_Reconnoissance concluded. What we Saw and What we didn't See, and what
the Good Public Read--Pigeon-hole Generalship and the Press--The
Preacher Lieutenant and how he Recruited--Comparative Merits of Black
Union Men and White Rebels--A Ground Blast, and its effect upon a
Pigeon-hole General--Staff Officers Striking a Snag in the Western
Virginia Captain--Why the People have a right to expect active Army
Movements--Red Tape and the Sick List--Pigeon-holing at Division
Head-quarters._
In the misty morning arms were taken and the forward resumed. Occasional
Rebel corpses passed showed the work of our sharpshooters. In a short
time the ground again prevented the movement in line of battle, and the
troops marched by the flank over a road well wooded on each side, until
they reached what proved to be the farthest point made by the
reconnoissance--a large open plateau, bounded on the north and west by a
wooded ridge to which it gradually rose, and which was said to border
the Oppequan. On the south, at an average distance of five hundred yards
from the road, was a strip of timber land. Slightly west by south, but
upon the north side of the road, was a rise of ground, in the rear of
which, but upon the south side of the road, were a farmer's house and
out-buildings. The troops pursued their march until the head of the
column arrived opposite the house. Suspicious-looking horsemen were
discovered on the edge of the woods that crowned the ridge. The order
was given that the troops should leave the road and take cover on its
south side, a position not commanded by the ridge. The order was not
executed before a Rebel officer, on a white-tailed dun horse, the tail
particularly conspicuous against the dark background of the wood, was
observed signalling to the extreme right of what was now supposed to be
the Rebel line. Almost instantly some half a dozen pieces of artillery
were placed in position, at various points on the brow of the circular
ridge, completely commanding, in fact flanking our position. Our troops,
however, were not disturbed, although every instant expecting a salute
from the batteries, as the range was easy and direct. While the troops
were being placed in position behind the house the batteries were posted
on the rise. A few hours passed in this position. The Rebel batteries in
plain view, horsemen continually emerging and disappearing in the wood.
Was it the force that we had driven before us? or were the Rebels in
force upon that ridge, making the Oppequan their line of defence? Better
ground upon which to be attacked could not be chosen. The long distance
to be traversed under fire of any number of converging batteries, would
have slaughtered men by the thousands. But again, if the Rebels were in
force, why did they not attack us? Outflanking us was easy. With a
superior force our retreat could easily be intercepted, and if we
escaped at all, it would be with heavy loss. Their batteries threatened,
but no firing. All was quiet, save the noise made by the men in
stripping an orchard in their immediate front, and the commands of their
officers in ordering them back to the ranks.
The quiet was provoking, and all manner of discussion as to the Rebel
force, movements, etc., was indulged in. Many contended that they were
but threatening--others, that they were in force, that was their line of
defence, and the plateau in front their battle-ground. This decision the
General in command seems to have arrived at, as the flaming telegrams in
the Dailies, in the course of a day or two, announced that the Rebels
were discovered in great force, strongly posted in a most defensible
position. After the lapse of an hour or two, the order for the homeward
march was given, and strange to say, that although marching by the flank
the last man had disappeared from their view, behind the cover of the
wood, before they opened fire. They then commenced shelling the woods
vigorously, and continued firing at a respectful distance, doing no
damage, until night set in. In the course of the afternoon it commenced
raining, and continued steadily throughout the night. The troops
encamped for the night in Egyptian darkness, and what was worse, in a
meadow fairly deluged with water.
"Well, what does all this mean?" inquired one of a crowd, huddled
together, hooded by blanket and oil-cloth, protecting themselves as best
they could from the falling rain, for sleep was out of question to all
but the fortunate few who can slumber in puddles.
"What does it all mean, Charlie? Why it means a blind upon Uncle Abraham
and his good people. That's what it means."
"Well, Lieutenant, I am surprised that a man of your usual reserve and
correct conversation, should talk in that style about our commander."
"Sergeant, it is high time that not only individuals, whether reserved
or not, but the people at large should denounce this delay that is
wearing out the life of the nation. Weeks have passed since the battle
of Antietam, and after repeated urgings on the part of the President,
and repeated promises on the part of our commander, we have this
beggarly apology for a movement. Yes, sir, apology for a movement.
