MARRIAGE--THE RAID TOWARD RICHMOND
In November, 1863, Edward received a month's leave of absence from his
regiment, and during this time was married to Miss Anna Sands. The
ceremony was performed by the venerable Dr. Adams in Madison Square
church, and was followed by a large reception at the bride's home in
Seventeenth Street, New York. Leaving his bride there when the furlough
was over, my brother returned to his regiment.
In this letter, written just after reaching camp, he dwells upon some
of the contrasts of army life.
"After a long absence I experienced a decided thrill of pleasure on
finding myself once more among the white tents and familiar scenes
of the camp, for there is something very fascinating about army
life, notwithstanding its hardship and exposure. Very pleasant,
too, was the hearty welcome I received, and numberless great brown
hands, reeking with moisture and pork grease from the meal they
were superintending, gave me a grip that made my joints snap again.
Still I much preferred it to your fashionable Northern two-fingered
touch. It had a language whose meaning I liked. It showed I had the
first requisite for doing good amongst them--their confidence and
affection. I found only a part, though a large part, of my regiment
at this place, which is a dismounted cavalry camp, containing the
fragments of twenty or thirty regiments. Men whose horses have
given out or been killed at the front come here and remain till
they are again mounted and equipped, when they rejoin their
commands. Our stay here will probably be brief, for we are ordered
to the front as soon as possible.
"One Saturday morning the monotony of camp life was decidedly
broken. The day had been warm, and for a time the hum of camp
activity had subsided almost into silence. The orderlies went to
and fro as usual, but their horses had a listless, indolent canter,
characteristic of all exertion at such a time. But as the day
declined there were marks of unusual bustle at headquarters. A ball
was to be given that evening by the commanding officer. All
officers present of our regiment were invited. As far as I could
learn, music, dancing, and drinking were to be the staple
amusements of the evening. Not caring to participate in the two
latter, and as I could enjoy the first in my tent, I expected to
remain very quietly at my quarters. At dusk the revelry commenced.
At nine o'clock a carriage drove up to our quarters. It contained
Captain Downing of our regiment, who had just come in from the
front, bringing with him the dead body of one of our officers who
had been drowned while bathing. This was sad news indeed, for
Lieutenant Stewart was a good soldier and very popular. The captain
wished to see the officer in command of our detachment. I went up
to the headquarters to assist in finding him. All was gayety and
frolic there. It was truly a beautiful scene. The trees were hung
with Chinese lanterns of many colors. The guards paced backward and
forward on the spacious lawn, their arms glittering in the
moonlight, which glimmered through the grand old trees. In the
distance the Potomac lay like a silver lake, with here and there a
white sail upon its bosom. Over the green turf gayly dressed ladies
and officers in rich uniform were tripping some light measure,
while the clinking of glasses showed that the wine was passing
freely. No one could help enjoying the music from the full military
band.
"Having noted the picturesque beauty of the scene, and moralized to
myself awhile unnoticed among the throng, I thought I would step
over to the hospital and see how the sick boys were enjoying the
revel. It was not over fifty yards from the music-stand. Though it
might be pleasure to others, it was death to them. One poor fellow,
far gone with the typhoid fever, and excited by the music and
noise, was talking to himself in wild delirium. He has since died.
All were restless and sleepless. I said a few quieting words, and
was about leaving when a man asked me if I would not offer a
prayer. "I am not a Christian man," he remarked, "but I would like
to hear a prayer to-night." Of course I complied, and soon the
words of supplication were mingling with the gay notes of the
quickstep. I have seen the man since several times, and have good
reason to believe that he has become a sincere, earnest Christian.
The contrast in his two modes of life will be most marked. He told
me that when at home he would often take his wife to church, and
then ride on further and trade horses during the service, and call
for his wife on his return. As may be imagined, army life had not
improved his morals. Still the influence of his Christian wife
followed him, and during his days of sickness came back in tenfold
power, and the kindly Spirit of our merciful Father, ever-striving,
led him to the Saviour.
