973.74 ^ U'

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ser. 1

no. 1-10

1878-79

1794590

REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION

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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012

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PERSONAL NARRATIVES

Battles of the Rebellion,

PAPERS READ BEFORE THE

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KIIODE ISLAND SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

No. 1.

* " Quaeque ipse miserrinia vidi,

FA quorum purs magna f tit."

PROVIDENCE:

S I L> N E V S . HID K H .

1878.

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1794590

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PUBLISHER'S XOTi

There have non been issued three numbers of the series of "Personal Narratives of the Battle* or hie Herellion," under the aus >i - of the "Rhode Island Soldiers and S;illor> Historical Societv." as follows :—

I

NO. 1. THE FIRST CAMPAIGN OF THE SECOND RHODE ISLAND INFANTRY. By Elisiia II. Rh u i -

NO. 2. THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT THE FIRST BATTLE OF y,\'\A. RUN. BV J. ALUF.r.T MONUOF..

. . iINJ . CES OF SERVICE IN THE FIRST WU '

ISLAM' CAYALUY. I \ i:ou .1- N. Ui.ISS.

These papers en: brace rendu; ci es of the three arms <>i" the service — Infantry. Artillery, and Cavalry— and are 1;;"' as spec-miens of the series, succeeding numbers of which will be issued if the. c- succeed. The editions have be* lii died to 250 copies, and the pr! e fixed at So cents per copy.

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PERSONAL NAEE I .

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No. 3.

EXCES OF 3ERVICI

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FIRST RHODE ISLAND OAVALE

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CAPT. GKOKGE X. HLItfS.

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Rhode Island soldiers and sailors historical society.

g4 5 Personal narratives of events in the Avar of the rebel-

751

lion, bidnir papers read before the Khode Island soldiers and sailors historical society ... [lstj-7th ser. Provi- dence, The Society ete.i 1878->tMr>.

(O'^Vji^j }0 fronts., plates, ports., maps, fold, faesim. 20] x 16c"'.

Published m 100 parts, with general and special title-pages. General title varies: [1st scr.] 1878-79, Personal narratives of the battles of the rebellion ... 5th scr., 1894-99, and 7th scr., 1905-15, have H%i* Ualso collective title-pages, Soldiers and sailors historical society of Rhode Island. Personal narratives.

[1st scr.i published in 10 nos. ; 2d-4th scr. in 20 nos. each; 5th-7th ser. in 10 nos. each.

No more published.

(Continued on next enrd)

7-34263 Revised

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LIST OF PAPERS

IN THE MUST SKIMKS OK

P ERSO N AL N AR R ATI V ES.

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No. 1. THE FIRST CAMPAIGN OF THE SECOND RHODE ISLAND IN- FANTRY. By (ifi). Ef.isiia II. Rhodes.

No. 2. THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT THE FIRST RATTLE OF BULL RUN. By Col. J. Albert Moxroe.

No. 3. REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. By Major George N. Bliss.

No. 4. MY FIRST CRUISE AT SEA AND THE LOSS OF THE IRON- CLAD MONITOR'. By Frank B. Butts, late Paymaster's Clerk, U. S. N.

No. .-). KIT CARSON'S FIGHT WITH THE COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. By Capt. George II. Pettis.

No. f,. A TRIP TO RICHMOND As A PRISONER OF WAR. By EmvAisn P. Toijie (late Second Lieutenant First Maine Cavalry.)

No. 7. INCIDENTS OF CAVALRY SERVICE IN LOUISIANA. By Col. Charles II. Parkiiurst.

No. x. THE BAY FIGHT. A SKETCH OF THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY'. By Wm. F. Urn iiixsox, M. I)., late Surgeon U. S. Navy.

No. 9. PERSONAL INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY CAMPAIGNS OF THE THIRD REGIMENT RHODE ISLAND VOLUNTEERS. By Col. Edwin Metcalf.

No. Ki. THE BATTLE OF THE MINE. By Capt. Ervin T. Cam:.

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THE FIRST CAMPAIGN

I SECOND RHODE ISLAND INFANTRY

ELISHA II. RHODES,

(Late Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding Second Rhode Inland Infantry Brevet Colonel United Suites Volunteers.)

PROVIDENCE: SIDNEY S. RID Kit

1878.

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PUBLISHER'S SOTE.

A few years since, it occurred to some of the comrades re- siding in this city, who served in the United States Army and Navy during the Avar of the rebellion, to form themselves into an association under the name of the "Rhode Island Soldiers and Sailors Historical Society," for the purpose of collecting, as far as they were able, documents concerning the civil war, and of putting on record some of the unwritten history of that contest, in the hope that their labors might, perhaps, be of value to the future historian. As a part of the means to this end, these comrades have, from time to time, written and read before the Society papers treating of their own experiences and recol- lections of notable events as they saw them. In the belief that these papers will be pleasant reading for all who were inter- ested in the great conllict, and contain many facts of historical value, as well as tend to keep alive memories of patriotism, bravery and self-sacritice. It is proposed to publish them in a series of pamphlets uniform in size and style for preserva- tion. The initial number. The Campaign of the Second Rhode Island Infantry by Colonel Rhodes, is here presented. It was read before the Society, November 3rd, 1S75, and was the first one of the series. Others are in preparation and will speedily follow.

PROVTDKNCK, Julv, 1878.

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THE FIRST CAMPAIGN

SECOND RHODE ISLAND INFANTRY

Upon the call of the President of the United States, in the Spring of 1861, for troops to serve for the period of three years, measures were taken to organize a. regiment to be known as the Second Rhode Island Volunteers. It was my fortune to be one of the first to volunteer for service as a soldier in this command, and I propose to relate in plain and simple language, my experience during the first few weeks of the war, including a description of the First Battle of Bull Run, as seen from the standpoint of an enlisted man. I am aware that I have selected a difficult subject, as perhaps no campaign of the War of the Rebellion has given rise to more contra- dictory statements and reports than the one I shall

8 THE FIKST CAMPAIGN OF THE

attempt to describe this evening. In the excited state of the people at this time, and in the absence of a proper appreciation of military affairs, skir- mishes were magnified into battles, and the highest importance was attached to events that in after years were considered of very little if of any consequence. If in the course of my paper I am obliged to fre- quently refer to myself, I know "you will excuse me when you remember that this paper is a personal narrative, a record of what I saw and felt, and not a history of general events.

I enlisted at the armory of the First Light Infan- try Company, in Providence, R. I., and assisted in organizing a company composed of about one hun- dred and fortv men, which command, after beinsr properly officered, was tendered to Colonel John S. Slocum as part of the regiment to be raised. The number of recruits offered from all parts of the State was largely in excess of the number required, and rendered it necessary that some organizations should be declined, and as the Infantry had already sent two companies into the First Rhode Island Detached Mili- tia, our company was ordered to disband, much to our

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\ I SECOND RHODE ISLAND INFANTRY. 9

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disappointment. Twenty-five men, however, were selceted from our ranks and assigned to a company commanded by Captain William II. P. Stcere. My name was included in the number selected, and I sud- denly found myself changed from an " Infantry " man to a ''National Cadet." This company was mustered into the United States service as Company "D," June 5th, 1861, in a building on Eddy street, Prov- idence, and ranked fourth in the regimental forma- tion. Uniforms were issued, consisting of the so- called "Rhode Island blouse," grey pants, and hats looped up at the side.

On the seventh of June the tirst parade was made and the regiment proceded to Exchange Place and there listened to an official announcement of the death of the Honorable Stephen A. Douglas. On the eighth the regiment went into camp on Dexter Training Ground, which was named in honor of the Colonel of the First Rhode Island Detached Militia, "Camp Burnside." Sibley tents were issued and our camp life began. . Our company being unable to procure tents passed the first night in a carpenter shop on the cor- ner of Cranston and Gilmore Streets. One member

10 THE FIRST CAMPAIGN OF THE

of the regiment was drummed out of camp to the tunc of the rogue's march, creating quite a sensation not only in the camp but among the citizens of the city. I remember that we made several parades, and on one occasion attended Divine service at Grace Church and were addressed by Et. Rev. Bishop Clark. The colors which the regiment carried into the field were presented by the ladies of Providence, June twelfth, by the hands of Hon. Jabez C. Knight, Mayor, and the scene was one long remembered by the men.

A battery of light artillery, armed with James twelve pounder guns, had been organized, and under command of Captain William H. Reynolds was attached to the regiment. This battery was known afterwards as "Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery," and at the close of the Bull Run campaign was detached from the regiment.

Rumors of our intended departure for the seat of war had become numerous, but for reasons best known to the authorities our breaking camp was de- layed until June nineteenth, when tents were struck, baggage and knapsacks packed, and the regiment

SECOND RHODE ISLAND INFANTRY.

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moved out of camp, and marching by way of High, Westminster and South Main Streets, took the steamer State of Maine near Fox Point. The Bat- tery embarked upon the steamer Kill-von-kull. The streets were crowded with people, and we left the wharf amid the tearful farewells and cheers of our friends. Rations of bread and salt beef were served on board the transport, and we had our first taste of army fare, having lived sumptuously while encamped in Providence. The novelty of the trip banished sleep from our eyes, and we passed the night indulg- ing in such mild demonstrations as military disci- pline would permit. By early morning Ave were in New York, and after touching at the wharf for orders, we steamed away to Elizabeth, Xew Jersey, where we landed and took the cars for Baltimore via York and Ilarrisburg, Pennsylvania. .All day we slowly rolled along the track and on the afternoon of the twent3'-tirst found ourselves in the vicinity of Baltimore.

Rumors had been heard along the route that an attack was to be made upon us while marching through Baltimore, and the excitement in the re<n-

12 THE FIRST CAMPAIGN OF THE

ment ran high. Three bull cartridges were issued to each man in the cars, and as we had the old style of flint-lock gun, altered to percussion, avc found each cartridge to contain three buck shot in addition to the ball. Most of the men carried revolvers, although strict orders had been issued against the practice. In the search which was made by the offi- cers for concealed weapons, I managed (as most of the boys did) to save mine from capture. It was dark when we disembarked at Baltimore and we found the streets crowded with people. Strict orders had been given us to answer no questions and hold no conversation with any one. Silently we slung our knapsacks, and taking our places in line began the march. Cheers for Jell'. Davis were given by the crowd on the sidewalks, and some abuse was heaped upon us, but we kept on our march, ready to repel an attack. My knapsack contained a load sufficient for a dozen men, and with aching back I tramped on, not daring to stop for fear of the crowd. As I look back upon this short march, I remember it as one of the most fatiguing ones I ever experi- enced. But I learned a useful lesson : never to put more in a knapsack than I could comfortably carry.

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After taking the cars for Washington wo heard many rumors of intentions to run us off the track, which kept the men on the alert, and fears of an attack caused sleep to be out of the question. It seems strange now to think of our alarm, but at the time it was dangers unseen, more than seen, that troubled us.

On the morning of June twenty-second the reoi- ment arrived in Washington, and we had our first view of the Capitol. Forming column, we marched out New York Avenue, a distance of about three miles, to Gale's Woods, where we found a camp ad- joining the barracks occupied by the First Rhode Island Detached Militia. Our camp was called "Camp Clark," in honor of Bishop Clark, who accompanied us to Washington. The boys of the First Rhode Island greeted us with heart v cheers, and we were soon made at home in their comfortable quarters.

The next few weeks were passed in perfecting our discipline and knowledge of a soldier's duty. Our camp was a centre of attraction for the Washington people, and the evening parades of both regiments were witnessed by thousands. The parades were

14 THE FIRST CAMPAIGN OF THE

held in the camp of the First Regiment, the Colonels alternating in command. Rumors of intended move- ments were continually reaching camp, and every skirmish in Virginia was magnified into a battle. While stationed at " Camp Clark " we experienced little, if an}', of the unpleasant and disagreeable part of a soldier's life. Rations were issued in bulk to both regiments, and cooked under the supervision of the commissary of the First Rhode Island. The daily fare consisted of roast beef and plum pudding for dinner, while the morning and evening meals were more like what one would expect to iind at home, rather than in the army. I remember well our dis- gust at receiving, just before we started on the Bull Run march, an issue of army rations composed of hard tack and salt pork.

On the eighteenth day of July we broke camp and moved out into Xew York avenue, where we found the brigade to which we were assigned, which up to this time we had known only in name. The brigade consisted of the First and Second Rhode Island Vol- unteers, the Second Xew Hampshire Volunteers and the Seventy-first Xew York Militia, the whole un-

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SECOND RHODE ISLAND INFANTRY. 15

der command of the senior Colonel, Ambrose E. | Burnside. Excitement ran high in the streets, and

as we moved through the city we were loudly cheered by the people. Crossing the Potomac, by Lon^ Bridge, we took the road to Fairfax Court House, It being late when we crossed the river, only a short march was made", and we halted for the night at Annandale. This was our first experience in sleeping without tents and by camp fires. Kails were soon collected and immense fires started, we ima^inin^ this to be the correct thins; for soldiers to do, although on a hot July night.

Early the next morning, the nineteenth, we re- sumed the march. Co. " D," Captain Steere, was de- tailed as flankers, and we started off with little, if any, idea of our duty or danger. I remember we found an old railroad embankment covered with black- berry bushes, and the entire company stopped and ate their fill. This march partook more of the char- acter of a pleasant ramble than that of an armed force looking for an enemy. About noon, in company with two other men, I found myself on the summit of a hill, and looking back to our left and rear I saw the

16 THE FIRST CAMPAIGN OF THE

spires of a town that we had 'passed unnoticed. I reported the fact to Captain Stccre, and with his glass we decided that it must be Fairfax. Captain Steere formed his company into a square, and in this manner we entered the town by a side street and below the Court House. The rebels, in their haste, had left many articles lying in the streets, and if we had not been restrained by the good sense of our Captain, we should have loaded ourselves with the useless trumpery.

Halting in the main street we were soon joined by the head of our regiment, that came in by the main road. The rebel flag was taken down and the Stars and Stripes raised by one of our men. It fell to our lot to be placed in camp in the grounds of a mansion which had been occupied by the rebel com- manding general. hi looking about the house I found among some loose papers a subsistence return, showing the number of men to whom rations had been issued the day before. I gave the paper to Captain Nelson Viall and he sent it to army head- quarters. The passion for pillage broke out, but was quickly suppressed, though many ludicrous

SECOND RHODE ISLAND INFANTRY.

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scenes occurred. I remember one man entering camp with a Bible under one arm and an immense emrrav- ing of the Father of his Country under the other. An officer obliged him to restore the articles to the house. A piano, from which the strings had been taken, served as a cupboard for some of the boys. The inhabitants had fled and we had the town all to ourselves.

On the twentieth we left Fairfax Court House and encamped a few miles beyond, near Centreville. Here we built shelters with pine and cedar boughs, and this camp is known to this day as " Bush Camp " by the men of the Second Rhode Island Vol- unteers. Here we heard our first hostile shot, and although at a distance, yet it served to impress us with what was likely to follow.

About two o'clock, on the morning of July twenty- first, we left "Bush Camp," and marching down the hill, through Centreville, found the roads obstructed by wagons and troops that had failed to start on time. Soon the Second left the main road and struck off to the right, through a wood path that had been much obstructed. As we led the brigade the task of

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18 THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

nil J the rebel artillery was delivering upon us its heaviest tire, Dwight would step aside from the smoke from his gim, and seemed perfectly absorbed by the sublime and magnificent spectacle. Once or twice he called my attention to the glorious scene, but I was too much engaged and my mind was too much occupied in thinking how we were to get out of the t! glorious scene" to take much pleasure in the observance of it. Dwight was associated with me, more or less, during the whole war, and I found in his character more admirable qualities than I ever found possessed by any other man, and the objec- tionable qualities of his nature I could never dis- cover. War had no terrors for him, and his aesthetic taste found beauties to admire even under the most adverse circumstances. When the leaden rain and iron hail were thickest, I have known him to muse upon philosophy, and to repeat a quotation from some favorite author applicable to the situation and circumstances. He was quick and unerring, and no emergency could arise that would deprive him of his full self-possession. This is digressing from my subject, but my admiration for him was such, that I

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 19

feel justified in thus alluding to a life that was prac- tically lost in the war, though his death did not take place until within the past year.

About one or two hours after the engagement began, Captain Reynolds, with Lieutenants Tomp- kins and Weeden, went off to the right of our posi- tion with two guns, which were placed in position near the Doogan House, I think, where they went earnestly at work. During their absence, Sergeant John H. Hammond, of my section, reported to me that he was entirely out of ammunition, and as I knew that there was no reserve supply for the James gun within available distance, I directed him to take his piece to the rear, to some safe place and wait for orders. I remained with my other piece and the pieces of Lieutenant Vaughn. Either before or after this, a shot from the enemy struck the axle of one of the pieces, which entirely disabled it.* The gun

* At the conclusion of the reading of this paper, Governor Sprague and William A. Sabin, formerly a member of the battery, gave it as their recollec- tion that the stock of the gun carriage broke on account of the extreme eleva- tion of the gun, and that it was not hit by the enemy's shot ; but a letter of mine, written ufter the battle, implies that the gun carriage was struck by a shot.

20 THE FIRST CAMPAIGN OF THE j

but was unable to lift him from the ground. Calling for help, Private Parker (mentioned above) dropped his £iin and came to my assistance. Together we bore him to a small house on the left of the line and laying him upon the floor, sent for Colonel Burn- side, Surgeon Francis L. Wheaton and Chaplain Thorn dike Jameson, who all arrived in a few mo- ments, a lull in the tight having occurred. Chaplain Augustus Woodbuiy and Assistant Surgeon James Harris, of the First Rhode Island Detached Militia, were already in attendance. With the sponge, from my cap, I washed the blood from his head and found that the bullet had ploughed a furrow from rear to front through the top of his head, but had not lodged. His ankle ( I cannot call to mind which one) was also injured, having two wounds upon it. While unable to speak, yet he appeared conscious, and at my request would remove his hand from his wounded head. When it was decided to place the Colonel in an ambulance, I took a door from its hinges with my gun screw driver, and assisted in carrying him on this door to the ambulance. Colo- nel Slocum, as is well known, fell into the hands of the enemy and died of his injuries.

SECOND RHODE ISLAND INFANTRY

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But to go hack to the battle, the Second Regiment was engaged about thirty minutes without support, when the balance of the brigade was brought on to the field and the battle became general. The Eighth Georgia regiment was in our immediate front, and received the benefit of our tire. We had a. tradition in our regiment until the close of the war, that the Second Rhode Island nearly annihilated this Georgia regiment. Since the close of the war, I have seen a paper, written and printed in the South, which gives the Second Rhode Island the credit of having broken up and destroyed the Eighth Georgia so completely that it had to be reorganized. Shot and shell were continually striking in or near our line and the troops became much scattered. Losing my own company I joined Company F, under command of Lieutenant William B. Sears, and remained with them until the battle ceased and we withdrew to replenish our ammunition.

About three o'clock in the afternoon the enemy disappeared in our front and the firing ceased. We considered that a victory had been won. The wounded were cared for and then orders came for us

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22 , REMINISCENCES OP SERVICE IN

and the spreading roots for fuel, doing the work so

thoroughly that it would have been diiScult to have

found a root as large as a man's linger in the ground

which had a few months before been covered with

the vigorous growth of the forest. Certainly no

• /'• /"-; ' land was ever more effectually cleared for the plow,

^, * i r ■■''' but how the owners of the soil raanarred to re-estab-

- r. lish their boundary lines, with every fence, tree and

. / landmarks generally destroyed for miles in all direc-

. ~ tions, puzzles the imagination. / ?