To-morrow's Dailies will tell in flaming capitals, how the Rebels were
posted in large force in a strong position, and in line of battle upon
the Oppequan, intimating thereby that further delay will be unavoidable
to make our army equal to a movement. Now this humbugging an earnest
people is unfair, unworthy of a great commander, and if he be humbugged
himself again as with the Quaker guns at Manassas, the sooner the
country knows it the better for its credit and safety. How can any
living man tell that the batteries we saw to-day upon the ridge, are not
the batteries we drove before us yesterday? The probability is that they
are."
The speaker, as intimated by the Sergeant, was a man of reserve, quiet,
and to the last degree inoffensive in his manner. A professing
Christian, consistent in, and not ashamed of his profession, he had the
respect of his command, and a friend in every acquaintance in the
regiment. Educated for the ministry, he threw aside his theological text
books on the outbreak of the Rebellion, and bringing into requisition
some earlier lessons learned at a Military Academy, he opened a
recruiting list with the zeal of a Puritan. It was not circulated, as is
customary, in bar-rooms, but taking it to a rural district, he called a
meeting in the Township Church, and in the faith of a Christian and the
earnestness of a patriot, he eloquently proclaimed his purpose and the
righteousness of the war. Success on a smaller scale, but like that of
Peter the Hermit, followed his endeavor, and his quota of the Company
was soon made up by the enlistment of nearly every able-bodied young man
in the Township. His recruits fairly idolized him, and in their rougher
and more unlettered way, were equally earnest advocates of the
suppression of the Rebellion by any and every means.
"Your Abolitionism will crop out from time to time, like the ledges of
rock in the country we have just been passing through," said a Junior
Lieutenant.
"Call it Abolitionism, or what you will," replied his Senior. "I am for
the suppression of the Rebellion by the speediest means possible. I am
for the abolition of everything in the way of its suppression."
"You would abolish the Constitution, I suppose, if you thought it in the
way."
"I would certainly amend the Constitution, had I the power, to suit the
exigencies of the times. What is the Constitution worth without a
country for it to control?"
"There it comes. Anything to ease the nigger."
"Yes, sir, I thank God that this Rebellion strikes a death-blow at
slavery. That wherever a Federal bayonet gleams in a slave State, we can
see a gleam of eternal truth lighting up the gloom of slavery. The
recent Proclamation of the President was all that was needed to place
our cause wholly upon the rock of God's justice, and on that base the
gates of the hell of slavery and treason combined, shall not prevail
against it."
"Preaching again, Lieutenant," said our Western Virginia Captain, who
was the Lieutenant's Senior officer, as he strolled leisurely toward the
crowd. "I tell you, Lieutenant, if Old Abe don't make better
preparations to carry out his Proclamation, he had better turn Chinese
General at once."
"Give him time, Captain. January 1 may bring preparations that we little
dream of. At any rate, it places us in a proper position before the
world. What ground had we to expect sympathy from the anti-slavery
people of Europe, when we made no effort to release the millions
enslaved in the South from bondage?"
"As far as using the negroes as soldiers is concerned, it seems a day
behind the fair. It should have been issued earlier. Why, we could have
had them by thousands in Western Virginny, and officers in our regiment,
who were with him, tell me that Patterson could have mustered an army of
them. Instead of that they were driven from his lines, and when they
brought him correct information as to the Rebels at Winchester, it was
'don't believe the d----d nigger,' and all this while he dined and wined
with the Rebel nabobs about Charlestown. Boys, we commenced this war
wrong. I'm a Democrat, and always have been one; but I'm not afraid to
say that we've all along been trying our best to make enemies of the
only real friends we have inside of Rebel lines. Now, I don't like the
nigger better than some of my neighbors; but in my opinion, a black
Union man is better than a white Rebel any day. To say nothing of their
fighting, why don't our Generals use them as servants, and why are they
not our teamsters and laborers? Look at our able-bodied men detailed for
servants about Pigeon-hole's Head-quarters."
"Well, Captain," interrupted the Sergeant, "Pigey has a big
establishment, and see if the papers don't make him out a big General
for this daring reconnoissance."
"This daring tomfoolery! If he'd come back to old Rosecrans with his
story about a few pieces of artillery posted on a ridge, Rosy would want
to know why the d----l he didn't find out what was behind them."
