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LIBRARY
1837
VERITAS
SCIENTIA
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
E PLURIBUS
UKUM
TCEBOR
SI-QUÆRIS PENINSULAM-AMŒNAM
CIRCUMSPICE
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1888

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S
VII
دود
GENERAL GRANT REPRIMANDED BY A LIEUTENANT.
HARDTACK AND COFFEE
OR
82117
The Unwritten Story of Army Life
INCLUDING CHAPTERS ON
ENLISTING, LIFE IN TENTS AND LOG HUTS, JONAHS AND BEATS,
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS, RAW RECRUITS, FORAGING,
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES, THE WAGON TRAINS,
THE ARMY MULE, THE ENGINEER
CORPS, THE SIGNAL
CORPS, ETC.
BY JOHN D. BILLINGS
""
AUTHOR OF 'THE TENTH MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY ; PAST DEPARTMENT COMMANDER
MASSACHUSETTS G. A. R.; FORMERLY OF SICKLES' THIRD AND HANCOCK'S
SECOND CORPS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
Illustrated
WITH SIX ELEGANT COLOR PLATES; AND OVER TWO HUNDRED
ORIGINAL SKETCHES BY
CHARLES W. REED
MEMBER OF NINTH MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY; ALSO, TOPOGRAPHICAL
ENGINEER ON GENERAL WARREN'S STAFF, FIFTH
CORPS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
É 284588
BOSTON
OF NEW YORK,
GEORGE M. SMITH & CO.
NEW YORK
PHILADELPHIA
WILSON & ELLIS
BUCKLEY, MORTON & CO.
PITTSBURGH
P. J. FLEMING & CO.
1888
COPYRIGHT, 1887,
BY JOHN D. BILLINGS.
ELECTROTYPED
Son,
BY C. J. PETERS AND SON, BOSTON.
PRESS OF J. J. ARAKELYAN,
148 AND 150 PEARL ST., BOSTON.
(3) May
DEDICATION.
To my comrades of the Army of the Potomac who, it
is believed, will find rehearsed in these pages much that
has not before appeared in print, and which it is hoped will
secure to their children in permanent form valuable infor-
mation about a soldier's life in detail that has thus far
been only partially written, this work is most affectionately
dedicated by their friend,
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACСЕ.
DURING the summer of 1881 I was a sojourner for a
few weeks at a popular hotel in the White Mountains.
Among the two hundred or more guests who were enjoying
its retirement and good cheer were from twelve to twenty
lads, varying in age from ten to fifteen years. When tea
had been disposed of, and darkness had put an end to their
daily romp and hurrah without, they were wont to take in
charge a gentleman from Chicago, formerly a gallant soldier
in the Army of the Cumberland, and in a quiet corner of
the spacious hotel parlor, or a remote part of the piazza,
would listen with eager attention as he related chapters of
his personal experience in the Civil War.
Less than two days elapsed before they pried out of the
writer the acknowledgment that he too had served Uncle
Sam; and immediately followed up this bit of information
by requesting me to alternate evenings with the veteran
from the West in entertaining them with stories of the
war as I saw it. I assented to the plan readily enough,
and a more interested or interesting audience of its size
could not be desired than that knot of boys who clustered
around us on alternate nights, while we related to them in
an offhand way many facts regarded as too commonplace
for the general histories of the war.
This trifling piece of personal experience led to the prep-
aration of these sketches, and will largely account for the
didactic manner in which they are written. They are far
from complete. Many topics of interest are left untreated
- they will readily suggest themselves to veterans; but it
▼
vi
PREFACE.
was thought best not to expand this volume beyond its
present proportions. It is believed that what is herein
written will appeal largely to a common experience among
soldiers. In full faith that such is the case, they are now
presented to veterans, their children, and the public as an
important contribution of warp to the more majestic woof
which comprises the history of the Great Civil War already
written. That history, to date, is a history of battles, of
campaigns and of generals. This is the first attempt to
record comprehensively army life in detail; in which both
text and illustrations aim to permanently record information
which the history of no other war has preserved with equal
accuracy and completeness.
I am under obligations to many veterans for kindly sug-
gestions and criticisms during the progress of this work, to
Houghton & Mifflin for the use of Holmes' "Sweet Little
Man," and especially to Comrade Charles W. Reed, for his
many truthful and spirited illustrations. The large number
of sketches which he brought from the field in 1865 has
enabled him to reproduce with telling effect many sights
and scenes once very familiar to the veterans of the Union
armies, which cannot fail to recall stirring experiences in
their soldier's life.
Believing they will do this, and that these pages will
appeal to a large number to whom the Civil War is yet
something more than a myth, they are confidently put
forth, the pleasant labor of spare hours, with no claim for
their literary excellence, but with the full assurance that
they will partially meet a want hitherto unsupplied.
CAMBRIDGEPORT, Mass., March 30, 1887.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
The Four Parties - Their Candidates - Freedom of Speech Abridged -
Secession Decreed - Lincoln Elected - Oh, for Andrew Jackson!
Exit Buchanan
and
'Long-heeled Abolitionists"
"Wide-awakes" and "Rail-splitters "
Republicans"
—
(6
"Black
"Copper-
PAGE
heads' The Misunderstanding-Northern Doughfaces — Loyal
Men of All Parties Unite - The First Rally - Preparation in the
Bay State and in Other States Her War Governor - Showing
the White Feather - The Memorable Fifteenth of April - "The
Sweet Little Man" - Parting Scenes
Parting Scenes - The Three-Months' Men. 15
CHAPTER II.
ENLISTING.
""
The President's Error · "Three Years Unless Sooner Discharged
How Volunteer Companies were Raised - Filling the Quotas
What General Sherman Says― Recruiting Offices — Advertisements
for Recruits A War Meeting in Roxbury A Typical War
Meeting in the Country-A Small-Sized Patriot-Signing the
Roll The Medical Examination -Off for Camp - The Red,
White, and Blue .
34
CHAPTER III.
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
The Distinction Noted Between the Militia and the U. S. Volunteers —
The Oath of Muster - Barracks Described - Sibley or Bell Tents
A or Wedge Tents - Spooning - Stockading - Hospital or Wall
Tents - Dog or Shelter Tent Described — Chumming - Pitching
Shelters Stockaded Shelters - Fireplaces — Chimneys — Door
Plates" Willard's Hotel" "Hole in the Wall"-Mortars and
Mortar Shelling before Petersburg
Į
43
2
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
LIFE IN TENTS.
Life in a Sibley - The Stove - The Pastimes - Postage Stamps as
Money - Soldier's Letter "Nary Red" - Illustrated Envelopes
-Army Reading - The Recluse - Evenings of Sociability - Pipe
and Ring Making-Home Gossip - Music and the Contrabands
War Song Revived - The "Mud March" Prayer. .
CHAPTER V.
LIFE IN LOG HUTS.
The Plan of a Camp - Inside a Stockade The Bunks — The Arrange-
ment of the Furniture - Esthetic Dish-washing — Lighting by
Candles and Slush Lamps - Candlesticks Night-Gowns and
Night-Caps-The Shelters in a Rain-"I. C." Insect Life-
Pediculus Vestimenti, the Old-time Grayback-Not a Respecter
of Rank The First Grayback Found (K) nitting Work-
“Skirmishing" — Boiling Water the Sovereign Balm - Cleanliness
-The Versatile Mess-Kettles No Magee Ranges Supplied the
Soldiers Washerwomen-No "Boiled Shirts" - Darning and
Mending Government Socks - Cooks Green Pine as Fuel-
Camp Barbers -Future Tacticians
―
CHAPTER VI.
JONAHS AND BEATS.
-
The Jonah as a Guardsman - A Midnight Uproar - "Put him in the
Guard-house" - The Jonah Spills Pea-Soup, and Coffee, and
Ink - Always Cooking-Steps on the Rails - Tableau - Jonah as
a Wood-chopper - Beats - The Beat as a Fireman - Without
Water, and Rations, and Money - His Letters Containing
Money always Miscarry - Allotments The Beat as a Guard
Dodger - His Corporal Does the Duty-As a Fatigue Detail –
Horse-Burying as a Civilizer for Jonahs and Beats - The Detail for
the Burial - The Over-worked Man - The Rheumatic Dodge —
The Sick Man - The Chief Mourner - The Explosive Man — The
Paper-Collar Young Man - Forward, Grave-diggers! — Hurrah!
Without the H.
-
61
73
90
CHAPTER VII.
ARMY RATIONS.
Were They Adequate?— Their Quality—A List of Them — What was
Included in a Single Ration- What was a Marching Ration ?-
CONTENTS.
ខ
66
Officers' Allowance The Company Fund" "Hardtack"
Described Its Faults Three in Number - Served in Twenty
Different Ways - Song of the Hardtack "Soft Bread" — The
Capitol as a Bake-house-The Ovens at Alexandria and Fort
Monroe - Grant's Immense Bake-house at City Point
Point-Coffee
and Sugar - How Dealt Out- How Stored- Condensed Milk-
Company Cooks-The Coffee-Dipper - The Typical Coffee-Boiler
Bivouac and Coffee - How the Government Beat the Speculators
- How a Contractor Underbid Himself - Fresh Meat - How
Served Army Frying-Pans Steak from a Steer's Jaw-Bone
"Salt Horse" Not a Favorite Dish-Salt Pork and its Uses-
The Army Bean - How it was Baked Song of the Army Bean -
Desiccated Vegetables - The Whiskey Ration- A Suggestion as to
the Inadequacy of the Marching Ration
•
CHAPTER VIII.
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
-
The Offences Enumerated "Back Talk"-Absence from Camp
without Leave - The Punishments - The Guard Tent— The
Black List Its Occupations - Buck and Gag - The Barrel
and its Uses The Crucifixion The Wooden Horse - The
Knapsack Drill - Tied up by the Thumbs The Sweat-Box-
The Placard - The Spare Wheel - Log-Lugging-Double Guard
- The Model Regiment - Commanders often Tyrants by Nature,
or from Effects of Rum, or Ignorance - A Regiment with
Hundreds of Colonels - Inactivity Productive of Offences and
Punishments-Kid-Glove Warfare - Drumming out of Camp-
Rogue's March - Ball and Chain - Sleeping on Post - Desertion
- Death of a Deserter Described - Death of a Spy Described -
Bounty-jumpers - Amnesty to Deserters - Desertion to Enemy
Hanging of Three Criminals at Once for this Offence Described -
Number of Executions in the War.
A DAY IN CAMP.
CHAPTER IX.
66
108
•
143
ASSEMBLY OF BUGLERS." TURN OUT !" " ASSEMBLY."
How the Men Came into Line-A Canteen Wash - The Shirks - "I
Can't Get 'Em Up"-"All Present or Accounted For"-"Stable
Call"— Kingly Cannoneers and Spare Horses "Breakfast Call"
"Sick Call" – 'Fall In for Your Quinine" -The Beats again
"Lack of Woman's Nursing" "Water Call" Where the
Animals were Watered-Number of Animals in the Army-
Scarcity of Water—“Fatigue Call"— What it Included-Army
Stables The Picket-Rope - Mortality of Horses Scarcity of
Wood —“Drill Call"— Artillery Drill - Standing Gun Drill –
4
CONTENTS.
Battery Manoeuvres-Sham Fights - Drilling by Bugle Calls-
"Dinner Call" Retreat" Scolding Time—“Assembly of
Guard" -The Reliefs-Fun for the Corporal
Fun for the Corporal - Some of His
Trials "Next Tent Below"
Tattoo
Reminiscences
Taps"Put out that Light!”. 'Stop that Talking!"
164
CHAPTER X..
RAW RECRUITS.
A Scrap of Personal History - A Parent's Certificate - The Lot of a
Recruit Abused by the Old Hands-Flush with Money-A
Practical Joke-Two Classes of Recruits - The Matter-of-fact
Recruit a Final Success - The High-toned Recruits-Their Loud
Uniform Scoffers at Government Rations As Hostlers - The
Awkward Squad - The Decline in the Quality of Recruits - Men
of '61-2 Unschooled Soldiers - Hope Deferred "One Last
Embrace"- French Leave Furloughs-Life in Home Camp
Family Knots - A Mother's Fond Solicitude
A Mother's Fond Solicitude - Galling Lessons of
Obedience - Bounties Paid Recruits "I'm a Raw Recruit"
"The Substitute "
-
198
CHAPTER XI.
SPECIAL RATIONS. BOXES FROM HOME.
-
Sending for a Box - A Specimen Address - A Typical List of Contents
– Impatience at its Non-arrival-Its Inspection at Headquarters
Its Reception at Camp - The Opening — Box-packing as an Art
– The Whole Neighborhood Contributes Soldiers Who Had No
Boxes The Box of the Selfish Man - His Onions "We've
Drank from the same Canteen"- THE ARMY SUTLER - His Stock-
in-trade His Prices - The Commissary Army Fritters
Sutler's Pies-Sutler's Risks - Raiding the Sutler- What a Sutler
Lost near Brandy Station War Prices in Dixie.
217
CHAPTER XII.
FORAGING.
Strictly Prohibited at First-Two Reasons Why - The Right and
Wrong of It Innocent Sufferers - Unauthorized Foragers—The
Destitution of Some Families - The Family Turnout
The Family Turnout - Wantonness
at Fredericksburg Authorized Foragers Their Plunder
Foraging at Wilcox's Farm - Tobacco Foragers - The Cavalry in
Their Rôle - The Infantry - Incidents - Risks Assumed by
Foragers - Union Versus Confederate Soldier as a Forager.
231
CONTENTS.
5
CHAPTER XIII.
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES.
What was an Army Corps ?- How the Army of the Potomac was
Organized - Brigade and Division Formations "All quiet along
the Potomac " "Why don't the Army move?" - How Corps
were Composed - Their Number-Corps Badges - Their Origin
-The Kearny Patch-Worn First by Officers, then by the
Privates Hooker's Scheme of Corps Badges - Its Extension to
other Armies - The Badge of each Army Corps Described
250
CHAPTER XIV.
SOME INVENTIONS AND DEVICES OF THE WAR.
Improvements in Firearms-In War Vessels
Catch-penny Devices
for the Soldiers — Combination Knife, Fork, and Spoon - Water
Filterers -- Armor Vests and Greaves-
Greaves-Havelocks Revolvers and
Dirk Knives —" High-toned" Haversacks - Compact Writing-desks
Smoking-caps and the Turkish Fez - Hatter's Caps Versus Gov-
ernment Caps-The Numbering and Lettering of Knapsacks —
Haversacks and Canteens How these Equipments Changed
Hands.
269
CHAPTER XV.
THE ARMY MULE.
Where Raised — Where the Government Obtained Them - What They
were Used for - Compared with Horses - Mule Fodder - How a
Mule Team was Composed - How it was Driven-How Mules
were obtained from the Corral - The Black Snake and its Uses -
An Incident - Mule Ears - His Pastimes-As a Kicker the Original
Mugwump-What Josh Billings Knows about Him-His Kicking
Range - How He was Shod The Mule as a Singer- Under the
Pack-saddle The Mule as a Stubborn Fact- His Conduct under
Fire Captured Mules at Sailor's Creek —What Became of All the
Mules? - The Mule Mortal - Charge of the Mule Brigade" .. 279
M
CHAPTER XVI.
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCES.
The First General Hospitals The First Medical Director - Army
Regulations Insufficient - Verdancy of Regimental Surgeons
Hospital Tents -The Origin of Field Hospitals in Tents Their
Capacity - No Ambulances before the War-Two-Wheeled and
6
CONTENTS.
CO
Four-Wheeled Ambulances - Organization of the Ambulance Corps
-The Officers and Privates The Outfit - Field Hospitals
Their Location - The Men in Charge-Captured Hospitals — A
Paroled Prisoner-A Personal Reminiscence-Legs and Arms
Unnecessarily Amputated-Anecdote of a Heavy Artilleryman —
The Escort of the Wounded - The Insignia of the Ambulance Corps
A Personal Experience-Hospital Railway Trains and Steam-
boats- The Cacolet.
298
CHAPTER XVII.
SCATTERING SHOTS. THE CLOTHING.
to―
The Allowance - The Losses of Infantry
The Losses of Infantry-Clothing of Garrisons-
First Maine Heavy Artillery - Their First Active Campaigning.
ARMY CATTLE - The Kind Referred to -Where They Came
from-Wade Hampton as a Cattle-stealer - Cattle on the March
Their Route by Day and Night- The Sagacious Leader - The
Slaughter-The Corps Herd-HEROIC HORSES-Their Conduct
in Action- When Wounded-A Personal
A Personal Reminiscence
Anecdote of General Hancock-Sagacious Horses
Marching Orders
CHAPTER XVIII.
BREAKING CAMP. ON THE MARCH.
When They Came -What was Done at Once- The
Survival of the Fittest "Waverly' Correspondents — The
Night in Camp after Marching Orders Came - Camp Fires and
Hilarity"The General"
"The General" - The Wait in Camp - Forward,
March!- The Order of March - Corps Headquarters — Division
Headquarters-The Division Flags Described - Brigade Head-
quarters Brigade Flags Described - Battle Flags - The Mule of
Regimental Headquarters — His Company-Light Batteries –
Lightening Loads - The Chafed and Footsore - Fording of Streams
- The Same by Night- Personal Reminiscences -
"Close up!"
Marching in a Rainstorm - Camping in a Rainstorm-Horses in
the Rain and Sloughs - A Personal Reminiscence - Flankers
Column, halt!"-Double quick!"-"They've found um”
316
• 330
CHAPTER XIX.
Grant's Military Railroad
ARMY WAGON TRAINS.
An Army Minstrel Troupe
The Impedimenta - An Army Wagon -
The Transportation of a Regiment -
What They Originally Carried — Baggage Trains on the Peninsula
Chaos Illustrated The Responsibility of Train Officers —What
CONTENTS.
7
They had to Contend with - The Struggle for the Lead - Depot
of Transportation-The Officers of the Quartermaster's Department
The Allowance on
-What Wagons Took Into the Wilderness
the Final Campaign - Incident - Early Order of McClellan
General Orders, No. 153-The Beginning of the Supply Trains
What General Rufus Ingalls Did- Meade's General Orders, No. 83
- Strength of a Corps Supply Train - Of the Army-Its Extent
- Its Place on the March A Reminiscence of the Race for
Centreville - General Wadsworth's Bull Train - Its Rise and Fall
-Trials of a Train Quartermaster - He Runs Counter to Meade
and Sheridan in the Discharge of his Duty
350
CHAPTER XX.
ARMY ROAD AND BRIDGE BUILDERS.
The Engineer Corps - Their Duties - Corduroying - Trestle Bridges
- Slashing - Making of Gabions, etc. As Pontoniers Xerxes
as an Early Pontonier - His Bridge over the Hellespont Described
- Our Earliest Pontoon-Bridges of Canvas Boats; of Wooden
Boats Pontoon Bridge Material Described
Described - Balks,
Chesses, Rack Lashings - Pontoon Train - Pontoon
Building Described - Taking Up a Pontoon Bridge - The '62
Bridge over the Chickahominy - Over the James - Pontoon Bridge
Laying before Fredericksburg - The Stability of such Bridges
Incident - Life of an Engineer .
Bays,
Bridge
CHAPTER XXI.
TALKING FLAGS AND TORCHES.
Old Glory - Signal Flags The Signal Corps - Its Use - Its Origin
The Kit - The Talking - The Code-
The Code - A Signal Party - Sending
a Message-Receiving a Message The Torch - General Corse's
Despatch Signal Stations - Lookouts before Petersburg
"Which one?"- What Longstreet Said—What a Paper Corre-
spondent Did-Reading the Rebel Signal Code -Signal Station at
Poolesville, Md. - The Perils of Signal Men - Death of a Signal
Officer - At Little Round Top - Anecdote of Grant
• 377
394
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page.
3.
6.
7.
The Minute Man of '61
8.
Sweet Little Men of '61
1. General Grant reprimanded by a Lieutenant
2. Rending the Flag
•
A Bell-and-Everett Campaigner
4. Southerners discussing the Situation
5. A Lincoln Wide-Awake
Nayther av us”
Frontispiece
15
16
17
20
21
23
27
9. Adjutant Hinks notifying Captain Knott V. Martin
10. Captain Martin's Company on its way to Faneuil Hall
11. A Druin
29
31
33
14. A Bugle
12. A Dismounted Cavalryman
13. A War Meeting
15. On the Lookout .
31
39
42
43
16. Mustering in Recruits
17. Readville Barracks (from a photograph)
44
45
18. Sibley Tents
46
19. A, or Wedge Tents
48
20. Spooning Together
49
21. The Hospital or Wall Tent
50
22. Officer's Wall Tent with Fly
51
23.
The Dog or Shelter Tent
·
52
24.
Shelters as sometimes Pitched in Summer
53
25.
Shaded Shelters
54
26. A Poncho on .
55
27. A Chimney on Fire
56
•
32.
Two of a Kind
•
28. A common Bomb Proof.
29. A 13-inch Mortar
30. A Bomb Proof in Fort Hell before Petersburg, Va.
31. A Sleeping Soldier
33. Sibley Tent - inside view
57
58
59
60
61
.
62
10
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
34. Writing Home
35.
Stockaded A Tents
36. Drafting.
37. The Camp Minstrels
38. Our Silverware
39. Building a Log Hut
•
40. Inside View of a Log Hut
41. Army Candlesticks
42.
Pediculus Vestimenti
43. (K)nitting Work
63
66
68
70
72
73
75
77
80
81
44.
45.
Turning Him Over"
82
51.
“Beating It”
62.
Boiling Them
46. A Wood-Tick .
47. Cleaning Up
48. A Housewife
•
49. The Camp Barber
50. The Musket on Hooks
52. The Jonah Spilling Pea-Soup
53. The Camp Fire before the Jonah Appears
54. The Camp Fire after the Jonah Appears
55. The Unlucky Man
56. Going after Water
57. The Rheumatic Dodge
58. Water for the Cook-House
59. The High-tempered Man
•
60. The Paper-collar Young Man
61. The Mourners
"Hurrah without the H"
63. Off for the War
64. The Cooper Shop, Philadelphia.
65. The Union Volunteer Saloon, Philadelphia
83
83
84
86
88
89
90
92
93
94
95
96
100
101
104
105
106
107
108
109
111
66. A Brigade Commissary at Brandy Station, Va.
113
67. A Hardtack - full size
114
68.
A Box of Hardtack
116
•
69. Frying Hardtack
117
70. An Army Oven
120
71. Soft-Bread, Commissary Department Headquarters, Army
of Potomac
121
72. Apportioning Coffee and Sugar
122
73. The Milk Ration
125
74. The Company Cook
126
75. Going into Camp
127
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
11
76. Broiling Steaks
78. A Coffee-cooler
133
77. Mess-kettles and Mess-pans
79. A Ball and Chain Victim
136
142
143
82.
Posted
80. Carrying a Log
81. Bucked and Gagged.
•
83. A Loaded Knapsack
84.
Isolated on a Platform
85. On the Spare Wheel
86. On a Wooden Horse
87. In the Sweat-box
88. On the Chines
89. A Wooden Overcoat
144
146
147
148
148
149
150
151
152
153
90. Strapped to a Stick.
154
91. Drumming out of Camp.
155
92. Tied Up by the Thumbs
156
93. A Plan of the Troops at an Execution
158
94.
Death of a Deserter
159
95. Digging a Sink
163
96. Waiting for Headquarters
164
97. A Canteen Wash
166
98. Fall in for Roll-call
167
99. At the Grain Pile
170
100.
64
Fall in for your Quinine"
175
101. The Picket-Rope
176
102. Going to Water
188
103. Stockaded Sibley Tents
192
104. Taps
197
105. A Raw Recruit.
198
107.
Recruits in Uniform.
106. A Wood Detail
108. A Spare Man with Spare Horses
109. Drilling the Awkward Squad
203
205
207
•
208
110. Drafted.
215
111. Indifferent to Consequences
en
216
112. Opening a Box from Home
217
113. A Wagon-load of Boxes
220
114. We Drank from the same Canteen
223
115. A Sutler's Tent (from a war-time photograph)
225
116. Cooking Pancakes
226
117. Serving out Rations at the Cook's Shanty
228
118. Departed Joys
230
12
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
119.
Vis-a-vis
231
120. A Discovery, Act I.
233
121. A Discovery, Act II.
233
122. Going to Army Headquarters
236
123. A Corn-Barn and Hayrick
238
124. Tobacco Drying-Houses
239
125. Scene at a Wayside Farm-House
243
126. No Joke
246
127. The Turkey He Didn't Catch
247
128. A Dilemma
129. The Soldier's Friends
130. Logan's Corps Badge
131.
A Color-plate of Corps Badges, opposite
132. St. Andrew's Cross
248
249
250
258
259
133. A Color-plate of Corps Badges, opposite
134.
An original Ninth Corps Badge .
260
261
136.
•
135. Eleventh and Twelfth Corps Badges combined
A Color-plate of Corps Badges, opposite
137. First and Fifth Corps Badges combined
138. A Color-plate of Corps Badges, opposite
189. A Color-plate of Corps Badges, opposite
140. A Torpedo
141. A Gunboat
142. A Mortar Boat
143. A Double-turreted Monitor
144. A Havelock
145. A Haversack and Dipper
146. A Zouave
147. A Breech-Loader
148. A Long-eared Patriot
149. A Six-Mule Team
150. A Mule Eating an Overcoat
151. A Corral
152.
Dismounted
153. Oats for Six
261
262
263
264
266
269
271
. 272
273
276
276
277
278
279
280
281
•
283
284
285
154. Dumped into the Potomac
288
155. The Rear-Guard of the Regiment
290
156. Mules Loaded with Ammunition
292
157.
But the noblest thing that perished there was that
old Army Mule "
294
158. Charge of the Mule Brigade
295
159.
Loose
297
160. A Cot in the Hospital
298
•
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
13
161. A Two-wheeled Ambulance
302
163. A Medicine Wagon
•
162. A Four-wheeled Ambulance
164. A Folding Litter
165. A Stretcher
305
307
309 ·
309
166. Placing a Wounded Man on a Stretcher
167. Carrying a Wounded Man to the Rear
168. Trying on Clothing
311
312
316
169. In Heavy Marching Order
318
170. Leading the Herd
322
171. The Last Steer
323
172.
General Hancock at Ream's Station
325
173. Real Horse Sense
328
174. A Buzzard's Paradise
329
175. Striking Camp.
330
176. Packing Up
332
177. Waiting for Marching Orders .
335
178. Color-plate of Second Corps Flags, opposite
340
179. A Footsore Straggler
343
180. "Headquarters" in Trouble .
345
181. The Flankers
347
182. A Halt of the Column
348
183. A Wagon Park .
350
184. A Mule-Driver
352
185. Wagon Train on a Pontoon Bridge
359
186. Commissary Depot at Cedar Level
365
187. A Mule-team under Fire
367
188. The Bull Train
369
189. General Meade and the Quartermaster.
373
190. Old Cronies
376
191. Present Badge of Engineer and Pontonier Corps
377
192. Corduroying
378
193. A Trestle Bridge, No. 1
379
194. A Trestle Bridge, Nc. 2
380
196.
197.
200. A Canvas Pontoon Boat
195. A Large Gabion
Fascines
Chevaux-de-frise
198. Abatis
199. The Fraise
201. An Angle of Fort Hell
202. A Wooden Pontoon
203. A Pontoon Bridge at Belle Plain, Va.
381
381
381
382
382
384
385
387
389
14
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
204. Poplar Grove Church
205. Bridging the Rappahannock under Fire
206. Signalling
207. A Flagman, Plate 1
208. A Flagman, Plate 2
209. A Flagman, Plate 3
210. A Signal Tree-Top
211. A Signal Tower, before Petersburg, Va.
392
393
394
396
397
397
402
403
OF NEW YORK.
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
CHAPTER I.
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
A score of millions hear the cry
And herald it abroad,
To arms they fly to do or die
For liberty and God.
E. P. DYER.
And yet they keep gathering and marching away!
Has the nation turned soldier- and all in a day?
There's the father and son!
While the miller takes gun
With the dust of the wheat still whitening his hair;
Pray where are they going with this martial air ?
F. E. BROOKS.