-^ •"• v*. On the seventeenth day of August, 1864, orders

v 1 : were issued for the "destruction of all the wheat and . }

»■.' / hay south of a line from Millwood to Winchester

I- • Y and Petticoat Gap in the Valley of the Shenandoah,

Virginia, and for the seizure of all mules, horses and ;. , cattle that might be useful to the army. Shenan-

t doah means, in the Indian language, ff daughter of

the stars " — a name well merited by the bright sit- very waters of this mountain stream, flowing through one of the most beautiful valleys in the world, with a soil so fertile as to have gained for it the name of " the garden of Virginia." This seventeenth day of August, 1864t was a perfect . summer day; not a.

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THE FIIIST RnODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 23

|:fj cloud obscured the pathway of the sun; the mouu-

1" V ', tain peaks were clearly outlined against the horizon,.

while all the level lowland seemed smiling with the

well-filled barns and hu^e stacks of an abundant

*©

harvest. Such was the scene upon which the sun &fZW rose, but soon the wasting flames were seen blazing in- all directions; barns, cribs and stacks soon changed to dust and ashes ; women and children, with tears streaming down their wretched cheeks, begged the stern soldiers to spare them the food necessary to keep them from starving in the fast approaching winter. It was pitiful, but the soldiers could not spare ; their hard duty was to obey orders. It is estimated that, upon this single day, enough of the finest wheat in the world to subsist a hundred thousand men for a year was destroyed, and that in a -few weeks twenty-five million dollars worth of 'property was swept from the face of the valley bunder this order. Never did man pen more truthful words than General Sherman's famous sentence, M War is cruelty and you cannot refine it."

On many a night when the cavalry halted for a camp, in every regiment could be heard the orders,

2A THE FIRST CAMPAIGN OF THE '

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protect the retreat. We passed through their ranks, and entered our old grounds, " Bush Camp,*' suppos- ing the retreat to be at an end. j

Tired, hungry and wet, we laid down, only to be awakened about eleven o'clock that night to resume the march towards Washington, in the midst of a rain storm. The regiment filed out of camp and marched to Fairfax Court House, in good order and rested in the streets. Crowds of soldiers were hur- rying by and the streets were blocked with trains. After halting a few minutes we started again and soon, in the darkness, rain and crowd, became broken up to some extent. Of the horrors of that night, I can give you no adequate idea. I suffered untold horrors from thirst and fatigue, but struggled on, clinging to my gun and cartridge box. Many times I sat down in the mud determined to go no further, and willing to die to end my misery. But soon a friend would pass and urge me to make another effort, and I would stagger on a mile further. At daylight we could see the spires of Washington, and a welcome sight it was. About eight o'clock I reached Fort Kunyon, near Long Bridge, and giving

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SECOND RHODE ISLAXD INFANTRY. 25

my gun to an officer, who was collecting them, I entered a tent and was soon asleep. Towards noon I awoke and, with my company, endeavored to cross Lous: Bridge, hut fell exhausted before reach- ing the Washington side. My officers kindly placed me in an arm}' wagon and I was carried to camp, where, after rest and proper care, 1 soon recovered and went on duty.

The loss of the regiment in this disastrous affair was ninety-three killed, wounded and missing. Of this number, four officers were killed, namely, Colo- nel John S. Slocum, Major Sullivan Ballon, Captain Levi Tower and Captain S. James Smith. Twenty- six enlisted men were killed or mortally wounded. My Company, "D," lost four killed, three wounded, one of whom died, and one missing.

Duyckinck, in his History of the Rebellion, makes the following mention of the regiment and the part it took in this battle :

"The history of tlic Second Rhode Island Volunteers may be

ciled as an example of those to whom Bull Run was no disgrace.

The}' were near the extreme right in the engagement. Their

previous inarch had been as fatiguing as that of others; they

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2b THE FIRST CAMPAIGN.

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first to engage, were severely engaged, as long as or longer than any others ; they were badly cut up, losing their Colonel and other officers, and sixteen per cent, of their ranks killed. (This should be sixteen per cent, killed and wounded.) They stood firm under fire while the panic stricken crowd swept by and through them, and until they received the order to retreat. They then wheeled steadily into column and marched in good order, until the road was obstructed by overturned wagons. Here they were badly broken up by a cannonade, scattered and disor- ganized, but afterwards having mainly collected at Centreville, reformed and marched the same night, under such of their officers as remained alive, to and through Washington, to a position several miles to the northward— a post of danger — where they at once resumed regular camp duties. When visited, a few clays afterwards, by an inspector, he was told and led to believe that the men only wanted a day's rest to be ready and willing to advance again upon the enemy. He reported the regiment not demoralized."

PERSONAL NARRATIVES

Battles of the Rebellion,

PAPERS READ BEFORE THE

RHODE ISLAND SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

No. 2.

" Quaeque ipse miserrima vidi, Et quorum pans magna /ui."

PROVIDENCE: SIDNEY S . KIDEK

1878.

THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY

AT THE

First Battle of Bull Rust

J. ALBERT MONROE,

(Late Lieutenant-Colonel First Uliode Island Litrht ArtillerO

PROVIDENCE : SIDNEY S. RID ETC

1878.

Copyright by SIDNEY S . K I D E 11

187S.

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THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY

FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN

When the first call for troops, to serve for the term of three months, was made by President Lin- coln, in 1861, for the purpose of suppressing the rebellion, which had assumed most dangerous pro- portions to the National Government, the Marine Artillery, of this city, responded cheerfully to the call, and under the command of Captain Charles H. Tompkins, left Providence, April eighteenth, for the seat of war.

The senior officer of the company, who remained at home, was Captain William H. Parkhurst, then book-keeper at the Mechanics Bank on South Main Street. Before the company was fairly away, I called upon him and suggested the propriety of call-

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THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

ing a meeting to organize a new company to take the place of the one that had gone. The suggestion met his views, and he at once published a notice that a meeting for the purpose would be held that eve- ning at the armory of the Marines, on Benefit Street. The meeting was largely attended, and comprised among its numbers a great many of our most intel- ligent and influential citizens. A large number of names were enrolled that night as members of the new company, and arrangements were made to have the armory open daily, for the purpose of obtaining additional signatures to the roll of membership. In a few days some three hundred names were obtained, and every man whose name was enrolled seemed to take the greatest interest in having the work proceed.

By general consent, rather than by appointment or election, I assumed the duty of conducting the drills and of reducing matters to a system. It was supposed at the time that the force already called into the field, consisting of seventy-five thousand men, would be amply sufficient to effectually quell the disturbance that had arisen at the South, but

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 7

there appeared to be in the minds of all the men who gathered at the Marines' Armory, a quiet deter- mination to go to the assistance of those who had already gone, should they appear to need aid. The call for men to serve for the period of three years put a new phase upon matters. Those whose pri- vate business was of such importance that absence from home that length of time would injure the interests of others as well tis their own, withdrew, leaving more than a sufficient number to man a full battery. From that time drilling of the men pro- ceeded uninterruptedly both day and night. Ji. greater number than the capacity of the armory would admit of drilling at one time, presented them- selves daily. Many of the evenings were spent in taking the men out on the streets and to vacant lots near by, exercising them in marching drill. ■ Through the influence of Governor Sprague the company was furnished with a complete battery of twelve pounder James guns, which arrived here some time in May, I think, and then the drills became spirited in exer- cise in the manual of the piece, mechanical maneu- vres, as well as in marching.

8

THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

About the first of June Lieutenant William H. Reynolds and First Sergeant Thomas F. Vaughn of the three months battery, were appointed Captain and First Lieutenant respectively, and J. Albert Monroe, John A. Tompkins and William B. Weeden were appointed Second, Third and Fourth Lieuten- ants, and they were so commissioned. The com- missions should have been one captain, two first lieutenants and two second lieutenants, but there was so little knowledge of just the right way to do things at that time, that this error occurred, and it was not until after the First Battle of Bull Run that it was corrected.

On the sixth of Jane, 1861, the company was mustered into the United States service by Colonel S. Loomis of the United States Army, for the period of " three years unless sooner discharged," in a large room of a building on Eddy street.

On the eighth of June, the regular business of sol- dier's life began by the compan}' going into camp on Dexter Training Ground. The time was occupied in detachment and battery drills until the nineteenth of the month, when the guns, carriages, and the horses

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. \)

also, if my memory serves me, were embarked on the steamer Kili-von-Kull, at the Fox Point wharf. The steamer landed at Elizabethport, New Jersey, where the battery and men were transferred to ears. The train left Elizabethport about four o'clock in the afternoon. The journey to Washington was a most tedious one. Harrisburg was not reached until the next morning, and it was not until the following morning that the train arrived in Washington.

Although the iournev was a long one, and tire- some, many incidents transpired to relieve the tedium of the trip. At Baltimore, which was passed through in the evening, every man was on the qui vive, with nerves strung to the tension, so great was the fear that an attack might be made upon us. Every one who had a revolver carried it cocked. A corporal, who is now a commissioned officer in the regular army, remarked to me that he never was in such danger in his life, though nothing had occurred to awaken a sense of danger, except that a small pebble was thrown, probably by some boys, that hit one of the gun carriages on the Hat car, upon which he and I were riding. The next da}' rebel flags, in imagina-

10 THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

tiou, were frequently discovered while passing through Maryland.

On our arrival at Washington, the morning of the twenty-second, we were cordially greeted by Captain Tompkins of the three months battery, and he and his men lent us every assistance in their power. The company went into camp in Gale's woods, with the Second Regiment Rhode Island Infantry, and adjoining were the camps of the three months organizations— the First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia and the First Battery. The ground occupied by the three months men was already known as " Camp Sprague ; " the ground occupied by the Second Battery and the Second Regiment was named " Camp Clark," in honor of Bishop Thomas M. Clark, who had taken a great interest in the raising and the organization of troops in Rhode Island.

Affairs went along more smoothly than could rea- sonably have been expected from men just taken from the pursuits of civil life. Captain Reynolds, with rare tact, won the confidence of all his men and officers. Section and battery drills took place daily,

1794590

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 11

in the morning, and the afternoons were-* generally spent at standing gun drill.

On the ninth of July, while at section drill, a sad accident occurred, by which Corporal Morse (Nathan T.) and private Bourne (William E.) lost their lives, and private Freeman (Edward II.) was very seriously injured. From some unaccountable cause the limber chest upon which they were mounted exploded, almost instantly killing Morse and Bourne and severely injuring Freeman. The remains of Morse and Bourne were escorted to the depot by the company, and there was extended to them a marked tribute of respect upon their arrival and burial at home.

On the sixteenth of July the battery left Camp Clark at half past one o'clock in the morning, with the First and Second Rhode Island Regiments, but it was broad davliirht before the command £*ot fairly away from the vicinity of the camp. Under the lead of Colonel Ambrose E. Burnside, who had command of the Second New Hampshire, Seventy-lirst New York, First and Second Rhode Island Regiments and the battery, as a brigade, the company marched over

12 THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

Long Bridge to a point about ten miles from Wash- ington, where the whole brigade bivouacked for the night. The next morning the march was resumed at day-break, and Fairfax Court House was reached about half past one in the afternoon. The battery was parked and the company went into camp near the Court House, on the ground and near the resi- dence* of a Mr. Stephenson, an English gentleman with a large and interesting family, every member of which appeared to do their utmost to promote our comfort. Early the next morning, Thursday the eighteenth, the advance again began and continued with numerous delays until near night-fall, when camp was established near Centreville, on the plan- tation of a ]\Ir. Uttcback.

On the morning of Sunday the twenty-first the brigade broke camp and commenced the march towards Manassas. The march was a tedious and lonely one until daybreak. The morning broke as clear and lovely as any that ever opened upon Vir- ginia soil. In the early daylight it seemed to dawn upon the minds of both officers and men, that they were there for a iixed purpose, and that the actual

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 13

business of their vocation was to commence. Pre- viously, nearly all had thought that upon the approach of the United States troops, with their splendid equipment and the vast resources behind them, the "rebel mob," as it was deemed, but which we afterwards learned to respect as the rebel forces, would flee from their position and disperse.

General Hunters column, to which Colonel Burn- side's brigade was attached, was the right of the advancing line, and soon after sunrise the report of heavy guns to the left told us that the work of the day had commenced. Steadily, however, the column pushed on, but with frequent halts, until Sudley Church was reached, where a short stop was made in the shade of the thick foliage of the trees in the vicin- ity of the church. The battery was following the Second Rhode Island, a portion of which were deployed as skirmishers, and contrary to the custom of throwing them, the skirmishers, well in advance, they moved directly on the flanks of the column. Suddenly the outposts of the enemy opened fire, which, to our inexperienced ears, sounded like the explosion

14

THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

of several bunches of fire crackers. Immediately after came the order, "Forward your Battery!" Although the order was distinctly heard by both officers and men of the battery, I have never believed that it was definitely known whether it was given by General McDowell or General Hunter. With most commendable promptness, but without that caution which a battery commander learns to observe only by experience, Captain Reynolds rushed his battery forward at once at a sharp gallop. The road at this point was skirted by woods, but a short distance beyond, the battery emerged upon an open field, and at once went into position and opened fire.

The battery was now considerably in advance of the infantry and could easily have been captured and taken from the field by the enemy, before the supporting infantry were formed in line of battle ; and two years later under the same circumstances, the entire battery would have been lost ; but neither side hardly understood the rudiments of the art of war. When we reached the open field the air seemed to be filled with myriads of serpents, such was the sound of the bullets passing through it. Above us

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 15

and around us on every side, they seemed to be his- sing, writhing1 and twisting. I have been under many a hot fire, but I don't think that, in nearly four years experience, I ever heard so many bullets in such a short space of time. Suddenly thrown into a position, the realities of which had been only fee- bly imagined and underestimated, it is surprising that all did so well. I remember the first thing that came into my mind was the wish that I was at home out of danger's way, and immediately following came the sense of my obligation to perform every duty of the position that I tilled. The same spirit seemed to animate every man of the battery, and each and every one worked manfully throughout the day.

Hardly had we arrived on the field, when with almost the rapidity of lightning it passed from one to another that Sergeant George E. Randolph was wounded. He was a great favorite with the entire company, his personal qualities being such as to win the respect and love of all. Although every one felt that a dark cloud had thrown its shadow over us, still there was no faltering. Captain Reynolds, who had marked affection for Sergeant Randolph,

16 THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

sacrificed the impulses of his nature and stuck to his command to look out for the interests of all.

A great many amusing incidents occurred during the first hour of the action, that, undoubtedly, have afforded many hours of enjoyment to the partakers. Two of the corporals seemed to find great relief in getting behind a limber- chest with its cover opened, though they pluckily performed their duties, and I confess that I experienced a similar relief myself when I was obliged to 2:0 there once or twice to examine the ammunition, though I fully realized that it was like a quail running his head into a snowbank to escape the hunter.

The firing was exceedingly rapid, every one appearing to feel that the great object was to make as much noise as possible, and get an immense quan- tity of iron into the enemy's line in the shortest possible space of time, without regard to whether it hit anything or not. The firing was principally directed towards the smoke of a rebel battery, posted near what is shown as the "Henry House" on the map accompanying General McDowell's re- port of the action, but was really the "Lewis House,"

:

THE FIKST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 17

which house served as the headquarters of General Beauregard. But very little attention was paid to the effect of the shot for some time. Considerable of the fire was directed into a clump of woods in our imme- diate front, in which was quite a force of rebel infan- try, and I have reason to believe that this fire was very effective ; for, upon visiting the spot during the action of the Second Bull Hun I found the trees thickly scarred at the height where the shot would be likely to do the most execution.

We had with us a young man, who was hardly more than a mere hoy, by the name of Henry H. Stewart, who had been taken oat from here by Cap- tain Reynolds to act as an- orderly and guidon, who, while nearly every one else was excited and every- thing was in confusion, preserved, apparently, the utmost coolness, moving from point to point as calmly as if performing the ordinary duties of parade, and it was not until I ordered him so to do that he dismounted from his horse. But the coolest one of our number, and, I believe, the coolest man on the field that dav, was Serjeant G. Lvman Dwight. When the storm of bullets was thickest

18 THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

and the rebel artillery was delivering upon us its heaviest fire, D wight would step aside from the smoke from his gun, and seemed perfectly absorbed by the sublime and magnificent spectacle. Once or twice he called my attention to the glorious scene, but I was too much engaged and my mind was too much occupied in thinking how we were to get out of the tf glorious scene " to take much pleasure in the observance of it. D wight was associated with me, more or less, during the whole war, and I found in his character more admirable qualities than I ever found possessed by any other man, and the objec- tionable qualities of his nature I could never dis- cover. War had no terrors for him, and his aesthetic taste found beauties to admire even under the most adverse circumstances. When the leaden rain and iron hail were thickest, I have known him to muse upon philosophy, and to repeat a quotation from some favorite author applicable to the situation and circumstances. He was quick and unerring, and no emergency could arise that would deprive him of his full self-possession. This is digressing from my subject, but my admiration for him was such, that I

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 19

feel justified in thus alluding to a life that was prac- tically lost in the war, though his death did not take place until within the past year.

About one or two hours after the en<ra£ement began, Captain Reynolds, with Lieutenants Tomp- kins and Weeden, went off to the right of our posi- tion with two guns, which were placed in position near the Doogan House, I think, where they went earnestly at work. During their absence, Sergeant John H. Hammond, of my section, reported to me that he was entirely out of ammunition, and as I knew that there was no reserve supply for the James gun within available distance, I directed him to take his piece to the rear, to some safe place and wait for orders. I remained with my other piece and the pieces of Lieutenant Vaughn. Either before or after this, a shot from the enemy struck the axle of one of the pieces, which entirely disabled it.* The gun

*At the conclusion of the reading of this paper, Governor Sprague and William A. Sabin, formerly a member of the battery, gave it as their recollec- tion that the stock of the gun carriage broke on account of the extreme eleva- tion of the gun, and that it was not hit by the enemy's shot; but a letter of mine, written after the battle, implies that the gun carriage was struck by a shot.

20 THE RHODE ISLAM) ARTILLERY AT

was dismounted and slung under its limber and immediately taken from the iield. The mechanical maneuvres that the men had been exercised in before they left home, for the first time now found oppor- tunity for practical application, and the slinging of the piece was performed as thoroughly as upon the floor of the drill-room.

Sometime after mid-day Governor Sprague, accompanied by Captain Reynolds, rode up to me and said, M Monroe, can't you get your guns over on the hill there, where those batteries are?" The bat- teries referred to were those of Captains Eicketts and Griffin, which were then in position near the "Henry" or "Lewis" House. Without any thought, except to take the pieces to that position, I ordered my remaining piece and one of Lieutenant Vaughn's forward, and accompanied by Captain Reynolds pro- ceeded across the turnpike and up the road leading to the place where the two batteries were in posi- tion. The day was a very hot one, and I remember that my thirst, at this time, was almost unendurable. Crossing the turnpike, I saw a pool of muddy water which appeared like the watering places beside our

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 21

New England country roads, where they are crossed by rivulets or brooks. Although the water was muddy and the dead bodies of a man and a horse were lying in it, so great was my thirst, I could not resist the inclination to dismount to slake it, and did so. Quickly remounting, I went forward with the section through what appeared to be a lane, on a side hill, which was completely filled with infantry, who had been hotly engaged in the light since the opening of the battle. Just as we diverged to the right in order to secure the ground between the two bat- teries, a shot came \evy near to me, and turning my head, I saw Captain Reynolds go off his horse. I supposed, of course, that he was hit, and started to his assistance, but to my surprise he jumped up nimbly and remounted, saying, "That about took my breath away." The shot must have passed within a few inches of him, and was what afterwards was known in soldier's^ parlance, as "a close call."