"He showed great experience a few weeks ago," continued the Sergeant,
"when the Western fellows let off one of their ground blasts. 'Where did
that shell explode?' inquired Pigey, galloping up with his staff and
orderlies to our Regimental Head-quarters. 'I heard no shell,' says the
Colonel. 'Nor I,' says the Lieut.-Colonel. 'I did hear a ground blast,'
said the Lieut.-Colonel, 'such as the boys in the Regiment below
occasionally make from the rebel cartridges they find.' 'Ground blast!
h--l!' says the General, excitedly, his eyes flashing from under his
crooked cocked hat: 'Don't you think that an officer of my experience
and observation would be able to distinguish the explosion of a shell
from that of a ground blast?' 'No shell exploded, General,' said the
Colonel, 'within the limits of my regiment.' 'The d----l it
didn't--would you have me disbelieve my own ears? Now, I have issued
orders enough about permitting these unexploded shells to lie about, and
I purpose holding the Colonels responsible for all damage. Suppose that
explosion was heard at corps head-quarters, as it doubtless was, and the
inquiry is made from what quarter the rebels threw the shell, what reply
am I, as the commanding General of this division, to make?'
"'Tell them that it was a ground blast,' said a Second Lieutenant,
politely saluting. 'I have just been down and saw the hole it made.'
"'You saw the hole! and just below here! The d----l you did! D--n the
ground blasts!' and the General turned his horse's head and started
towards division head-quarters at a full gallop, followed by his
grinning staff."
"He's not to blame so much, boys," remarked the Captain. "He was a quiet
clerk in the Topographical Department when the war broke out, I've been
told, and I've no doubt he dusted the pigeon-holes in his charge
carefully, and folded the papers neatly. When McClellan looked about for
material to fill up his big staff with, who was so well calculated to
attend to the topography of his battle-fields, considering that he
fought so few, and most of those he had to fight on the Peninsula, the
rebels got next day, as our Division General. Now, as Little Mac is not
particularly noted for close acquaintance with rebel shells, the General
has had small chance of knowing what kind of noise they do make when
they burst. His great blunder, or rather, the Government's, is his
taking command of a division, if it has but two brigades. I heard a
Major say he had greatness thrust upon him. He's a small man in a big
place. West Point has turned out some big men, like Rosecrans, Grant,
Hooker, and many others that are a credit to the country--men of genuine
talent, who have none of those foolish prejudices, that the regulars are
the only soldiers, and that volunteers are a mere make-shift, that can't
be depended upon. And West Point, like all other institutions, has had
its share of small men, that come from it with just brains enough to
carry a load of prejudice against volunteers and the volunteer service,
and a very little knowledge of the ordinary run of military matters. An
officer of real ability will never be a slave to prejudice. These small
men are the Red-Tapists of the army--the Pigeon-Hole-Paper Generals, and
being often elevated and privileged unduly, because they are from West
Point, they play the very devil in their commands. Our corps commander,
who was a teacher there, has brought a full share of the last kind into
the corps.
"I wander about a good deal among other camps of this corps, pick up
information and make myself acquainted without standing on ceremony. I
never wait for that. I always had a habit of doing it, and I honestly
believe, from what I see and hear, there has been a studied effort, from
some high commander, to teach these young regular officers
treason,--yes, boys, treason,--because when a man tells me that we can't
conquer the Rebels, and that after a while we'll have to make peace,
etc., I set him down for a traitor; he is aiding and abetting the
enemies of his country. If that ain't treason I'd like to know what is."
"The Captain headed off a lot of young regulars the other evening a
little the prettiest," said the Sergeant.
"Let's have it!" said a dozen in the crowd, now considerably increased.
"The Captain," continued the Sergeant, "had asked me to take a walk with
him after dress-parade, and we strolled along the Sharpsburg road
towards Corps Head-quarters. As we got just beyond the house and barn
where the Rebel wounded are, we came upon a crowd of officers,
commissioned and non-commissioned, and some privates. A quite young
officer, with a milk-and-water face and a moustache like mildew on a
damp Hardee, was talking very excitedly about the Administration not
appreciating General McClellan; that there wasn't intellect enough there
to appreciate a really great military genius; that European officers
praised him as our greatest General, and that even the Rebel officers
said that they feared him more than any of our Commanders; and yet all
the while the Abolition Administration tied his hands and fettered his
movements, and all because Little Mac wasn't crazy enough to say that
the Rebels could be subjugated and their armies exterminated, as some
fanatical Regulars and nearly all the Volunteer officers pretend to say.
'Now, I believe,' said the officer, thrusting his thumbs between his
armpits and his vest, and puffing out his breast pompously, 'I believe,
as Little Mac says, 'we can drive them to the wall;' we can lessen the
limits of their country; but, gentlemen, after all, there will have to
be a peace.'