the 6th of November, 1860, Abra-
ham Lincoln, the candidate of
the Republican party, was elected
President of the United States,
over three opponents. The au-
tumn of that year witnessed the
most exciting political canvass
this country had ever seen. The
Democratic party, which had been
in power for several years in suc-
cession, split into factions and nominated two candidates.
The northern Democrats nominated Stephen A. Douglas, of
Illinois, who was an advocate of the doctrine of Squatter
Sovereignty, that is, the right of the people living in a Terri-
tory which wanted admission into the Union as a State to
15
16
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
decide for themselves whether they would or would not have
slavery.
The southern Democrats nominated John C. Breckenridge,
of Kentucky, at that time Vice-President of the United
States. The doctrine which he and his party advocated was
the right to carry their slaves into every State and Territory
in the Union without any hindrance whatever. Then there
was still another party, called by some the Peace Party,
A BELL AND EVERETT CAM-
PAIGNER.
which pointed to the Constitu-
tion of the country as its guide,
but had nothing to say on the
great question of slavery, which
was so prominent with the other
parties. It took for its standard-
bearer John Bell, of Tennessee e;
and Edward Everett, of Massa-
chusetts, was nominated as Vice-
President. This party drew its
membership from both of the
others, but largely from the Dem-
ocrats.
Owing to these divisions the
Republican party, which had not
been in existence many years,
was enabled to elect its candi-
date. The Republicans did not
intend to meddle with slavery
where it then was, but opposed
its extension into any new States
This latter fact was very well known to
the slave-holders, and so they voted almost solidly for John
C. Breckenridge. But it was very evident to them, after the
Democratic party divided, that the Republicans would suc-
ceed, and so, long before the election actually took place,
they began to make threats of seceding from the Union if
Lincoln was elected. Freedom of speech was not tolerated

and Territories.
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
17
in these States, and northern people who were down South
for business or pleasure, if they expressed opinions in oppo-
sition to the popular political sentiments of that section,
were at once warned to leave. Hundreds came North im-
mediately to seek personal safety, often leaving possessions
of great value behind them. Even native southerners who

١٢٤٤
A GROUP of soUTHERNERS DISCUSSING THE SITUATION.
believed thoroughly in the Union - and there were hun-
dreds of such were not allowed to say so. This class of
people suffered great indignities during the war, on account
of their loyalty to the old flag. Many of them were
driven by insult and abuse to take up arms for a cause
with which they did not sympathize, deserting it at the
18
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
earliest opportunity, while others held out to the bitter
end, or sought a refuge from such persecution in the
Union lines.
As early as the 25th of October, several southerners who
were or had been prominent in politics met in South Car-
olina, and decided by a unanimous vote that the State
should withdraw from the Union in the event of Lincoln's
election, which then seemed almost certain. Some other
States held similar meetings about the same date. Thus
early did the traitor leaders prepare the South for dis-
union. These men
were better known at that time as
"Fire-eaters."
As soon as Lincoln's election was announced, without
waiting to see what his policy towards the slave States was
going to be, the impetuous leaders at the South addressed
themselves at once to the carrying out of their threats; and
South Carolina, followed, at intervals more or less brief,
by Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and
Texas, seceded from the Union, and organized what was
known as the Southern Confederacy. Virginia, North Car-
olina, Arkansas, and Tennessee seceded later. The people at
the North stood amazed at the rapidity with which treason
against the government was spreading, and the loyal Union-
loving men began to inquire where President Buchanan was
at this time, whose duty it was to see that all such upris-
ings were crushed out; and "Oh for one hour of Andrew
Jackson in the President's chair!" was the common excla-
mation, because that decided and unyielding soldier-Presi-
dent had so promptly stamped out threatened rebellion in
South Carolina, when she had refused to allow the duties
to be collected at Charleston. But that outbreak in its
proportions was to this one as an infant to a giant, and it
is quite doubtful if Old Hickory himself, with his prompt-
ness to act in an emergency, could have stayed the angry
billows of rebellion which seemed just ready to break over
the nation. But at any rate he would have attempted it,
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
19
even if he had gone down in the fight, — at least so thought
the people.
The very opposite of such a President was James Bu-
chanan, who seemed anxious only for his term of office to
expire, making little effort to save the country, nor even
willing, at first, that others should do so. With a traitor
for his Secretary of War, the South had been well supplied
with arms under the very nose of the old man.
With a
traitor for his Secretary of the Navy, our vessels - not many
in number, it is true had been sent into foreign waters,
where they could not be immediately recalled. With a traitor
as Secretary of the Treasury, the public treasury had been
emptied. Then, too, there began the seizure of arsenals,
mints, custom-houses, post-offices, and fortifications within
the limits of the seceding States, and still the President did
nothing, or worse than nothing, claiming that the South
was wrong in its acts, but that he had no right to prevent.
treason and secession, or, in the phraseology of that day,
"no right to coerce a sovereign State." And so at last he
left the office a disgraced old man, for whom few had or
have a kind word to offer.
Such, briefly, was the condition of affairs when Abraham
Lincoln, fearful of his life, which had been threatened, en-
tered Washington under cover of darkness, and quietly
assumed the duties of his office. Never before were the
people of this country in such a state of excitement.
the North there were a large number who boldly denounced
the "Long-heeled Abolitionists" and "Black Republicans"
for having stirred up this trouble. I was not a voter at the
time of Lincoln's election, but I had taken an active part
in the torchlight parades of the "Wide-awakes" and "Rail-
splitters," as the political clubs of the Republicans were
called, and so came in for a share of the abuse showered
upon the followers of the new President. As fresh deeds
of violence or new aggressions against the government were
reported from the daily papers in the shop where I was
20
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
""
then employed, some one who was not a "Lincolnite
would exclaim, in an angry tone; "I hope you fellows are
satisfied now. I don't blame the South an atom. They
have been driven to desperation by such lunatics as Garri-
son and Phillips, and these men ought to be hung for it."
"If there is a war, I hope you and every other Black
Republican will be made to go and fight for the niggers all
you want to."... "You like the niggers so well you'll marry
اده
one of them yet." . . . And, "I want
to see those hot-headed Abolitionists.
put into the front rank, and shot
first." These are mild quotations.
from the daily conversations, had
not only where I was employed, but
in every other shop and factory in
the North. Such wordy contests
were by no means one-sided affairs;
for the assailed, while not anxious.
for war, were not afraid of it, and
were amply supplied with arguments
with which they answered and en-
raged their antagonists; and if they
did not always silence them, they
drove them into making just such
ridiculous remarks as the foregoing.
If I were asked who these men were, I should not call
them by name. They were my neighbors and my friends,
but they are changed men to-day. There is not one of
them who, in the light of later experiences, is not heartily
ashamed of his attitude at that time. Many of them
afterwards went to the field, and, sad to say, are there

A LINCOLN WIDE AWAKE.
yet. But this was the period of the most intemperate
and abusive language. Those who sympathized with the
South were, some months later, called Copperheads. Lin-
coln and his party were reviled by these men without any
restraint except such as personal shame and self-respect
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
21
might impose; and these qualities were conspicuously absent.
Nothing was too harsh to utter against Republicans. No
fate was too evil for their political opponents to wish them.
Of course all of these revilers were not sincere in their
ill-wishes, but the effect of their utterances on the commu-
nity was just as evil; and the situation of the new President,
at its best a perplexing and

critical one, was thus made
all the harder, by leading
him to believe that a multi-
tude of the citizens at the
North would obstruct in-
stead of supporting him.
It also gave the slave-hold-
ers the impression that a
very considerable number
of northern men were ready
to aid them in prosecuting
their treasonable schemes.
But now the rapid march of
events wrought a change in
the opinions of the people
in both sections.
The leading Abolitionists.
had argued that the South
was too cowardly to fight
for slavery; and the South
NAYTHER AV US."
had been told by the "Fire-eaters" and its northern friends
that the North could not be kicked into fighting; that in
case war should arise she would have her hands full to keep
her enemies at home in check. Alas! how little did either
party understand the temper of the other! How much
like that story of the two Irishmen. Meeting one day in
the army, one says, "How are you, Mike?"
"How are
you, Pat?" says the other. "But my name is not Pat,"
said the first speaker. "Nather is mine Mike," said the
22
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
second.
of us."
"Faix, thin," said the first, "it musht be nayther
Nothing could better illustrate the attitude of the North
and South towards each other than this anecdote. Nothing
could have been more perfect than this mutual misunder-
standing each displayed of the temper of the other, as the
stride of events soon showed.
It was
The story of how Major Anderson removed his little.
band of United States troops from Fort Moultrie to Fort
Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, for reasons of greater safety,
is a familiar one; likewise how the rebels fired upon a
vessel sent by the President with supplies intended for
it; and, finally, after a severe bombardment of several
days, how they compelled the fort to surrender.
these events which opened the eyes of the "Northern
Doughfaces," as those who sympathized with the South
were often called, to the real intent of the Seceders. A
change came over the spirit of their dreams. Patriotism,
love of the Union, at last came uppermost. They had
heard it proposed to divide the old flag, giving a part to
each section. They had seen a picture of the emblem thus
rent, and it was not a pleasing one. Soon the greater por-
tion of them ceased their sneers and ill-wishes, and joined
in the general demand that something be done at once to
assert the majesty and power of the national government.
Even President Lincoln, who, in his inaugural address, had
counselled his "countrymen, one and all, to take time and
think calmly and well upon this whole subject,” had come
to feel that further forbearance was no virtue, and that a
decent respect for this great nation and for his office as Pres-
ident demanded that something should be done speedily.
So on the 15th of April he issued a proclamation calling
out 75,000 militia, for three months, to suppress the Rebel-
lion, and to cause the laws to be executed.
Having been a Massachusetts soldier, it is but natural
that I should refer occasionally to her part in the opening
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
23
of this momentous crisis in the country's history, as being
more familiar to me than the record of any other State.
Yet, proud as I am of her conspicuous services in the early
war period, I have no desire to extol them at the expense of
Pennsylvania, New York, and Rhode Island, who so promptly
pressed forward and touched elbows with her in this emer-
gency; nor of those other great Western States, whose sturdy
patriots so promptly crossed Mason's
and Dixon's line in such serried
ranks at the summons of Father
Abraham.
It has often been asked how Mas-
sachusetts, so much farther from the
National Capital than any of the
other States, should have been so
prompt in coming to its assistance.
Let me give some idea of how it
happened. In December, 1860, Ad-
jutant - General Schouler of that
State, in his annual report, sug-
gested to Governor (afterwards
General) N. P. Banks, that as
events were then occurring which
might require that the militia of
Massachusetts should be increased
in number, it would be well for
commanders of companies to for-
ward to head-quarters a complete roll of each company,
with their names and residence, and that companies not
full should be recruited to the limit fixed by law, which
was then one hundred and one for infantry. Shortly after-
wards John A. Andrew, now known in history as the Great
War Governor of Massachusetts, assumed the duties of his
office. He was not only a leading Republican before the
war, but an Abolitionist as well. He seemed to clearly
foresee that the time for threats and arguments had gone