We pushed forward and got the pieces in position between Ivicketts's and Griilin's batteries, but before a single shot could be tired, the fatal mistake of the day occurred, the mistake of supposing a rebel com-

22 THE KHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

mand to be a portion of our own forces. Thick and fust their bullets came in upon us, and they were fast approaching in their charge, when with almost superhuman energy, and with a rapidity that I never saw excelled and I think I never saw equaled, our cannoneers limbered to the rear and we withdrew with a loss in material of only a caisson, the pole of which was broken in the endeavor to turn on the side hill, and there was no time then to stop for repairs. Here private Bubb (Frederick) lost his life, and private Vose (Warren L.) was wounded and taken prisoner. A bullet went through my cap and ploughed a little furrow in my scalp. Jumping from my horse to assist Sergeant Wilcox (G. Holmes) in limbering his piece, the animal dashed off frightened by the confusion, and I was obliged to ride to the rear on the stock of the <mn carriage.

Arriving on the northerly side of the turnpike, we were joined by Captain Reynolds near the "Doogan" House, and shortly after by Lieutenant Weeden. Captain Reynolds said that he had just seen Arnold, (Captain of the regular artillery) who had lost his battery. I hastened with the two guns off to the

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 23

left, to the position that we first occupied in the morning, and, going into battery, commenced firing. The men worked steadier and cooler than they had at any time during the day. All at once there emerged from the timber in our front, a regiment or brigade of the enemy, evidently preparing for a charge upon us, and simultaneously came an order, from Captain Reynolds, I believe, to limber to the rear. I could not resist the temptation, in spite of the order, to give them one more shot before part- ing, and I directed the left piece to be loaded with canister. As the piece was fired, the enemy, appar- ently, was just ready to move forward on their charge. It appeared to me that a gap of full twenty feet was made in their line, which completely stag- gered them. This, I think, was the last shot fired on the field that day. The first one was fired by Sergeant D wight.

Leaving the field on foot with this piece, I found the remainder of the battery a short distance away on the road, moving toward Oentreville. Procuring a horse from one of the sergeants, I returned to the field in search of the horse that I had lost, for which

24 THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

I had great affection. The scene was one of inde- scribable confusion, although there appeared to be no fright or terror in the minds of the men who were leaving the field. Officers seemed to have lost all identity with their commands, subalterns and even colonels moving along in the scattered crowd as if their work was over and they were wearily seeking the repose of their domiciles. The scene was such as to remind one of that which can be seen daily in any large manufacturing town or village, when the operatives, let loose by the expiration of their hours of labor, all set out for their respective homes. During working hours the system for work is maintained, but upon the ringing of the bell, all depart according to their respective bents and wills. So upon this field, the general impression seemed to be that the day's work was done and that the next thing in order was repose. There were a few notable exceptions. I remember well a large and powerful man, a field officer of what I took to be a Maine regiment — at any rate he and his men were uniformed in gray — using the most strenuous exertions to get his men together. He coaxed, threatened and

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 25

applied to them every epithet that he seemed capa- ble of, but all to no purpose. The idea of the men seemed to be that their work was over for the day, and that they were going home to rest, not realizing apparently, that whether on or oil' duty, they were subject to the orders that their officers deemed best to give.

The bullets began to whistle uncomfortably thick, and I gave up the search for my horse, and rejoined the battery, then moving along the road in good order, in which condition it continued until the head of the column reached the foot of the hill at the base of which flowed what is known as Cub Hun. Here was a bridge rendered impassable by the wrecks of several baggage wagons. In the ford at the left was an overturned siege gun, completely blocking up that passage, and the right ford was completely tilled with troops and wagons. Of course the lead- ing team of the battery had to halt, and it was impossible to stop the rear carriages on the steep hill, so that the column became only a jumbled heap of horses, limbers, caissons and gun carriages. To add to the confusion, just at this moment a rebel 3

26 THE RHODE ISLAND -ARTILLERY AT

battery in our rear opened tire, and it seemed us if every one of their shots came down into our very midst. The men immediately set to work taking the horses from their harnesses, after doing which they mounted upon them in the most lively manner. Some horses carried only a single passenger, others had on their hacks doublets and some triplets. Still, notwithstanding all this confusion, there did not seem to me to he what has been almost universally reported, "a perfect panic." It appeared to me only that confusion which of necessity must arise from the sudden breaking up of organization.

I forded the run on the right hand, or down stream side of the bridge. ' Going up the hill after crossing, I overtook Captain Reynolds who crossed a little in advance of me, and just as I rode along side of him, a shot from the enemy's artillery struck the ground only a few feet from us. Unsophisticated as I was, I could not understand why they should continue to lire upon us when we were doing the best that we could to let them alone, and I said to Captain Reynolds, " What do you suppose they are trying to do?" His reply was a characteristic one: "They

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. Z<

are trying to kill every mother's son of us ; that is what they are trying to do," the truth of which was very forcibly impressed upon me as shot after shot came screeching after us in rapid succession.

After getting beyond range of their fire, each one exerted himself to get together as many members of the battery as possible, and upon reaching Centre- ville all who had collected together assembled at the house of Mr. Utteback, which we had left in the morning. Captain Reynolds and most of the others, took up their quarters on the stoop or piazza of the house. I was Suffering severely from a lame leg, which had been injured during the action by the recoil of a piece, and having won the good graces of the family during our stay there, I asked for more comfortable quarters, and was given a nice bed. About two o'clock in the morning, I was awakened and informed that orders had been received to leave for Washington at once. While I was dressing, one of the daughters of Mr. Utteback slipped into the room with a flask of wine which she handed to me with the remark, "I think you may need this before vou reach Washington," and she added, "Don't, for

28 THE RHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

Heaven's sake, tell anybody of it." The act was an extremely kind one, for from the moment of our arrival on the farm, every member of the family had been besieged for liquor of any kind, but they had persistently refused to furnish any, declaring that they had not a drop in the house. I concealed the flask under my vest and found its contents of great cheer and comfort during our long night ride.

Upon going out of the house to resume the march, I found, to my surprise, that some time during the night, private Scott (Charles V.) had arrived in camp with the piece that I had sent off the held under Sergeant Hammond for want of ammunition. Upon enquiring of Scott for the particulars of his becoming possessed of it, he informed me that lie got strayed from the company, and while picking his way through the woods, came upon the piece with' all or a portion of the horses still hitched to it. Calling upon some infantry men near by, who were also estray, he mounted one horse himself and directed them to mount the other horses, and together they took the piece to Centrevillc. Its advent was hailed with special delight by every

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 29

member of the battery. Sergeant Hammond told me that he followed his instructions to the letter ; that after directing his cannoneers to serve with the other pieces, he took the piece well to the rear and sought an obscure, and, as he thought, a secure place, and with his drivers remained by it awaiting orders. During the afternoon some cavalry appeared in their near vicinity, and supposing them to be rebel cavalry, they lied, knowing that if they attempted to take the piece with them, it would be captured and they would certainly be taken with it. It is highly probable that the cavalry they saw were a part of our own forces, but such had been the rumors and talk of rebel cavalry, its efficiency and the terrible work it was capable of performing, that the appearance of even a solitary horseman was enough to strike terror to the hearts of half a dozen ordinary men. Sergeant Hammond and his drivers rejoined the company at Centreville, assumed com- mand of his piece, and took it to Washington with the company.* t;-

•This account of the living of the one piece from capture, does not agree with the statement in Stone's " Rhode Island in the Rebellion," 1SG4, nor with the "Adjutant General's Report, State of Rhode Island, 18G5," which repeat?

30 THE KHODE ISLAND ARTILLERY AT

We reached Fort Runyon about six o'clock in the morning, but no troops were allowed to cross Long Bridge. I remember seeing Colonel Burnside about daylight that morning, pushing forward all alone, considerably in advance of the main column. Occa- sionally he would stop and look back as if to assure himself that all was right in that direction, as far as it could be right ; then he would again push forward. About ten o'clock it became plain that he was look- ing out for the welfare of his command both in front and rear, for an order was received to allow Colonel Buruside's brigade to cross the bridge, the first who were allowed the privilege of returning to the camps

the statement of Mr. Stone. The testimony of Sergeant Hammond is here- with subjoined, also that of Captain Charles 1). Owen :

The account given by Colonel Monroe, of the manner in which was saved from capture one of the pieces of his section, at the first battle of Bull Run, of which piece I was sergeant, is substantially correct.

JOHN H. HAMMOND, Formerly Sergeant Battery A, First li. I. L. A., Late Lieutenant H. G., B. I. J".

To the best of my recollection the account as given by Colonel Monroe is

correct.

CH AS. D. OWEN,

Formerly Sergeant Battery A, B. I. L. A.,

Late Captain Battery (,', B. 7. L. A.

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 31

that they had left and which seemed to them like home. In passing through the streets of Washing- ton to our Camp Clark the sidewalks were lined with people, many of whom furnished us with refresh- ments.

The act of private Scott was finally rewarded by the bestowing upon him a commission as Second Lieutenant, in 1864. The piece was presented by the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island to Governor Spraguc, who placed it in trust with the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery, in whose armory it is now kept.

Tins paper was read before the Rhode Island Soldiers axd Sailors Historical Society, December first, 1S75.

PERSONAL NARRATIVES

Battles of the Rebellion,

PAPEKS READ BEFORE THE

RHODE ISLAM) SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

No. 3.

u Quaecjue ipse miserrima vidi, L't quorum pars magna /ui."

PROVIDENCE: SIDNEY S. RIDER.

1878..

Copyright by SIDNEY S. RIDEIi.

1878.

PRINTED BY PROVIDENCE PRESS COMPANY

REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE

FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY.

GEORGE N. BLISS,

(Late Captain First Rhode Inland C»v»lrv.)

PROVIDENCE :

KIDNEY S . RIDER

1878.

REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE

FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY

The History of the First Rhode Island Cavalry was published in the summer of 1ST 6, and as I was called upon to contribute to that whatever I could recall of interest in my experience as a soldier in the regiment, I find myself not a little puzzled to decide how I can make a satisfactory response to the demands of this society for more tales of a soldier. I can promise you no connected story, but will try to give such disconnected reminiscences as I may be able to recall of war times.

The first permanent camp occupied by the regi- ment in Virginia will never be forgotten by those who stru^srled for existence amid the desolations of "Camp Mud/' On the seventh of April, 1862, at

Copyright by SIDNEY S. RIDEK

1878.

6 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

Warrenton Junction, a few miles north of the Rap- pahannock River, the regiment went into camp in an old cornfield, just as the rain commenced falling, and for three days rain, hail and snow showered upon our defenceless heads. We had no tents, but each man had been furnished with a strip of rubber cloth, so that two or three men, by uniting the pieces, could make what the soldiers called ff dog tents," — a sort of a letter A arrangement, — to enter which a man got down upon his hands and knees, crawled into the tent, and by shutting himself up like a jack-knife might, with the use of a vigorous imagination, consider himself under a roof. The men had never used these before, and for want of that knowledge which was to come to them as vete- rans they soon found themselves thoroughly soaked, lying under their tents in mud, so wet that as a man turned over you could hear the splashing of the water. On the second day of the storm, a few sol- diers having gained a shelter from the rain beneath the canvas covering of an army wagon, some one suggested that a song might add cheerfulness to the situation, and the camp was astounded by the strains,

THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY 7

" What peaceful hours I once enjoyed, How sweet their memory still " ;

sung in a manner that left no doubt as to the earnestness and sincerity of the minstrels. The rail- road from Washington was not in funning order, and we were therefore without forage for the horses or rations for the men, except so far as we were able to secure partial supplies by vigorous foraging, and when, at last, after three days of misery, the sun shone forth upon a camp looking like a gigantic mortar bed, horses stood at the picket lines dead in the mud, while saddles, bridles and arms were buried in the red clay soil. A man finding a leather strap upon the surface would by a vigorous pull ascertain that there was a saddle at the other end beneath the mud. These three days were the most miserable of our army life, and yet our suffering was in a great degree owing to the want of that soldierly knowledge which soon came to us in the active campaigns of the war. That same year, in Decem- ber, 18G2, the regiment encamped in a swamp dur- ing a furious snow storm, and yet in half an hour afterwards, horses stood at the picket lines con-

8 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

tentedly feeding, while at hundreds of fires men were frying pork, making coffee and generally enjoying the situation as though that swamp had always been their home and a very comfort. able one at that ; the dog tents were pitched in orderly array, each com- pany by itself, while within beds were so constructed of pine boughs as to render the water splashing of old tr Camp Mud " an impossibility. We remained at Camp Mud nearly a month, and yet it never was as comfortable as this swamp camp, where we tar- ried but a night. The difference was simply this : at the first camp we were raw troops, at the second we were veterans. We had gained by experience a faculty of adaptation to circumstances and a knowl- edge as to how to take care of ourselves, for want of which man}' a life was lost during the first months of campaigning.

Detachments of the i;egiment had been under fire at different times, and at Front Royal, May thirtieth, 1862, a hundred men of the New Hampshire Battal- ion had, by a gallant charge, driven from the town the Twelfth Georgia infantry regiment, a troop of cavalry and a section of artillery, capturing one

THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. \)

hundred and twenty of the enemy and recapturing twenty prisoners, men of our own army, with a loss of eight killed and seven wounded upon our side, but as a whole the regiment was under fire for the first time at the battle of Cedar Mountain, August ninth, 1862. Colonel Alfred N. Duffie had taken command of the regiment upon the eighth of July, 1862, and after a month of hard drilling was to test his work for the first time in battle. Perhaps a lit- tle incident, occurring at the time he gave his first order on dress parade, may give, in some degree, a picture of the man. When the first order was given with the peculiar accent of the Frenchman, some men in line laughed loud enough to reach the quick cars of the Colonel. Instantly he responded, ff what for you laugh ? I make you laugh ! " There was

v O «/ O

nothing in the words, but something in the tone and

o ' c

manner in which the soldiers recognized at once a master, and the offence was never repeated.

On the night of August eighth, 1862, the regi-

COG O

ment was upon picket duty at the front, and on the morning of the ninth we were in line of battle, fac- ing Cedar Mountain, with the exception of Major Far-

10 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

rington's battalion (Preston M.), which was deployed as skirmishers. About noon a rebel battery threw a few shells at our regiment, and our batteries reply- ing, the tiring ceased in a few minutes without much damage upon either side. Between three and four o'clock in the afternoon the batteries upon the moun- tain side opened fire again, throwing shell intended for our regiment, but the firms; was too high and they passed over our heads. At the same time a heavy infantry force was driving in our skimishers. About sixty yards from our right wing was a dense forest. Major Farrington was ordered to withdraw his skirmish line and form his battalion in its proper place on the right of the other two battalions and next to the before-mentioned wood. Before the movement could be completed the rebel infantry line reached the edge of the wood, and halting there opened a heavy fire from pieces loaded with one ball and three buckshot, while the rebel shell from the artillery in our front whistled merrily over our heads. Nevertheless, the Colonel calmy waited until the alignment was completed, and then came the ringing order : " Squadrons, Left Wheel, Form

THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 11

Close Column!" but by some misunderstanding Major Farrington's two squadrons made a left wheel before the Colonel had given the order, tT March," while the remainder of the regiment stood firm, waiting for the proper command. With an oath the Colonel struck his horse with the spurs and dashing up to the luckless Major, astonished him with a tor- rent of reproaches, shouting, "What a sickness; what a business ; I be like you, I go buy one rope, I go hang myself; " and then by his orders the two squadrons were reined back into line and again the order came, " Squadrons, Left Wheel, Form Close Column, March ! " and the order was executed with the same care and attention to all the details which were usual upon the drilling ground. This evolu- tion brought the men with their backs towards the rebel infantry, and seeing some of the men turn uneasily in their saddles and look towards the enemy, that grim old joker, Lieutenant Hiram P. Barker, comforted them with, "You might as well keep quiet boys, you can't get away." The next order from the Colonel was, " By Platoons to the Front, March," followed shortly by, "Head of Col-

12 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE

umn to the Ze/?,"and after two squadrons had turned to the left, "Left into line, Wheel !" and on the head of third squadron, "Front into line, face to the rear, March!" which order, promptly executed, left us fronting the enemy again, with our batteries just behind us, firing over our heads at the rebel batter- ies. This position was one which showed good mil- itary judgment upon the part of our Colonel. We were sheltered by the nature of the ground, occupy- ing, as we did, a little depression in a cornfield, — a few yards further to the front or rear would have exposed us to heavy loss, as the rebel shell fell thick both in our front and rear, — and yet we were ready for a dash at the enemy at any moment had orders for an advance been given. We held this position an hour or two, when by orders from General Banks wre were withdrawn to the rear. Although thus exposed to the enemy's tire at the front fur two or three hours, our loss was only three killed, six wounded and four missing. That it was so small was entirely due to the military skill and good judg- ment of Colonel Duilie in forming his line in such a position that the shot and shell of the enemy either

IN THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 13

struck the ground in front of us or passed over our heads. This experience was of great value to the regiment ; the men acquired confidence in their offi- cers and in each other, and ever afterwards felt themselves veterans, with a good reputation which was to be maintained. The day was intensely hot, and Lieutenant James P. Taylor received a sun- stroke which caused his death upon the morning of the following day, August tenth.

During the winter of 1862 and 1863 the cavalry of the army of the Potomac was for the first time put into condition to be effective in the service. Previous to that time it had been scattered about as escorts, body guards, and generally so disposed as to have no opportunity for proper drill and other preparation for discharging its appropriate duty as a distinct arm of the military service, so that when General Joe Hooker said, " who ever saw a dead cavalryman ?" there was a general roar of laughter throughout the army. General Stoneman having been assigned to command the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, the regiments were massed near Potomac Creek Bridge, a few miles north of Freder-

14 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

icksburg and the Cavalry Corps organized. In obe- dience to orders, all officers, both commissioned and non-commissioned, were set to work studying the cavalry tactics, and regular recitations were holden evenings by the light of candles in the officers' tents. The non-commissioned officers recited their lessons to the senior captain in each squadron, the com- missioned officers in each battalion recited to the majors, and at certain stated times the majors and captains were assembled at the colonel's tent and examined as to their knowledge in tactics. In addi- tion to these military studies the cavalry Avas daily exercised upon the drill-ground in squadron, battal- ion and regimental drill, while occasional brigade drills and division reviews gave the generals prac- tice in the movements of large bodies of troops. The study and drill of this winter produced a cav- alry corps which was ever after respected in our own army and dreaded by the enemy. Colonel Duffie, who commanded at this time a brigade, had considerable trouble in bringing one regiment, the Fourth New York, into a proper condition as regarded drill ; there were said to be fifty-three dif-

THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 15

ferent languages and dialects spoken in that regi- ment, and the Colonel thus explained his troubles : w The colonel of the Fourth New York, he givre an order, all the officer they stick up their head, they holler like one geese."