"After leaving the hospital I met the sergeant of the guard, and
found him arming a body of men. "We are going to have trouble
to-night," he said to me. The camp below was in a ferment. There
were many there who loved whisky as well as the more privileged at
headquarters. At first the rioters (who were mainly from a regiment
of regulars) threatened to appropriate the officers' stores and
break up the ball. But hardly daring to do that, they turned their
attention to a sutler's tent and eating-house. They soon demolished
his establishment and set fire to his premises. They here obtained
the much desired whisky, and excited by liquor, they boldly began
preparations to attack another sutler who was unpopular. The riot
was now getting formidable. From my tent I could overlook the whole
camp and scenes at headquarters. Meantime our regiment was arming
and procuring ammunition. Fifty of our men were already acting as
guards. They formed and received their cartridges in front of our
tents, thus drawing attention to the headquarters of our
detachment, which I thought at one time would provoke an attack
upon us. I dreaded this, for one of our officers had left his wife
in my charge at the commencement of the disturbance. Our men then
marched to headquarters, fearing the first attack would be there.
For a few moments all was still throughout the camp. Then there
were signals in all directions. In a few moments more the mules
were stampeded from the corrall. They then proceeded to attack the
sutler's tent just below us. Here the guards fired upon them, which
caused them to retreat to the burning sutler's tent in the middle
of the camp. Then I could see our men coming down from the
headquarters on a full run. Wheeling at a certain point, they
charged without a moment's hesitation. For a short time shots were
fired in rapid succession, when the rioters broke and ran. The ball
was arrested. The order was given, 'Every officer to his post.' The
ladies, pale and frightened, were huddled together, asking anxious
questions. Many of the officers might be seen in their ball-dress
walking and riding through the camp with sword and pistol driving
the men into their tents. Such volleys of horrible oaths as were
heard in every direction I hope may never shock my ears again.
Officers cursed the men, and the men cursed the officers. For a
time things looked rather serious. Meanwhile our boys stood grim
and expectant, ready to quell any show of resistance. In a few
minutes the whole camp was under arms, but the ringleaders having
been caught, quiet was eventually restored. My heart ached for the
young wife who saw the exposure of her husband and felt her own
danger, and who was compelled to listen to the awful profanity of
the hour. I will say, for the benefit of all concerned, that there
was nothing of a political nature in the outbreak. Whatever may be
the soldiers' vices, they have not yet sunk so far as to sympathize
with Northern 'copperheads.' The cause, as far as I could learn,
was the unpopularity of the sutlers, jealousy of our regiment
because the guard of honor for the evening was chosen from it, and
a desire for whisky, for which a certain class will do and dare
anything. After quiet was restored the dancing, music, and drinking
were resumed as though nothing had happened. Meanwhile, on one side
the poor fellows in the hospital tossed and moaned and raved in
their restlessness and delirium, and on the other lay the two
rioters stiff and stark upon the ground, their souls rudely thrust
out into the unknown amidst riot and intoxication, soon to be
sobered but too well by their abrupt plunge into the dusk waters of
death. Life presents to the close observer peculiar phases and
contrasts at all times, but it seems that in the events of this
evening there was a strange mingling of life and death, pleasure
and pain. Yet in the sick and repentant soldier God was at least
fashioning one soul from out this moral and social chaos for the
perfect symmetry of heaven. I had hoped that after the night's
uproar we should have a quiet Sabbath, but was disappointed in
this, for orders came in the morning to arm, mount, and equip every
available man and send them all to the front. And so throughout the
day the clangor of arms, the trampling of men and horses, and the
words of command, made the quiet peacefulness of a Northern Sabbath
a thing scarcely to be imagined."
Late in February, 1864, Edward joined General Kilpatrick in his famous
raid towards Richmond. He wrote a brief account of this, which was
published in _Lippincott's Magazine_.