THE MINUTE MAN OF '61.
24
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
by, and that the time for action was at hand. So on the
16th of January he issued an order (No. 4) which had for
its object to ascertain exactly how many of the officers and
men in the militia would hold themselves ready to respond
immediately to any call which might be made upon their
services by the President. All who were not ready to do
so were discharged at once, and their places filled by others.
Thus it was that Massachusetts for the second time in her
history prepared her "Minute Men" to take the field at a
minute's notice.
This general order of the Governor's, although a very
wise one as it proved, carried dismay into the ranks of the
militia, for there were in Massachusetts, as in other States,
very many men who had made valiant and well disciplined
peace soldiers, who, now that one of the real needs of a
well organized militia was upon us, were not at all thirsty
for further military glory. But pride stood in the way of
their frankness. They were ashamed in this hour of their
country's peril to withdraw from the militia, for they feared
to face public opinion. Yet there were men who had good
and sufficient reasons for declining to pledge themselves for
instant military service, at least until there was a more
general demand for troops. They were loyal and worthy
citizens, and could not in a moment cast aside or turn their
back on their business or domestic responsibilities, and in
a season of calmer reflection it would not have been ex-
pected of them. But the public pulse was then at fever-
heat, and reason was having a vacation.
General Order No. 4 was, I believe, the first important
step taken by the State in preparing for the crisis. The
next was the passage of a bill by the Legislature, which was
approved by the Governor April 3, appropriating $25,000
for "overcoats, blankets, knapsacks, 200,000 ball cartridges,
etc., for two thousand troops." These supplies were soon
ready. The militiamen then owned their uniforms, and, as
no particular kind was prescribed, no two companies of the
•
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
25
same regiment were of necessity uniformed alike. It is
only a few years since uniformity of dress has been re-
quired of the militia in Massachusetts.
But to return to that memorable 15th of April. War,
that much talked-of, much dreaded calamity was at last
upon us. Could it really be so? We would not believe
it; and yet daily happenings forced the unwelcome conclu-
sion upon us. It seemed so strange. We had nothing in
our experience to compare it with. True, some of us had
dim remembrances of a Mexican war in our early childhood,
but as Massachusetts sent only one regiment to that war,
and that saw no fighting, and, besides, did not receive the
sympathy and support of the people in the State generally,
we only remembered that there was a Scott, and a Taylor,
and a Santa Aña, from the colored prints we had seen dis-
played of these worthies; so that we could only run back
in memory to the stories and traditions of the wars of the
Revolution and 1812, in which our ancestry had served, for
anything like a vivid picture of what was about to occur,
and this, of course, was utterly inadequate to do the subject
justice.
I have already stated that General Order No. 4 carried
dismay into many hearts, causing the more timid to with-
draw from military service at once. A great many more
would have withdrawn at the same time had they not been
restrained by pride and the lingering hope that there would
be no war after all; but this very day (the 15th) came
Special Order No. 14, from Governor Andrew, ordering the
Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth Regiments to assemble on
Boston Common forthwith. This was the final test of the
militiamen's actual courage and thirst for glory, and a
severe one it proved to many of them, for at this eleventh
hour there was another falling-out along the line. But the
moment a man's declination for further service was made
known, unless his reasons were of the very best, straight-
way he was hooted at for his cowardice, and for a time his
26
HARD TAČK AND COFFEE.
1
existence was made quite unpleasant in his own immediate
neighborhood. If he had been a commissioned officer, his
face was likely to appear in an illustrated paper, accom-
panied by the statement that he had "shown the white
feather," — another term for cowardice. A reference to
any file of illustrated papers of those days will show a
large number of such persons. Such gratuitous advertising
by a generally loyal, though not always discreet press did
some men gross injustice; for, as already intimated, many of
the men thus publicly sketched and denounced were among
the most worthy and loyal of citizens. A little later than
the period of which I am treating, Oliver Wendell Holmes
wrote the following poem, hitting off a certain limited class
in the community :
THE SWEET LITTLE MAN.
Dedicated to the Stay-at-Home Rangers.
Now while our soldiers are fighting our battles,
Each at his post to do all that he can,
Down among Rebels and contraband chattels,
What are you doing, my sweet little man?
All the brave boys under canvas are sleeping;
All of them pressing to march with the van,
Far from the home where their sweethearts are weeping;
What are you waiting for, sweet little man?
You with the terrible warlike moustaches,
Fit for a colonel or chief of a clan,
You with the waist made for sword-belts and sashes,
Where are your shoulder-straps, sweet little man?
Bring him the buttonless garment of woman!
Cover his face lest it freckle and tan;
Muster the Apron-string Guards on the Common,
That is the corps for the sweet little man!
Give him for escort a file of young misses,
Each of them armed with a deadly rattan;
They shall defend him from laughter and hisses,
Aimed by low boys at the sweet little man.
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
27
All the fair maidens about him shall cluster,
Pluck the white feather from bonnet and fan,
Make him a plume like a turkey-wing duster,-
That is the crest for the sweet little man.
Oh, but the Apron-string Guards are the fellows!
Drilling each day since our trouble began,
'Handle your walking-sticks!"
"Shoulder umbrellas!”
That is the style for the sweet little man.

SWEET LITTLE MEN of '61.
Have we a nation to save? In the first place
Saving ourselves is the sensible plan.
Surely, the spot where there's shooting's the worst place
Where I can stand, says the sweet little man.
Catch me confiding my person with strangers,
Think how the cowardly Bull-Runners ran!
In the brigade of the Stay-at-home Rangers
Marches my corps, says the sweet little man.
28
ĦARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Such was the stuff of the Malakoff takers,
Such were the soldiers that scaled the Redan;
Truculent housemaids and bloodthirsty Quakers
Brave not the wrath of the sweet little man!
Yield him the sidewalk, ye nursery maidens!
Sauve qui peut! Bridget, and Right about! Ann;-
Fierce as a shark in a school of menhadens,
See him advancing, the sweet little man!
When the red flails of the battlefield's threshers
Beat out the continent's wheat from its bran,
While the wind scatters the chaffy seceshers,
What will become of our sweet little man?
When the brown soldiers come back from the borders,
How will he look while his features they scan?
How will he feel when he gets marching orders,
Signed by his lady love? sweet little man.
Fear not for him though the Rebels expect him,-
Life is too precious to shorten its span;
Woman her broomstick shall raise to protect him,
Will she not fight for the sweet little man!
Now, then, nine cheers for the Stay-at-home Ranger!
Blow the great fish-horn and beat the big pan!
First in the field, that is farthest from danger,
Take your white feather plume, sweet little man!
The 16th of April was a memorable day in the history of
the Old Bay State, a day made more uncomfortable by the
rain and sleet which were falling with disagreeable constancy.
Well do I remember the day. Possessing an average amount
of the fire and enthusiasm of youth, I had asked my father's
consent to go out with Company A of the old Fourth Reg-
iment, which belonged to my native town. But he would
not give ear to any such "nonsense," and, having been
brought up to obey his orders, although of military age
(18), I did not enter the service in the first rally. This
company did not go with full ranks. There were few that
did. Several of my shopmates were in its membership. As
THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
29
those of us who remained gathered at the windows that
stormy forenoon to see the company go by, the sight filled.
us with the most gloomy forebodings.
So the troops went forth from the towns in the shore.
counties of Massachusetts. Most of the companies in the
regiments that were called reported for duty at Boston this

}
COLL
ADJUTANT HINKS NOTIFYING CAPTAIN KNOTT V. MARTIN.
very 16th two companies from Marblehead being the first
to arrive. One of these companies was commanded by Cap-
tain Knott V. Martin, who was engaged in slaughtering hogs
when Adjutant (now Major-General) E. W. Hinks rode up
and instructed him to report on Boston Common in the
morning. Drawing the knife from the throat of a hog, the
Captain uttered an exclamation which has passed into his-
tory, threw the knife with a light toss to the floor, went im-
30
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
mediately and notified his Orderly Sergeant, and then re-
turned to his butchering. In the morning he and his com-
pany were ready for business.
But their relatives who remained at home could not look
calmly on the departure of these dear ones, who were going
no one knew just where, and would return - perhaps never;
so there were many touching scenes witnessed at the various
railway stations, as the men boarded the trains for Boston.
When these Marblehead companies arrived at that city the
enthusiasm was something unprecedented, and as a new de-
tachment appeared in the streets it was cheered to the echo
all along its line of march. The early months of the war
were stirring ones for Boston; for not only did the most of
the Massachusetts regiments march through her streets en
route for the seat of war, but also the troops from Maine
and New Hampshire as well, so that a regiment halted
for rest on the Common, or marching to the strain of
martial music to some railway station, was at times a daily
occurrence.
men
It has always seemed to me that the "Three months
" have never received half the credit which the worth
of their services to the country deserved. The fact of their
having been called out for so short a time as compared with
the troops that came after them, and of their having seen.
little or no fighting, places them at a disadvantage. But to
have so suddenly left all, and gone to the defence of the
Capital City, with no knowledge of what was in store for
them, and impelled by no other than the most patriotic of
motives, seems to me fully as praiseworthy as to have gone
later under the pressure of urgent need, when the full stress
of war was upon us, and when its realities were better
known, and the inducements to enlist greater in some other
respects. There is no doubt whatever but what the prompt
appearance of these short-term men not only saved the Cap-
ital, but that it served also to show the Rebels that the
North at short call could send a large and comparatively

}
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CAPTAIN KNOTT V. MARTIN'S COMPANY ON ITS WAY TO FANEUIL HALL.
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THE TOCSIN OF WAR.
33
well equipped force into the field, and was ready to back
its words by deeds. Furthermore, these soldiers gave the
government time to catch its breath, as it were, and, looking
the issue squarely in the face, to decide upon some settled
plan of action.

?
CHAPTER II.
ENLISTING.
O, did you see him in the street dressed up in army blue,
When drums and trumpets into town their storm of music threw
A louder tune than all the winds could muster in the air,
The Rebel winds that tried so hard our flag in strips to tear?
LUCY LARCOM.
15:242.
"Me mu",

ARDLY had the "Three months men
reached the field before it was discov-
ered that a mistake had been made in
not calling out a larger number of
troops, and for longer service; — it
took a long time to realize what a gi-
gantic rebellion we had on our hands.
So on the 3d of May President Lin-
colu issued a call for United States
volunteers to serve three years, unless
sooner discharged. At once thousands of loyal men sprang
to arms-so large a number, in fact, that many regiments.
raised were refused until later.
The methods by which these regiments were raised
were various. In 1861 a common way was for some one
who had been in the regular army, or perhaps who had
been prominent in the militia, to take the initiative and
circulate an enlistment paper for signatures. His chances
were pretty good for obtaining a commission as its captain,
for his active interest, and men who had been prominent in
assisting him, if they were popular, would secure the lieu-
tenancies. On the return of the "Three months troops
many of the companies immediately re-enlisted in a body
for three years, sometimes under their old officers. A large
""
34
ENLISTING.
35
number of these short-term veterans, through influence at
the various State capitals, secured commissions in new reg-
iments that were organizing. In country towns too small to
furnish a company, the men would post off to a neighboring
town or city, and there enlist.
In 1862, men who had seen a year's active service were
selected to receive a part of the commissions issued to new
organizations, and should in justice have received all within
the bestowal of governors.
But the recruiting of troops
soon resolved itself into individual enlistments or this pro-
gramme; twenty, thirty, fifty or more men would go in a
body to some recruiting station, and signify their readiness
to enlist in a certain regiment provided a certain specified
member of their number should be commissioned captain.
Sometimes they would compromise, if the outlook was not
promising, and take a lieutenancy, but equally often it was
necessary to accept their terms, or count them out. In the
rivalry for men to fill up regiments, the result often was
officers who were diamonds in the rough, but liberally inter-
mingled with veritable clod-hoppers whom a brief experience
in active service soon sent to the rear.
This year the War Department was working on a more
systematic basis, and when a call was made for additional
troops each State was immediately assigned its quota, and
with marked promptness each city and town was informed
by the State authorities how many men it was to furnish
under that call. The war fever was not at such a fervid heat
in '62 as in the year before, and so recruiting offices were
multiplied in cities and large towns. These offices were of
two kinds, viz.: those which were opened to secure recruits
for regiments and batteries already in the field, and those
which solicited enlistments in new organizations. Unques-
tionably, at this time the latter were more popular.
The former office was presided over by a line officer di-
rectly from the front, attended by one or two subordinates,
all of whom had smelled powder. The latter office might
36
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
be in charge of an experienced soldier recently commis-
sioned, or of a man ambitious for such preferment.
The flaming advertisements with which the newspapers of
the day teemed, and the posters pasted on the bill-boards or
the country fence, were the decoys which brought patronage
to these fishers of men. Here is a sample:
More Massachusetts Volunteers Accepted!!!
Three Regiments to be Immediately Recruited!
GEN. WILSON'S REGIMENT,
To which CAPT. FOLLETT'S BATTERY is attached;
COL. JONES' GALLANT SIXTH REGIMENT,
WHICH WENT "THROUGH BALTIMORE";
THE N. E. GUARDS REGIMENT, commanded by that
excellent officer, MAJOR J. T. STEVENSON.
The undersigned has this day been authorized and directed to fill up the
ranks of these regiments forthwith. A grand opportunity is afforded for
patriotic persons to enlist in the service of their country under the com-
mand of as able officers as the country has yet furnished. Pay and
rations will begin immediately on enlistment.
UNIFORMS ALSO PROVIDED !
Citizens of Massachusetts should feel pride in attaching themselves to
regiments from their own State, in order to maintain the proud supremacy
which the Old Bay State now enjoys in the contest for the Union and the
Constitution. The people of many of the towns and cities of the Com-
monwealth have made ample provision for those joining the ranks of the
army. If any person enlists in a Company or Regiment out of the Com-
monwealth, he cannot share in the bounty which has been thus liberally
voted. Wherever any town or city has assumed the privilege of support-
ing the families of Volunteers, the Commonwealth reimburses such place
to the amount of $12 per month for families of three persons.
Patriots desiring to serve the country will bear in mind that
THE GENERAL RECRUITING STATION
IS AT
No. 14 PITTS STREET, BOSTON !
WILLIAM W. BULLOCK,
General Recruiting Officer, Massachusetts Volunteers.
【Boston Journal of Sept. 12, 1861.]
f
ENLISTING.
37
Here is a call to a war meeting held out-of-doors:
TO ARMS! TO ARMS!!
GREAT WAR MEETING
IN ROXBURY.
Another meeting of the citizens of Roxbury, to re-enforce their brothers
in the field, will be held in
ELIOT SQUARE, ROXBURY,
THIS EVENING AT EIGHT O'CLOCK.
SPEECHES FROM
Paul Willard, Rev. J. O. Means, Judge Russell,
And other eloquent advocates.
The Brigade Band will be on hand early. Come one, come all!
God and your Country Call!!
[Boston Journal of July 30, 1862.]
Per Order.
•
Here are two which look quite business-like:
66
GENERAL POPE'S ARMY.
'Lynch Law for Guerillas and No Rebel
Property Guarded!"
IS THE MOTTO OF THE
SECOND MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT.
$578.50 for 21 months' service.
$252.00 State aid for families of four.
$830.50 and short service.
$125.00 cash in hand.
This Regiment, although second in number, is second to none in regard
to discipline and efficiency, and is in the healthiest and most delightful
country.
Office at Coolidge House, Bowdoin Square.
CAPT. C. R. MUDGE.
LIEUT. A. D. SAWYER..
38
HARD TACK AND COFFEL.
$100 BOUNTY!
CADET REGIMENT,
Company D,
NINE MONTHS' SERVICE.
O. W. PEABODY
•
Recruiting Officer.
Headquarters, 113 Washington Street, Boston.
[Boston Journal, Sept. 17, 1862.]
War meetings similar to the one called in Roxbury were
designed to stir lagging enthusiasm. Musicians and orators
blew themselves red in the face with their windy efforts.
Choirs improvised for the occasion, sang "Red, White, and
Blue" and "Rallied 'Round the Flag" till too hoarse for
further endeavor. The old veteran soldier of 1812 was
trotted out, and worked for all he was worth, and an occa-
sional Mexican War veteran would air his nonchalance at
grim-visaged war. At proper intervals the enlistment roll
would be presented for signatures. There was generally
one old fellow present who upon slight provocation would
yell like a hyena, and declare his readiness to shoulder his
musket and go, if he wasn't so old, while his staid and half-
fearful consort would pull violently at his coat-tails to re-
press his unseasonable effervescence ere it assumed more
dangerous proportions. Then there was a patriotic maiden
lady who kept a flag or a handkerchief waving with only
the rarest and briefest of intervals, who "would go in a min-
ute if she was a man." Besides these there was usually a
man who would make one of fifty (or some other safe num-
ber) to enlist, when he well understood that such a number
could not be obtained. And there was one more often found
present who when challenged to sign would agree to, pro-
vided that A or B (men of wealth) would put down their
I saw a man at a war meeting promise, with a
bombastic flourishment, to enlist if a certain number (which
names.

A WAR MEETING.
ENLISTING.
41
I do not now remember) of the citizens would do the
same. The number was obtained; but the small-sized
patriot, who was willing to sacrifice his wife's relations on
the altar of his country, crawled away amid the sneers of
his townsmen.
Sometimes the patriotism of such a gathering would be
wrought up so intensely by waving banners, martial and
vocal music, and burning eloquence, that a town's quota
would be filled in less than an hour. It needed only the
first man to step forward, put down his name, be patted on
the back, placed upon the platform, and cheered to the echo
as the hero of the hour, when a second, a third, a fourth
would follow, and at last a perfect stampede set in to
sign the enlistment roll, and a frenzy of enthusiasm would
take possession of the meeting. The complete intoxication
of such excitement, like intoxication from liquor, left
some of its victims on the following day, especially if the
fathers of families, with the sober second thought to
wrestle with; but Pride, that tyrannical master, rarely let
them turn back.
The next step was a medical examination to determine
physical fitness for service. Each town had its physician
for this work. The candidate for admission into the army
must first divest himself of all clothing, and his soundness.
or unsoundness was then decided by causing him to jump,
bend over, kick, receive sundry thumps in the chest and
back, and such other laying-on of hands as was thought
necessary. The teeth had also to be examined, and the eye-
sight tested, after which, if the candidate passed, he receive l
a certificate to that effect.
His next move was toward a recruiting station. There he
would enter, signify his errand, sign the roll of the company
or regiment into which he was going, leave his description,
including height, complexion, and occupation, and then ac-
company a guard to the examining surgeon, where he was
' again subjected to a critical examination as to soundness.
42
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Those men who, on deciding to "go to war," went directly to
a recruiting office and enlisted, had but this simple examina-
tion to pass, the other being then unnecessary. It is interest-
ing to note that in 1861 and '62 men were mainly examined to
establish their fitness for service; in 1863 and '64 the tide
had changed, and they were then only anxious to prove their
unfitness.
After the citizen in question had become a soldier, he was
usually sent at once to camp or the seat of war, but if he
wanted a short furlough it was generally granted. If he had
enlisted in a new regiment, he might remain weeks before
being ordered to the front; if in an old regiment, he might
find himself in a fight at short notice. Hundreds of the men
who enlisted under the call issued by President Lincoln
July 2, 1862, were killed or wounded before they had been
in the field a week.
Any man or woman who lived in those thrilling early war
days will never forget them. The spirit of patriotism was
at fever-heat, and animated both sexes of all ages. Such
a display of the national colors had never been seen before.
Flag-raisings were the order of the day in public and private.
grounds. The trinity of red, white, and blue colors was
to be seen in all directions. Shopkeepers decked their
windows and counters with them. Men wore them in neck-
ties, or in a rosette pinned on the breast, or tied in the
button-hole. The women wore them conspicuously also.
The bands played only patriotic airs, and “Yankee Doodle,”
"Red, White, and Blue," and the "Star-Spangled Banner"
would have been worn threadbare if possible. Then other
patriotic songs and marches were composed, many of which
had only a short-lived existence; and the poetry of this
period, some of it excellent, would fill a large volume.