At Kelley's Ford, March seventeenth, 1863, was given the first opportunity, after the formation of the cavalry corps, for a fair combat with the rebel cavalry in an open field. Kelley's Ford is situated upon the Rappahannock River some thirty miles above Fredericksburg ; when our troops approached the north bank of the ford they found the enemy had constructed a strong barricade upon that side, and that a hundred rebel riflemen, protected by pits upon the south side, were ready to dispute the pas- sage of the river. The Fourth New York were ordered to charge across the ford. They charged down to the barricade and then charged back again. At this moment Major Chamberlain of the First Mas- sachusetts Cavalry, a staff officer, came to the First Rhode Island Cavalry and said, "I want a platoon of men who will go where I tell them." He was given a platoon of eighteen men, commanded by

16 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

Lieutenant Simeon Brown, and started with them for the ford. The Major told Lieutenant Brown he wished him to charge across the river and drive the enemy out of the rifle pits, but just as he finished his instructions by saying, "If you do that it will be a good thing for you," the Major was himself hit by two rifle bullets, one cutting off the tip of his nose and the other entering his mouth, and taking such a course as finally led to its extraction from between his shoulders. Leaving the wounded Major the Lieutenant pressed forward in pursuit of " the good thing." Only one horse could leap the barri- cade at a time, and the swiftly flowing water was breast high upon the horses, but the gallant oflScer and his brave men pressed boldly forward > with the rifle bullets hissing and singing about them ; horses went down in the surging water, pierced by bullets ; men were struck from the saddle by the deadly lire, but the column still advanced. At last Lieutenant Browii rode his horse up to the edge of a rifle pit in which eight rebels were lying, and every man had his rifle aimed at the Lieutenant, but not one fired, so astonished were they at such a spectacle. Before

THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 17

the enemy could recover from their stupor, the Lieutenant had wheeled his horse, galloped a few yards to the right and dismounted behind a tree. Here he was joined by two of his men, who had also succeeded in crossing the river, and taking their carbines, he opened a raking fire upon the nearest rifle pit, killing two men and wounding a third. The rebels could not leave the rifle pits without exposing themselves to a heavy tire from our men lining the opposite bank of the river, which fact protected the Lieutenant in his flanking operations. The rebels were discouraged by the fact that in spite of their fire some of our men had succeeded in crossing the river, and our men were correspondingly encour- aged by the same fact, and so, when the rebels saw another column leaping the barricade for the passage of the river, they abandoned the rifle pits and made a sharp run for their horses. But they were not quite quick enough, and twenty-five of them were captured. Of the eighteen men who followed the Lieutenant only three succeeded in reaching the opposite shore, the others having been stopped by bullets either in the horse or his rider. Lieutenant

18 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

Brown rode a white horse ; live bullets passed through his clothing and three lodged in his horse, yet not a drop of blood was drawn upon the officer, and the horse soon recovered from his wounds. General Hooker, at that time commanding the army of the Potomac, sent for Lieutenant Brown to come to his tent and personally thanked him for this gal- lant deed, and on his recommendation the Lieutenant was promoted to the grade of captain ; but alas, he escaped the dangers of battle only to die at home of disease contracted in the service.

The cavalry combat of which this was merely the beginning, is fully described in the History of the Regiment, and I will not repeat it here, but content myself by observing that upon this day the First Rhode Island Cavalry met, with the sabre on an open field, three separate charges of General Stuart's best Virginia cavalry and was victorious each time. At the beginning of the action Major Farrington was wounded by a bullet through the neck, inflicting a severe and dangerous wound, but after having his wound dressed at the field hospital he returned to his regiment and led it in two successful charges

THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. . 19

against the enemy. This affair at Kelley's Ford was a small affair so far as damage inflicted upon the enemy or loss upon our side was concerned, but the moral effect was of priceless value. Our men were fully convinced that they were superior to the rebel cavalry, and were confident that they could always beat them by a charge with the sabre, and from that day until the war closed our cavalry never failed to defeat the enemy on every occasion where they had an opportunity to charge with the sabre. This action also demonstrated the fact that our cavalry was superior to the enemy in drill and tactics ; the charges of the"* enemy were -made in column, eight abreast, which our cavalry met with regimental front, thus outflanking the enemy upon both sides, which of itself rendered certain the defeat of the rebel cavalry. The enemy were certainly very much surprised by the vigorous and brilliant charges of our men, and years after a rebel cavalryman said to the writer of these lines, who was then a prisoner of war : " Your men never fought with the sabre so well as they did at Kelley's Ford."

About the time of the battle of Chancellorville,

20 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

in May, 1863, the North was very much interested in the draft, and at this time 1 saw, one day walk- ing along the road, two soldiers who had evidently just left a field hospital — one having the right arm, the other the left arm amputated at the shoul- der; they were both pale and weak from loss of blood and the shock of the operation. Suddenly I saw the face of one of them, who was a short dis- tance in advance of the other, break into a smile from some thought that pleased him, and stopping and turning towards his comrade, he said : " I say, Jim, we'll be out of the draft."

At Middleburg, Virginia, June eighteenth, 1863, a rebel soldier demanded of Lawrence Cronan, a corporal in Company C, the surrender of the guidon, a small swallow-tailed United States Hag which he carried as a company color, and being refused he sent a bullet through Cronan's left arm and breast ; but to the astonishment of the rebel, Cronan rode oft' with the Hag as though nothing had happened. Our men charged the enemy and drove them from the field a few minutes later, and Cronan, faint from loss of blood, surrendered the flag to a comrade antl

THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 21

was left behind to fall into the enemy's hands as a prisoner. Later, however, in the same day Cronan was recaptured by Union cavalry and sent to the hospital in Washington, where he soon recovered from his wound, rejoined his regiment and served until the end of the war. This incident happened in a wheat field, and 1 shall never forget the wrath of the Southern planter, who stood upon his piazza and cursed, with equal vigor and impartiality, the soldiers of both armies as the horses trampled ruth- lessly under foot the waving grain.

The story of war's desolation is as old as the his- tory of man, and yet no written statements can reproduce the pictures which linger in the memory of soldiers who have seen for themselves the ruin and destruction inseparable from the movement of an army. When the army of the Potomac encamped in front of Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the autumn of 1862, much of the country was covered with a heavy growth of timber ; the soldiers first cut down the trees several feet above the ground; then, as wood became less abundant, they cut the stumps close down to the ground, and finally dug up the stumps

22 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

and the spreading roots for fuel, doing the work so thoroughly that it would have been difficult to have found a root as large as a man's finger in the ground which had a few months before been covered with the vigorous growth of the forest. Certainly no land was ever more effectually cleared for the plow, but how the owners of the soil managed to re-estab- lish their boundary lines, with every fence, tree and landmarks generally destroyed for miles in all direc- tions, puzzles the imagination.

On the seventeenth day of August, 1864, orders were issued for the destruction of all the wheat and hay south of a line from Millwood to Winchester and Petticoat Gap in the Valley of the Shenandoah, Virginia, and for the seizure of all mules, horses and cattle that might be useful to the army. Shenan- doah means, in the Indian language, M daughter of the stars " — a name well merited by the bright sil- very waters of this mountain stream, flowing through one of the most beautiful valleys in the world, with a soil so fertile as to have gained for it the name of " the garden of Virginia." This seventeenth day of August, 18G4, was a perfect summer day; not a

THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 23

cloud obscured the pathway of the sun ; the moun- tain peaks were clearly outlined against the horizon, while all the level lowland seemed smiling with the well-filled barns and huge stacks of an abundant harvest. Such was the scene upon which the sun rose, but soon the wasting flames were seen blazing in all directions ; barns, cribs and stacks soon changed to dust and ashes ; women and children, with tears streaming down their wretched cheeks, begged the stern soldiers to spare them the food necessary to keep them from starving in the fast approaching winter. It was pitiful, but the soldiers could not spare ; their hard duty was to obey orders. It is estimated that, upon this single day, enough of the finest wheat in the world to subsist a hundred thousand men for a year was destroyed, and that in a few weeks twenty-five million dollars worth of property was swept from the face of the valley under this order. Never did man pen more truthful words than General Sherman's famous sentence, "War is cruelty and you cannot refine it."'

On many a night when the cavalry halted for a camp, in every regiment could be heard the orders,

24 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

" Prepare to dismount ! — Dis-mount ! — numbers one and three hold the horses, numbers two and four go and get rails," and soon thousands of camp fires were blazing with the fencing materials of the farms. At night the well kept fences clearly marked the farm- er's fields ; in the morning, far as the eye could reach there was nothing to show that a fence had ever existed, and the whole country was laid open as a common. The whole face of the landscape had been changed in a single night, so that it might puzzle the oldest inhabitant to recognize his familiar haunts. Can you imagine the farmer looking about his prem- ises on the following morning ; the soldiers have passed away like a troubled dream, and so have his cattle, sheep and horses, with all his wheat, hay, corn, oats, and everything else that could be devoured by man or beast. But yesterday he was the owner of a thriving and well appointed farm ; today there remains only empty buildings and deso- late fields. Surely, in sympathy with misfortune, we may pardon something to the planter who on such an occasion exclaimed, in the fullness of his heart, ff I wish all the soldiers in both armies were rammed, jammed, right slap into hell."

THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 25

The Fourth New York Cavalry has received notices already in this paper, but not of a favorable nature. Its colonel was an Italian count, Cesnola by name — the same man who has recently attracted public notice by his discovery of antiquities while serving this country as Consul at Cyprus, in the Mediter- ranean. Colonel Cesnola was a gallant officer, but found it difficult to make soldiers out of the motley mass that composed his regiment and finally in June, 18 63, he was taken prisoner by reason of the bad conduct of his men. After ten months expe- rience as a prisoner of war, he was returned to his regiment, and resumed command of it with a deter- mination to retrieve the reputation of the regiment. He said : "I propose to put these rascals through a course of drill and discipline until on some occasion they distinguish themselves in battle, and the mo- ment they have done that I shall resign." He car- ried these intentions strictly into effect, and at last on the fifteenth day of xlugust, 18 64, he charged at the head of the Fourth New York two rebel regi- ments of infantry and put them to rout, capturing two battle flags and an hundred and fifty prisoners ; and

2Q REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

while the army was ringing with the first news of this gallant deed of arms, Colonel Cesnola sat in his tent writing a resignation of his commission. He said : " I cannot depend upon them ; they have cov- ered me with glory to-day, they may disgrace me to-morrow." Colonel Cesnola's military history was a striking illustration of the power of a brave and determined officer to achieve brilliant success with the most unpromising material in the rank and file . of his regiment.

The popular idea of a cavalryman is that of a soldier mounted on a spirited horse, dashing through the enemy's country at a gallop ; but in reality cav- alry always move at a walk, except in the immediate presence of the enemy, and three miles and a half an hour was a good rate of speed for the advance of a column of cavalry. On a hot, still summer day, the red clay, pulverized into dust as line as flour, would rise in such blinding clouds that a man could not see his comrade riding a few paces in front of him ; and then, after hours of dusty experience, a thunder shower would turn these dusty accumula- tions into liquid mud, and so change a man's per-

THE FHiST KHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 27

sonal appearance that his own mother could not have recognized him. The cavalryman about to leave camp would have strapped upon his saddle three pecks of oats, a gray woolen blanket, a rubber blanket, an overcoat, canteen, etc., while upon his person would be strapped a carbine, pistol, and sabre, with ammunition, and a haversack containing eight days rations ; and when a soldier mounted his horse thus laden down the reasons for moving at a walk were plainly visible. Yet, with all the care and precaution that could be taken, the loss of horses in the army was enormous, and it was estimated that the average life of a horse in the service was only four months. When Sheridan moved up the Valley of the Shenandoah in September, 1864, it was esti- mated there were eight thousand horses in his army, and out of this small number the provost guard, at the rear of the column, was obliged to shoot on an average a hundred horses a day ; most of these ani- mals would have been in good condition for service if they could have had a week's rest, but if they could not keep up with the column it was necessary to shoot them, otherwise the native population would

28 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

have run them oil' into the mountain pastures and they would soon have had rebel soldiers on their backs.

After three years service in the Meld it was my fortune to be a prisoner of war, and as such I lived about four months in Libby Prison, forty-live days of which 1 passed in a cell as a hostage for a rebel soldier sentenced to be hung. Much has been written upon prison life, and I will give only one or two incidents in connection with my experience. Our food consisted of black beans or peas, some- times called cow peas, and corn bread, made, as it seemed to us, from corn ground up with the cob and grain together, and occasionally a little meat or salt fish. The beans were the vilest food I ever ate ; each one had either a fly or a worm in it, and the taste was that rank flavor peculiar to a sun-burned potato. The food was, of course, insufficient, and we were always hungry ; and as the food for a squad of men was delivered in bulk to one of the number selected as a commissarv, the division of the rations required exact and careful judgment. The beans were divided by measurement with a very small tin

THE FIRST KIIODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 29

cup, while the bread and meat were carefully divided into separate portions by the commissary. In our cell there wTere five men, so live little piles were made, and after, by weighing in his hands and numerous inspections by the eye, taking a little from this pile and adding a little to another, the commis- sary had made the portions as nearly equal as pos- sible, one of our number was turned with his back to the food, when the commissary, placing his linger upon a portion, said, "who shall have this?" In response a comrade's name was given, and so on until all the rations were distributed — a method which avoided all dispute as to any possible unfairness in the divison. Each night we cut a notch upon a board and congratulated each other upon the fact that "another day of misery had gone." At length on the fifth day of February, 1865, the hostages, nine in number, all commis- sioned oiHccrs, and about a thousand men of our rank and file, went on board the rebel Hag of truce boat and passed down the James river en route for that happy land, which a prisoner always called "Gods Country."

-

30 REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN

As I looked about on the boat at my fellow pris- oners, I noticed that their confinement and hardships seemed to have taken the human expression out of their features and substituted for it the fierce and brutal appearance of hungry animals. I saw two men fighting for a bone a well fed dx)g would not have looked at ; and yet, these men knew that they would soon be inside the Union lines and supplied with abundant food. The rebel officials upon the boat treated our little squad of officers xery kindly, and calling us into a small room they gave us some excellent boiled mutton and corn bread of the finest quality. As it was a little crowded I stepped out of the room with the food in my hands ; instantly a sol- dier rushed towards me with both hands extended to seize the food, and without saying a word I gave it to him. He said: ''Excuse me, sir; when I saw that food I could not resist the temptation to reach forward and seize it; I was a man once, I am nothing but a brute now ; only the animal instincts remain. " I have always regretted that I did not learn this man's name ; it was no common mind that could thus realize the degradation to which his suf- ferings had reduced him.

THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND CAVALRY. 31

I cannot describe to you the scene when these weary and broken prisoners first caught sight of the old flag ; tears streamed down the cheeks of men who had endured prison hardship and suffering with- out a murmur ; that flag seemed to mean for them not alone the symbol of their country — it repre- sented home, food, friends and all that could render life desirable. On board our own flas? of truce boat hot coffee and abundant food was at once furnished to the released men, who were so excited by the joy of freedom that they could not sleep when night came, and hardly a man slept during the first twenty- four hours. There seemed to be a universal desire upon the part of each man to give a full account of his prison life, and if he could find anyone to listen the story was given in full.

There was anionsr the officers one man so lank and emaciated as to have received the nickname, r' Slim Jim of the bone yard." This man was suddenly seized with a severe fit of spasms, about three o'clock in the morning of our first night upon our flag of truce boat, and the hospital steward hastened to his relief with a bottle of brandy ; after the sic'k man

32 REMINISCENCES.

was relieved somewhat and the steward was about to go to his stateroom, a New Jersey major astonished him with the demand, " Leave that bottle of brandy here ; there will be another case of spasms in less than fifteen minutes. " The disgusted steward thought a trick had been played upon him, but as a matter of fact the sickness of Jim was a reality, and it was natural for a New Jersey man to wish for some of the remedy.

I will close this fragmentary sketch by saying that for myself I hope war may never again come to blast and sear our fair land, and I cannot believe any sol- dier here would wish again to see such days as when Whittier sang,

" The battle flags like storm birds fly, The charging trumpets blow."

PERSONAL NARRATIVES

Battles of the Rebellion,

PAPERS READ BEFORE THE

MODE ISLAND SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

No. 4

" Quaeqne i]>se miscrrlma vidi, Et quorum pars magna fill"

PROVIDENCE: S I D N E Y S . It I D i: It .

1878.

MY FIRST CRUISE AT SEA

Loss of the Iron-clad Monitor.

FRANK B. BUTTS,

(Late Paymaster's Clerk, United States Navr.)

PROVIDENCE: SIDNEY S . UIDK R

1878.

MY FIRST CRUISE AT SEA

LOSS OF THE IRON-CLAD MONITOR

About the first of November, or late in October, 18G2, while I was stationed at Washington Navy Yard, a call was made for volunteers to add to the crew of the new Ericsson iron-clad steamer Monitor. I had then been in the naval service about two months, one of which was spent on board the receiv- ing ship North Carolina at Brooklyn Navy Yard, and one at Washington Navy Yard, where I occu- pied a very pleasant position as clerk in the com- mandant's office. The Monitor had already immor- talized herself in history, and thinking I might pos- sibly share in some future glory, I offered myself, as did no less than two hundred others, and sixteen men besides myself were selected. We were taken

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6 MY FIRST CRUISE AT SEA AND THE

on board the Monitor, when, after another inspec- tion, seven of the number were selected, including myself, who, for our personal appearance or some other reason, were called ont and allowed to stay on board, while the others very sorrowfully returned to their quarters in the Yard. At first I thought my- self quite fortunate to secure such a vessel, hut I soon changed my mind and joined in the opinion of the rest of the crew, that a Monitor was the worst craft for a man to live aboard that ever floated upon water. The Monitor, compared with turreted ves- sels that have been launched since, was a very dimin- utive and imperfect vessel.

The sixth of November, when everything had been made perfect about the vessel and machinery, we hauled out from the Navy Yard into the Potomac river, and in a few hours were steaming towards the south. The first night we anchored at the mouth of the river, and the following day, after a pleasant sail down the Chesapeake, we arrived, amidst a salute, at Hampton Roads, and came to anchor oft* Newport News. The life of a sailor on board this vessel was the most laborious of any in the service. Their

LOSS OF THE IKON -CLAD MONITOR. 7

quarters were small, there being only fourteen inches allowed for each hammock, while underneath, or perhaps over their heads, were the separate engines for working the extra attachments to the vessel, and a man was rarely allowed to sit a moment on the berth deck, even if he had the leisure. The deck of the vessel, as is well known, was nearly even with the water, — along the sides it was only twelve inches above the surface, — and the ordinary waves in that locality would sweep the whole width of the vessel. I will venture to say that my feet were not dry once in the whole time I was on board the Monitor.

We did not expect that our lives were to be spent at Hampton Eoads. The Merrimack had been blown up by the rebels themselves, the new iron-clads, part of which were then in commission, began to arrive, the Army of the Potomac was on the march to Fredericksburg, Eichmond could not be ap- proached by water, and it seemed as if the work planned for us must be further south. We soon no- ticed that preparations were going on in which we were expected to be prominent, and we changed an-

.

0 MY FIRST CRUISE AT St: A AN J) THE

chorasre to Fortress Monroe. Here we took in ii full supply of coal, and several tons of shot and shell.