"In the dusk of Sunday evening four thousand men were masked in the
woods on the banks of the Rapidan. Our scouts opened the way, by
wading the stream and pouncing upon the unsuspecting picket of
twenty Confederates opposite. Then away we went across a cold,
rapid river, marching all that night through the dim woods and
openings in a country that was emphatically the enemy's. Lee's
entire army was on our right, the main Confederate cavalry force on
our left. The strength of our column and its objective point could
not remain long unknown.
"In some unimportant ways I acted as aid for Kilpatrick. A few
hundred yards in advance of the main body rode a vanguard of two
hundred men thrown forward to warn us should we strike any
considerable number of the enemy's cavalry. As is ever the case,
the horses of a small force will walk away from a much larger body,
and it was necessary from time to time to send word to the
vanguard, ordering it to 'slow up.' This order was occasionally
intrusted to me. I was to gallop over the interval between the two
columns, then draw up by the roadside and sit motionless on my
horse till the general with his staff came up. The slightest
irregularity of action would bring a shot from our own men, while
the prospect of an interview with the Johnnies while thus isolated
was always good. I saw one of our officers shot that night. He had
ridden carelessly into the woods, and rode out again just before
the head of the column, without instantly accounting for himself.
As it was of vital importance to keep the movement secret as long
as possible, the poor fellow was silenced in sad error as to his
identity.
"On we rode, night and day, with the briefest possible halts. At
one point we nearly captured a railroad train, and might easily
have succeeded had not the station and warehouses been in flames.
As it was, the train approached us closely, then backed, the
shrieking engine giving the impression of being startled to the
last degree.
"On a dreary, drizzling, foggy day we passed a milestone on which
was lettered, 'Four miles to Richmond.' It was still 'on to
Richmond' with us for what seemed a long way farther, and then came
a considerable period of hesitancy, in which the command was drawn
up for the final dash. The enemy shelled a field near us
vigorously, but fortunately, or unfortunately, the fog was so dense
that neither party could make accurate observations or do much
execution.
"For reasons that have passed into history, the attack was not
made. We withdrew six miles from the city and went into camp.
"I had scarcely begun to enjoy much-needed rest before the
Confederates came up in the darkness and shelled us out of such
quarters as we had found. We had to leave our boiling coffee behind
us--one of the greatest hardships I have ever known. Then followed
a long night ride down the Peninsula, in driving sleet and rain.
"The next morning the sun broke out gloriously, warming and drying
our chilled, wet forms. Nearly all that day we maintained a line of
battle confronting the pursuing enemy. One brigade would take a
defensive position, while the other would march about five miles to
a commanding point, where it in turn would form a line. The first
brigade would then give way, pass through the second, and take
position well to the rear. Thus, although retreating, we were
always ready to fight. At one point the enemy pressed us closely,
and I saw a magnificent cavalry charge down a gentle descent in the
road. Every sabre seemed tipped with fire in the brilliant
sunshine.
"In the afternoon it became evident that there was a body of troops
before us. Who or what they were was at first unknown, and for a
time the impression prevailed that we would have to cut our way
through by a headlong charge. We soon learned, however, that the
force was a brigade of colored infantry, sent up to cover our
retreat. It was the first time we had seen negro troops, but as the
long line of glistening bayonets and light-blue uniforms came into
view, prejudices, if any there were, vanished at once, and a cheer
from the begrimed troopers rang down our line, waking the echoes.
It was a pleasant thing to march past that array of faces, friendly
though black, and know we were safe. They represented the F.F.V.'s
of Old Virginia we then wished to see. On the last day of the
march my horse gave out, compelling me to walk and lead him.
"On the day after our arrival at Yorktown Kilpatrick gave me
despatches for the authorities at Washington. President Lincoln,
learning that I had just returned from the raid, sent for me, and I
had a memorable interview with him alone in his private room. He
expressed profound solicitude for Colonel Dahlgren and his party.
They had been detached from the main force, and I could give no
information concerning them. We eventually learned of the death of
that heroic young officer, Colonel Dahlgren."