Leave Belger—Visit of Baltimore Ladies—Camp Cram—Religious
Services—Drills—Band—Marching Orders—Camp Emory—Return of Co. K to
Regiment—Cold Weather—Departure from Emory—Take Transports—Fortress
Monroe—Target-Shooting—Washing in Salt Creek.
On the 8th of September, orders came for the regiment to pack
up, and be ready to march on the following morning. Rations were
cooked, ammunition dealt out, and the tents struck and packed, Co.
F remaining behind to guard the camp. Owing to a mistake of the
guide, the regiment marched a number of miles out of its way, causing
unnecessary fatigue.
Co. F marched up the next day. Before leaving Camp Belger, this
company was visited by some Union ladies from Baltimore, who regaled
them with roast meat, peaches, tomatoes, and biscuits.
The new camp, called Camp Cram, was about seven miles from Baltimore,
near the village of Powhattan, and in a position to guard the
Liberty turnpike. The rebels were then threatening Maryland with a
large force; and strict orders were issued regarding vigilance on
guard and picket, and the importance of keeping a sharp look-out
for spies. One day, a vigilant sentinel seized a suspicious-looking
personage, and brought him to the officer of the guard. He proved to
be a Baltimore clergyman, and preached to the regiment the following
Sunday.
The tents were pitched on a rising ground, shaded by large trees. In
front of the camp, the ground sloped down to the Powhattan Creek; and
the battalion drills up and down this declivity developed the muscles
of the men, who were then little aware of the need they should
have of good, stout limbs to carry them through the pine woods of
Louisiana.
The regiment having no chaplain, religious services were performed on
the Sabbath by Col. Ingraham, according to the Episcopal usage; and
social religious meetings were conducted by Private Mudge, of Co. E.
The Sabbath services were attended by citizens from the surrounding
country, and they usually stopped to see the parade. Some of the
companies had not been furnished with uniform pants in Massachusetts,
and as it was a good while before any could be procured, it may be
imagined that these necessary articles of apparel began to show
signs of wear, and it required some manœuvring on the part of line
officers to get presentable men in the front rank. Any other view
of the regiment on one of these parades might not have added to its
reputation. When the new pants arrived, they were received with a
round of cheers.
A thorough system of drills began at Camp Cram,—squad, company,
battalion, and skirmish; and, at the close of those warm October
days, the arbitrary “taps” fell on willing ears. The skirmish drills
were conducted by Lieut.-Col. Wardwell, and were a relief to the
monotony of the battalion and company drill.
The subject of a band had been agitated in the regiment from the
time of their first going into camp; and measures had been taken
to procure instruments. They were received during the last week
in September, and the band made their first appearance on parade,
Saturday, Sept. 27. This attraction drew an increased number of
visitors from the surrounding country, especially on the Sabbath; and
the camp was enlivened by the presence of country dames, in their
holiday attire, who, during the week, had done a thriving business
in selling pies and apple-butter to the soldiers. Co. K, in the
meantime, having performed the duty required of them very acceptably,
had returned to the regiment, with an improvement in drill which
caused increased emulation among the other companies, and raised the
standard of military acquirements still higher in the command.
While the Thirty Eighth were thus acquiring proficiency in drill,
and inuring themselves to life in the open air, stirring scenes were
being enacted within cannon sound. The distant boom of the guns at
Antietam were heard in camp; and orders were looked for every day,
which would send the regiment to the front. One gallant Massachusetts
regiment (the Thirty Fifth), that had left the State but a few days
previous to the Thirty Eighth, had already been in the thick of the
fight, and had lost heavily.
In a few weeks, the tide of war again rolled northwards, and the
troops of Stonewall threatened Pennsylvania. On the 11th of October,
the Thirty Eighth received orders to be ready to move the next day.
Tired of the monotony of camp-life, the news was received joyously;
and the camp rang with the shouts of those to whom the unknown perils
of the battle-field had a strange fascination. Far into the night,
busy hands were at work packing knapsacks; and many an article which
kind but inexperienced friends at home had considered indispensable
to their soldier-boy’s comfort was left behind.
Early Sunday morning, Oct. 12, the regiment broke camp, and began
the march toward Baltimore. No one would have recognized this body
of drilled soldiers, with neatly packed knapsacks, marching with
steady step and closed ranks, as the procession of awkward recruits
who passed through the same streets less than six weeks previously;
and in after times, when disease and battle had reduced them to a
remnant, the survivors of the column looked sadly back in memory upon
that October morning, when the long line followed its commander over
the Maryland hills.
Marching through the city of Baltimore, the regiment took the cars
for Chambersburg, but had not proceeded a mile, when the orders were
countermanded, the train called back, and the troops disembarked.
Quarters were procured in the machine-shops for the night; and the
next morning, after breakfasting at the Union Relief Rooms, the
regiment marched to Camp Emory, on the outskirts of the city, on
property owned by the relatives of Charles Carroll, of Revolutionary
fame. The One Hundred and Twenty Eighth New York had been encamped
on a part of the ground, but had gone to Chambersburg, leaving a
lofty flagstaff and a pile of boards for tent-floors, both of which
were appropriated at once by the Thirty Eighth; but upon the return
of the former regiment, the flagstaff was returned, and a loftier one
procured, which was afterwards transferred to the One Hundred and
Fiftieth New York.