CHAPTER III.
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
The heath this night must be my bed,
The bracken curtain for my head,
My lullaby the warder's tread,
Far, far from love and thee, Mary.
To-morrow eve, more stilly laid,
My couch may be my bloody plaid,
My vesper song, thy wail, sweet maid.
It will not waken me, Mary.
A
LADY OF the Lake.

FTER enlistment, what? This deed
done, the responsibility of the citi-
zen for himself ceased in a measure,
and Uncle Sam took him in charge.
A word here to make clear to the
uninformed the distinction between
the militia and the volunteers. The
militia are the soldiers of the State,
and their duties lie wholly within
its limits, unless called out by the
President of the United States in
an emergency. Such an emergency occurred when Presi-
dent Lincoln made his call for 75,000 militia, already alluded
to. The volunteers, on the other hand, enlist directly into
the service of the United States, and it becomes the duty of
the national government to provide for them from the very
date of their enlistment.
Before leaving the State these volunteers were mustered
into service. This often occurred soon after their enlistment,
before they had been provided with the garb of Union
soldiers.
43
11
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
ނ
The oath of muster, which they took with uplifted hand
ran as follows:
66
· I, A—————— B
A-
B- -, do solemnly swear that I will bear true
allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will
serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies
and opposers whatsoever, and observe and obey the orders of
the President of the United States, and the orders of the
officers appointed over me according to the rules and articles
for the government of the armies of the United States."

MUSTERING IN RECRUITS.
The provision made for the shelter of these troops before
they took the field was varied. Some of them were quar-
tered at Forts Warren and Independence while making
ready to depart. But the most of the Massachusetts volun-
teers were quartered at camps established in different parts
of the State. Among the earliest of these were Camp An-
drew, in West Roxbury, and Camp Cameron, in North Cam-
bridge. Afterwards camps were laid out at Lynnfield, Pitts-
field, Boxford, Readville, Worcester, Lowell, Long Island, and
a few other places. The Three-months militia " required
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
45
no provision for their shelter, as they were ordered away
soon after reporting for duty. Faneuil Hall furnished quar-
ters for a part of them one night. The First Massachusetts
Regiment of Infantry quartered for a week in Faneuil Hall;
but, this not being a suitable place for so large a body of men
to remain, “on the first day of June the regiment marched
out to Cambridge, and took possession of an old ice-house on
the borders of Fresh Pond, which had been procured by the
State authorities and partially fitted up for barracks, and

ہے
мыл
READVILLE (MASS.) BARRACKS.
From a Photograph.
""
established their first camp.' But this was not the first
camp established in the State, for three years' troops had
already been ordered into camp on Long Island and at Fort
Warren.
Owing to the unhealthiness of the location selected for the
First Regiment, their stay in it was brief, and a removal was
soon had to North Cambridge, where, on a well-chosen site,
some new barracks had been built, and, in honor of Presi-
dent Lincoln's Secretary of War, had been named "Camp
Cameron."
Barracks then, it will be observed, served to shelter some
of the troops.
To such as are not familiar with these struc-
tures, I will simply say that they were generally a long on
46
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
storied building not unlike a bowling-alley in proportions,
having the entrance at one end, a broad aisle running
through the centre, and a double row of bunks, one above
the other, on either side. They were calculated to hold one
company of a hundred men. Some of these buildings are
still to be seen at Readville, Mass., near the old camp-
grounds. But while barracks were desirable quarters in

SIBLEY TENTS.
the cooler weather of this latitude, and sheltered many regi-
ments during their stay in the State, a still larger number
found shelter in tents prior to their departure for the field.
These tents were of various patterns, but the principal
varieties used were the Sibley, the A or Wedge Tent, and
the Hospital or Wall Tent.
The Sibley tent was invented by Henry Sibley, in 1857.
He was a graduate of the United States military academy
at West Point, and accompanied Capt. John C. Fremont on
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
47
one of his exploring expeditions. He evidently got his idea
from the Tepee or Tepar, -the Indian wigwam, of poles
covered with skins, and having a fire in the centre, — which
he saw on the plains. When the Rebellion broke out, Sibley
cast in his fortune with the South. He afterwards attained
the rank of brigadier-general, but performed no services so
likely to hand down his name as the invention of this tent.
It has recently been stated that Sibley was not the actual
inventor, the credit being assigned to some private soldier
in his command. On account of its resemblance to a huge
bell, it has sometimes been called a Bell Tent. It is eighteen
feet in diameter and twelve feet high, and is supported by a
single pole, which rests on an iron tripod. This pole is the
exact radius of the circle covered by the tent. By means
of the tripod the tent can be tightened or slackened at
pleasure. At the top is a circular opening, perhaps a foot
in diameter, which serves the double purpose of ventilation
and of passing a stove-pipe through in cool weather. This
stove-pipe connected with a cone-shaped stove suited to this
shape of tent, which stood beneath the tripod. A small
piece of canvas, called a cap, to which were attached two
long guys, covered the opening at the top in stormy weather.
It was not an unusual sight in the service to see the top of
one of these tents in a blaze caused by some one having
drawn the cap too near an over-heated stove-pipe. A chain
depended from the fork of the tripod, with a hook, on which
a kettle could be hung; when the stove was wanting the fire
was built on the ground.
These tents are comfortably capacious for a dozen men.
In cold or rainy weather, when every opening is closed, they
are most unwholesome tenements, and to enter one of them
of a rainy morning from the outer air, and encounter the
night's accumulation of nauseating exhalations from the
bodies of twelve men (differing widely in their habits of
personal cleanliness) was an experience which no old soldier
has ever been known to recall with any great enthusiasm.
48
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Of course the air was of the vilest sort, and it is surprising
to see how men endured it as they did. In the daytime
these tents were ventilated by lifting them up at the bottom.
Sibley tents went out of field service in 1862, partly
because they were too expensive, but principally on account
of being so cumbrous. They increased the amount of im-
pedimenta too largely, for they required many wagons for
their transportation, and so were afterwards used only in
A, OR WEDGE TENTS.
camps of instruc-
tion. I believe
they are still used
to some extent by
the militia of the
various States. I
remember having
seen these tents
raised on a stock-
ade four feet high
by some regiments
during the war,
and thus arrang-
ed they made very
spacious and com-

fortable winter quarters. When thus raised they accom-
modated twenty men. The camp for convalescents near
Alexandria, Va., comprised this variety of tent stockaded.
The A or Wedge tents are yet quite common.
The origin
of this tent is not known, so far as I can learn. It seems to
be about as old as history itself. A German historian, who
wrote in 1751, represents the Amalekites as using them.
Nothing simpler for a shelter could suggest itself to campers
than some sort of awning stretched over a horizontal pole or
bar. The setting-up of branches on an incline against a low
horizontal branch of a tree to form a rude shelter may have
been its earliest suggestion. But, whatever its origin, it is
now a canvas tent stretched over a horizontal bar, perhaps
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
49
six feet long, which is supported on two upright posts of
about the same length. It covers, when pitched, an area
The name of these tents is
nearly seven feet square.
undoubtedly derived
from the fact of the
ends having the pro-
portions of the Ro-
man letter A, and be-
cause of their resem-
blance to a wedge.
Four men was the
number usually as-
signed to one of
them; but they were
often occupied by
five, and sometimės
six. When so OC-
cupied at night, it
was rather necessary
to comfort that all
should turn over at
the same time, for
six or even five men
were a tight fit in the

い​小
​SPOONING TOGETHER.
space enclosed, unless "spooned" together. These tents
when stockaded were quite spacious and comfortable. A
word or two just here with regard to stockading. A stockade
proper is an enclosure made with posts set close together.
In stockading a tent the posts were split in halves, and the
cleft sides all turned inward so as to make a clean and comely
inside to the hut. But by far the most common way of log-
ging up a tent was to build the walls "cob-fashion," notch-
ing them together at the corners. This method took much
less time and material than the other. But whenever I use
the word stockade or stockading in any descriptions I include
either method. I shall speak further of stockading by and by.
50
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
The A tents were in quite general use by the State and
also by the general government the first two years of the
war, but, like the Sibley, they required too much wagon
transportation to take along for use in the field, and so they
also were turned over to camps of instruction and to troops
permanently located in or near important military centres or
stations.
The Hospital or Wall tent is distinguished from those
already described by having four upright sides or walls. To

THE HOSPITAL OR WALL TENT.
this fact it probably owes the latter name, and it doubtless
gets the former from being used for hospital purposes in the
field. These tents, also, are not of modern origin. They
were certainly used by Napoleon, and probably long before
his day. On account of their walls they are much more
comfortable and convenient to occupy than the two preced-
ing, as one can stand erect or move about in them with tol-
erable freedom. They are made of different sizes. Those
used as field hospitals were quite large, accommodating from
six to twenty patients, according to circumstances. It was a
common occurrence to see two or more of these joined, being
connected by ripping the central seam in the two ends that
came in contact. By looping back the flaps thus liberated,
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
51
the tents were thrown together, and quite a commodious.
hospital was in that way opened with a central corridor
running its entire length between a double row of cots.
The smaller size of wall tent was in general use
tent of commissioned officers, and so far as I now recall, was
used by no one else.
as the
While the Army of the Potomac was at Harrison's Land-
ing, under McClellan, he issued a General Order (Aug.
10, 1862) prescribing

among other things
wall tents for general
field and staff officers,
and a single shelter
tent for each line offi-
cer; and the same
order was reissued by
his successors.
But
OFFICER'S WALL TENT WITH FLY.
in some way many
of these line officers
managed to smuggle a wall tent into the wagon train, so
that when a settled camp was entered upon they were pro-
vided with those luxurious shelters instead of the shelter tent.
Over the top an extra piece of canvas, called a fly, was
stretched as additional protection against sun and rain.
These tents are generally familiar. Massachusetts now pro-
vides her militia with them, I believe, without distinction of
rank.
The tents thus far described I have referred to as used
largely by the troops before they left the State. But there
was another tent, the most interesting of all, which was used
exclusively in the field, and that was Tente d'Abri - the Dog
or Shelter Tent.
Just why it is called the shelter tent I cannot say, unless
on the principle stated by the Rev. George Ellis for calling
the pond on Boston Common a Frog Pond, viz: because there
are no frogs there. So there is little shelter in this variety
52
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
of tent. But about that later. I can imagine no other reason
for calling it a dog tent than this, that when one is pitched it
would only comfortably accommodate a dog, and a small one
at that. This tent was invented late in 1861 or early in
1862. I am told it was made of light duck at first, then of
rubber, and afterwards of duck again, but I never saw one
made of anything heavier than cotton drilling. This was
the tent of the rank and file. It did not come into general
THE DOG OR SHELTER TENT.
use till after the
Peninsular Cam-
paign. Each man
was provided with
a half-shelter, as a
single piece was
called, which he
was expected to
carry on the march
if he wanted a tent
to sleep under. I
will describe these

more fully. One I recently measured is five feet two inches
long by four feet eight inches wide, and is provided with a
single row of buttons and button-holes on three sides, and a
pair of holes for stake loops at each corner. A single half-
shelter, it can be seen, would make a very contracted and
uncomfortable abode for a man; but every soldier was ex-
pected to join his resources for shelter with some other fel-
low. It was only rarely that a soldier was met with who was
so crooked a stick that no one would chum with him, or that
he cared for no chum, although I have seen a few such cases
in my experience. But the rule in the army was similar to
that in civil life. Every man had his chum or friend, with
whom he associated when off duty, and these tented together.
By mutual agreement one was the "old woman," the other the
"old man" of the concern. A Marblehead man called his chum
his "chicken," more especially if the latter was a young soldier.
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
53
By means of the buttons and button-holes two or more
of these half-shelters could be buttoned together, making
a very complete roofing. There are hundreds of men that
came from different sections of the same State, or from
different States, who joined their resources in this manner,
and to-day through this accidental association they are the
warmest of personal friends, and will continue so while
they live.
It was not usual to pitch these tents every
night when the army was on the march. The soldiers
did not waste their time and strength much in that way.
If the night was clear and pleasant, they lay down with-
out roof-shelter of any kind; but if it was story or a
storm was threaten-
ing when the order
came to go into
camp for the night,
the shelters were
then quite gener-
ally pitched.
This operation
was performed by
the infantry in the

SHELTERS AS SOMETIMES PITCHED IN SUMMER.
following simple way: two muskets with bayonets fixed were
stuck erect into the ground the width of a half shelter
apart.. A guy rope which went with every half-shelter was
stretched between the trigger-guards of the muskets, and
over this as a ridge-pole the tent was pitched in a twinkling.
Artillery men pitched theirs over a horizontal bar supported
by two uprights. This framework was split out of fence-
rails, if fence-rails were to be had conveniently; otherwise,
saplings were cut for the purpose. It often happened that
men would throw away their shelters during the day, and
take their chances with the weather, or of finding cover in
some barn, or under the brow of some overhanging rock,
rather than be burdened with them. In summer, when the
army was not in proximity to the enemy, or was lying
54
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
off recuperating, as the Army of the Potomac did a few
weeks after the Gettysburg campaign, they would pitch
their shelters high enough to get a free circulation of air
beneath, and to enable them to build bunks or cots a foot
or two above the ground. If the camp was not in the
SHADED SHELTERS,
woods, it was com-
mon to build a bow-
er of branches over
the tents, to ward
off the sun.
When cold weath-
er came on, the sol-
diers built the stock-
ades to which I have
already referred.
The walls of these
structures were

raised from two to five feet, according to the taste or work-
ing inclination of the intended occupants. Oftentimes an
excavation was made one or two feet deep. When such
was the case, the walls were not built so high. Such
a hut was warmer than one built entirely above ground.
The size depended upon the number of the proposed
mess. If the hut was to be occupied by two, it was
built nearly square, and covered by two half-shelters.
Such a stockade would and often did accommodate three
men, the third using his half-shelter to stop up one
gable. When four men occupied a stockade, it was built
accordingly, and covered by four half-shelters. In each
case these were stretched over a framework of light
rafters raised on the walls of the stockade. Sometimes
the gables were built up to the ridge-poles with smaller
logs, but just as often they were filled by an extra half-
shelter, a rubber blanket, or an old poncho. An army
poncho, I may here say, is specified as made of unbleached
muslin coated with vulcanized India-rubber, sixty inches
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
55
wide and seventy-one inches long, having an opening in
the centre lengthwise of the poncho, through which the
head passes, with a lap three inches wide and sixteen
inches long. This garment is derived from the woollen
poncho worn by the Spanish-Americans, but is of different
proportions, these being four feet by
seven. The army poncho was used in
lieu of the gum blanket.

0.00
The chinks between the logs were
filled with mud, worked to a viscous
consistency, which adhered more or less
tenaciously according to the amount of
clay in the mixture. It usually needed
renewing after a severe storm. The
chimney was built outside, after the
southern fashion. It stood sometimes
at the end and sometimes in the middle
of one side of the stockade. It started
from a fire-place which was fashioned
with more or less skill, according to the
taste or mechanical genius of the work-
man, or the tools and materials used,
or both. In my own company there
were two masons who had opportuni-
ties, whenever a winter camp was pitched, to practise
their trade far more than they were inclined to do.
The fire-places were built of brick, of stone, or of wood.
If there was a deserted house in the neighborhood of the
camp which boasted brick chimneys, they were sure to be
brought low to serve the Union cause in the manner indi-
cated, unless the house was used by some general officer
as headquarters. When built of wood, the chimneys were
lined with a very thick coating of mud. They were gen-
erally continued above the fireplace with split wood built
cob-fashion, which was filled between and lined with the red
clayey soil of Virginia, but stones were used when abundant.
A PONCHO ON.
56
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Very frequently pork and beef barrels were secured to
serve this purpose, being put one above another, and now
and then a lively hurrah would run through the camp

で
​จ
וור
A CHIMNEY ON FIRE
when one of these was dis-
covered on fire. It is hardly
331
necessary to remark that not
all these chimneys were mon-
uments of success. Too often the draught was down instead
of up, and the inside of sorne stockades resembled smoke-
houses. Still, it was "all in the three years," as the boys
used to say. It was all the same to the average soldier,
who rarely saw fit to tear down and build anew more
·
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
57
scientifically. The smoke of his camp-fires in warm weather
was an excellent preparative for the smoking fireplace of
winter-quarters.
Many of these huts were deemed incomplete until a sign
appeared over the door. Here and there some one would
make an attempt at having a door-plate of wood suitably
inscribed; but the more common sight was a sign over
the entrance bearing such inscriptions, rudely cut or
marked with charcoal, as: "Parker House," "Hole in the
Wall," "Mose Pearson's," "Astor House," "Willard's Hotel,"
"Five Points," and other titles equally absurd, expressing
in this ridicu-

lous way the va-
garies of the
inmates.
The last kind
of shelter I shall
mention as used
in the field, but
not the least in
importance, was
the Bomb-proofs
used by both
A COMMON BOMB-PROOF.
JIgl
Union and Rebel armies in the war. Probably there were
more of these erected in the vicinity of Petersburg and
Richmond than in all the rest of the South combined, if
I except Vicksburg, as here the opposing armies established
themselves the one in defence, the other in siege of
the two cities. These bomb-proofs were built just inside the
fortifications. Their walls were made of logs heavily banked
with earth and having a door or wider opening on the side
away from the enemy. The roof was also made of heavy
logs covered with several feet of earth.
The interior of these structures varied in size with the
number that occupied them. Some were built on the sur-
face of the ground, to keep them drier and more comfortable;
58
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
others were dug down after the manner of a cellar kitchen;
but all of them were at best damp and unwholesome habi-
tations even where fireplaces were introduced, which they
were in cool weather. For these reasons they were occupied
only when the enemy was engaged in sending over his iron
compliments in the shape of mortar-shells. For all other
hostile missiles the breastworks were ample protection, and
under their walls the men stretched their half-shelters and
passed most of their time in the summer and fall of 1864,
A 13-INCH MORTAR.
when their lot was
cast in that part of
the lines nearest the
enemy in front of
Petersburg.
A mortar is a short,
stout cannon design-
ed to throw shells into
fortifications. This is
accomplished by ele-
vating the muzzle a
great deal. But the
higher the elevation

the greater the strain
upon the gun.
For this reason it is that they are made so
short and thick. They can be elevated so as to drop a shell
just inside a fort, whereas a cannon-ball would either strike.
it on the outside, or pass over it far to the rear.
Mortars were used very little as compared with cannon.
In the siege of Petersburg, I think, they were used more at
night than in the daytime. This was due to the exceeding
watchfulness of the pickets of both armies. At some periods
in the siege each side was in nightly expectation of an attack
from the other, and so the least provocation-an accidental
shot, or a strange and unusual sound after dark-would
draw the fire of the pickets, which would extend from the
point of disturbance all along the line in both directions.
HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.
59
Then the main lines, both infantry and artillery, thinking it
might possibly be a night attack, would join in the fire,
while the familiar Rebel yell, responded to by the Union
cheer, would swell louder as the din and roar increased.
But soon the yelling, the cheering, the artillery, the mus-
ketry would subside, and the mortar batteries with which
each fort was supplied would continue the contest, and the

I'
A BOMB-PROOF IN FORT HELL BEFORE PETERSburg.
sky would become brilliant with the fiery
arches of these lofty-soaring and more
dignified projectiles. As the mortar-shells
described their majestic curves across the heavens every
other sound was hushed, and the two armies seemed to
stand in mute and mutual admiration of these magnificent
messengers of destruction and woe.
Sometimes a single shell could be seen climbing the sky
from a Rebel mortar, but ere it had reached its destination as
many as half a dozen from Union mortars would appear as if
chasing each other through the air, anxious to be foremost
60
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
in resenting such temerity on the part of the enemy. In
this arm of the service, as in the artillery, the Union army
was greatly superior to the enemy.
These evening fusillades rarely did any damage. So
harmless were they considered that President Lincoln and
other officials frequently came down to the trenches to be a
witness of them. But, harmless as they usually were to our
side, they yet often enlisted our warm personal interest.
The guns of my own company were several times a mark for
their particular attentions by daylight. At such times we
would watch the shells closely as they mounted the sky. If
they veered to the right or left from a vertical in their
ascent, we cared nothing for them as we then knew they
would go one side of us. If they rose perpendicularly, and
at the same time increased in size, our interest intensified.
If they soon began to descend we lost interest, for that told
us they would fall short; but if they continued climbing
until much nearer the zenith, and we could hear the creak-
ing whistle of the fuse as the shell slowly revolved through
the air, business of a very pressing nature suddenly called us
into the bomb-proofs; and it was not transacted until an
explosion was heard, or a heavy jar told us that the bomb
had expended its violence in the ground.
These mortar-bombs could be seen very distinctly at
times, but only when they were fired directly toward or
from us. They can be seen immediately after they leave
the gun if they come against the sky. Coming towards one
they appear first as a black speck, increasing in size as
stated. Besides mortar-shells I have seen the shot and shell
from twelve-pounders in transit, but never from rifled pieces,
as their flight is much more rapid.