"I thought," said the Sergeant, "the Captain was going to break in upon
him here. He threw back his cap till the rim was on top of his head,
rammed his hands into his pockets, and edged his way a little further
into the crowd, towards the speaker; but he didn't, and the speaker went
on to say:
"'There are the people, too, crazy about a forward movement. Why don't
they come down and shoulder muskets themselves?'
"The Captain could hold in no longer. He drew his hands out of his
pockets, straightened them along his side, like a game rooster
stretching his wings just before a fight, and sidling up to the officer,
looking at him out of the corner of his eye, he burst out--
"'Why don't they shoulder muskets themselves? I'll tell you
why,--because we are here to do it for them. They have sent us, they pay
us, and they've a right to talk, and I hope they will talk. Anything
like a decent forward movement of this Corps would have saved the
disgrace of the second Bull Run battle. We all know how the Corps lagged
along the road-side, and the Rebel cannon all the while thundering in
the ears of its Commander.'
"'A Volunteer officer, I suppose,' said the young officer, somewhat
sneeringly. 'Where have you ever seen service?'
"'Yes, sir, a Volunteer officer,' said the Captain straightening up,
facing full the officer, and eyeing him until his face grew paler.
'Where have I seen service? In Mexico, as private in the 4th Regular
Artillery, while you were eating pap with a spoon, you puppy! You had
better have stayed at that business; it was an honest one, at any rate,
and Uncle Sam would have been saved some pay that you draw, while, like
a dishonest sneak, you preach treason.'
"'How dare you insult a Regular officer?' said a gold-striped, dandified
fellow, as he twisted the ends of his moustache into rat-tails.
"'Who the d----l are you?' said the Captain, turning on him so suddenly
that the officer commenced to back; 'with your gold lace on your
shoulders that may mean anything or nothing. What are you anyhow?
Captain? Lieutenant? Clerk? or Orderly? Those straps are a good come
off, boys.' The crowd laughed. 'I suppose he thinks he's a staff
officer.'
"'I am, and a Lieutenant in the Regular army,' said the officer angrily,
and giving the word 'Regular' the full benefit of his voice.
"'Regular and be d----d,' retorted the Captain. 'I want you both to
understand that I am a Captain in the Volunteer service of the United
States; that that service is by Act of Congress on a footing with the
Regular service, and that I'll always talk in this style when I hear
treason. I am the superior officer of you both, and have a right to talk
to you. I've been in service since the Rebellion broke out, and by the
mother of Moses, I never heard treason preached by officers in Uncle
Sam's uniform till I got into this Corps. It makes my blood boil, and I
won't stand it. Pretty doctrine you are trying to teach these soldiers;
but I know by their faces they understand the matter better than you,
and you can't do them any damage.' 'That's so,' sang out several of the
crowd. 'You fellows all talk alike. I have heard dozens of you talk in
the same way, and I believe your ideas are stocked from a higher source.
There is something wrong in the head of this Grand Army of the Potomac.
The way it's managed, grand only in reviews.'
"'We shall report you, sir,' said the Rat-tailed Moustache, 'for
speaking disrespectfully of your superior officers.'
"'Report as quick as you please. About that time you'll find another
report at the War Department, against two Regular Lieutenants, for
speaking discouraging and disloyal sentiments.'
"'A Volunteer officer would stand a big chance at the Department making
a complaint against Regulars,' said the officer, as they both backed out
of the crowd, followed by a couple of non-commissioned officers and
privates.
"'You d----d butterflies,' roared the Captain after them. 'I'll bet ten
dollars to one that you only stayed in service when the war broke out,
because you thought you could trust greenbacks better than Confederate
scrip.'
"'You shall hear from us,' replied Rat-tail, as they walked on.
"'Am ready to hear from both at once now, you cowardly sneaks,' sang out
the Captain. 'Don't believe you ever smelt powder, or ever will, if you
can help it.'
"'Boys,' said the Captain, who had the sympathies of the crowd that
remained strongly with him. 'These shallow-brained fellows and some
older ones that wear stars, that havn't head enough to cut loose from
the Red-tape prejudice against us Volunteers, are a curse to the Army of
the Potomac. Is it any wonder that this Grand Army, burdened with
squirts of that stripe, is a burlesque and a disgrace to the country for
its inefficiency. In the West, where Regular officers, unprejudiced, go
hand in hand with Volunteers, we make progress. But what's the use of
talking, the body won't move right if the heart's rotten.'