1 was quite cheerful over the prospect of being called into action, more so because I knew there were eleven inches of iron plates to keep oif the sharp- shooters' bullets, and as the Monitor had proved herself impregnable to any artillery then in use, I thought our side would have the advantage in a good fair fight. Orders were in the hands of our Captain, Commander Bankhead, to proceed to Charleston, South Carolina. There was no definite time men- tioned for us to start, as the Navy Department had left it to the judgment of -more experienced naviga- tors to select favorable weather. For several days there had been a storm, and not until the morning of the twenty-ninth of December did indications seem favorable.

At daybreak we hove short our anchor, and at ten o'clock in the forenoon got under way. The lihode Island, a powerful side-wheeled steamer, was to be our convoy, and to hasten our speed took us in tow with two long twelve-inch hawsers. The weather was heavy, with dark, stormy-looking clouds and a

LOSS OF THE IRON -CLAD MONITOR. 9

westerly wind. We passed out of the Roads and rounded Cape Henry, with but little change in the weather up to the next day at noon, when the wind shifted to the south-south-west and increased to a. gale. It was my trick at the lee wheel at twelve o'clock, and being a good hand I was kept there. At dark we were about seventy miles at sea, and directly oft' Cape Hatteras. The sea rolled high and pitched together in that peculiar manner only seen at Hatteras. The Rhode Island steamed slowly and steadily ahead. The sea rolled over us as if our vessel were a rock in the ocean only a few inches above the water, and men wrho stood abaft on the deck of the Rhode Island have told me that we were thought several times to have ironc down. It seemed that for minutes we were out of sight, as the heavy seas entirely submerged the vessel. I had been sta- tioned at the wheel, which had been temporarily rigged on top of the turret, and where most of the officers were. I heard their remarks, and watched closely the movements of the vessel, so that I ex- actly understood our condition. This going to sea in an iron-clad I began to think would be the last I

- - ■ - -

10 MY FIRST CRUISE AT SEA AND THE

should volunteer for, and I remembered what I had been taught in the service, tfhat a man always got into a muss if he volunteered, (and in my experi- ence the saying was true). All the officers except those on duty in the engine-room were now on the turret. We made very heavy weather, riding one huge wave, and, being heavier than a wooden ship, with no hold for the water to raise her, plunging through the next, and splashing down upon another with a shock that would sometimes take us off our feet, while the next would sweep over us and break far above the turret, and if Ave had not been protec- ed by a rifle armor we would have been washed away. The water had for some time been running down through the coal bunkers, and it is my opinion that some of the covers on deck were removed by the heavy seas, although it has been reported that the side plates had sprung apart. It was then about eight o'clock in the evening, and it was reported that the coal was too wet to keep up steam, which had now run down from its usual pressure of eighty pounds to twenty. The water in the vessel was gaining rapidly over the small pumps, which had

LOSS OF THE IRON -CLAD MONITOR.

, 11

been working, and I heard the Captain order the Chief Engineer to start the main pump* a very pow- erful one of new invention, which was done, as I saw a stream of water eight inches in diameter spouting up from beneath the waves.

Signals of distress were burned to the Rhode Island. She lay to, and we rode the sea more com- fortably. The Rhode Island was obliged to turn slowly ahead to keep from drifting upon us and pre- vent the tow-lines from being caught in her wheels. At one time when she drifted close alongside, our Captain shouted through his trumpet that we were sinking and to send their , boats. The Monitor steamed ahead again with renewed difficulties, and I was ordered to leave the wheel and was kept em- ployed as messenger by the Captain. The Chief Engineer reported the coal too wet to keep up steam and work both pump and the main engine. The tow lines were ordered to be cut, and I saw a man in attempting to obey the order swept from the deck and carried by a heavy sea leeward and out of sight in a moment. Our daring boatswain's mate then succeeded in reaching the bows of the vessel, and I

32 MY FIRST CRUISE AT SEA AND THE

saw him swept by a heavy sea far away into the darkness, only to hear his voice oifce say ''Farewell."

Our anchor was let go with all the cable, and struck bottom in about sixty fathoms of water. The fires were dull. The small pumps were choked up with water, and the main pump had almost stopped working. This was reported to the Captain, and I was ordered to see if there was any water in the wardroom. This was the first lime I had been below the berth deck. I went forward, and saw the water running in through the hawse-pipe, an eight inch hole, at full force. Around the sides, where the hull had broken from the deck, there were several openings where the water poured in in large streams. The deck projected, in a shelf-like form, fifteen feet forward and aft and eight feet on the sides, with a heavy six-inch iron plating extending four feet below the water, and the weight of the vessel, aided by the tremendous force of the heavy seas striking between them, had caused this separation, and this particular defect in the Monitor build was the cause of the disaster.

I reported my observations, and at the same time

LOSS OF THE IRON -CLAD MONITOR.

13

heard the Chief Engineer report that the water had gained very rapidly. The Captain ordered him to stop the main engine and turn all steam on the pumps, which I noticed soon worked again, and I felt somewhat encouraged. The clouds now began to separate and a moon of about half size beamed out upon the sea, and the Rhode Island, now a mile away, became visible. Signals were being exchanged and I felt that all would be saved, or at least that the Captain would not leave his ship until there was no hope of saving her. I was sent below again to see how the water stood in the wardroom. I went for- ward to the cabin and found the water just above the soles of my shoes, which indicated that there must be three or four feet in the vessel. I reported the same to the Captain, and all hands were set to bail- ing,— bailing out the ocean, as it seemed to be, — but the object was to employ the men and keep down the excitement. I kept employed most of the time tak- ing the buckets from through the hatchway on top of the turret. They seldom would have more than a pint of water in them, the balance having been spilled out in passing from one to another.

•

14 MY FIRST CRUISE AT SEA AND THE

Tho weather was clear but the sea did not cease rolling in the least, and the Rhode Island, with the tow lines wound up in her wheel, was rolling at the mercy of the sea, and came washing against our sides. A' boat that had been lowered was caught between the vessels and sunk. Some of our seamen bravely leaped down on deck to guard our sides, and lines were thrown to them from the deck of the Rhode Island, which now lay her whole length against us, floating off astern, but not a man would be the first to leave his ship although the Captain ordered them to do so. I was again sent to examine the water in the wardroom, which I found to be more than two feet above the deck, and I think I was the last to look on a young engineer who lay seasick in his bunk, apparently watching the water as it grew deeper and deeper, and conscious what his fate must be. He called me as I passed his door, and asked if the pumps were working. I replied that they were. "Is there any hope?" he asked, and feeling a little moved at the scene, knowing certainly what must be his end, and the darkness that stared at us all, I replied, "As long as there is life there is hope."

LOSS OF THE IRON -CLAD MONITOR. 15

"Hope and hung on when you are wrecked," is an old saying among sailors. I left the wardroom, and learned that the water had gained so as to choke up the main pump. As I was crossing the berth deck I heard the cabin cook, an old African negro, who was more excited himself than any one else, giving some very consoling lessons to the landsmen, who looked like death with seasickness, in a manner that many of you may have seen men display on such occasions. He congratulated them for bein£ in a metallic coffin, and that the devil would surely pick their bones as no shark could penetrate their graves, and made other startling remarks, not spoken in so mild a way, and too wicked to be remembered.

As I ascended the turret ladder the sea broke over the ship and came pouring down the hatchway with so much force that it took me off my feet, and at the same time the steam broke from the boiler-room, as the water had reached the fires, and for an instant I seemed to realize that we had gone down. Our fires were out and I heard them blowing the water out of the boilers. I reported my observations to the Cap- tain, and at the same time saw a boat alongside.

16 MY FIliST CltUISE AT SEA AND THE

The Captain gave orders for the men to leave the ship, and fifteen, all of whom were seamen and men whom I had placed my confidence upon, were the ones who crowded this, the first boat* to leave the ship. I Avas disgusted at witnessing the scramble, and not feeling in the least alarmed about myself, resolved that I, an "old haymaker," as landsmen are called, would stick to the ship as long as my officers. I saw three of these men swept from the deck and carried leeward to find their graves beneath the angry sea.

Bailing was again resumed. I occupied the turret all alone, and passed buckets from the lower hatch- way to the man on top of the turret. I took off my coat — one that I had received from home only a few days previous, (I could not feel that our noble little ship was yet lost,) — and rolling it up with my boots, drew the tompion from one of the guns, placed them inside and returned the tompion. We had a black cat on board, which then sat on the breech of one of the guns, howling one of those hoarse and solemn tunes which no one can appreciate, unless filled with the superstitions which I had been taught by the

LOSS OF THE IRON -CLAD MONITOR. 17

sailors who were afraid to kill a cat. I would almost as soon have touched a ghost, but I caught her and placing her in another gun, replaced the wad and tompion, but could still heap that dis- tressing yeowl. As I raised my last bucket to the upper hatchway no one was there to take it. I scrambled up the ladder and found that we below had been deserted. I shouted to those on the berth deck to " Come up — the officers have left the ship and a boat is alongside."

As I reached the top of the turret I saw a boat made fast on the weather quarter tilled with men, and three were standing on deck trying to get on board. One man was floating leeward, shouting in vain for help, another, who hurriedly passed me and jumped down from the turret, was swept off by a breaking wave and never arose, even to say, "Save me." I was excited, feeling that it was the only chance to be saved. I made fast a loose line to one of the stanchions and let myself down from the tur- ret, the ladder having been washed away. The mo- ment I struck the deck the sea broke over the decks and swept me as I had seen it sweep my shipmates.

18 MY FIRST CRUISE AT SEA AND THE

I grasped one of the smoke stack braces and, hand- over-hand, ascended to keep my head above water, and it required all my strength to keep the sea from tearing me away. As it swept from the vessel I found myself dangling in the air nearly at the top of the smoke stack. I let fall, and succeeded in reach- ing the ridge rope that encircled the deck by means of short stanchions, and to which the boat was at- tached. The sea again broke over us, lifting me heels upward as I still clung to the ridge rope. I thought I had nearly measured the depth of the ocean, when I felt the turn, and as my head rose above the water I spouted up, it seemed, more than a gallon of water that had found its way into my lungs. I was then about twenty feet from the other men, whom I found to be the Captain and one seaman —the other had been washed overboard and was now strmysjlim* in the water. The men in the boat were pushing back on their oars to keep the boat from being washed on to the Monitor's deck, so that the boat had to be hauled in by the painter about ten or twelve feet. The First Lieutenant and other officers in the boat were shouting, "Is the Captain on board ?"

LOSS OF THE IKON -CLAD MONITOR. ID

and with severe struggles to have our voices heard

Co

above the roar of the wind and sea, we were shout- ing "No," and trying to haul in the boat, which we at last succeeded in doing. Then the Captain, ever caring for his men, requested us to get *in, but we both, in the same voice, told him to get in first. The moment he was over the bows of the boat the Lieutenant cried, "Cut the painter! cut the paint- er!" I thought, "Now or lost," and in less time than I can explain it, exerting my strength beyond imagination, I hauled in the boat, sprang, caught on the gunwale, was pulled into the boat with a boat- hook in the hands of one of the men, and took my seat with one of the oarsmen. The other man, named Joice, managed to get into the boat in some way, I cannot tell how, and he was the last man saved from that ill-fated ship. As we were cut loose I saw several men standing on top of the turret, ap- parently afraid to venture down upon deck, and it may have been that they saw others washed over- board while I was getting into the boat, which caused their fear.

We reached the Rhode Island, which had drifted

20 MY FIUST CKU1SE AT SEA AND THE

perhaps two miles leeward, after a fearful and dan- gerous passage over the frantic seas, and came along- side under the lee bows, where the first boat that had left the Monitor, nearly an hour before, had just dis- charged its men. We found that getting on board the Rhode Island was a harder task tfian getting from the Monitor. T\'e were carried by the sea from stem to stern, for to make fast would have been fatal, and the boat bounded against the ship's sides ; some- times it was below the wheel, and then, on the sum- mit of a huge wave, far above the decks ; then the two boats would crash together, and once while our surgeon was holding on to the rail, he lost his fin- gers by a collision which swamped the other boat. Lines were thrown to us from the deck of the Rhode Island, which were of no assistance, for not one of us could climb a small rope, and besides, the men who threw them would immediately let go their holds in their excitement, to throw another — which I found to be the case when I kept hauling in rope instead of climbing, and concluded, as the Irishman told his captain, that the end was cut off.

It must be understood that two vessels lyiiiff

LOSS OF THE IKON -CLAD MONITOR. 21

side by side, when there is any motion to the water, move alternately, or, in other words, one is con- stantly passing the other up or down. At one time when our boat was near the bows of the steamer we would rise upon the sea until we could touch her rail, and in an instant, by a very rapid descent* we could touch her keel. While we were thus rising and falling upon the sea, I caught a rope, and ris- ing with the boat, managed to reach within a foot or two of the rail, when a man, if there had been one, could easily have hauled me on board. But they all followed after the boat, which at that in- stant was washed astern, and I hung dansrlin^ in the air over the bow of the Rhode Island, with our Acting Master hanging to the cat-head, three or four feet from me, and like myself, both hands clenching a rope, and bawling for some one to save us. Our hands grew painful and all the time weaker, until I saw his strength give way. He slipped a foot, caught again, and with his last prayer, "O God," I saw him fall and sink to rise no more. The ship rolled, and rose and fell upon the sea, sometimes with her keel out of water, or at its surface, when

'

22 MY FIRST CRUISE AT SEA AND THE

I was thirty feet above the sea, and with the fate in view that called home our much-beloved com- panion, which no one witnessed save myself, I still clung to the rope with aching hands, calling in vain for some one to save my life. But 1 could not be heard, for the wind shrieked far above my voice. My heart here, for the only time in my life, gave up hope, and home and friends were most tenderly thought of. While I was in this state, within a few seconds of giving up, the sea rolled forward, bring- ing with it the boat, and when I would have fallen into the sea, the boat was there. I can only recol- lect bearing an old sailor say, as I fell into the bot- tom of the boat, " Where in hell did he come from?" When I was conscious of what was £roin<: on, no one had succeeded in getting out of the boat, which then lay just forward of the wheel-house. Our Cap- tain ordered them to throw bowlines, which was im- mediately done. The second one I caught and was hauled on board. I assisted in helping the others out of the boat, when it again went back to the Monitor, but did not reach it, and after drifting about on the ocean several days it was picked up by a passing vessel and carried to Philadelphia.

LOSS OF THE IKON -CLAD MONITOR. 23

It was now half-past twelve, the night of the thirty- first of December, 1862. I stood on the forecastle of the Rhode Island, watching the red and white lights that hung from the pennant staff above the turret, and which now and then as we would perhaps both rise on the sea together, beam across the dark and raging sea, until at last iust as the moon had

m

passed below the horizon, 'twas lost, and the Moni- tor, whose history is still familiar with us all, the victor of the first iron -clad conflict, the savior of our naval forces, plunged with a dying struggle at her treacherous foe and was seen no more.

The following day we arrived at Hampton Roads. This sad news reached every household, and our nation wept. As near as I can now remember, there were thirty-three lives lost and twenty-eight saved.

PERSONAL NARRATIVES

Battles of the Rebellion,

PAPERS READ BEFORE THE

RHODE ISLAND SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

No. 5.

" Quaeque ipse miserrima vidi, Ft quorum pars magna fui."

PROVIDENCE: S I D N K Y S . 11 I D E R .

1878.

KIT OAESON'S FIGHT

Comanche and Kiowa Indians,

AT THE ADODE WALLS, ON TJIE CANADIAN RIVER

November ^tii, isg-i.

BY GEORGE II. PETTIS,

(BreTet Captain U. S. Volunteers, luto First Lieutenant First Infantry, California Voluuteuro, and Lieutenant and Adjutant First Infantry, Now Mexico Volunteers.)

PROVIDENCE: SIDNEY 8 . KID K It

1878.

KIT CARSON'S FIGHT

WJTH THE

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS.

The summer of 1864 will long be remembered by our frontiersmen as a season when the Comanche, the Kiowa, the Arapahoe, the Cheyenne, and the Plain Apache held high carnival on -our western plains. From the early spring of that year, when the hardy Indian pony could subsist on the growing grass of the prairies, until late in the fall, they committed their depredations, and there was not a week of that whole season, but that some outrage was committed by them. They seemed to have conceived the idea that the white man could be exterminated, and by concerted action, and by striking at different points, to have fondly hoped that they could once more roam and hunt at their pleasure, free and unmolested

6 KIT cahson's fight with the

by the white man's civilization. The determined operations of the western Indians and their con- certed action at this time, has led some to believe that it was a part of the programme of, and that they had been incited to this by, the leaders of the rebellion. It seems plausible, too, for when the grand old Army of the Potomac was fighting the bat- tles of the Wilderness, of Spottsylvania, of North Anna, of Cold Harbor, and Petersburg, and the Wei don Railroad, Ream's Station, Peeble's Farm, and Boydtown Road ; and Sheridan had rode his "twenty miles from Winchester town," and had driven Early out of the Shenandoah valley ; and Sherman was fighting the battles that led to the cap- ture of Atlanta, the Indians were spreading havoc and destruction in all directions. No trains crossed the plains that season without being attacked, and none but those with strong military escorts escaped capture and destruction. Houses and barns on the frontier were fired, stock of all kinds was nowhere secure, large and small parties were attacked, men, women, and children murdered. In fact, the year 18GI will be sadly remembered as long as the prcs-

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. i

ent generation of frontiersmen lives. The command- ers of the different military departments bordering on this territory, had, wii.Ii the few men at their com- mand, sent out during the summer several expedi- tions, as escorts to trains, but they had accomplished no more than to accord safety to their different charges, as the mode of Indian warfare is to only give battle when they have all of the advantages.*

In the month of October, 1864, General James II. Carleton, then commanding the Department of New Mexico, believing that the Comanches and Kiowas might be found, on the south side of the Canadian river, in winter quarters, issued a general order, directing an expedition against these Indians. The command was ordered to consist as follows : Colo- nel Christopher Carson, (familiarly known as "Kit Carson,") First New Mexico Cavalry, commanding; Colonel Francisco P. Abreii, First New Mexico In-

* At the reading of this paper, before the Soldiers and Sailors Historical Society, February 1-ith, 1877, a gentleman who had visited the Indian Ter- ritory immediately at the close of the War of the Kebellion, assured me that the supposition that the leaders of the lute war had incited the Indians to commit their atrocities in 1804, was founded on fact, he having been so informed by several of the principal chiefs at that time. — G. H. P.

8 KIT CAKSOX?S FIGHT WITH THE

fantry ; Major William MeCleave, First California Cavalry; Captain Emil Fritz, Company B, First California Cavalry, one officer and forty enlisted men; Lieutenant Sullivan Heath, Company K, First California Cavalry, one officer and forty men ; Cap- tain Merriam, Company M, First California Cavalry, one officer and thirty-four men ; Lieutenant George H. Pettis, Company K, First California Infantry, one officer and twenty-six men, with two twelve pounder mountain howitzers mounted on prairie car- riages ; Captain Charles Deus, Company M, First New Mexico Cavalry, two officers and seventy men ; Captain Joseph Berney, Company D, First New Mexico Cavalry, two officers and thirty-six men ; Company A, First California Veteran Infantry, sev- enty-five men ; Assistant Surgeon George S. Court- right, United States Volunteers, and an officer, whose name escapes me, as Assistant Quartermaster and Commissary, — numbering, in all, fourteen officers and three hundred and twenty-one enlisted men. In addition to the command, Colonel Carson had in- duced seventy-two friendly Indians (Utes and Apa- ches) , by promising them all the plunder that they

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. lJ

might acquire, to join the expedition. These Utes and Apaches are known among frontiersmen as "Mountain Indians," in contradistinction to the "Plain Indians," and make their homes in the Rocky Mountains, to the north and west of the Mexican town of Don Fernando de Taos. As Carson had been their agent at one time, and they knowing him well, he had little difficulty in inducing them to join him on an expedition against their old enemies.