CHAPTER IV.
LIFE IN TENTS.
"Sir, he made a chimney in my father's house, and the bricks are alive at
this day to testify it."
KING HENRY VI.

the last chapter I described quite
fully the principal varieties of shelter
that our troops used in the war. In
this I wish to detail their daily life in
those tents when they settled down
in camp. Enter with me into a Sib-
ley tent which is not stockaded. If
it is cold weather, we shall find the
cone-shaped stove, which I have already mentioned, setting
in the centre. These stoves were useless for cooking pur-
poses, and the men were likely to burn their blankets on
them in the night, so that many of the troops utilized them
by building a small brick or stone oven below, in which
they did their cooking, setting the stove on top as a part of
the flue. The length of pipe furnished by the government
was not sufficient to reach the opening at the top, and the
result was that unless the inmates bought more to piece it
out, the upper part of such tents was as black and sooty as
a chimney flue.
The dozen men occupying a Sibley tent slept with their
feet towards the centre. The choice place to occupy was
that portion opposite the door, as one was not then in the
way of passers in and out, although he was himself more or
less of a nuisance to others when he came in. The tent was
most crowded at meal times, for, owing to its shape, there
can be no standing or sitting erect except about the centre.
61
62
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
But while there was more or less growling at accidents by
some, there was much forbearance by others, and, aside from
the vexations arising from the constitutional blundering of
the Jonahs and the Beats, whom I shall describe later, these
little knots were quite family-like and sociable.
The manner in which the time was spent in these tents
and, for that matter, in all tents-varied with the disposition

??)
SIBLEY TENT. INSIDE VIEW.
of the inmates. It was not always practicable for men of
kindred tastes to band themselves under the same canvas,
and so just as they differed in their avocations as citizens,
they differed in their social life, and many kinds of pastimes
went on simultaneously. Of course, all wrote letters more
or less, but there were a few men who seemed to spend the
most of their spare time in this occupation. Especially was
LIFE IN TENTS.
63
this so in the earlier part of a man's war experience. The
side or end strip of a hardtack box, held on the knees,
constituted the writing-desk on which this operation was
performed. It is well remembered that in the early months
of the war silver money disappeared, as it commanded
a premium, so that,

change being scarce,
postage stamps were
used instead. This
was before scrip was
issued by the gov-
ernment to take the
place of silver; and
although the use of
stamps as change was
not authorized by the
national government,
yet everybody took
them, and the sol-
diers in particular
.W
Ji
داد.
just about to leave
for the war carried
WRITING HOME.
large quantities away with them not all in the best of con-
dition. This could hardly be expected when they had been
through so many hands. They were passed about in little
envelopes, containing twenty-five and fifty cents in value.
Many an old soldier can recall his disgust on finding what
a mess his stamps were in either from rain, perspiration, or
compression, as he attempted, after a hot march, to get one
for a letter. If he could split off one from a welded mass
of perhaps a hundred or more, he counted himself fortunate.
Of course they could be soaked out after a while, but he
would need to dry them on a griddle afterwards, they were
so sticky. It was later than this that the postmaster-general
issued an order allowing soldiers to send letters without pre-
payment; but, if I recollect right, it was necessary to write
64
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
on the outside "Soldier's Letter." I recall in this connec-
tion a verse that was said to have appeared on a letter of
this kind. It ran as follows
Soldier's letter, nary red,
Hardtack and no soft bread,
Postmaster, please put it through,
I've nary cent, but six months due.
There were a large number of fanciful envelopes got up
during the war. I heard of a young man who had a collec-
tion of more than seven thousand such, all of different
designs. I have several in my possession which I found
among the numerous letters written home during war-time.
One is bordered by thirty-four red stars the number of
States then in the Union - each star bearing the abbreviated
name of a State. At the left end of the envelope hovers an
eagle holding a shield and streamer, with this motto, “Love
one another." Another one bears a representation of the
earth in space, with "United States " marked on it in large
letters, and the American eagle above it. Enclosing all is
the inscription, "What God has joined, let no man put asun-
der." A third has a medallion portrait of Washington,
under which is, "A SOUTHERN MAN WITH UNION PRINCI-
PLES." A fourth displays a man sitting among money-bags,
on horseback, and driving at headlong speed. Underneath
is the inscription, "FLOYD OFF FOR THE SOUTH. All that
the Seceding States ask is to be let alone." Another has a
negro standing grinning, a hoe in his hand. He is repre-
sented as saying, "Massa can't have dis chile, dat's what's
de matter”; and beneath is the title, "The latest contraband
of war." Then there are many bearing the portraits of early
Union generals. On others Jeff Davis is represented as
hanged; while the national colors appear in a hundred or
more ways on a number- all of which, in a degree at least,
expressed some phase of the sentiments popular at the
North. The Christian Commission also furnished envelopes.
LIFE IN TENTS.
65
}
gratuitously to the armies, bearing their stamp and "Sol-
dier's letter" in one corner.
Besides letter-writing the various games of cards were
freely engaged in. Many men played for money. Cribbage
and euchre were favorite games. Reading was a pastime
quite generally indulged in, and there was no novel so
dull, trashy, or sensational as not to find some one so bored
with nothing to do that he would wade through it. I, cer-
tainly, never read so many such before or since. The mind
was hungry for something, and took husks when it could get
nothing better. A great deal of good might have been done
by the Christian Commission or some other organization
planned to furnish the soldiers with good literature, for in
that way many might have acquired a taste for the works
of the best authors who would not have been likely to
acquire it except under just such a condition as they were
then in, viz.: a want of some entertaining pastime. There
would then have been much less gambling and sleeping
away of daylight than there was. Religious tracts were
scattered among the soldiers by thousands, it is true, and
probably did some good. I heard a Massachusetts soldier
say, not long ago, that when his regiment arrived in New
York en route for the seat of war, the men were presented
with "
a plate of thin soup and a Testament." This remark
to me was very suggestive. It reminded me of the vast
amount of mistaken or misguided philanthropy that was
expended upon the army by good Christian men and women,
who, with the best of motives urging them forward no
doubt, often labored under the delusion that the army was
composed entirely of men thoroughly bad, and governed
their actions accordingly. That there were bad men in the
army is too well known to be denied if one cared to deny it;
and, while I may forgive, I cannot forget a war governor who
granted pardon to several criminals that were serving out
sentences in prison, if they would enlist. But the morally
bad soldiers were in the minority. The good men should
66
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
have received some consideration, and the tolerably good
even more. Men are only children of an older growth;
they like to be appreciated at their worth at least, and the
nature of many of the tracts was such that they defeated
the object aimed at in their distribution.
•
Chequers was a popular game among the soldiers, back-
gammon less so, and it was only rarely that the statelier and

་་་་་་་ ་་་་་)..་
་་་ས་
5
ह
STOCKADED A TENTS.
less familiar game of chess was to be observed on the board.
There were some soldiers who rarely joined in any games.
In this class were to be found the illiterate members of a
company. Of course they did not read or write, and they
rarely played cards. They were usually satisfied to lie on
their blankets, and talk with one another, or watch the
playing. Yes, they did have one pastime — the proverbial
soldier's pastime of smoking. A pipe was their omni-
present companion, and seemed to make up to them in
LIFE IN TENTS.
- 67
30ciability for whatsoever they lacked of entertainment in
other directions.
Then there were a few men in every organization who
engaged in no pastimes and joined in no social intercourse.
These men were irreproachable as soldiers, it may have been,
doing without grumbling everything that was expected of
them in the line of military or fatigue duty; but they seemed
shut up within an impenetrable shell, and would lie on their
blankets silent while all others joined in the social round;
or, perhaps, would get up and go out of the tent as if its
lively social atmosphere was uncongenial, and walk up and
down the parade or company street alone. Should you
address them, they would answer pleasantly, but in mono-
syllables; and if the conversation was continued, it must be
done in the same way. They could not be drawn out.
They would cook by themselves, eat by themselves, camp
by themselves on the march, in fact, keep by themselves.
at all times as much as possible. Guard duty was the one
occupation which seemed most suited to their natures, for
it provided them with the exclusiveness and comparative
solitude that their peculiar mental condition craved. But
these men were the exceptions. They were few in number,
and the more noticeable on that account. They only served
to emphasize the fact that the average soldier was a sociable
being.
One branch of business which was carried on quite exten-
sively was the making of pipes and rings as mementos
of a camp or battle-field. The pipes were made from the
root of the mountain laurel when it could be had, and often
ornamented with the badges of the various corps, either in
relief or inlaid. The rings were made sometimes of dried
horn or hoof, very often of bone, and some were fashioned
out of large gutta-percha buttons which were sent from
home.
The evenings in camp were less occupied in game-playing,
I should say, than the hours off duty in the daytime; partly,
68
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
perhaps, because the tents were rather dimly lighted, and
partly because of a surfeit of such recreations by daylight.
But, whatever the cause, I think old soldiers will generally
agree in the statement that the evenings were the time of
sociability and reminiscence. It was then quite a visiting
time among soldiers of the same organization. It was then
that men from the same town or neighborhood got together

DRAFTING.
and exchanged home gossip. Each one would produce recent
letters giving interesting information about mutual friends
or acquaintances, telling that such a girl or old schoolmate
was married; that such a man had enlisted in such a regi-
ment; that another was wounded and at home on furlough;
that such another had been exempted from the forthcoming
draft, because he had lost teeth; that yet another had sud-
denly gone to Canada on important business which was a
favorite refuge for all those who were afraid of being
forced into the service.
LIFE IN TENTS.
69
And when the draft finally was ordered, such chucklings
as these old schoolmates or fellow-townsmen would exchange
as they again compared notes; first, to think that they
themselves had voluntarily responded to their country's
appeal, and, second, to hope that some of the croakers
they left at home might be drafted and sent to the front
at the point of the bayonet, interchanging sentiments of the
following character: "There's A, he was always urging
others to go, and declaring he would himself make one of
the next quota."
"I want to see him out here with a
"Yes, and there's B, who has
government suit on."
lots of money. If he's drafted, he'll send a substitute. The
government ought not to allow any able-bodied man, even if
he has got money, to send a substitute.". "Then there's
C-
C———————, who declared he'd die on his doorstep rather than be
forced into the service. I only hope that his courage will be
put to the test."- Such are fair samples of the remarks these
fellow-soldiers would exchange with one another during an
evening visitation.
Then, there were many men not so fortunate as to have
enlisted with acquaintances, or to be near them in the army.
These were wont to lie on their blankets, and join in the
general conversation, or exchange ante-war experiences, and
find much of interest in common; but, whatever the number
or variety of the evening diversions, there is not the slightest
doubt that home, its inmates, and surroundings were more
thought of and talked of then than in all the rest of the
twenty-four hours.
In some tents vocal or instrumental music was a feature
of the evening. There was probably not a regiment in the
service that did not boast at least one violinist, one banjoist,
and a bone player in its ranks - not to mention other
instruments generally found associated with these and
one or all of them could be heard in operation, either inside
or in a company street, most any pleasant evening. How-
ever unskilful the artists, they were sure to be the centre
750
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
of an interested audience. The usual medley of comic
songs and negro melodies comprised the greater part of
the entertainment, and, if the space admitted, a jig or clog
dance was stepped out on a hard-tack box or other crude
platform. Sometimes a real negro was brought in to
enliven the occasion by patting and dancing "Juba,"
or singing his quaint music. There were always plenty

血​酒​屋​层​劇
​of them in or near
camp ready to fill
any gap, for they [wport
asked nothing bet-
ter than to be with
"Massa Linkum's
THE CAMP MINSTRELS.
Sojers." But the men played tricks of all descriptions on
them, descending at times to most shameful abuse until some
one interfered. There were a few of the soldiers who were
not satisfied to play a reasonable practical joke, but must
bear down with all that the good-natured Ethiopians could
stand, and, having the fullest confidence in the friendship
of the soldiers, these poor fellows stood much more than
human nature should be called to endure without a murmur.
Of course they were on the lookout a second time.
LIFE IN TENTS.
71
:
There was one song which the boys of the old Third
Corps used to sing in the fall of 1863, to the tune of "When
Johnny comes marching home," which is an amusing jingle
of historical facts. I have not heard it sung since that
time, but it ran substantially as follows:
We are the boys of Potomac's ranks,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We are the boys of Potomac's ranks,
We ran with McDowell, retreated with Banks,
And we'll all drink stone blind
Johnny, fill up the bowl.
We fought with McClellan, the Rebs, shakes and fever,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Then we fought with McClellan, the Rebs, shakes and fever,
But Mac joined the navy on reaching James River,
And we'll all drink, etc.
Then they gave us Jolin Pope, our patience to tax,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Then they gave us John Pope our patience to tax,
Who said that out West he'd seen naught but Gray backs.*
He said his headquarters were in the saddle,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
He said his headquarters were in the saddle,
But Stonewall Jackson made him skedaddle.
Then Mac was recalled, but after Antietam,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Then Mac was recalled, but after Antietam
Abe gave him a rest, he was too slow to beat 'em.
Oh, Burnside then he tried his luck,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Oh, Burnside then he tried his luck,
But in the mud so fast got stuck.
Then Hooker was taken to fill the bill,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Then Hooker was taken to fill the bill,
But he got a black eye at Chancellorsville.
*An allusion to a statement in the address made by Pope, on taking com-
mand of the Army of Virginia, "I have come to you from the West where
we have always seen the backs of our enemies."
72
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Next came General Meade, a slow old plug,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Next came General Meade, a slow old plug,
For he let thein away at Gettysburg.
I think that there were other verses, and some of the
above may have got distorted with the lapse of time. But
they are essentially correct.
Here is the revised prayer of the soldier while on the
celebrated "Mud March" of Burnside:-
"Now I lay me down to sleep
In mud that's many fathoms deep;
If I'm not here when you awake,
Just hunt me up with an oyster rake."
It was rather interesting to walk through a company
street of an evening, and listen to a few words of the
conversation in progress in the tents all lighted up,
unless some one was saving or had consumed his allowance
of candle. It would read much like a chapter from the
telephone-noted down by a listener from one end of the
line only. Then to peer into the tents, as one went along,
just time enough to see what was going on, and excite the
curiosity of the inmates as to the identity of the intruder,
was a feature of such a walk.
While the description I have been giving applies in some
particulars to life in Sibley tents, yet, so far as much of it
is concerned, it describes equally well the life of the private
soldier in any tent. But the tent of the army was the
shelter or dog tent; and the life of the private soldier in
log huts under these tents requires treatment by itself in
many respects. I shall therefore leave it for consideration
in another chapter.

!
P
CHAPTER V.
LIFE IN LOG HUTS.
Then he built him a hut,
And in it he put
The carcass of Robinson Crusoe.
OLD SONG.

