either Lee or Longstreet carry arms. A.P. Hill
generally wears a sword.
[58] I observed this during the three days' fighting at Gettysburg, and
in the retreat afterwards, when every one else looked, and was,
extremely dirty.
* * * * *
_1st July_ (Wednesday).--We did not leave our camp till noon, as nearly
all General Hill's corps had to pass our quarters on its march towards
Gettysburg. One division of Ewell's also had to join in a little beyond
Greenwood, and Longstreet's corps had to bring up the rear. During the
morning I made the acquaintance of Colonel Walton, who used to command
the well-known Washington Artillery, but he is now chief of artillery to
Longstreet's _corps d'armée_; he is a big man, _ci-devant_ auctioneer in
New Orleans, and I understand he pines to return to his hammer.
Soon after starting we got into a pass in the South mountain, a
continuation, I believe, of the Blue Ridge range, which is broken by the
Potomac at Harper's Ferry. The scenery through the pass is very fine.
The first troops, alongside of whom we rode, belonged to Johnson's
division of Ewell's corps. Among them I saw, for the first time, the
celebrated "Stonewall" Brigade, formerly commanded by Jackson. In
appearance the men differ little from other Confederate soldiers,
except, perhaps, that the brigade contains more elderly men and fewer
boys. All (except, I think, one regiment) are Virginians. As they have
nearly always been on detached duty, few of them knew General
Longstreet, except by reputation. Numbers of them asked me whether the
General in front was Longstreet; and when I answered in the affirmative,
many would run on a hundred yards in order to take a good look at him.
This I take to be an immense compliment from any soldier on a long
march.
At 2 P.M. firing became distinctly audible in our front, but although it
increased as we progressed, it did not seem to be very heavy. A spy who
was with us insisted upon there being "a pretty tidy bunch of
_bluebellies_ in or near Gettysburg," and he declared that he was in
their society three days ago.
After passing Johnson's division, we came up to a Florida Brigade, which
is now in Hill's corps; but as it had formerly served under Longstreet,
the men knew him well. Some of them (after the General had passed)
called out to their comrades, "Look out for work now, boys, for here's
the old bulldog again."
At 3 P.M. we began to meet wounded men coming to the rear, and the
number of these soon increased most rapidly, some hobbling alone, others
on stretchers carried by the ambulance corps, and others in the
ambulance waggons; many of the latter were stripped nearly naked, and
displayed very bad wounds. This spectacle, so revolting to a person
unaccustomed to such sights, produced no impression whatever upon the
advancing troops, who certainly go under fire with the most perfect
nonchalance: they show no enthusiasm or excitement, but the most
complete indifference. This is the effect of two years' almost
uninterrupted fighting.
We now began to meet Yankee prisoners coming to the rear in considerable
numbers: many of them were wounded, but they seemed already to be on
excellent terms with their captors, with whom they had commenced
swapping canteens, tobacco, &c. Among them was a Pennsylvanian colonel,
a miserable object from a wound in his face. In answer to a question, I
heard one of them remark, with a laugh, "We're pretty nigh whipped
already." We next came to a Confederate soldier carrying a Yankee
colour, belonging, I think, to a Pennsylvanian regiment, which he told
us he had just captured.
At 4.30 P.M. we came in sight of Gettysburg and joined General Lee and
General Hill, who were on the top of one of the ridges which form the
peculiar feature of the country round Gettysburg. We could see the enemy
retreating up one of the opposite ridges, pursued by the Confederates
with loud yells. The position into which the enemy had been driven was
evidently a strong one. His right appeared to rest on a cemetery, on the
top of a high ridge to the right of Gettysburg, as we looked at it.
General Hill now came up and told me he had been very unwell all day,
and in fact he looks very delicate. He said he had had two of his
divisions engaged, and had driven the enemy four miles into his present
position, capturing a great many prisoners, some cannon, and some
colours; he said, however, that the Yankees had fought with a
determination unusual to them. He pointed out a railway cutting, in
which they had made a good stand; also, a field in the centre of which
he had seen a man plant the regimental colour, round which the regiment
had fought for some time with much obstinacy, and when at last it was
obliged to retreat, the colour-bearer retired last of all, turning round
every now and then to shake his fist at the advancing rebels. General
Hill said he felt quite sorry when he saw this gallant Yankee meet his
doom.
General Ewell had come up at 3.30, on the enemy's right (with part of
his corps), and completed his discomfiture. General Reynolds, one of the
best Yankee generals, was reported killed. Whilst we were talking, a
message arrived from General Ewell, requesting Hill to press the enemy
in the front, while he performed the same operation on his right. The
pressure was accordingly applied in a mild degree, but the enemy were
too strongly posted, and it was too late in the evening for a regular
attack. The town of Gettysburg was now occupied by Ewell, and was full
of Yankee dead and wounded. I climbed up a tree in the most commanding
place I could find, and could form a pretty good general idea of the
enemy's position, although, the tops of the ridges being covered with
pine-woods, it was very difficult to see anything of the troops
concealed in them. The firing ceased about dark, at which time I rode
back with General Longstreet and his Staff to his headquarters at
Cashtown, a little village eight miles from Gettysburg. At that time
troops were pouring along the road, and were being marched towards the
position they are to occupy to-morrow.
In the fight to-day nearly 6000 prisoners had been taken, and 10 guns.
About 20,000 men must have been on the field on the Confederate side.
The enemy had two _corps d'armée_ engaged. All the prisoners belong, I
think, to the 1st and 11th corps. This day's work is called a "brisk
little scurry," and all anticipate a "big battle" to-morrow.
I observed that the artillerymen in charge of the horses dig themselves
little holes like graves, throwing up the earth at the upper end. They
ensconce themselves in these holes when under fire.
At supper this evening, General Longstreet spoke of the enemy's position
as being "very formidable." He also said that they would doubtless
intrench themselves strongly during the night.[59] The Staff officers
spoke of the battle as a certainty, and the universal feeling in the
army was one of profound contempt for an enemy whom they have beaten so
constantly, and under so many disadvantages.