The troops mentioned above were stationed at dif- ferent posts in the Territory of New Mexico, and they were ordered to rendezvous at Fort Bascom, a frontier post on the Canadian river near the bounda- ry line of Texas, on the fourth of November. The Quartermaster had received his supplies in a train of twenty -seven wagons and an ambulance, and the morning of the sixth of November found the com- mand ready to stretch out, the horses having all been well shod, and after some difficulty in crossing the Canadian river, to the north side, the expedition was well on the war path before noon, and went into camp that night at the mouth of Ute creek, near the boundary line of Xuw Mexico and Texas. From this

10

time the command moved on from day to day, with only such incidents as usually accompany such expe- ditions, except that it was a new country to most of us, as our campaigning had never extended to the plains before this time, we heretofore having ope- rated against the Navajoe and Apache Indians in the immediate vicinity of the -llio Grande, extending our scouting at times into the eastern and northern parts of Arizona. On our third or fourth day out from Fort Bascom, we passed the vicinity where Kit Carson had, fifteen or twenty years before this time, pursued a marauding band of Comanches, who had attacked a wa^on train near Fort Union in New Mex- ico ; all the men of the train had been killed, includ- ing a Mr. White, an American, whose wife and child had been taken prisoners. Carson, who was in that vicinity at the time, organized a party and proceeded on the trail, and after several days, had come up to them at this point. They being well into their own country had not anticipated being pursued so far. The party of whites attacked them at early dawn, drove them from their camp, and found only the reeking bodies of Mrs. White and her child, btill

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 11

warm, with their life's blood slowly ebbing aA\ray, the Indians having, as is usual with them, at the first sound of the attack, perforated the bodies of their prisoners with spears and arrows. Carson explained to us how their attack was made, the position of the Indian camp, where the bodies were found, etc., in his usual graphic manner.

The Indians with our command, on every night after making camp, being now on the war path, in- dulged in their war dance, which, although new to most of us, became almost intolerable, it being kept up each night until nearly daybreak, and until we became accustomed to their -groans and howlings incident to the dance, it was impossible to sleep. Each morning of our march, two of our Indians would be sent ahead several hours before we started, who would return to camp at night and report. On the fifteenth we arrived and made camp at the Canada de los Ruedes, or Wheel Gulch, so called from the fact that years before, when New Mexico was a State of old Mexico, the Mexican trains on their way to the States for goods, with their carretas, or ox carts, usually remained over here for repairs,

12 kit carson's fight with the

and as the Cottonwood trees were larger than at any other point on their route, they could obtain such a supply of new wheels as their necessities required — hence the name of 'f Canada de los Kuedes."

We had up to this time followed on the old Mexi- can road from New Mexico, the first party that had passed over it for years, as it had been long in dis- use, the usual route being by way of the Cimmaron . and Arkansas rivers, several hundred miles farther north. Near this point, the old wagon road left the valley of the Canadian, and turned abruptly to the north, while we, keeping to the right, found an old, unused Indian trail, which kept in the direction of the Canadian. We had been fortunate in having good weather, for the season of the year, and some- thing very unusual in scouting on the frontier, we had been successful in finding plenty of water, both for the men and for our animals.

On the afternoon of November twenty -fourth, after a short inarch of eighteen miles, we made camp at Mule Spring, having -marched through the State of Texas and arrived in the western part of the Indian Territory. Up to this time no indications of

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS,

13

hostile Indians had been observed, although Carson made good use of his many years of frontier expe- rience, by keeping his Indian scouts well out on either flank. We had arrived at Mule Spring early in the afternoon ; had performed our usual camp duties, and as the sun was about setting, many of us being at supper, we were surprised to see our Indians, who were lying around the camp, some gambling, some sleeping, and others waiting for something to eat from the soldiers' mess, spring to their feet, as if one man, and gaze intently to the eastward, talking in their own language quite excit- edly. Upon questioning Colonel Carson, why this tumult among our Indians, he informed us that the two scouts that he had dispatched that morning, had found the Comanches, and were now returning to report the particulars. Although the returning scouts were at least two miles distant, and, mounted on their ponies, were hardly discernible, yet the quick, sharp eye of our Indians made them out with- out difficulty. I must confess that I failed to see them, until an Indian pointed out to me, away oil* on the hill-side, two mere specks moving towards our

14 kit cakson's fight with the

camp. And what was more remarkable, they had, by a single shout, in that rarefied, electrical atmos- phere, conveyed the intelligence that they had found the enemy, and that work was to be done. But a short time elapsed before the two scouts arrived, and rode leisurely through camp, without answering any questions or giving any information, until they had found the Colonel, when they reported that they had, about ten miles in advance, found indications that a large body of Indians had moved that morn- ing, with a very large herd of horses and cattle, and that we would have no difficulty in finding all the Indians that we desired. Carson immediately or- dered all the cavalry, and the section of mountain howitzers, to be ready to move without delay. The Infantry, Company A, First California Infantry, un- der command of Colonel Abreii, was ordered to remain as escort to the wagon train, which was to stay in camp that night, and on the morrow was to move on and follow the trail of the command, until they overtook it.

Just before dark, Carson, with his command, moved out of camp, in light marching order, with

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 15

strict orders that, daring the night march, there should be no talking or smoking. Before twelve, Ave had descended again into the valley of the Cana- dian, which we had left four days before, and had also found in the dark, the deep-worn, fresh trail of the hostile Indians. At this time, we believed that we were in the immediate vicinity of the enemy, and as nothing of their position was known to us, it was deemed prudent to remain where we were, and move on again just before daylight. This halt was very tedious. As I said before, no talking was allowed, (the few orders that were necessary, were given in a whisper,) lighting of pipes and smoking was prohib- ited ; each officer and soldier upon halting, only dismounted, and remained holding his horse by the bridle rein until morning ; and to add to our discom- forts a heavy frost fell during the night.

As the first grey streaks of dawn appeared in the eastern skies, Ave mounted our horses, and proceeded on our new-found trail. Our order of march Avas, first on the right, Colonel Carson in company with the Utes and Apaches, Avho generally kept no reg- ular order ; next came about one-half of the ca\r-

16 kit carson's figtit witti tiir

airy force; then the section of mountain howitzers ; the balance of the cavalry bringing up the rear. We had been moving but a few minutes, when I was in- formed that Carson wished to see me at the head of the column. I urged my horse forward as quietly as I could, and reported to him. As I did so, I re- marked the funny appearance of his Indians, all of whom were mounted in their own peculiar manner, with their knees drawn up nearly at right angles, and being cold, they were each of them enveloped in their buffalo robes, standing high above their heads, and fastened by a belt at their waist. Such a sight was ludicrous in the extreme. Carson commenced to say to me, in his own quaint way: "I had a dream the night before, of being engaged with a large number of Indians ; your cannons were firing," — at this point of his recital, we heard a voice in Spanish, on the opposite side of the river, cry out "Bene-acd," "Bene-aea," — "Come here," "Come here." We knew that avc had found a picket of the enemy. Carson hastily ordered Major McCleave, and B Company California Cavalry, with one of the New Mexican detachments, to cross the river, as it

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 1.7

was easily forded. Our Indians, who had been rid- ing leisurely along, at the first cry charged into a clump of chapparel which was near by, and in a mo- ment, as it seemed, came riding out again, com- pletely divested of buffalo robes and all their cloth- ing, with their bodies covered with war paint, and war feathers in abundance, and giving a war-whoop they dashed wildly into the river towards the enemy. I was wondering at the wonderful transformation of our Indians, entirely forgetful of the enemy, when Carson gave orders for us to move down on our side of the river, he bein^ satisfied that the village would be found within a short distauce.

A few shots were fired on the opposite side of the river, and we soon saw by the early morning light, the enemy's picket, consisting of three mounted Indians, rushing madly on, followed by the detach- ments that had been sent over. We had proceeded but a short distance, when Carson ordered our force to move on more rapidly, and strike the Indian vil- lage before they should become fully alarmed, while he himself, with Lieutenant Heath's detachment, remained as escort to the battery, the carriages of

18 KIT CARSON'S FIGHT WITH THE

which were so small that the cannoneers could not be mounted, consequently they could not move as fast as the rest of the command, which was composed entirely of cavalry, it being remembered that the infantry had remained behind the night before, at Mule Creek, as escort to the wagon train. It was not long before the cavalry had disappeared from our sight, as we were now in the middle of the rich val- ley of the Canadian river, which was here about two miles in width, with occasional clumps of cotton- wood trees, and covered with tall dry grass, in many places high above our heads when mounted on our horses. In fact, I remember that several times dur- ing that morning, when riding with Colonel Carson, and keeping up a conversation, we could not see each other, the tall dry grass intervening. This tall grass and an occasional clump of drift-wood, which had been formed by previous freshets of the river, made hard work for us to ^et alorn^ with the moun- tain howitzers. The carriages having low wheels, and tracking very narrow, the most constant care and attention would not prevent their occasional cap- sizing and consequent delay in righting up again.

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 19

We were an hour probably in getting through this wilderness, and getting out on to clear, hard, unob- structed earth again, by which time we could hear, far in advance, riile shots thick and fast. The quick, sharp command, "Trot — March," would be given to the battery, which would move out at a trot for a few hundred yards, when the dismounted cannoneers would soon be left stringing out a long way to the rear; "Walk — March," would be resumed, so as to allow the men to regain their places, and after allowing them a short time to regain their breath, the same movements would be again and again per- formed.

At about nine o'clock, the firing in our advance, which was becoming more rapid, seemed to be mov- ing forward faster than we were, or rather it seemed, that every minute, the distance between ourselves and the firing parties was becoming wider, yet we were all the time advancing. We now came upon a large number of cattle, belonging to the Kiowas, that were quietly browsing on the plain, entirely obliv- ious of war's destruction in their midst. Shortly after, we saw a number of our Indians, each having

20 kit carson's fight with the

his own separate herd of from twenty to fifty of the enemy's ponies, and on getting them a short distance away from each other, each would single out one of the best of his respective herd, dismount, and plac- ing his riding outfit upon his new steed, would leave his own worn out pony to mark his individual prop- erty, expecting that the light would be over in a few minutes, when they were to return, and according to their terms of contract for the campaign, each would have his own separate herd of horses, which he had collected, and which was marked by the horse left by him.

A long low hill, running from the foothills across the valley of the Canadian to the river, which was here forced to the opposite side of the valley, next met our view, over the top of which could be seen a large number of what I supposed to be Sibley tents from their shape and whiteness, and I so expressed my opinion to Colonel Carson, who informed me that they were Indian lodges made of buffalo hide, whitened by a process practiced by all the Indians on the plains. I do not remember of having been deceived at any time as I was by these lodges ; posi-

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 21

live I was that they were Sibley tents, and this opin- ion was also that of my enlisted men — buffalo lodges are not used by the mountain Indians — but in the next minute we passed through the centre of this vil- lage, when we were fully satisfied.

Our advance, which was a long way ahead of us, had surprised the Kiowas in their lodges which formed this village. The bucks or males had seized their weapons and ammunition and retreated down the river followed by our men, the women and chil- dren, before we came up, had also deserted the vil- lage and were hidden in the foothills on our left, which we knew nothing of, unfortunately, as they had an American woman and two children with them, beiuir the widow and children of a sergeant of Colo- rado volunteers who had been killed in the early part of the season in western Kansas.

The firing continued in our front. Carson said to me that we should proceed, and if the fight was not over when we arrived it would soon be, when we would all return and burn the lodges. At the same time, he threw his heavy military overcoat on a bush alongside the road, and advised me to do the same,

22 KIT cakson's fight with the

as we should return in a few minutes and get them again. I did not do it, however. Some of my men wished to take their overcoats and blankets from the guns and leave them, but I would not allow them to do so, and for once, my judgment was better than Carson's, for he never saw that coat of his again, while my own and those of my men did good ser- vice afterwards. But as we pushed on, the tiring seemed no nearer, until after we had made about four miles from the village, when we saw our men, dismounted and deployed as skirmishers, with their horses corralled in an old, deserted, adobe building, known by all frontiersmen as the Adobe Walls. When we were within about a thousand yards of this point, Carson, with Lieutenant Heath and his detachment, put spurs to their horses and charged forward t<$ join in the fray. My men seemed to get new life, and forgot all their fatigues, at the pros- pect of going into action, and but a few minutes elapsed before we came into the centre of the field at a gallop, and touching my cap to Carson, I re- ceived from him the following order: "Pettis, throw a few shell into that crowd over thar." The

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 23

next moment, "Battery, halt! action right, — load with shell — Load !" was ordered.

It was now near ten o'clock in the morning, the sky was not obscured by a single cloud, and the sun was shining in all its brightness. Within a hundred yards of the corralled horses in the Adobe. Walls, was a small symmetrical conical hill of twenty- live or thirty feet elevation, while in all directions extended a level plain. Carson, McCleave, and a few other officers, occupied the summit, when the battery ar- rived and took position nearly on the top. Our cavalry was dismounted and deployed as skirmishers in advance, lying in tall grass, and firing an occa- sional shot at the enemy. Our Indians, mounted and covered with paint and feathers, were charging backwards and forwards and shouting their war cry, and in their front were about two hundred Coman- ches and Kiowas, equipped as they themselves were, charging in the same manner, with their bodies thrown over the sides of their horses, at a full run, and shooting occasionally under their horses' necks, while the main body of the enemy, numbering twelve or fourteen hundred, with a dozen or more chiefs rid-

24 kit oarson's fight with the

iiig up and down their line haranguing them, seemed to be preparing for a desperate charge on our forces. Surgeon Courtright had prepared a corner of the Adobe Walls for a hospital, and was busy, with his assistants, in attending to the wants of half a dozen or more wounded. Fortunately, the Adobe Walls were high enough to protect all our horses from the enemy's rifles, and afford ample protection to our wounded. Within a mile of us, beyond the enemy, in full and complete view, was a Comanche village of over five hundred lodges, which, with the village that we had captured, made about seven hundred lodges, which allowing two ii^htin^ Indians to a lodge, which is the rule on the frontier, would give us fourteen hundred warriors in the field before us.

This was the prospect when the battery came on the ground. A finer sight I never saw before, and probably shall never sec again. The Indians seemed to be astonished when the pieces came up at a gallop and were being unlimbered. The pieces were loaded in a few seconds after the order was given, and were sighted by the gunners, when the command "Number one — Fire !" was given, followed quickly by ".Xum-

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 25

bcr two — Fire !" At the first discharge, every one of the enemy, those that were charging backwards and forwards on their horses but a moment before as well as those that were standing in line, rose high in their stirrups and gazed, for a single moment, with astonishment, then guiding their horses' heads away from us, and giving one concerted, prolonged yell, they started in a dead run for their village. In fact when the fourth shot was fired there was not a single enemy within the extreme range of the how- itzers. Colonel Carson now assured us that the iiiiht- ing was over, and that the enemy would not make another stand, and gave orders that after a short halt, to allow the men to eat something and to water our horses, as neither man nor beast had received any nourishment since supper time the da}' before, we were to proceed and capture the Comanche village before us. Accordingly the skirmishers were called in, the cavalry horses were unsaddled, the artillery horses unhitched from the pieces, and all taken a hundred yards or more in our rear, to as line a run- ning brook of clear cold water as I ever saw on the frontiers. The horses were allowTed to drink their 3

26 kit cakson's fight with the

fill, and then each one was picketed with a long lariat, or rope, to cat high, rich, uncropped grass. This accomplished, the officers and men proceeded to fish from the inmost recesses of their haversacks, such pieces of raw bacon and broken hard-bread as they had been fortunate enough to capture the night be- fore on leaving the wagons. Each one had some- thing to relate about the day's conflict, and each one was anxious to know what was to be the result of the day's operations.

Less than half an hour had elapsed, and Carson had not, as yet, given the order to saddle up, when the enemy were returning, and seemed to be anxious to renew the conflict. Presently the order came to saddle up, the artillery horses were hitched in again, the cavalry horses returned to the inside of the Adobe Walls, the sharp, quick whiz of the Indians' rifle balls was again heard, the cavalrymen were deployed as before, and the tight was going on again in earnest.

During this light, which lasted all the afternoon, the howitzers were fired but a few times, as the ene- my were shrewd enough to know that their policy

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. Z (

was to act singly and avoid getting into masses, although the detachments were kept on the field in the most exposed situations. At one of the dis- charges, the shell passed directly through the body of a horse on which was a Comanche riding at a full run, and went some two or three hundred yards further on before it exploded. The horse, on being struck, went head-foremost to earth, throwing his rider, as it seemed, twenty feet into the air with his hands and feet sprawling in all directions, and as he struck the earth, apparently senseless, two other Indians who were near by, proceeded to him, one on each side, and throwing themselves over on the sides of their horses, seized each an arm and dragged him from the field between them, amid a shower of rifle balls from our skirmishers. This act of the In- dians in removing their dead and helpless wounded from the field is always done, and more than a score of times were we eye-witnesses to this feat during the afternoon. General G. A. Custer, in his ,f Life on the Plains," says of this Indian custom, in giving an account of an Indian tight near Fort Wallace, in 1807: " Those of the savages who were shot from

28 kit carson's fight with the

their saddles were scarcely permitted to fall to the ground, before a score or more of their comrades dashed to their rescue, and bore their bodies beyond the possible reach of our men. This is in accord- ance with the Indian custom in battle. They "will risk the lives of a dozen of their best warriors to prevent the body of any one of their number from falling into the white man's possession. The reason for this is the belief, which generally prevails among all the tribes, that if a warrior loses his scalp, he forfeits his hope of ever reaching the happy hunting ground."

But to return again to my story : Quite a number of the enemy acted as skirmishers, being dismounted and hid in the tall grass in our front, and made it hot for most of us by their excellent markmanship, while quite the larger part of them, mounted and covered with their war dresses, charged continually across our front, from right to left and vice versa, about two hundred yards from our line of skirmishers, yelling like demons, and tiring from under the necks of their horses at intervals. About two hundred yards in rear of their line, all through the fighting

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 29

at the Adobe Walls, was stationed one of the enemy who had a cavalry bugle, and during the entire day he would blow the opposite call that was used by the officer in our line of skirmishers. For instance, when our bugles sounded the "advance," he would blow "retreat" ; and when ours sounded the "retreat," he would follow with the "advance"; ours would signal "halt"; he would follow suit. So he kept it #

up all the day, blowing as shrill and clearly as our very best buglers. Carson insisted that it was a white man, but I have never received any informa- tion to corroborate this opinion. All I know is, that he would answer our signals each time they were sounded, to the infinite merriment of our men, who would respond with shouts of laughter each time he sounded his horn.

The course of the river could be discerned east- wardly at least a dozen miles, and there were seve- ral of the enemy's villages in that direction. We could see them approaching all the afternoon, in parties of from five to fifty, and it was estimated that there were at least three thousand Indians op- posed to us, — more than ten to one. During the

30 kit carson's fight with the

afternoon, parties of the enemy could be seen at a distance of two or three miles on either side, 2roin«r to the village that we passed through in the morning, and they succeeded in getting all the stock that they had left, in securing such valuables as had been left by them in their lodges, and they also secured their women and children and carried them to places of safety.