HE camp of a regiment or battery was
supposed to be laid out in regular order
as definitely prescribed by Army Reg-
ulations. These, I may state in a gen-
eral way, provided that each company
of a regiment should pitch its tents in
two files, facing on a street which was
at right angles with the color-line of the
regiment. This color-line was the as-
signed place for regimental formation.
Then, without going into details, I will add that the com-
pany officers' tents were pitched in rear of their respective
companies, and the field officers, in rear of these. Cavalry
had something of the same plan, but with one row of tents
to a company, while the artillery had three files of tents,
one to each section.
All of this is preliminary to saying that while there was
in Army Regulations this prescribed plan for laying out
camps, yet the soldiers were more distinguished for their
breach than their observance of this plan. Army Regula-
tions were adopted for the guidance of the regular standing
army; but this same regular army was now only a very
small fraction of the Union forces, the largest portion by
far"the biggest half," to use a Hibernianism
were vol-
unteers, who could not or would not all be bound by Army
73
74
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Regulations. In the establishing of camps, therefore, there
was much of the go-as-you-please order of procedure. It
is true that regiments commanded by strict disciplinarians
were likely to and did keep pretty close to regulations.
Many others approximated this standard, but still there
then remained a large residuum who suited themselves, or,
rather, perhaps did not attempt to suit anybody unless
compelled to by superior authority; so that in entering.
some camps one might find everything betokening the
supervision of a critical military spirit, while others were
such a hurly-burly lack of plan that a mere plough-jogger
might have been, and perhaps was, the controlling genius
of the camp. When troops located in the woods, as they
always did for their winter cantonments, this lack of system
in the arrangement was likely to be deviated from on
account of trees. But to the promised topic of the chapter.
Come with me into one of the log huts. I have already
spoken of its walls, its roof, its chimney, its fire-place. The
door we are to enter may be cut in the same end with the
fire-place. Such was often the case, as there was just about
unoccupied space enough for that purpose. But where four
or more soldiers located together it was oftener put in the
centre of one side. In that case the fire-place was in the
opposite side as a rule. In entering a door at the end one
would usually observe two bunks across the opposite end,
one near the ground (or floor, when there was such a luxury,
which was rarely), and the other well up towards the top of
the walls. I say, usually. It depended upon circumstances.
When two men only occupied the hut there was one bunk.
Sometimes when four occupied it there was but one, and
that one running lengthwise. There are other exceptions
which I need not mention; but the average hut contained
two bunks.
The construction of these bunks was varied in character.
Some were built of boards from hardtack boxes; some of
barrel-staves laid crosswise on two poles; some men impro-
LİFE ÍN LOĠ HÜTS.
75
vised a spring-bed of slender saplings, and padded them
with a cushion of hay, oak or pine leaves; others obtained
coarse grain sacks from an artillery or cavalry camp, or from
some wagon train, and by making a hammock-like arrange-
ment of them thus devised to make repose a little sweeter.
At the head of each bunk were the knapsacks or bundles
which contained what each soldier boasted of personal

58
INSIDE VIEW OF A LOG HUT.
effects. These were likely to be under-clothes, socks, thread,
needles, buttons, letters, stationery, photographs, etc. The
number of such articles was fewer among infantry than
among artillerymen, who, on the march, had their effects
carried for them on the gun-carriages and caissons. But in
winter-quarters both accumulated a large assortment of con-
veniences from home, sent on in the boxes which so glad-
dened the soldier's heart.
76
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
The haversacks, and canteens, and the equipments usually
hung on pegs inserted in the logs. The muskets had no
regular abiding-place. Some stood them in a corner, some
hung them on pegs by the slings.
Domestic conveniences were not entirely wanting in the
best ordered of these rude establishments. A hardtack box
nailed end upwards against the logs with its cover on leather
hinges serving as a door, and having suitable shelves in-
serted, made a very passable dish-closet; another such box
put upside down on legs, did duty as a table — small, but
large enough for the family, and useful. Over the fire-place
one or more shelves were sometimes put to catch the bric-à-
brac of the hut; and three- or four-legged stools enough
were manufactured for the inmates. But such a hut as this
one I have been describing was rather high-toned. There
were many huts without any of these conveniences.
A soldier's table-furnishings were his tin dipper, tin plate,
knife, fork, and spoon. When he had finished his meal, he
did not in many cases stand on ceremony, and his dishes
were tossed under the bunk to await the next meal. Or, if
he condescended to do a little dish-cleaning, it was not
of an æsthetic kind. Sometimes he was satisfied to scrape
his plate out with his knife, and let it go at that. Another
time he would take a wisp of straw or a handful of leaves
from his bunk, and wipe it out. When the soft bread was
abundant, a piece of that made a convenient and serviceable
dish-cloth and towel. Now and then a man would pour a
little of his hot coffee into his plate to cleanse it. While
here and there one, with neither pride, nor shame, nor
squeamishness would take his plate out just as he last used
it, to get his ration, offering no other remark to the com-
ment of the cook than this, that he guessed the plate was a
fit receptacle for the ration. As to the knife and fork,
when they got too black to be tolerated—and they had to
be of a very sable hue, it should be said there was no
cleansing process so inexpensive, simple, available, and effi-
LIFE IN LOG HUTS.
77
cient as running them vigorously into the earth a few
times.
For lighting these huts the government furnished candles.
in limited quantities: at first long ones, which had to be cut
for distribution; but later they provided short ones. I have
said that they were furnished in limited quantities. I will
modify that statement. Sometimes they were abundant,
sometimes the contrary; but no one could
account for a scarcity. It was customary to

་་་་དངང
charge quartermasters
with peculation in such
cases, and it is true that
many of them were ras-
cals; but I think they


N
Husin!.
ARMY CANDLESTICKS.
were sometimes saddled with burdens that did not belong to
them. Some men used more light than others. Indeed,
some men were constitutionally out of everything. They
seemed to have conscientious scruples against keeping ra-
tions of any description in stock for the limit of time for
which they were drawn.
As to candlesticks, the government provided the troops
with these by the thousands. They were of steel, and very
durable, but were supplied only to the infantry, who had
simply to unfix bayonets, stick the points of the same in the
ground, and their candlesticks were ready for service. As a
fact, the bayonet shank was the candlestick of the rank and
78
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
file who used that implement. It was always available, and
just "filled the bill" in other respects. Potatoes were too
valuable to come into very general use for this purpose.
Quite often the candle was set up on a box in its own
drippings.
Whenever candles failed, slush lamps were brought into
use. These I have seen made by filling a sardine box with
cook-house grease, and inserting a piece of rag in one corner
for a wick. The whole was then suspended from the ridge-
pole of the hut by a wire. This wire came to camp around
bales of hay brought to the horses and mules.
The bunks were the most popular institutions in the huts.
Soldiering is at times a lazy life, and bunks were then lib-
erally patronized; for, as is well known, ottomans, lounges,
and easy-chairs are not a part of a soldier's outfit. For that
reason the bunks served as a substitute for all these luxuries
in the line of furniture.
I will describe in greater detail how they were used. All
soldiers were provided with a woollen and a rubber blanket.
When they retired, after tattoo roll-call, they did not strip
to the skin and put on night-dresses as they would at home.
They were satisfied, ordinarily, with taking off coat and
boots, and perhaps the vest. Some, however, stripped to
their flannels, and, donning a smoking-cap, would turn in,
and pass a very comfortable night. There were a few in
each regiment who never took off anything, night or day,
unless compelled to; and these turned in at night in full
I shall
uniform, with all the covering they could muster.
speak of this class in another connection.
There was a special advantage in two men bunking
together in winter-quarters, for then each got the benefit of
the other's blankets-no mean advantage, either, in much
of the weather. It was a common plan with the soldiers
to make an under-sheet of the rubber blanket, the lining
side up, just as when they camped out on the ground, for it
excluded the cold air from below in the one case as it kept
LIFE IN LOG HUTS.
79
out dampness in the other.
escape of animal heat.
Moreover, it prevented the
I think I have said that the half-shelters were not imper-
vious to a hard rain. But I was about to say that when-
ever such a storm came on it was often necessary for the
occupants of the upper bunk to cover that part of the tent
above them with their rubber blankets or ponchos; or, if they
did not wish to venture out to adjust such a protection,
they would pitch them on the inside. When they did not
care to bestir themselves enough to do either, they would
compromise by spreading a rubber blanket over themselves,
and let the water run off on to the tent floor.
At intervals, whose length was governed somewhat by
the movements of the army, an inspector of government
property put in an appearance to examine into the condi-
tion of the belongings of the government in the possession
of an organization, and when in his opinion any property
was unfit for further service it was declared condemned,
and marked with his official brand, I C, meaning, Inspected
Condemned. This IC became a byword among the men,
who made an amusing application of it on many occasions.
In the daytime the men lay in their bunks and slept, or
read a great deal, or sat on them and wrote their letters.
Unless otherwise forbidden, callers felt at liberty to perch
on them; but there was such a wide difference in the habits
of cleanliness of the soldiers that some proprietors of huts
had, as they thought, sufficient reasons why no one else
should occupy their berths but themselves, and so, if the
three-legged stools or boxes did not furnish seating capacity
enough for company, and the regular boarders, too, the
r. b. would take to the bunks with a dispatch which
betokened a deeper interest than that required of simple
etiquette. This remark naturally leads me to say some-
thing of the insect life which seemed to have enlisted with
the soldiers for "three years or during the war," and which
required and received a large share of attention in quarters,
80
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
:
much more, in fact, than during active campaigning. I
refer now, especially, to the Pediculus Vestimenti, as the
scientific men call him, but whose picture when it is well
taken, and somewhat magnified, bears this familiar outline.
Old soldiers will recognize the picture if the name is an
odd one to them. This was the historic "grayback" which
went in and out before Union and Confederate soldiers
without ceasing. Like death, it was no respecter of persons.
It preyed alike on the just and the unjust. It inserted its
bill as confidingly into the body of the major-general as of
the lowest private. I once heard the orderly of a company
officer relate that he had picked fifty-two graybacks from
the shirt of his chief at one sitting. Aristocrat or plebeian
it mattered not. Every soldier seemed foreor-
dained to encounter this pest at close quarters.
Eternal vigilance was not the price of liberty.
That failed the most scrupulously careful vet-
eran in active campaigning. True, the neatest
escaped the longest, but sooner or later the
time came when it was simply impossible for
PEDICULUS VES- even them not to let the left hand know what
the right hand was doing.

TIMENTI,
The secretiveness which a man suddenly developed when
he found himself inhabited for the first time was very
entertaining. He would cuddle all knowledge of it as
closely as the old Forty-Niners did the hiding-place of
their bag of gold-dust. Perhaps he would find only one
of the vermin. This he would secretly murder, keeping
all knowledge of it from his tent-mates, while he nourished
the hope that it was the Robinson Crusoe of its race cast
away on a strange shore with none of its kind at hand to
cheer its loneliness. Alas, vain delusion!
Alas, vain delusion! In ninety-nine
cases out of a hundred this solitary pediculus would prove
to be the advance guard of generations yet to come, which,
ere its capture, had been stealthily engaged in sowing its
seed; and in a space of time all too brief, after the first
LIFE IN LOG HUTS.
81
discovery the same soldier would appoint himself an inves-
tigating committee of one to sit with closed doors, and hie
away to the desired seclusion. There he would seat himself
taking his garments across his knees in turn, conscientiously
doing his (k)nitting work, inspecting every fibre with the
scrutiny of a dealer in broadcloths.
The feeling of intense disgust aroused by the first contact
with these creepers soon gave way to hardened indifference,
as a soldier realized

the utter impossi-
bility of keeping
free from them, and
the privacy with
which he carried
on his first "skir-
mishing," as this
"search for happi-
ness came to be
called, was Soon
abandoned, and the
warfare carried on
more openly. In
fact, it was the
mark of a cleanly
soldier to be seen
A
0124
حم
الات
(K)NITTING WORK.
engaged at it, for there was no disguising
the fact that everybody needed to do it.
In cool weather "skirmishing" was car-
ried on in quarters, but in warmer weather the men pre-
ferred to go outside of camp for this purpose; and the woods
usually found near camps were full of them sprinkled about
singly or in social parties of two or three slaying their vic-
tims by the thousands. Now and then a man could be seen
just from the quartermaster with an entire new suit on his
arm, bent on starting afresh. He would hang the suit on a
bush, strip off every piece of the old, and set fire to the
82
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
same, and then don the new suit of blue. So far well; but
he was a lucky man if he did not share his new clothes with
other hungry pediculi inside of a week.
66
Skirmishing," however, furnished only slight relief from
the oppressive attentions of the grayback, and furthermore
took much time. Hot water was the sovereign remedy, for
it penetrated every mesh and seam,
and cooked the millions yet un-
born, which Job himself could not
have exterminated by the thumb-
nail process unaided. So tenacious
of life were these creatures that
some veterans affirm they have
seen them still creeping on gar-
ments taken out of boiling water,
and that only by putting salt in
the water were they sure of ac-
complishing their destruction.
I think there was but one opinion
among the soldiers in regard to the
graybacks; viz., that the country
was being ruined by over-produc-
tion. What the Colorado beetle is
to the potato crop they were to the
soldiers of both armies, and that
man has fame and fortune in his
hand who, before the next great war in any country, shall
have invented an extirpator which shall do for the pediculus
what paris-green does for the potato-bug. From all this it
can readily be seen why no good soldier wanted his bunk to
be regarded as common property.

TURNING HIM OVER.
""
I may add in passing that no other variety of insect life
caused any material annoyance to the soldier. Now and
then a wood-tick would insert his head, on the sly, into
some part of the human integument; but these were not
common or unclean.
LIFE IN LOG HUTS.
83
I have already related much that the soldier did to pass
away time. I will add to that which I have already given
two branches of domestic industry that occupied a consid
erable time in log huts

with a few, and less-
very much less indeed
with others. I refer
to washing and mending.
Some of the men were
just as particular about
changing their under-
clothing at least once.
a week as they would be
at home; while others
would do so only under
the severest pressure. It
is disgusting to remem-
ber, even at this late
day, how little care hun-
dreds of the men be-
stowed on bodily clean-
BOILING THEM.
liness. The story, quite familiar to old soldiers, about the
man who was so negligent in this respect that when he
finally took a bath he found a number of shirts and socks
which he supposed he had lost, arose from
the fact of there being a few men in every
organization who were most unaccount-
ably regardless of all rules of health, and
of whom such a statement would seem, to
those that knew the parties, only slightly
exaggerated. ·

A WOOD-TICK.
How was this washing done? Well, if
the troops were camping near a brook, that simplified the
matter somewhat; but even then the clothes must be boiled,
and for this purpose there was but one resource
-the mess
kettles. There is a familiar anecdote related of Daniel
84
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Webster: that while he was Secretary of State, the French
Minister at Washington asked him whether the United
States would recognize the new government of France
I think Louis Napoleon's. Assuming a very solemn tone
and posture, Webster replied: "Why not? The United
States has recognized the Bourbons, the French Republic,
CLEANINg up.
411011
山
​the Directory, the
Council of Five
Hundred, the First
Consul, the Emper
or, Louis XVIII.,
Charles X., Louis
Philippe, the "-
"Enough! enough!"
cried the minister,
fully satisfied with
the extended array
of precedents cited.
So, in regard to
using our mess ket-
tles to boil clothes
in, it might be ask-
ed 66
Why not?"
Were they not used
to boil our meat and
potatoes in, to make
our bean, pea, and

meat soups in, to boil our tea and coffee in, to make our apple
and peach sauce in? Why not use them as wash-boilers?
Well, "gentle reader," while it might at first interfere some-
what with your appetite to have your food cooked in the
wash-boiler, you would soon get used to it; and so this com-
plex use of the mess kettles soon ceased to affect the appetite,
or to shock the sense of propriety of the average soldier as to
the eternal fitness of things, for he was often compelled by
çircumstances to endure much greater improprieties. It
LIFE ÍN LÓG HUTS.
85
would indeed have been a most admirable arrangement in
many respects could each man have been provided with an
excellent Magee Range with copper-boiler annex, and set
tubs near by; but the line had to be drawn somewhere, and
so everything in the line of impedimenta was done away with,
unless it was absolutely essential to the service. For this
reason we could not take along a well equipped laundry, but
must make some articles do double or triple service.
It may be asked what kind of a figure the men cut as
washerwomen. Well, some of them were awkward and
imperfect enough at it; but necessity is a capital teacher,
and, in this as in many other directions, men did perforce
what they would not have attempted at home. It was not
necessary, however, for every man to do his own washing,
for in most companies there was at least one man who, for a
reasonable recompense, was ready to do such work, and he
usually found all he could attend to in the time he had off
duty. There was no ironing to be done, for "boiled shirts,"
as white-bosomed shirts were called, were almost an un-
known garment in the army except in hospitals. Flannels
were the order of the day. If a man had the courage to
face the ridicule of his comrades by wearing a white collar,
it was of the paper variety, and white cuffs were unknown
in camp.
In the department of mending garments each man did his
own work, or left it undone, just as he thought best; but no
one hired it done. Every man had a "housewife" or its
equivalent, containing the necessary needles, yarn, thimble,
etc., furnished him by some mother, sister, sweetheart, or
Soldier's Aid Society, and from this came his materials to
mend or darn with.
Now, the average soldier was not so susceptible to the
charms and allurements of sock-darning as he should have
been; for this reason he always put off the direful day until
both heels looked boldly and with hardened visage out the
back-door, while his ten toes ranged themselves en échelon in
86
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
front of their quarters. By such delay or neglect good
ventilation and the opportunity of drawing on the socks
from either end were secured. The task of once more
restricting the toes to quarters was not an easy one, and
the processes of arriving at this end were
not many in number. Perhaps the
speediest and most unique, if not the
most artistic, was that of tying a string
around the hole. This was a scheme for
cutting the Gordian knot of darning,
which a few modern Alexanders put into
execution. But I never heard any of them.
commend its comforts after the job was
done.

A HOUSEWIFE.
Then, there were other men who, hav-
ing arranged a checker-board of stitches
over the holes, as they had seen their
mothers do, had not the time or patience.
to fill in the squares, and the inevitable
consequence was that both heels and toes
would look through the bars only a few
hours before breaking jail again. But
there were a few of the boys
who were kept furnished with
home-made socks, knit, per-
haps, by their good old grand-
mas, who seemed to inherit
the patience of the grandams
themselves; for, whenever
there was mending or darning to be done, they would sit by
the hour, and do the work as neatly and conscientiously as
any one could desire. I am not wide of the facts when I
say that the heels of the socks darned by these men re-
mained firm when the rest of the fabric was well spent.
There was little attempt made to repair the socks drawn
from the government supplies, for they were generally of

LIFE IN LÓG HÚTS.
87
the shoddiest description, and not worth it. In symmetry,
they were like an elbow of stove-pipe; nor did the likeness
end here, for, while the stove-pipe is open at both ends, so
were the socks within forty-eight hours after putting
them on.
Cooking was also an industry which occupied more or
less of the time of individuals; but when the army was in
settled camp company cooks usually took charge of the
rations. Sometimes, where companies preferred it, the ra-
tions were served out to them in the raw state; but there
was no invariable rule in this matter. I think the soldiers,
as a whole, preferred to receive their coffee and sugar raw,
for rough experience in campaigning soon made each man
an expert in the preparation of this beverage. Moreover,
he could make a more palatable cup for himself than the
cooks made for him ; for too often their handiwork betrayed
some of the other uses of the mess kettles to which I have
made reference. Then, again, some men liked their coffee
strong, others weak; some liked it sweet, others wished little
or no sweetening; and this latter class could and did save
their sugar for other purposes. I shall give other particulars
about this when I take up the subject of Army Rations.
It occurs to me to mention in this connection a circum-
stance which may seem somewhat strange to many, and that
is that some parts of the army burned hundreds of cords of
green pine-wood while lying in winter-quarters.
It was
very often their only resource for heat and warmth. People
at the North would as soon think of attempting to burn
water as green pine. But the explanation of the paradox
is this—the pine of southern latitudes has more pitch in it
than that of northern latitudes. Then, the heart-wood of
all pines is comparatively dry. It seemed especially so
South. The heart-wood was used to kindle with, and the
pitchy sap-wood placed on top, and by the time the heart-
wood had burned the sappy portion had also seasoned
enough to blaze and make a good fire. These pines had
88
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
the advantage over the hard woods of being more easily
worked up an advantage which the average soldier
appreciated.
Nearly every organization had its barber in established
camp. True, many men never used the razor in the ser-

THE CAMP BARBER.
MAYL
CGUE
vice, but allowed a shrubby,
straggling growth of hair
and beard to grow, as if
to conceal them from the enemy in time of battle. Many
more carried their own kit of tools and shaved them-
selves, frequently shedding innocent blood in the service
of their country while undergoing the operation. But
there was yet a large number left who, whether from
lack of skill in the use or care of the razor, or from want
LIFE IN LOG HUTS.
89
of inclination, preferred to patronize the camp barber. This
personage plied his vocation inside the tent in cold or
stormy weather, but at other times took his post in rear
of the tent, where he had improvised a chair for the com-
fort (?) of his victims. This chair was a product of home.
manufacture. Its framework was four stakes driven into
the ground, two long ones for the back legs, and two
shorter ones for the front. On this foundation a super-
structure was raised which made a passable barber's chair.
But not all the professors who presided at these chairs were
finished tonsors, and the back of a soldier's head whose hair
had been "shingled" by one of them was likely to show
each course of the shingles with painful distinctness. The
razors, too, were of the most barbarous sort, like the "trust
razor" of the old song with which the Irishman got his
"Love o' God Shave."
One other occupation of a few men in every camp, which
I must not overlook, was that of studying the tactics. Some
were doing it, perhaps, under the instructions of superior
officers; some because of an ambition to deserve promotion.
Some were looking to passing a competitive examination
with a view of obtaining a furlough; and so these men, from
various motives, were "booking" themselves. But the great
mass of the rank and file had too much to do with the
practice of war to take much interest in working out its
theory, and freely gave themselves up, when off duty, to
every available variety of physical or mental recreation,
doing their uttermost to pass away the time rapidly; and
even those troops having nearly three years to serve would
exclaim, with a cheerfulness more feigned than real, as each
day dragged to its close, “It's only two years and a but.”