"'True as preachin',' said one of the men, and the sentiment seemed
approved by the crowd, as we gradually took up the homeward step."
"Has the Sergeant told 'the whole truth,' and nothing but the truth?"
inquired a Lieutenant, a lawyer at home, of the Captain.
"Yes, sir," replied the Captain firmly, "and I'll stick by the whole of
it, and a good deal more."
"Well, I've been slow about believing many statements that I have
heard," continued the Lieutenant; "but to-day I heard some facts from a
Colonel in the Second Brigade that fairly staggered me. His Regiment,
through some Red-tape informality, has been without tents. In
consequence, considerable sickness, principally fever, has prevailed.
Some time ago he made a request to Division Head-quarters, for
permission to clean out and use the white house that stands near his
Regiment, and that, until lately, was full of wounded rebels, as a
hospital. Corps Head-quarters must be heard from. After considerable
delay, the men in the meanwhile sickening and dying, the request was
denied. The sickness, through the rains, increased, and the application
was renewed with like success. The owner, who was a Rebel sympathizer,
was opposed, and other like excuses, that in the urgency of the case
should not have been considered at all, were given. The sickness became
alarming in extent. The Regiment was entirely without shelter, save that
made from the few pine boughs to be had in the neighborhood. The Colonel
took some boards that the rebels had spared from the fence surrounding
the house, and with them endeavored to increase the comfort of the men.
In the course of a day or two, a bill was sent to him from
Head-quarters, with every board charged at its highest value, with the
request to pay, and with notice that in failure of immediate payment the
amount would be charged upon his pay-roll. This treatment disgusted the
Colonel, who is a gentleman of high tone and the kindliest feelings, and
angered by the heartlessness that denied him proper shelter for his
sick, now increased to a number frightfully large, with a heavy share of
mortality, he cut red-tape, sent over a detail to the house, had it
cleansed of Rebel filth, and filled it with the sick. The poor fellows
were hardly comfortable in their new quarters, before an order came from
Division Head-quarters for their immediate removal.
"'I have no place to take them to; they are sick, and must be under
shelter,' was the Colonel's reply.
"'The Commanding General of the Division orders their instant removal,'
was the order that followed.
"'The Commanding General of Division must take the responsibility of
their removal on his own head,' was the spirited reply of the Colonel.
"That evening towards sunset, the second edition of Old Pigeon, 'Squab,'
as the boys called him, rode up with the air of 'one having authority,'
and in a conceited manner informed the Colonel that the General
commanding the Division had directed him to place him under arrest. Now
these things I know to be facts. I took pains to inform myself."
The Lieutenant's story elicited many ejaculations of contempt for the
heartlessness of some in high places; but they were cut short by the
Captain's stating that he knew the circumstances to be true, and that
Old Pigeon stated the Colonel should wait for his hospital tents, the
requisition for which had been sent up months before. It was shelved in
some pigeon-hole, and the Colonel was to stand by and see his men sicken
and die, while a rebel farmer's house near by would have saved many of
them.
"But we're in for it, boys. No use of talking. Obedience is lesson No. 1
of the soldier, and you know that we must not 'mutter or murmur' against
our Commanding General, which position Old Pigey so often reminds us he
holds. The old fellow half suspects that if he didn't, we'd forget it
from day to day; for Lord knows there is nothing about the man but his
position to make any one remember it. Now I am determined to have some
sleep."
"Sleep! such a night as this?" said one of the crowd.
"Of course; we'll need it to-morrow, and an old soldier ought to be able
to sleep anywhere, in any kind of weather."
The Captain left. There was a partial dispersing of the crowd, but many
a poor fellow shivered in that pelting rain the night long.
The morning found the enemy at a respectful distance, and the homeward
route was quietly resumed. Late in the afternoon the advance entered
Shepherdstown. At this time the rear was shelled vigorously, and as the
troops continued their passage through the town cavalry charges were
made upon both sides. That only ford was again crossed, and the evening
was well advanced ere the troops regained their camps.
A day later, and the Dailies, through their respective reporters, told
an astonished public how the brilliant and daring reconnoissance had
discovered qualities of great generalship in a man who but a short time
before had figured as a quiet literary man in the seclusion of an
office.
"And, be jabers," said our little Irish Corporal, on hearing it read,
"Uncle Sam would have gained by paying him to stay in that office."