The safety of out own wagon train now began to be considered, as there were only seventy-five men left with it, and it was feared that it might be cap- tured by the large number of Indians that had passed to our rear. The most of our officers were anxious to press on and capture the village immediately in our front, and Carson was at one time about to give orders to that ciiect, when our Indians prevailed upon him to return and completely destroy the vil- lage that we had already captured, and after finding our supply train, replenishing our ammunition, and leaving our wounded, we could come back again and finish this village to our satisfaction. After some hesitation and against the wishes of most of his officers, at about half-past three <Jarson gave orders

COMANCHE AND KrOWA INDIANS. 31

to bring out the cavalry horses, and formed a column of fours, — the number four man of each set of fours to lead the other three horses, — with the moun- tain howitzers to bring up the rear of the column. The balance of the command was thrown out as skir- mishers on the front, rear and on both flanks, and we commenced our return march. The enemy was not disposed to allow us to return without molestation, and in a very few minutes was attacking us on every side. By setting fire to the high, dry grass of the river bottom the}* drove us to the foot-hills, and by riding in rear of the fire as it came burning towards us, they would occasionally get within a few yards of the column ; being enveloped in the smoke, they would deliver the fire of their rifles and get out of harm's way before they could be discovered by us.

During the morning's fight at the Adobe Walls, a young Mexican boy, about eighteen or nineteen years of age, belonging to one of the New Mexican companies, was out on the line of skirmishers, and as he was crawling forward, in reaching out his right hand he placed it over the hole of a rattlesnake and was bitten on the little finger. He passed near me,

32 kit carson's fight with the

as he came away from the line to find the Surgeon, and as he was holding up his hand, I supposed that he was wounded in that member, and said to him in Spanish, "Que hay ! que ticnes?" — "Here you, what's the matter?" He replied, "Uii bibora ! n— " Battle- snake." He passed into the Adobe Walls, where the Surgeon was located, who dressed his hand and gave him a good stiff drink of whiskey. In a few minutes he returned to the skirmish line, where he remained until our return. His company was now on our left flank, and after we had completed about a mile of our return march, a Comanche rode up to us in a cloud of smoke, when a sudden gust of wind left him completely exposed within twenty feet of the boy who had been bitten by the snake. They both, at the same moment, brought their rifles to their cheeks. The Indian tired a second before the other, and missed his mark, — the boy immediately returned the fire, hit his enemy in some vital part, (he instantly fell from off his horse,) and rushed for- ward to secure his scalp. Some ten or fifteen of the Comanchcs who were near, saw their friend fall and rushed forward on their horses to secure the boclv

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 33

and bear it away out of our reach, as they bad done a great many times during the day. The comrades of the Mexican soldier went to his assistance, kept the enemy at bay until he had finished the scalping operation, and then returned to their places in the skirmish line. This boy took the only scalp that our party secured during the whole day's fight. During this return march the howitzer in rear of the column succeeded in ircttin^ in a shell three several times on groups of the enemy.

Just before sundown we reached the village, which we found lull of Indians trying to save their prop- erty from destruction. A couple of shells, followed by a charge of oui* men, drove them into the far end of it, when the work of destruction commenced, about half of the command being detailed to set tire to the lodges, while the rest of us were to keep the enemy in check. A small sand hill about twenty feet high was taken advantage of for the howitzers, and served as earthworks for the detachment. The pieces were loaded at the foot of the hill, and at the command of "By hand, to the front," they were pushed to the top, when the gunner would aim the

34 KIT CARSON'S FIGHT WITH THE

piece, and at the command "ready" number four would insert the friction primer, and lying on his stomach, with no part of his body exposed, would wait for the command to fire. The piece on being fired would recoil, sometimes tumbling over and over and at others coming down fairly on the wheels to the bottom of the hill, when the other piece, having been loaded meanwhile, would be moved to the top and fired in its turn. The lodges were found to be full of plunder, including many hundreds of finely finished buffalo robes. Every man in the command took possession of one or more of these, while the balance were consumed in the lodges. There were found some white women's clothing, as well as articles of children's clothing, and several photo- graphs ; also a cavalry sergeant's hat, with letter and cross-sabres, cavalry sabre and belts, etc., being the accoutrements of the Colorado volunteer sergeant of which I have spoken before. We also burned an army ambulance and government wagon, with seve- ral sets of harnesses, which the Kiowas had retained from some wagon train they had captured during the previous summer.

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 35

I had forgotten to mention that with our seventy- two Utes and Apaches there were two old squaws, and the purpose for which they had accompanied the party had been a mystery to our men, but we ascer- tained now. It is well known to all frontiersmen that the mutilation of dead bodies (and they are often found mutilated so indecently that I cannot describe it here — a dozen times or more I have been eye-witness to this kind of mutilation my- self,) is always the work of the squaws. When we passed the village in the morning, these two squaws were in these lodges, unknown to us, seeking for plunder. In the course of their search, they had found two old, decrepit, blind Kiowas and two crip- ples, who were unable to get out of their lodges when they were deserted by their people, and our two squaws soon placed them hors-du-combat, by cleaving, their heads with axes. All four of these were found by our men when they were burning the village, the squaws themselves showing the men where they were, and claiming the merit of their slaughter.

The Comanches and Kiowas were driven from

36 kit carson's fight with the

loclirc to lodge to the southern extremity of the vil- lage, and on reaching the hist one, the party, mim- ing some thirty or forty, mounted their horses, and at a run made from us towards the river, a twelve- pounder shell, the last shot fired in the light, explod- ing in their midst, as a parting salute, just as the sun was setting in the western horizon. The work of destruction was soon finished, — every one of the one hundred and seventy-six lodges, with their contents, were consumed, together with the ambulance, wagon and harnesses before mentioned.

It was some time after dark when the cavalrymen had mounted their horses and had formed the col- umn to return. The two gun carriages and the two ammunition carts were loaded with the most severely wounded, while the slightly wounded retained their horses. % The march now became the most unpleas- ant part of the day's operations. The wounded were suffering severely ; the men and horses were com- pletely worn out ; the enemy might attack us at any moment, unseen ; and the uncertainty of the where- abouts and condition of our wagon train, for you will remember that we were now nearly two hundred and

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 6(

fifty miles from the nearest habitation, or hopes of supply, with the whole Comanche and Kiowa nations at our heels, — all combined to make it anything but a pleasant situation to be in. We had been moving slowly on our return from the destroyed village about three hours, when we saw away off on our right several camp fires burning dimly, and approach- ing cautiously, we were soon welcomed by the chal- lenge of a sentinel, in good, clear, ringing Saxon, "Who comes there?" This was answered by our men with cheers, for we were now assured that our supply train was intact, and that starvation would be averted for a season at least. But a few minutes elapsed before we were in camp, the Surgeon made the wounded as comfortable as possible, the horses were unsaddled and unhitched from the pieces and fastened to the picket line, a double guard was put on, and then for blankets and sleep, hunger being- forgo ttcn in our weariness.

This ended the day's work. The command had

been nearly thirty hours marching and lighting, with

an intermission of less than half an hour, and with

no other refreshment than that afforded by a single

4

t

38 kit carson's fight with the

hard-bread, and small piece of salt pork. The cas- ualties of the day on our part were but two killed, privates John O'Donnell and John Sullivan, of Com- pany M, First California Cavalry, with twenty-one wounded, two or three of whom died afterwards from the effects of their wounds. One of our Utes was killed and four wounded. The loss to the Co- manches and Kiowas, was their village of one hun- dred and seventy-six lodges, buffalo robes, and all of their winter's provisions, with nearly one hundred killed, and between one hundred and one hundred and fifty wounded.

Our wagon train had left camp at Mule Creek very early in the morning, had followed our trail as well as they could, and all day long had heard the how- itzers each time they were tired. They knew that we were engaged with the enemy, and the train was kept in continuous motion, hoping to reach us before the day closed ; but night set in on them, and Colo- nel Abreii selected a good place for defence and went into camp where we found them, they not hav- ing been molested by the Indians, although several parties were seen by them during the day.

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 39

As the usual time for an Indian attack is just be- fore daybreak, reveille was sounded at an early hour on the morning of the twenty-sixth, the command was distributed for an attack, but the sun soon rose upon us awaiting the onset. As none of the enemy were discovered, the officers and men, now that they had been refreshed by undisturbed slumber, bethought themselves of their stomachs, and I doubt if there was ever a heartier breakfast disposed of; all of the wild turkeys and antelope meat on hand were devoured, — calling upon the hunters to do their duty again. Our Indians were so tired the night before that they adjourned their "scalp dance," and sought the comfort of their buifalo robes ; but, as Ave had been entertained every night until the light by their "war dance," so for twenty-one days after, or as long as they remained with us, the monotony of the march was diversified by their own peculiar "scalp dance," and that with only one scalp, which they had purchased of the Mexican soldier whose exploit I have before mentioned.

We remained in camp during the day to allow the men and animals to recuperate, and never was needed

rest more welcome. The enemy did not seem dis- posed to molest us, but remained in full view, on an eminence about two miles to the eastward of us. The only incident of the day worthy of mention was, that during the afternoon two of our Indians, mounted, rode out leisurely on the plain towards the Comanchcs ; presently two of the enemy left their party and rode towards us, when another party of ten or a dozen left our camp, and then the same num- ber left the camp of the enemy, like boys playing at goal, and then another party from our camp, followed by a like party from the enemy, until there were over two hundred men of both sides moving at a walk towards each other in the centre of the plain. The leading parties of each side had approached each other until only about two hundred yards of space intervened, when shooting commenced, but before a dozen shots had been exchanged the entire body of the enemy turned their horses' heads towards their camp, and left on a run, followed by our people for ti short distance, who afterwards returned to camp unharmed.

lie veil le was sounded early on the morning of the

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 41

twenty -seventh, and after breakfast orders were is- sued by Colonel Carson to saddle up, and commence the return march, much to the surprise and dissatis- faction of all the officers, who desired to go to the Comanche village that we had been in sight of on the day of the fight. It was learned afterwards that our Indians had advised Carson to return, and without consulting his officers the order was given and we commenced our return march.

We arrived at Fort Bascom on or about the twen- tieth of December without being molested by the enemy, where we remained a few days, when orders were received from the Department Commander for the different detachments to return to various posts in the Territory, and as the term of enlistment of the most of the men of my detachment had expired, I was ordered to Fort Union, where we arrived shortly after, on New Year's day, 1<S65.

General Orders, No. 4, Department of New Mex- ico, dated Headquarters, Santa Fe, N. M., February 18, 18G5, which gives a detailed account of every operation with the Indians in that department for the entire year of 1864, says, on page 10, under date of November twenty-fifth : —

42

" Colonel Christopher Carson, First Cavalry, New Mexico Volunteers, with a command consisting of fourteen commis- sioned officers and thiee hundred and twenty-one enlisted men and seventy-live Indians, — Apaches andUtcs — attacked a Kiowa village of about one hundred and fifty lodges, near the Adobe Fort, on the Canadian river, in Texas ; and, after a severe fight, compelled the Indians to retreat, with a loss of sixty killed and wounded. The village was then destroyed. The engage- ment commenced at 8.30 a. m., and lasted without intermission until sunset.

"In this fight, privates John O'Donnell and John Sullivan, of Company M, First Cavalry, California Volunteers, were killed, and Corporal N. Newman, privates Thomas Briggs, J. Jamison,

Mapes, Jaspar Vincent and J. Horsley, of Company B, and

Holygrapher, of Company G, First Cavalry, California Vol- unteers, Antonio Duro and Antonio Qauches, of Company M, and II. Romero, of Company I, First Cavalry, New Mexico Vol- unteers, were wounded. Four Utes were wounded.

" Colonel Carson, in his report mentions the following oflicers as deserving the highest praise : Major McCleave, Captain Fritz and Lieutenant Heath, of the First Cavalry, California Volun- teers; Captains Dens and Berney, First Cavalry, New Mexico Volunteers ; Lieutenant Pettis, First Infantry, California Volun- teers ; Lieutenant Edgar, First Cavalry, New Mexico Volunteers, and Assistant Surgeon George T. Courtright, United States Volunteers.

"The command destroyed one hundred and fifty lodges of the best manufacture, a large amount of dried meats, berries, buf- falo robes, powder, cooking utensils, etc., also, a buggy and

COMANCHE AND KIOWA INDIANS. 43

spring wagon, the property of ' Sierrito,' or 'Little Mountain,' the Kiowa Chief."

In 18G7, about three years after the events nar- rated here, I was residing in a little Mexican village on the Rio Grande, Los Algodones, about forty-five miles south of Santa Fe, where I became acquainted with a couple of Mexicans who were trading with the Comanche and Kiowa Indians in the fall of 18G4, and they informed me that they were at the Coman- che village which we were in sight of, and that when the fight commenced they were held as prisoners and kept so for several days after we left that neighbor- hood; that in the village on the day of the light there were seven white women and several white children, prisoners ; they also informed me where the women and children of the village were hid when we passed through the Kiowa village on the morning of the fight, and that our enemy sustained a loss on that day, of nearly a hundred killed and between one hundred and one hundred and fifty wounded, making a difference with the official re- port, which guessed at thirty killed and thirty wounded. They also said that the Indians claimed

44 KIT cakson's fight.

that if the whites had not had with them the two "guns that shot twice," referring to the shells of the mountain howitzers, they would never have allowed a single white man to escape out of the valley of the Canadian, and I may say, with becoming modesty, that this was also the often expressed opinion of Colonel Carson.

PERSONAL NARRATIVES

Battles or the Rebellion,

PAPERS READ BEFORE THE

RHODE ISLAND SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

No G.

" Quaeque ipse miserrima vidi, Et quorum par it magna /ui."

PROVIDENCE:

S I 1) X E Y S . li I D K R .

1879.

A TRIP TO RICHMOND AS PRISONER OF WAR.

[Head before the Society November loth, 1876.]

Mr. President, and Comrades :

I am not going to give you a tale of horrors this evening, as might perhaps be inferred from the title of this paper, but a simple, truthful aceonnt of the scenes and incidents of a trip to Richmond as pris- oner of war — a trip which, however I may have felt about it at the time, and however strange such an assertion may seem, I now look back upon as of the pleasantest memories of four years service. It may be stated here that I was wounded and captured in a cavalry charge at Brandy Station, Virginia, on the ninth of June, 1863, [being then a corporal in Com- pany G, First Maine Cavalry,] at a time when the prisoners of the two armies were being paroled

6 A TRIP TO RICHMOND

freely, and a flag-of-trnce boat was carrying rebel paroled prisoners to City. Point and bringing back Union paroled prisoners, almost every week, which accounts for the short term of my imprisonment. A month or so later, at Gettysburg, if memory serves me rightly, a hitch occurred in the exchange of prisoners, and for months after, the poor boys iu southern prisons had little hope of escape except by death or the end of the war. Neither will I at- tempt to give yon an account of the engagement in which I was captured, for none but a master hand can draw a faithful picture of a cavalry charge — to enjoy the excitement of which is well worth all its risks — but simply saying that it was one of the first real cavalry contests of the war, and a contest which taught the Southern cavaliers to at least respect their Northern foes, I will commence my story with the moment I found myself wounded and a prisoner, near a lively rebel battery on which we had charged. (I will say, in passing, that the battle-Hag Hying over that battery bore the legend " Hampton's Legion.")

Some of you can doubtless understand my feel- ings at the moment I found myself a prisoner, from

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 7

your own experiences. Never was the transition from the wildest excitement and the highest inflation of spirits to a feeling of thorough despondency and heartsickness more sudden and complete. A thous- and different kinds of thoughts crowded through my mind at once. Visions of Libby Prison and Belle Isle, with all their attendant miseries, passed in men- tal review, together with the sufferings and weary waiting, the hoping against hope, of loved ones at home as day after day passed with no word from their missing soldier boy. But I need not dwell on this ; too well and too deeply are like experiences rooted in many of your memories. Nor had I long to dwell upon it at that time. Present and impera- tive matters, and dusty, war-begrimmed men in grey demanded my attention. My revolver was given up as a matter of course, as also were belt, sabre and ammunition. A moment I was alone, and with hopes of escape I put spurs to my horse for a trial, only to find it hopeless and to lose by the operation the chance I before had of riding instead of walking; for a pleasant-looking reb pleasantly informed me that he couldn't trust me on "that yere horse any

A TRIP TO RICHMOND

dismounted and orde of one of the cannon, where I found several of my comrades had already been gathered, among whom was Sergeant George E. Jumper of my own com- pany, with the sorriest countenance I have seen be- fore or since. He had already paid a two months' visit to Libby and Belle Isle, and knew better than the rest of us what being a prisoner meant ; for, though every one of us had learned much of the treatment of our boys in rebel prisons, the half never has been, never can be told. As I approached him I was ordered to give up my carbine, which was still slung to my shoulder, and which my captor had neg- lected to take in his hurry or I to notice in the excite- ment. With the most woe-begone expression imag- inable, and the most disconsolate manner and tone, Jumper turned to me and said, "You might as well give it up, Tobe ; it won't do you any good now." In spite of the surroundings I could not help laugh- ing at him. A moment or two later a comrade and townsman, George L. Duston by name, arrived there with one hand bloody and in the air, and full a dozen kinds of expression on his face. He had been

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 9

wounded in the head and in the leg, and though ter- ribly worried as to what he should do if the bullet had gone into his brain, was somewhat encouraged when I told him I was also wounded and he thus learned that he had a companion in misery. An order to leave the battery put an end to our mutual attempts at condolence. An officer put us into "two rows," and we were just about starting when a little, insignificant -looking reb rode up, and with pistol at my head demanded, "Here, Yank, give me them spurs, please !" Such politeness was overpowering, and he got the spurs.

After marching a mile or two in a dozen different directions, we reached Brandy Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, which gave the light its name. Here we found a large collection of blue jacket prisoners, and the number was increasing. Here was a large number of the enemy's wounded, a sight which rather did us good to see. Here were guards, equal in number, almost, to the prisoners, and here, also, were bummers without number. The rebel soldiers, that is, the real lighting men from the front, treated us, as a general thing, kindly and with

I .

10 A TRIP TO RICHMOND

true soldierly courtesy ; they were anxious to ff trade us out of" any articles of clothing, knives, watches, or anything we desired to sell, and quite a traffic sprang up there in a moment. But the bummers, the coffee-coolers and dog-robbers, the thousand-and- onc hangers-on around an army, plundered the pris- oners at every opportunity, from which the better men and officers protected us as well as they were able. I remember seeing the officer in charge of us draw his sabre on one who was taking a hat from one of us. I also remember seeing Bill Wyman robbed of a watch, which the officer in vain endeav- ored to recover for him. Bill objected strongly, and loudly threatened,/* If ever I do get back to my regi- ment, and if ever I do get hold of a prisoner that has a watch, he won't have it long; I'll make that square." While waiting here I discovered my old grey horse, ridden by a man in grey who had been tamed by a Yankee bullet, and having due regard for my immediate future welfare, I made bold to ap- proach him with a request that I might take some things from my saddle-bags, which he granted I thought with surprising readiness, the explanation of

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 11

which I imagined I understood when I found the sad- dle-bags had been perfectly gone through. I won't impeach the character of my newly found friend by intimating that that was the reason of his ready ac- cession to my request, for he allowed me to take my haversack, which was attached to the saddle and contained a liberal quantity of good old army coffee, half of which I transferred to his possession in my gratitude, and got most thoroughly thanked in his return gratitude.