CHAPTER VI.
JONAHS AND BEATS.
"Good people, I'll sing you a ditty,
So bear with me all ye who can;
I make an appeal to your pity,
For I'm a most unlucky man.
"Twas under an unlucky planet
That I a poor mortal was born;
My existence since first I began it
Has been very sad and forlorn.
Then do not make sport of my troubles,
But pity me all ye who can,
For I'm an uncomfortable, horrible, terrible, inconsolable, unlucky man.
OLD SONG.
Na former chapter I made the statement
that Sibley tents furnished quarters capa-
cious enough for twelve men. That state-
ment is to be taken with some qualifica-
tions. If those men were all lying down.
asleep, there did not seem much of a crowd.
But if one man of the twelve happened
to be on guard at night, and, further-
more, was on what we used to know as
the Third Relief guard, which in my
company was posted at 12, midnight, and
came off post at 2 A.M., when all were
soundly sleeping, and, moreover, if this
man chanced to quarter in that part of
the tent opposite the entrance, and if, in seeking his blanket
and board in the darkness, it was his luck to step on the
stockinged foot of a recumbent form having a large voice, a
large temper, but a small though forcible selection of Eng-
lish defiled, straightway that selection was hurled at the head
of the offending even though well-meaning guard. And if,

114
90
JONAHS AND BEATS.
91
under the excitement of his mishap, the luckless guard makes
a spring thinking to clear all other intervening slumberers.
and score a home run, but alights instead amidships of the
comrade who sleeps next him, expelling from him a groan
that by all known comparisons should have been his last,
the poor guard has only involved himself the more inextri-
cably in trouble; for as soon as his latest victim recovers
consciousness sufficiently to know that it was not a twelve-
pound cannon ball that has doubled him up, and that
stretcher bearers are not needed to take him to the rear,
he strikes up in the same strain and pitch and force as
that of the first victim, and together they make the mid-
night air vocal with choice invective against their repre-
sentative of the Third Relief. By this time the rest of
the tent's crew have been waked up, cross enough, too, at
being thus rudely disturbed, and they all come in heavily
on the chorus. As the wordy assault continues the inmates
of adjoining tents who have also been aroused take a hand
in it, and "Shut up!"-"Sergeant of the Guard!"-
"Go lie down!"-"Shoot him on the spot!"—"Put him
in the guard-house!" are a few of the many impromptu
orders issued within and without the tent in question.
At last the tempest in a teapot expends itself and by the
time that the sergeant of the guard has arrived to seek out
the cause of the tumult and enforce the instructions of the
officer of the day by putting the offenders against the rules
and discipline of camp under arrest, for talking and dis-
turbance after Taps, all are quiet, for no one would make a
complaint against the culprits. Their temporary excitement
has cooled, and the discreet sergeant is even in doubt as to
which tent contains the offenders.
Now, accidents will happen to the most careful and the
best of men, but the soldier whom I have been describing
could be found in every squad in camp· that is, a man of
his kind. Such men were called "Jonahs" on account of
their ill luck. Perhaps this particular Jonah after getting
92
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
苏
​his tin plate level full of hot pea-soup was sure, on entering
the tent, to spill a part of it down somebody's back. The
higher he could hold it the better it seemed to please him as
he made his way to his accustomed place in the tent, and in
bringing it down into a latitude where he proposed to eat it

THE JONAH SPILLING PEA-SOUP.
he usually managed to dispose of much of the remainder,
either on his own or somebody else's blankets. When pea-
soup failed him for a diversion, he was a dead shot on kick-
ing over his neighbor's pot of coffee, which the owner had
put down for a moment while he adjusted his lap-table to
receive his supper. The profuseness of the Jonah's apolo-
gies and they always were profuse, and undoubtedly
sincere was utterly inadequate as a balm for the wounds
he made. Anybody else in the tent might have kicked the
coffee to the remotest bounds of camp with malice afore-
thought, and it would not have produced a tithe of the
aggravation which it did to have this constitutional blun-
derer do it by accident. It may be that he wished to borrow
JONAHS AND BEATS.
93
It may
your ink.
Of course you could not refuse him.
have been made by you with some ink powders sent from
home perhaps the last you had and which you should
want yourself that very day. It mattered not. He took it
with complacency and fair promises, put it on a box by his
side and tipped the box over five minutes afterward by the
watch.
Cooking was the forte of this Jonah. He could be found
most any time of day or night, if he was a guardsman-
around the camp-fire with his little mess of something in his
tomato can or tin dipper, which he would throw an air of

श्री
THE CAMP-FIRE BEFORE THE JONAH APPEARS.
mystery around every now and then by drawing a small
package from the depths of his pocket or haversack and
scattering some of its contents into the brew. But there
was a time in the history of his culinary pursuits when he
rose to a supreme height as a blunderer. It was when he
appeared at the camp-fire which, by the way, he never
kindled himself, ready to occupy the choice places with his
dishes; and after the two rails, between which fires were
usually built, had been well burdened by the coffee-pots of
his comrades it presented an opportunity which his evil
genius was likely to take advantage of; for then he was
suddenly seized with a thought of something else that he
had forgotten to borrow. Turning in his haste to go to the
94
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
tent for this purpose he was sure to stumble over the end of
one or both of the rails, when the downfall of the coffee-
pots and the quenching of the fire followed as a matter of
course. At just this point in his career it would be to the
credit of his associates to drop the curtain on the picture ;
but the sequel must be told. The average soldier was not
an especially devout man, and while in times of imminent
danger he had serious thoughts, yet at other times his many
trials, his privations, and the rigors of a necessary discipline

THE CAMP-FIRE AFTER THE JONAH APPEARS.
all conduced to make him a highly explosive creature on
demand. Moreover, coffee and sugar were staple articles
with the soldier, and the least waste of them was not to
be tolerated under ordinary circumstances; but to have a
whole line of coffee-pots with their precious contents upset
by the Jonah of the tent in his recklessness was the last
ounce of pressure removed from the safety valve of his
tent-mates' wrath; and such a discharge of hard names and
oaths, "long, loud, and deep," as many of these sufferers
would deliver themselves of, if it could have been utilized
against the enemy, might have demolished a regiment. And
the others who did not give vent to their passions by blows
JONAHS AND BEATS.
95
or the use of strong language seemed to sympathize very
keenly with those who did. Two chaplains apiece to some
of the men would have been none too many to hold them in
check.
I remember one man who seemed always to have hard luck
in spite of himself. He was a good soldier and meant well,
but would blun-
der badly now

and then. His
last act in the
T
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อา
service was to
Mil.
plunge an axe
THE UNLUCKY MAN.
through his boot while he
was cutting wood. Unfortu-
nately for him as it hap-
pened his foot was in it at
the time. On pulling it out
of the boot and looking it
over he found that several of his toes had "got left"; so
he took up his boot, turned it upside down, and shook out
a shower of toes as complacently as if that was what he
enlisted for. This casualty closed his career in active
service.
There were divers other directions in which the Jonah
distinguished himself; but I must leave him for the present
to direct attention to the other class of men of whom I wish
to say something. These were the beats of the service-
a name given them by their comrades-in-arms. There were
all grades of beats. The original idea of beat was that of a
lazy man or a shirk, who would by hook or by crook get rid
of all military or fatigue duty that he could; but the term
grew to have a broader significance.
One of the milder forms of beat was the man who sat
over the fire in the tent piling on wood all the time, and
roasting out the rest of the tent's crew, who seemed to
have no rights that this fireman felt bound to respect. He
96
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
was always cold. He wore overcoat, dress-coat, blouse, and
flannels the full government allowance all at once, but never
complained of being too warm. He never took off any of
these garments night or day unless compelled to on inspec-
tion. He was most at home on fatigue duty, for he seemed
fatigued from the start and moved like real estate. A
sprinkling of this class seemed necessary to the success of
the Union arms, for they were certainly to be found in every
organization.
Another and more positive type of beat were the men who
never had any water in their canteens. Even when the
army was in settled camp, water was not
always to be had without going some
distance for it; but these men were never
known to go after any. They always
managed to hang their canteen on some
one else who was bound for the spring.
If, when the army was on the move, a
rush was made during a temporary halt,
for a spring or stream some distance away,
these men never rushed. They were satis-
fied to lie down and drink a supply which
they took their chances of begging, from
some recruit, perhaps, who did not know
their propensities. If it happened to any man to be so
straitened in his cooking operations as to be under the
necessity of borrowing from one of these, he was sure of
being called upon to requite the favor fully as many times
as his temper would endure it.

GOING AFTER WATER.
Then, as to rations, their hardtack never held out, and
they were ever on the alert to borrow. It mattered not
how great the scarcity, real or anticipated, they could not
provide for a contingency, and their neighbors in the same
squad were mean and avaricious so the beats said—if
they would not give of their husbanded resources to these
But this class did not
profligate, improvident comrades.
:
JONAHS AND BEATS.
97
stop at borrowing hardtack. They were not all of them
particular, and when hardtack could not be spared they
would get along with coffee or sugar or salt pork; or, if
they could borrow a dollar, "just for a day or two," they
would then repay it surely, because several letters from
their friends at home, each one containing money, were
already overdue. People in civil life think they know all
about the imperfections of the United States postal service,
and tell of their letters and papers lost, miscarried, or in
some way delayed, with much pedantry; but they have
yet to learn the A B C of its imperfections, and no one
that I know of is so competent to teach them as certain
of the Union soldiers. I could have produced men in
1862-5, yes I can now
who lost more letters in one year,
three out of every four of which contained considerable
sums of money, than any postmaster-general yet appointed
is willing to admit have been lost since the establishment
of a mail service. This, remember, the loss of one man;
and when it is multiplied by the number of men just like
him that were to be found, not in one army alone but in
all the armies of the Union, a special reason is obvious why
the government should be liberal in its dealings with the old.
soldier.
In this connection I am reminded of another interesting
feature of army experience, which is of some historical value.
It was this whenever the troops were paid off a very large
majority of them wished to send the most of their pay home
to their families or their friends for safe keeping. Of course
there was some risk attending the sending of it in the mails.
To obviate this risk an "allotment" plan was adopted by
means of which when the troops were visited by the pay-
master, on signing a roll prepared for that purpose, so much
of their pay as they wished was allotted or assigned by the
soldiers to whomsoever they designated at the North. To
illustrate: John Smith had four months' pay due him at the
rate of $13 a month. He decided to allot $10 per month of
98
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
this to his wife at Plymouth, Mass.; so the paymaster pays
him $12, and the remaining $40 is paid to his wife by check
in Plymouth, without any further action on the part of John.
This plan was a great convenience to both the soldiers.
and their families. In this division of his income the calcu-
lation of the soldier was to save out enough for himself to
pay all incidental expenses of camp life, such as washing,
tobacco, newspapers, pies and biscuits, bought of "Aunty,"
and cheese and cakes of the sutler. But in spite of his nice
calculations the rule was that the larger part of the money
allotted home was returned, by request of the sender, in
small amounts of a dollar or the fraction of a dollar. I have
previously stated that at that time silver had gone out of
use, it being only to be had by paying the premium on it, just
as on gold, and so to take its place the government issued
what was generally known as scrip, being paper currency of
the denominations of fifty, twenty-five, ten, five, and, later,
fifteen and three-cent pieces, some of which are still in cir-
culation. They were a great convenience to the soldiers
and their friends. But to resume: —
It
If the statements made by these beats as to the amount
of money they had sent for and were expecting were to be
believed they must not only have sent for their full allot-
ment, but have drawn liberally on their home credit or the
charity of their friends besides. In truth, however, the
genuine beat never intended to return borrowed money.
is currently believed by outsiders that the soldiers who stood
shoulder to shoulder battling for the Union, sharing the same
exposures, the same shelter, the same mess would ever after-
wards be likely to stand steadfastly by one another. The
organization of the Grand Army of the Republic seems to
strengthen such an opinion, yet human nature remains
pretty much the same in all situations. If a man was a
shirk or a thief or a beat or a coward or a worthless scoun-
drel generally in the army, it was because he had been
educated to it before he enlisted, The leopard cannot
JONAHS AND BEATS.
99
change his spots nor the Ethiopian his skin. It will there-
fore create no great surprise when I remark that a large
amount of money borrowed by one soldier of another has
never been repaid; and such is the lack of honesty and
manliness on the part of these men that they can meet the
old comrades of whom in those trying war days they bor-
rowed one, two, five, or ten dollars, and in some cases more,
without so much as a blush or betraying in any manner the
slightest recognition of their long standing obligation. Some
are so worthless and brazen-faced even as to ask the same
victims for more at this late day.
:
One favorite dodge of the beat was to have the corporal
arouse him twice or three times before he would finally get
out of his bunk; and then he would prepare to go out at a
snail's pace. Once on his beat, his next dodge was to
manœuvre so as to have the corporal of his relief do the
most of his duty for him; for hardly would he have been
posted before the corporal must be summoned, the beat
having been seized with a desire to go to the company sink.
That is good for half an hour out of the corporal at least.
At last the dodger reappears moving at a slow pace, and
wearing the appearance of a man suffering for his discharge
from service. He retails his woes to the corporal, as he
resumes his equipments, in a most doleful strain. But the
corporal is in no mood to listen after his long wait, and
hastily directs his steps towards the guard-tent.
He is not allowed to remain there long, however, ere a
summons reaches him from the same post, to which he
responds with excusable ill-humor and mutterings at the
duplicity of the guardsman in question. This time the
patient has happened to think of some medicine at his tent
which will be of benefit to him. Of course the corporal is
anxious enough to have him healed, and so he again assumes
the duties of the post for the shirk, who does not reappear
until his last hour of duty is well on its second quarter,
feigning in excuse that he could not find his own panacea
UorM
100
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
and so was obliged to go elsewhere. Thus in one way and
another, by using the kind offices of his messmates together
with those of the corporal, he would manage to get out of at
least two-thirds of his guard duty.
After the battle of Fredericksburg a soldier belonging to
a gallant regiment in Burnside's corps, whose courage had
&
evidently been put to a sore test
in the above engagement, resorted
to the rheumatic dodge to secure
his discharge. He responded daily
to sick call, pitifully warped out
of shape, was prescribed for, but
all to no avail. One leg was
drawn up so that, apparently, he
could not use it, and groans in
dicative of excruciating agony
escaped him at studied intervals
and on suitable occasions. So his
case went on for six weeks, till at
last the surgeon recommended his
discharge. It was approved at
regimental, brigade, and division headquarters, and had
reached corps headquarters when the corps was ordered to
Kentucky. At Covington the party having the supposed
invalid in charge gained access in some manner to a barrel
of whiskey. Not being a temperance man, the dodger was
thrown off his guard by this spiritual bonanza, and, taking
his turn at the straw, for which entry had been made into
the barrel, he was soon as sprightly on both legs as ever.
In this condition his colonel found him. Of course his
discharge was recalled from corps headquarters, and the way
of this transgressor was made hard for months afterwards.

THE RHEUMATIC DODGER.
2
There was another field in which the beat played an inter-
esting part. I use played with a double significance, for he
never worked if he could avoid it. It was when a detail of
men was made to do some line of fatigue duty, by which is
Maou
JONAHS AND BEATS.
101
meant all the labors of the service distinct from strict mili-
tary duty, such as the "policing" or clearing up of camp,
procuring wood and water for the company, digging and
fitting up of sinks (the water-closets of the army), and, in
addition to these duties, in cavalry and artillery, procuring
grain and forage for the horses. It was a sad fate to befall

الا
+
WATER FOR THE COOK-House.
a good duty soldier to get on to a detail to procure wood
where every second or third man was a shirk or beat; for
while they must needs bear the appearance of doing some-
thing, they were really in the way of those who could work
and were willing to. Many of these shirkers would waste a
great deal of time and breath maligning the government or
their officers for requiring them to do such work, indig-
nantly declaring that "they enlisted to fight and not to
chop wood or dig sinks." But it was noticeable that when
the fight came on, if any of these heroes got into it, they
then appeared just as willing to bind themselves by contract
to cut all the wood in Virginia, if they could only be let go
just that once. These were the men who were "invincible
in peace and invisible in war," as the late Senator Hill, of
Georgia, once said. I may add here that, coming as the
102
HARD TACK AND COFFEÈ.
soldiers did from all avocations and stations in life, these
details for fatigue often brought together men few of whom
had any practical knowledge of the work in hand; so that
aside from the shirks, who could work but would not, there
were others who would but could not, at least intelligently.
Still, the army was a great educator in many ways to men
who cared to learn, and some of the most ignorant became.
by force of circumstances quite expert, in time, in channels.
hitherto untraversed by them.
The
But there was one detail upon which our shirks, beats, and
men unskilled in manual labor, such as the handling of the
spade and pickaxe, appeared in all the glory of their artful
dodging and ignorance. If a man did not take hold of the
work lively, whether because he preferred to shirk it or
because he did not understand it, the worse for him.
detail in question was one made to administer the last rites
to a batch of deceased horses. It happened to the artillery
and cavalry to lose a large number of these animals in
winter, which, owing to the freezing of the ground, could
not be buried until the disappearance of the frost in spring; .
but by that time, through the action of rain and sun and
the frequent depredations of dogs, buzzards, and crows, the
remains were not always in the most inviting condition for
the administrations of the sexton. Then, again, during the
summer season, when the army made a halt for rest and
recruiting, another sacrifice of glanders-infected and gen-
erally used-up horses was made to the god of war. But
as they were not always promptly. committed to mother
earth, either from a desire to show a decent respect for the
memory of the deceased or for some other reason best known
to the red-tape of military rule, the odors that were wafted
from them on the breezes were wont to become far more
"spicy" than agreeable, so that a speedy interment was
generally ordered by the military Board of Health.
As soon as the nature of the business for which such a
detail was ordered became generally known, the fun began,
JONAHS AND BEATS.
103
for a lively protest was wont to go up from the men against
being selected to participate in the impending equine obse-
quies. Perhaps the first objection heard from a victim who
has drawn a prize in the business is that "he was on guard
the day before, and is not yet physically competent for such
a detail." The sergeant is charged with unfairness, and
with having pets that he gives all the "soft jobs" to, etc.
But the warrior of the triple chevron is inexorable, and his
muttering, much injured subordinate finally reports to the
corporal in charge of the detail in front of the camp, be-
traying in his every word and movement a heart-felt desire
for his term of service or this cruel war to be over.
Another one whom his sergeant has booked for the enter-
prise has got wind of what is to be done, so that when found
he is tucked up in his bunk. He stoutly insists that he is
an invalid, and is only waiting for the next sounding of
"Sick call" to respond to it. But his attack is so sudden,
and his language and lungs so strong for a sick man, that he
finds it difficult to establish his claim. He calls on his tent-
mates to swear that he is telling the truth, but finds them
strangely devout and totally ignorant of his ailments, for
they are chuckling internally at their own good fortune in
not being selected, which, if he proves his case, one of them
may be; so, unless his plea is a pitiful and deserving one,
they keep mum.
A third victim does not claim to have been selected out
of turn, but nevertheless alleges that "the deal is unfair,
because he was on the last detail but one made for this
horse-burying business, and he does not think that he ought
to be the chief mourner for his detachment, for a paltry
thirteen dollars a month. Besides, there may be others who
would like to go on this detail." But as he is unable to
name or find the man or men having this highly refined
ambition he finally goes off grumbling and joins the squad.
A fourth victim is the constitutionally high-tempered and
profane man. He finds no fault with the justice of the ser-
104
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
geant in assigning to him a participation in the ceremonies
of the hour; but he had got comfortably seated to write a let-
ter when the summons came, and, pausing only long enough
THE HIGH-TEMPERED MAN.
to inquire the nature of the
detail, he pitches his half-writ-
ten letter and materials in one
direction, his lap-board in an-
other, gets up, kicks over the
box or stool on which he was
sitting, pulls on his cap with a
vehement jerk, and then opens
his battery. He directs none
of his unmilitary English at the
sergeant that would hardly
do; but he lays his furious lash
upon the poor innocent back of
the government, though just
what branch of it is responsible
he does not pause between his oaths long enough to state.
He pursues it with the most terrible of curses uphill, and
then with like violent language follows it down. He blank
blanks the whole blank blank war, and hopes that the
South may win. He wishes that all the blank horses were
in blank, and adds by way of self-reproach that it serves
any one, who is such a blank blank fool as to enlist,
right to have this blank, filthy, disgusting work to do.
And he leaves the stockade shutting the door behind him
"with a wooden damn," as Holmes says, and goes off to
report, making the air blue with his cursing. Let me say
for this man, before leaving him, that he is not so hardened
and bad at heart as he makes himself appear; and in the
shock of battle he will be found standing manfully at his
post minus his temper and profanity.
There is one more man whom I will describe here, repre-
senting another class than either mentioned, whose unlucky
star has fated him to take a part in these obsequies; but he