The old routine of drill was now resumed. Col. Emory commanded the
division to which the Thirty Eighth was assigned; and the men here
first saw the stout old soldier who afterwards became such a favorite
leader.
On the 28th of October, an order came from Gen. Wool for one company
to go to Baltimore on special service. Co. F went through the city
on the double-quick, with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets; but
their services were not required, and they came back to camp rather
disgusted at having added nothing new to the fame of the regiment.
It was rumored in the camp, that some one had insulted the hostler
of a general, and a squadron of cavalry and a body of infantry were
ordered out to avenge it.
While at Camp Emory, the regiment received a visit from the Rev. Mr.
Ware, of Cambridge, a gentleman who always manifested great interest
in its welfare, and whose kindness will long be remembered by its
members.
In this camp, the companies drilled daily in “reversed arms,” for the
purpose of attending the funeral of some officer who had died, or was
expected to die. But their services were never called for; and it
became one of the regimental legends that the officer had refused to
die upon hearing that the Thirty Eighth were drilling for the purpose
of burying him.
Toward the end of October, the weather began to get cool, and every
one looked uneasily forward to a winter in tents in Maryland; but
as a new well was almost completed, and a new guard-house begun,
the men still had hopes of getting away. Col. Ingraham was now
acting brigade-commander, and Lieut.-Col. Wardwell in command of the
regiment; and brigade and division drills took place several times a
week.
During the first week in November, marching orders were received,
and preparations were made to embark on ocean transports; but the
regiment did not break camp until Sunday, the 9th. A few days
previous, there had been a severe snow-storm, which would have done
honor to Massachusetts; and every one was eager to get into a warmer
climate. Just before the cold weather, Mr. Wellington, of Cambridge,
had visited the camp, and furnished each of the members of Co. F with
a pair of gloves, a present from Mr. Stacy Read. The band of the
One Hundred and Fiftieth New York escorted the regiment through the
streets of Baltimore to the Union Relief Rooms, where a good meal
was furnished them. Quarters for the night were found in unoccupied
houses; and the next day the regiment was taken down Chesapeake Bay
in small steamers, and transferred to the steamship Baltic, which
had been selected by Gen. Emory as his flag-ship. The ship stopped a
short time off Annapolis to take on board two companies of the One
Hundred and Thirty First New York, and then proceeded to Fortress
Monroe, arriving at Hampton Roads on the morning of the 8th.
The victories of Farragut had not yet added their brilliant record to
the achievements of our navy; and the scene of the little “Monitor’s”
victory, and of the “Cumberland’s” glorious death, was eagerly
studied, while one of the officers, who had been an eye-witness to
the engagement, related the story to a group of interested listeners.
For nearly a month, the regiment remained on shipboard at Hampton
Roads, occasionally going on shore to practice target-shooting and to
drill. An amusing incident occurred at this time, the memory of which
will bring a smile to many a face. There had been no facilities for
washing clothes since leaving Camp Emory, and the regiment had not
yet roughed it long enough to become accustomed to dirt; so one day,
when it was announced that the knapsacks were to be taken on shore,
and an opportunity given to wash clothes in fresh water, soap became
in demand, and all anticipated one more cleaning up before going into
the field. A tiresome march through the streets of Old Point Comfort,
by the “contraband” village rising around the chimneys of ruined
Hampton, brought the regiment to the vicinity of a creek; and soon
the bank was lined with busy washers. But the soap furnished by Uncle
Samuel had no effect upon the dirt contracted on his transports.
Suddenly some one discovered that the creek was a salt-water one. The
washing fever subsided, and the regiment went back wiser, but very
little cleaner.
Day after day slipped by, and still there was no movement. On the
18th of the month, the regiment received their first visit from the
paymaster, being paid off on the deck of the ship. The companies
changed quarters more than once on board the “Baltic,” and had the
opportunity to test the comparative hardness of nearly all the beams
in the ship. It required skill in gymnastics to go from the bunks to
the deck without coming in contact with some animate or inanimate
body.
Thanksgiving Day found the regiment still at anchor, _waiting_. The
men went on shore in the morning, and had the liberty of the beach
and of the sutlers’ stores until afternoon. Many had received “boxes”
from home; and turkeys and puddings graced impromptu tables, spread
on the beach, the fresh sea-breeze giving a flavor superior to any
gravy. Those whose boxes did not arrive in time picked up a dinner in
private houses, saloons, and at the counters of the sutlers, who were
liberally patronized, and who long remembered the Thirty Eighth.
At length, the “horses came on board,” and the signs of departure
seemed to multiply. Lieut.-Col. Wardwell resigned before the
regiment left Fortress Monroe; and his resignation was accepted,
to take effect from Dec. 3. Major Rodman succeeded to the vacant
lieutenant-colonelcy, to date from Dec. 4; and Capt. Richardson, of
Co. A, was promoted major. The two companies of the One Hundred and
Thirty First had been transferred to another ship, and the Thirty
Eighth had the Baltic to themselves.