We learned that we were to be taken to Culpepper Court House, some six miles away. Perhaps half an hour's rest we got when we again started, the more severely wounded being given horses to ride as far as it was possible to do so. We now marched for some time without incident ; a comrade, who kindly staid by me, and myself gradually falling behind the main body of the captive squad, as my wound began to grow stiff and walking difficult and painful. Of course we kept a body guard with us, who proved to be a pair of kind-hearted soldiers, though rebels, and who did all in their power to ren- der the march less irksome. I was in the act of

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12 A TRIP TO RICHMOND

drinking from the canteen hanging at the saddle of one of our guardians, when a quick, sharp exclama- tion at him from his comrade, who was the other side of me and a short distance away, caused me to drop the canteen in a hurry, supposing my friendly guard was to be censured for this kindness. A moment later that delusion was dispelled, as number two rode back to number one, remarking, in an undertone, "Carry your carbine ! here comes General Lee." In an instant our jovial comrades of this, to us, forced march, were transformed into stern guards ; the carbines were brought to a "carry," their bodies were straightened in their saddles and all the sol- dierly look at their command put on, while poor we were forced to assume a position more resembling prisoners, though we walked as straight and looked as defiantly as possible. The whole affair passed quickly and was amusing as showing the similarity of soldiers the world over. Of course we were eager to behold the rebel chieftain, and we were soon gratified. He rode by us but a few feet distant, ac- companied by two or three of his staff, and we ob- tained an excellent view of him. My recollection of

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 13

him is — rather tall, straight, hair and whiskers slightly tinged with grey, plainly and neatly dressed in the rebel uniform, without epaulets or any show or ornament, his insignia of rank visible only on close scrutiny, and every motion soldierly.

In due time we overtook the remainder of the pris- oners, who were resting just outside of Culpepper. But a few moments rest did we get before we were again moving, now enlivened and amused by the taunts and jeers, the exultations and threats of the boys, women, and old men of Culpepper, who had come out to escort the Yankee prisoners to their town. Not an able-bodied , man or a soldier could be seen among the insulting crowd. As we turned a corner at the edge of the town we saw an old man whom but a short time before we had captured while on a reconnoissance and on account of his age and the apparent improbability of his being of an}* ser- vice to the confederacy, "swore him and let him go." As he stood there, happiness shining all over his face and his mouth doing lively duty in expressing his gratification at the sight of so many captured Yankees, we may be pardoned if for a moment we

14 A TRIP TO RICHMOND

regretted the leniency shown him at the time of his capture.

About dusk we reached the Court House building, where the able-bodied prisoners were quartered for an hour or two and then started for Richmond, while the wounded were taken to a church, and quartered for the night, it not being deemed humane to give them a night ride in their condition. We found at the church still more of our comrades — of the more seriously wounded, who had previously arrived in ambulances — and two or three able-bodied prisoners left there to care for the wounded as they were able. We were ordered not to leave the church, and in- formed that if any of us were found strolling about the streets we should be put in the guard house and not sent to Richmond with the others in time to take the next flag of truce boat for the North, which they said would go in a few days. This last consideration was enough to secure the best behavior on our part, though we had not implicit faith in it.

We were soon left alone for the night, and my old friend George Duston and myself curled ourselves together on the floor of the gallery and did out best

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 15

to get a night's sleep ; hut the strange events of the day, the change in our circumstances within a few hours, and the absence of the comforts of even a sol- dier's bed, all conspired against sleep, and morning found us but little refreshed. We spent the morning in washing, dressing our own and each others' wounds as well as we knew, and in various ways making ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would per- mit. Fortunately most of us had pipes and tobacco, and it is doubtful if the most inveterate hater of the filthy weed would have denied its beneficial effects upon us then, or shook his head at us as we enjoyed the real comfort it then afforded us. We now began to realize a fact which the excitement of the day be- fore had driven from our minds, that we had eaten nothing for thirty-six hours, and that we had nothing to eat. Our haversacks had been attached to the sad- dles instead of carried on the person, and were lost, while my own was in the hands of an unwounded comrade, who had kindly volunteered to carry it for me after its return to me by the wounded rebel, and of whom I had neglected to take it when we were separated. We dared not venture far from the

16 A TRIP TO RICHMOND

church, of course, but near by was a negro hut where it was possible we might obtain a mouthful for a con- sideration. An examination of our finances disclosed the fact that both of us had less than two dollars. We visited the hut and found there a venerable dinah who had developed a remarkable aptitude at taking care of herself, as shown by her exorbitant rates for hoe-cake. She asserted that she was not allowed to accept Uncle Sam's currency, but an op- portunity occurring for her to do so unnoticed, she demonstrated good financial judgment by receiving and concealing a small quantity of it, for which she gave us much more hoe-cake than she allowed for the same amount of Confederate scrip. This served to somewhat relieve the sense of goneness at the stomach, and when, about ten o'clock, we were fur- nished with an ample supply of soda crackers, we began to feel more resigned.

About noon two or three rebel surgeons came to attend to the more seriously wounded, apologizing for neglecting us so long by saying they had so many of their own wounded to attend to that they had not been able to reach us sooner, and had but little time

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 17

now. We were inclined to forgive their previous non-attendance, as there was grim satisfaction in knowing that some of our bullets had made misery as well as theirs.

We were visited during the day by many citizens of Culpepper, male and female, and the oft-repeated assertion that southern women were more severe and unkind in their treatment of prisoners than the men, and either much more so than the soldiers, was con- firmed. Indeed, the latter almost invariably treated us with kindness, and as the true soldier always treats prisoners. Stonewall Jackson's old brigade and other troops were encamped in the vicinity, as well as a large force of the cavalry we had fought the day before, and officers and soldiers from the va- rious commands were strolling around the village at pleasure, large numbers visiting the church to talk over affairs with us. Many and various were the discussions held in and around that church that day on the relative merits of the opposing armies, the right and wrong of either side, and the prospects of either's ultimate, success. These were all carried on in good nature, and though at times the discussions

18 A TRir TO RICHMOND

grew warm, and the bantering over this victory or that defeat was somewhat caustic, there was no ill- feeling displayed. This took up our attention and served to make the time pass much more pleasantly than would have been expected among a party of wounded prisoners, and if I apply the term "enjoy- ment" to the day as a whole, all soldiers will, I think, agree that the term is not misplaced.

As a party of us, in blue and grey, stood on the church stoop, two rebel cavalry officers rode up has- tily, and drawing rein, one of them inquired, "Who was in command of the Yankee cavalry, yesterday, Stoneman?" Pie was told that Stoneman was away. "Well," he replied, "whoever he was, he outgener- alled Stuart, all to hell !" " What's that you say?" quickly spoke up another rebel officer, in a depre- cating tone, to which he replied, deliberately, as if to give it more force, "I say whoever was in command of the Yankee cavalry yesterday, he outgeneralled Stuart, all to hell ; he didn't whip him, but if he had had half the men Stuart had he would have whipped him, all to hell," and he rode away. Here, also, was consolation for us.

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 19

Several rebel soldiers remarked to me, "If you and I could have the say in this war, we'd settle it soon, I reckon," to which I readily assented, always with a mental reservation, "If you would give up," and I doubt not each inquirer made the same mental reservation. A young rebel who had been quietly listening to the various discussions, took me a little one side and said in a serious manner, w I want to ask you a question ; don't you believe that the side that is right in this Avar will win in the end — not the side which you think is right, or which I think is right, but the side which is right in the sight of God?" "Most assuredly I do," I replied. "So do I," said he, "and that's about all the consolation I can get out of it." We fraternized, and for an hour I had a good square conversation with him on war matters, which I have no doubt did us both good. It cer- tainly confirmed me in the belief that the greater part of the rank and file of the Confederate army — not the political or military leaders — were honest in the faith that they were doing and fighting for the right.

All kinds of rebels are represented in the memo-

20 A TRIP TO RICHMOND

rics of that clay's experience. There were the con- scientious rebels, fighting for their country as hon- estly and as loyally as were we ; there were the ram- pant, one - Southerner -is -as -good -as- five- Yankees rebels, with swagger and bluster; there were the tenacious rebels, who would take to the woods and the mountains if by any possibility the Southern army should be defeated, and there forever defy the United States government ; there were the confident rebels, who could not conceive the possibility of a defeat of Confederate aspirations ; there were rebels who were rebels just because they were on Southern soil when the opportunity to enlist offered, "an' 'twas fight, sure, they wanted, with divil a care for the side, ony how"; there were rebels from necessi- ty, and rebels from choice ; then there were the old men and boys, women, etc., — non-combatants — the meanest kind of rebels, who generally viewed us from afar off, which was as agreeable to us as to them.

Among others, was a young, jolly, rollicking Irish- man, whose rations of whiskey had evidently not been short that morning, whose only pride was that

«

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AS TRTSONER OF WA1?. 21

he belonged to Stonewall's old brigade — pride enough for him. Seating himself by George and myself, he entered into conversation. After listening awhile to the exploits of his brigade, George asked him why he was fighting for the Southern Confederacy, re- marking that we had a large number of his country- men fighting for us. "I know you have," said he ; "the best fighting men of your army are the Irish. We've met your Irish brigade in battle a good many times. You always shove them to the front because you want to get them killed off. I've been at the North, and know how you all hate the Irish. I know something about your Know Nothings. I know how you have persecuted the Irish all through the North. Didn't you burn their churches at Bath and at Ells- worth, Maine, and at other places ? Didn't you burn their convent at Charlestown, Massachusetts? And just because you hate them. Don't I know some- thing about how you treat the Irish at the North? And don't you try to get them killed off by sending them to the front whenever you can? I know you have a good many Irish in your army, and I can't ¥ understand how they will fight for you, when you

22 A TRIP TO RICHMOND

have always treated them so." What could we say? While we of course did not agree with the alleged general Northern hatred of the Irish, we knew very wyell the facts of the destruction of the churches and convent stated, as two of them were in our own State, though we were surprised at having them thrown into our faces way down there under such circum- stances, so we turned the conversation, well con- vinced 'twere no use to try to make him grieve for his allegiance.

AI0112: towards night all but a few, who were too badly wounded for transportation, were taken to the depot and put aboard box ,cars in a train with the rebel wounded, to start for Richmond. And here I would do honor to one Southern woman, whose sable garments proclaimed what the war had cost her. She was at the train, passing cool water to the Southern wounded, with words of cheer and encouragement. We expected, of course, she would pass us coldly by, and would have deemed such action neither strange nor unusally unkind. But no ! those of us who wished were served alike with her own friends, and some of us at least blessed the noble Southern

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 23

woman whose care for the soldier extended to friend and foe alike. We arranged ourselves in the car as comfortably as possible, and some time in the night arrived at Gordonsville, where we were taken into a hospital building by ourselves and given bunks with straw beds to sleep on, which we pronounced jolly, and soon most of us were sleeping as sweetly as though under the best of circumstances, and secured a good night's rest.

Next morning we were taken to the dining-room and given a breakfast of the light diet order. A small piece of bread and meat, both sweet and good, and a very small cup of coffee — made of rye we judged by the wry faces that followed the lirst sip — constituted the meal, and it was very welcome even if there was not very much of it. Every thing about the room and the tables was neat and clean, and I find in my diary of that day the following : " A bet- ter breakfast than we got at the Soldiers' Retreat, Washington, on our first arrival there, or than the first one I got at Fairfax Seminary Hospital, Alex- andria, a year before."

We spent the day here very much as we did the

24 A TK1P TO RICHMOND

day before at Culpepper, though we were among a different class of men. The hospital was a large one, well-filled, and being mostly used as a convalescent hospital, there was the usual number of hospital bum- mers, convalescent shirks, etc. Still there were many true men and good soldiers here, who were only waiting an opportunity to rejoin their comrades in the field. A mere boy, not yet sixteen but a vete- ran of more than a year in the service, from the front the day before, sick, kindly inquired of a party with which I was if we had had enough to eat, and as kindly emptied his haversack of its hardtack for our benefit. It was all he could do, and we thorou^rhlv appreciated the action. Trade was the prevailing mania, and Yankee example must have exerted a powerful influence here since the commencement of the war. Watches, knives, pipes, clothing, even — anything it was possible for a prisoner to have — the inmates of the hospital were anxious to "trade us out of," and prices ruled high. My old, half worn-out government hat brought me a five dollar Confederate note. Watches were in good demand, but pocket- knives were at the highest premium. Indeed, the

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 25

inquiry for knives was so universal and so frequent that our curiosity was much excited as to the cause thereof, and George finally inquired why they were j all so anxious to trade for a knife. "We can't get

them here," was the answer; "they are very scarce with us." "How does that happen?" said George, and then, solving the question himself, he continued, "I don't believe you have got ingenuity enough in the whole Southern Confederacy to build a jack- knife." A muttered half-assent was the only reply. One of our number who, on being bantered as a Dutchman, said, "If I bees a Dutchman, or if I bees a Italian, or vat I bees, it makes no difference — I bees a First Maine cavalryman," who from having seen service in Italy, was known throughout the regiment as "Garribaldi," or "Garry" for short, had previous to his capture been enamored of the gay uniform of Hawkins' Zouaves, and by some means had become possessed of one in full. It now served him well, and before the close of the day he had been dressed in a complete suit of grey with forty dollars Confederate money in his pocket as perqui- sites, and was again clothed in Union blue, with 3

26 A TRIP TO RICHMOND

fifteen dollars more added to his funds — all done by swapping with the trader-hating Southerners.

In the afternoon we were put on board the cars to make another attempt to reach Richmond, leaving, as at Culpepper, one or two who were unable to pro- ceed. We were now placed in what had once been a passenger car, but for economy of space or some other reason the seats had been taken out and nar- row boards inserted at small intervals, thus allowing nearly twice as many passengers to the car and sev- eral times the discomforts. A well soldier might perhaps have accommodated himself to the situation and extracted some comfort out of the ride, but there was a poor prospect for a party of wounded ones to do so. However, with sagacity and strategy we put ourselves in the most favorable positions — on the seats, between them, along the aisles, and even on the platforms, sitting, reclining, and at as full length as wounds and circumstances would per- mit. There was plenty of room, but two much fur- niture. 'A guard with a musket sat at each door of the car, but we had by this time learned that rebel guards were soldiers and would treat us like soldiers,

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 27

and we were soon on as £ood terms with them as though they were old comrades. George's cariosity was excited, as it had been many times, at seeing Irishmen in rebel uniform, and he went for one of the guards with : " What are you lighting on this side for? We've a good many of your countrymen fighting on our side." "xlh, an' sure," was the reply, "if I'd been North I'd be fighting for the North, but my home was South, and wouldn't I fight for my home, anyhow?" George appeared satisfied.

Our few hours as fellow-travellers and fellow-suf- ferers had put the whole party on a social footing, and for a party of wounded prisoners it was as jolly a car-load, I dare say, as ever passed over the road. AVith joke and song, with story and speech, with bantering the guards and chaffing with the people at the stations as we halted for a moment, and with aiding and sympathizing with each other, the time passed quite pleasantly till we got to Louisa Court House. Here was fun. The train halted some time, and the people were at the station in full strength. A month before most of us "went through" that place on Stoneinan's famous raid, and the cavalry

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28 A TRIP TO RICHMOND

trimmings wore a familiar look to them. "Was you 'uns all clown on Stoneman's raid?" was poured at us freely, to which it was gratification to reply that we were. Then did epithets, vulgar and profane, fly at us thick and fast, and in this pastime the women were more adept than the men. They even spat at us, and doubtless would have made due progress in scratching our eyes out but for our guards, who were true blue though clad in grey. They, evidently ashamed of such action on the part of those for whom they were serving, voluntarily assured us of protection, say what we please. A lively cross fire was kept up by us, and justice compels me to state that the language from the car stood higher in the scale of decency than that from the station, while it provoked ten times the irritation. We enjoyed it much, and were rather sorry than otherwise to see the train moving away from a spot affording so pleas- ing and exciting a variety to the monotony of the ride.

About dark we reached Frederickshall, where the train remained till morning. The doors were locked to relieve the guards from duty, and we settled down

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 29

for the night. At first sleep was sought, but we were not so sadly in need of that luxury as to enjoy it iu our cramped positions. Songs, patriotic and other- wise, were sung and repeated till the guards were disgusted — not, apparently, at the sentiments of the songs, but at the noise which kept them from sleep. Stories of field, camp, and of civil life, jokes, conun- drums, etc., filled up the time until a late hour, one after another dropping off into an uneasy, restless sleep, to awake half a dozen times before morning.

Soon after daylight the chivalry of the vicinity began to flock around us, eager to turn an honest penny by the Yankee trick of trading. Dubious- looking pies, biscuit "three for a dollar," hoe cake, etc., were brought forth to tempt our hungry pal- ates. Prices ruled decidedly "good for high." AVe had eaten nothing since the morning before, and now reaped the fruits of our trading at Gordonsville. Those who had money were generously inclined, and we all had at least a bite. This revived our spirits somewhat and started general good feeling among us. Again the jest and song went round, and again we presented the appearance of anything but what a

30

A TKIP TO RICHMOND

party of wounded prisoners would naturally be sup- posed to present.

But it was not all smiles and laughter. Tears and groans mingled to a fearful extent. It was a strange sight — those forty-three soldiers, all more or less wounded, many of them seriously, strewed around the car in attempts at comfortable positions, laugh- ing, joking, singing, and endeavoring to keep jolly with a spirit that would honor Mark Tapley, and sad, indeed, to hear some poor fellow's laugh end with a groan and see the change of his features as a thoughtless change of position in the enjoyment of the lauo-h wrenched the stiffened wound and sent a twinge <of pain through his whole body, and then again to a smile as the pain left and the remembrance of the joke or the thought of his own rapid change of emotions came over him. All in all, though, the proverbial good spirits of the soldier under all cir- cumstances were fully sustained.

After waiting there till we began to fear we should not get to Richmond in time to be sent North by the next flag of truce boat, we started. Were prisoners, before or since, during the war, anxious to get to

AS PRISONER OF WAR. 31

Richmond? At different places along the route we had opportunities to purchase provisions of various kinds, which, in view of what might be our portion in Richmond, we availed ourselves of. Richmond papers, also, were procured, in which we found all the particulars of the Brandy Station fight, and learned the extent of the engagement and that they fairly acknowledged a defeat. This was rare satis- faction. We could well afford to suffer what we had suffered, and perhaps what we had in prospect, to wring from the Southern press the unwilling admis- sion that the Yankee cavalry could fight, and to read in their papers that Yankee schoolmasters and shoe- makers, awkwardly astride of horses and holding on to the pommels of the saddles, had out-generalled, out-ridden and out-fought their own graceful cava- liers, horsemen from birth, almost ; and that their own Virginians had allowed the strangers from the North to become better acquainted with the country, its roads, creeks and rivers, than they were them- selves, and to surprise and ride down a superior force of them at their own homesteads. Their cha- grin was unbounded, and poor General J. E. B.

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32 A TJRIP TO RICHMOND

Stuart had to bear the brunt of their ill-feeling. One paper even suggested his removal from command of the cavalry for allowing an occurrence so mortifying to Southern pride. If ever we had the right to en- joy reading anything it was that, and we did enjoy it. It was just grand. And more as this was among the first real cavalry fights of the war on a large scale. From that date the Southern cavalry never regained or claimed the proud position it had so long been supposed to occupy, and our cavalry, a branch of the service which previous to that time had been simply an object of expense and distrust to the gov- ernment, of