JONAHS AND BEATS.
105
is not a shirk nor a beat. He is the paper-collar young man,
just from the recruiting station, with enamelled long-legged
boots and custom-made clothes, who

THE PAPER-COLLAR YOUNG
MAN.
yet looks with some measure of dis-
dain on government clothing, and
yet eats in a most gingerly way of
the stern, unpoetical government'
rations. He is an only son, and
was a dry-goods clerk in the city
at home, where no reasonable want
went ungratified; and now, when
he is summoned forth to join the
burial party, he responds at once.
True, his heart and stomach both
revolt at the work ahead, but he
wants to be - not an angel — but
a veteran among veterans, and his
pride prevents his entering any re-
monstrance in the presence of the older soldiers. As he
clutches the spade pointed out to him with one hand he
shoves the other vacantly to the bottom of his breeches
pocket, his mouth drawn down codfish-like at the corners.
He attempts to appear indifferent as he approaches the detail,
and as they congratulate him on his good-fortune a sickly
smile plays over his countenance; but it is Mark Tapley feign-
ing a jollity which he does not feel and which soon subsides
into a pale melancholy. His fellow-victims feel their ill-luck
made more endurable by seeing him also drafted for the
loathsome task; but their glow of satisfaction is only super-
ficial and speedily wanes as the officer of the day, who is to
superintend the job, appears and orders them forward.
And now the fitness of the selection becomes apparent as
the squad moves off, for a more genuine body of mourners,
to the eye, could not have been chosen. Their faces, with,
it may be, a hardened or indifferent exception, wear the
most solemn of expressions, and their step is as slow as if
106
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
they were following a muffled drum beating the requiem of
a deceased comrade.
Having arrived at the place of sepulture, the first business
is to dig a grave close to each body, so that it may be easily
rolled in. But if there has been no fun before, it commences
when the rolling in begins. The Hardened Exception, who

"
THE MOURNERS.
has occupied much of his time while digging in sketching
distasteful pictures for the Profane Man to swear at, now
makes a change of base, and calls upon the Paper-Collar
Young Man to "take hold and help roll in," which the young
man reluctantly and gingerly does; but when the noxious
gases begin to make their presence manifest, and the Hard-
ened Wretch hands him an axe to break the legs that would
otherwise protrude from the grave, it is the last straw to an
already overburdened sentimental soul; his emotions over-
power him, and, turning his back on the deceased, he utters
something which sounds like "hurrah! without the h," as
Mark Twain puts it, repeating it with increasing emphasis.
But he is not to express his enthusiasm on this question
alone a great while. There are more sympathizers in the
JONAHS AND BEATS.
107
party than he had anticipated, and not recruits either; and
in less time than I have taken to relate it more than half
the detail, gallantly led off by the officer of the day, are
standing about, leaning over at various angles like the tomb-
stones in an old cemetery, disposing of their hardtack and
coffee, and looking as if ready to throw up even the con-

J.
HURRAH WITHOUT THE H.
tract. The profane man is among them, and just as often
as he can catch his breath long enough he blank blanks the
government and then dives again. The rest of the detail
stand not far away holding on to their sides and roaring
with laughter. But I must drop the curtain on this picture.
It has been said that one touch of nature makes the whole
world kin. Be that as it may, certain it is that the officer,
the good duty soldier, the recruit, and the beat, after an
occasion of this kind, had a common bond of sympathy,
which went far towards levelling military distinctions be-
tween them.
CHAPTER VII.
ARMY RATIONS: WHAT THEY WERE.
HOW THEY WERE
HOW THEY WERE COOKED.
DISTRIBUTED.
Here's a pretty mess!"
THE MIKADO.
F
ア
​"God bless the pudding,
God bless the meat,
God bless us all;
Sit down and eat.”
A HARVARD STUDENT'S BLESSING, 1796.

ALL in for your rations, Company
A!" My theme is Army Rations.
And while what I have to say on
this subject may be applicable to
all of the armies of the Union in
large measure, yet, as they did not
fare just alike, I will say, once for
all, that my descriptions of army life
pertain, when not otherwise speci-
fied, especially to that life as it was
lived in the Army of the Potomac.
In beginning, I wish to say that
a false impression has obtained more
or less currency both with regard
to the quantity and quality of the
food furnished the soldiers. I have
been asked a great many times whether I always got enough
to eat in the army, and have surprised inquirers by answer-
ing in the affirmative. Now, some old soldier may say who
sees my reply, "Well, you were lucky. I didn't." But I
should at once ask him to tell me for how long a time his
Of course,
regiment was ever without food of some kind.
108
#
ARMY RATIONS.
109
I am not now referring to our prisoners of war, who starved
by the thousands. And I should be very much surprised
if he should say more than twenty-four or thirty hours, at
the outside. I would grant that he himself might, perhaps,
have been so situated as to be deprived of food a longer
time, possibly when he was on an exposed picket post, or
serving as rear-guard to the army, or doing something which
separated him temporarily from his company; but his case

WMM COOPER &
***********
COOPER SHOP
MOLUNTEER
REFRESHMENT
SALOON FREE
SOLDIERS HOSPITAL
ad
BAPTIST BETHEL
W.M.COOPER &
(
THE COOPER SHOP," PHILADELPHIA.
would be the exception and not the rule. Sometimes, when
active operations were in progress, the army was compelled
to wait a few hours for its trains to come up, but no general
hardship to the men ever ensued on this account.
Such a
contingency was usually known some time in advance, and
the men would husband their last issue of rations, or, per-
haps, if the country admitted, would make additions to their
bill of fare in the shape of poultry or pork; — usually it was
the latter, for the Southerners do not pen up their swine as
do the Northerners, but let them go wandering about, get-
ting their living much of the time as best they can. This
110
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
led some one to say jocosely, with no disrespect intended to
the people however, "that every other person one meets on
a Southern street is a hog." They certainly were quite
abundant, and are to-day, in some form, the chief meat food
of that section. But on the point of scarcity of rations I
believe my statement will be generally agreed to by old
soldiers.
Now, as to the quality the case is not quite so clear, but
still the picture has been often overdrawn. There were, it
is true, large quantities of stale beef or salt horse as the
men were wont to call it served out, and also rusty, un-
wholesome pork; and I presume the word "hardtack" sug-
gests to the uninitiated a piece of petrified bread honey-
combed with bugs and maggots, so much has this article
of army diet been reviled by soldier and civilian. Indeed,
it is a rare occurrence for a soldier to allude to it, even at
this late day, without some reference to its hardness, the
date of its manufacture, or its propensity for travel. But in
spite of these unwholesome rations, whose existence no one
calls in question, of which I have seen-I must not say
eaten large quantities, I think the government did well,
under the circumstances, to furnish the soldiers with so good
a quality of food as they averaged to receive. Unwholesome
rations were not the rule, they were the exception, and it
was not the fault of the government that these were fur-
nished, but very often the intent of the rascally, thieving
contractors who supplied them, for which they received the
price of good rations; or, perhaps, of the inspectors, who
were in league with the contractors, and who therefore did
not always do their duty. No language can be too strong to
express the contempt every patriotic man, woman, and child
must feel for such small-souled creatures, many of whom are
to-day rolling in the riches acquired in this way and other
ways equally disreputable and dishonorable.
I will now give a complete list of the rations served out to
the rank and file, as I remember them. They were salt pork,
ARMY RATIONS.
111
fresh beef, salt beef, rarely ham or bacon, hard bread, soft
bread, potatoes, an occasional onion, flour, beans, split pease,
rice, dried apples, dried peaches, desiccated vegetables, coffee,
tea, sugar, molasses, vinegar, candles, soap, pepper, and salt.
It is scarcely necessary to state that these were not all
served out at one time. There was but one kind of meat
served at once, and this, to use a Hibernianism, was usually

UNION
VULUNTEER
FREE
UNION
REKESHMENT SALOON
FOR
VOLUNTEERS
THE UNION VOLUNTEER SALOON, PHILADELPHIA.
pork. When it was hard bread, it wasn't soft bread or flour,
and when it was pease or beans it wasn't rice.
Here is just what a single ration comprised, that is, what a
soldier was entitled to have in one day. He should have had
twelve ounces of pork or bacon, or one pound four ounces
of salt or fresh beef; one pound six ounces of soft bread or
flour, or one pound of hard bread, or one pound four ounces
of corn meal. With every hundred such rations there should
have been distributed one peck of beans or pease; ten pounds
of rice or hominy; ten pounds of green coffee, or eight
pounds of roasted and ground, or one pound eight ounces
of tea; fifteen pounds of sugar; one pound four ounces of
candles; four pounds of soap; two quarts of salt; four
112
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
quarts of vinegar; four ounces of pepper; a half bushel of
potatoes when practicable, and one quart of molasses. De-
siccated potatoes or desiccated compressed vegetables might
be substituted for the beans, pease, rice, hominy, or fresh
potatoes. Vegetables, the dried fruits, pickles, and pickled
cabbage were occasionally issued to prevent scurvy, but in
small quantities.
But the ration thus indicated was a camp ration. Here
is the marching ration: one pound of hard bread; three-
fourths of a pound of salt pork, or one and one-fourth
pounds of fresh meat; sugar, coffee, and salt. The beans,
rice, soap, candles, etc., were not issued to the soldier when
on the march, as he could not carry them; but, singularly
enough, as it seems to me, unless the troops went into camp.
before the end of the month, where a regular depot of sup-
plies might be established from which the other parts of the
rations could be issued, they were forfeited, and reverted to
the government-an injustice to the rank and file, who,
through no fault of their own, were thus cut off from a part
of their allowance at the time when they were giving most
liberally of their strength and perhaps of their very heart's
blood. It was possible for company commanders and for no
one else to receive the equivalent of these missing parts of
the ration in cash from the brigade commissary, with the
expectation that when thus received it would be distributed
among the rank and file to whom it belonged. Many officers
did not care to trouble themselves with it, but many others
did, and — forgot to pay it out afterwards. I have yet to
learn of the first company whose members ever received
any revenue from such a source, although the name of Com-
pany
Fund is a familiar one to every veteran.
The commissioned officers fared better in camp than the
enlisted men. Instead of drawing rations after the manner
of the latter, they had a certain cash allowance, according
to rank, with which to purchase supplies from the Brigade
Commissary, an official whose province was to keep stores
ARMY RATIONS.
113
on sale for their convenience. The monthly allowance of
officers in infantry, including servants, was as follows:
Colonel, six rations worth $56, and two servants; Lieuten-

U.S.
A BRIGADE COMMISSARY AT
BRANDY STATION, VA.
ant-Colonel, five ra-
tions worth $45, and
two servants; Major,
four rations worth $36, and two servants; Captain, four ra-
tions worth $36, and one servant; First and Second Lieuten-
ants, jointly, the same as Captains.
as Captains. In addition to the
above, the field officers had an allowance of horses and
forage proportioned to their rank.
I will speak of the rations more in detail, beginning with
the hard bread, or, to use the name by which it was known
in the Army of the Potomac, Hardtack. What was hard-
tack? It was a plain flour-and-water biscuit. Two which
I have in my possession as mementos measure three and
one-eighth by two and seven-eighths inches, and are nearly
half an inch thick. Although these biscuits were furnished
to organizations by weight, they were dealt out to the men
by number, nine constituting a ration in some regiments,
and ten in others; but there were usually enough for those
who wanted more, as some men would not draw them.
While hardtack was nutritious, yet a hungry man could eat
his ten in a short time and still be hungry. When they were
poor and fit objects for the soldiers' wrath, it was due to one
114
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
of three conditions: First, they may have been so hard that
they could not be bitten; it then required a very strong
blow of the fist to break them. The cause of this hardness
it would be difficult for one not an expert to determine.

ང་་་་
་་་་་་་་ ད་་་,
A HARD-TACK FULL SIZE.
This variety certainly well deserved their name. They could
not be soaked soft, but after a time took on the elasticity of
gutta-percha.
The second condition was when they were mouldy or wet,
as sometimes happened, and should not have been given to
the soldiers. I think this condition was often due to their
having been boxed up too soon after baking. It certainly
ARMY RATIONS.
115
was frequently due to exposure to the weather. It was no
uncommon sight to see thousands of boxes of hard bread
piled up at some railway station or other place used as a
base of supplies, where they were only imperfectly sheltered
from the weather, and too often not sheltered at all. The
failure of inspectors to do their full duty was one reason
that so many of this sort reached the rank and file of the
service.
The third condition was when from storage they had be-
come infested with maggots and weevils. These weevils
were, in my experience, more abundant than the maggots.
They were a little, slim, brown bug an eighth of an inch in
length, and were great bores on a small scale, having the
ability to completely riddle the hardtack. I believe they
never interfered with the hardest variety.
When the bread was mouldy or moist, it was thrown away
and made good at the next drawing, so that the men were
not the losers; but in the case of its being infested with the
weevils, they had to stand it as a rule; for the biscuits had
to be pretty thoroughly alive, and well covered with the webs
which these creatures left, to insure condemnation. An ex-
ception occurs to me. Two cargoes of hard bread came to
City Point, and on being examined by an inspector were
found to be infested with weevils. This fact was brought to
Grant's attention, who would not allow it landed, greatly to
the discomfiture of the contractor, who had been attempting
to bulldoze the inspector to pass it.
The quartermasters did not always take as active an inter-
est in righting such matters as they should have done; and
when the men growled at them, of course they were_virtu-
ously indignant and prompt to shift the responsibility to the
next higher power, and so it passed on until the real culprit
could not be found.
But hardtack was not so bad an article of food, even when
traversed by insects, as may be supposed. Eaten in the dark,
no one could tell the difference between it and hardtack that
116
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
was untenanted. It was no uncommon occurrence for a man
to find the surface of his pot of coffee swimming with weevils,
after breaking up hardtack in it, which had come out of the
fragments only to drown; but they were easily skimmed off,
and left no distinctive flavor behind. If a soldier cared to do

A BOX OF HARDTACK.
so, he could expel the weevils by heating the bread at the fire.
The maggots did not budge in that way. The most of the
hard bread was made in Baltimore, and put up in boxes of
sixty pounds gross, fifty pounds net; and it is said that some
of the storehouses in which it was kept would swarm with
weevils in an incredibly short time after the first box was
infested with them, so rapidly did these pests multiply.
Having gone so far, I know the reader will be interested
to learn of the styles in which this particular article was
served up by the soldiers. I say styles because I think there
must have been at least a score of ways adopted to make
this simple flour tile more edible. Of course, many of them
were eaten just as they were received hardtack plain;
then I have already spoken of their being crumbed in coffee,
giving the "hardtack and coffee." Probably more were eaten
in this way than in any other, for they thus frequently fur-
nished the soldier his breakfast and supper. But there were
ARMY RATIONS.
117
other and more appetizing ways of preparing them. Many
of the soldiers, partly through a slight taste for the business
but more from force of circumstances, became in their way
and opinion experts in the art of cooking the greatest variety
of dishes with the smallest amount of capital.
Some of these crumbed them in soups for want of other
thickening. For this purpose they served very well. Some

FRYING HARDTACK.
crumbed them in cold water, then fried the crumbs in the
juice and fat of meat. A dish akin to this one, which was
said to "make the hair curl," and certainly was indigestible
enough to satisfy the cravings of the most ambitious dys-
peptic, was prepared by soaking hardtack in cold water, then
frying them brown in pork fat, salting to taste. Another
name for this dish was "skillygalee." Some liked them
toasted, either to crumb in coffee, or, if a sutler was at
hand whom they could patronize, to butter. The toasting
generally took place from the end of a split stick, and if
perchance they dropped out of it into the camp-fire, and
were not recovered quickly enough to prevent them from
getting pretty well charred, they were not thrown away on
that account, being then thought good for weak bowels.
118
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Then they worked into milk-toast made of condensed
milk at seventy-five cents a can; but only a recruit with a
big bounty, or an old vet the child of wealthy parents, or a
re-enlisted man did much in that way. A few who succeeded
by hook or by crook in saving up a portion of their sugar
ration spread it upon hardtack. The hodge-podge of lob-
scouse also contained this edible among its divers other
ingredients; and so in various ways the ingenuity of the
men was taxed to make this plainest and commonest yet
most serviceable of army food to do duty in every conceiv-
able combination. There is an old song, entitled "Hard
Times," which some one in the army parodied. I do not
remember the verses, but the men used to sing the following
chorus:
'Tis the song of the soldier, weary, hungry, and faint,
Hardtack, hardtack, come again no more;
:
Many days have I chewed you and uttered no complaint,
O Greenbacks, come again once more!
It is possible at least that this song, sung by the soldiers
of the Army of the Potomac, was an outgrowth of the fol-
lowing circumstance and song. I am quite sure, however,
that the verses were different.
For some weeks before the battle of Wilson's Creek, Mo.,
where the lamented Lyon fell, the First Iowa Regiment had
been supplied with a very poor quality of hard bread (they
were not then (1861) called hardtack). During this period
of hardship to the regiment, so the story goes, one of its
members was inspired to produce the following touching
lamentation:
Let us close our game of poker,
Take our tin cups in our hand,
While we gather round the cook's tent door,
Where dry muinmies of hard crackers
Are given to each nan;
O hard crackers, come again no more!
ARMY RATIONS.
119
CHORUS: 'Tis the song and sigh of the hungry,
'Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again no more!
Many days have you lingered upon our stomachs sore,
O hard crackers, come again no more!”
There's a hungry,. thirsty soldier
Who wears his life away,
With torn clothes, whose better days are o'er ;
He is sighing now for whiskey,
And, with throat as dry as hay,
Sings, "Hard crackers, come again no more!"-CHORUS.
'Tis the song that is uttered
In camp by night and day,
'Tis the wail that is mingled with each snore,
'Tis the sighing of the soul
For spring chickens far away,
"O hard crackers, come again no more!"-CHORUS.
When General Lyon heard the men singing these stanzas
in their tents, he is said to have been moved by them to
the extent of ordering the cook to serve up corn-meal mush,
for a change, when the song received the following altera-
tion:
But to groans and to murmurs
There has come a sudden hush,
Our frail forms are fainting at the door;
We are starving now on horse-feed
That the cooks call mush,
Q hard crackers, come again once more!
CHORUS: It is the dying wail of the starving,
Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again once more
You were old and very wormy, but we pass your failings
o'er.
O hard crackers, come again once more!
The name hardtack seems not to have been in general use
among the men in the Western armies.
But I now pass to consider the other bread ration — the
loaf or soft bread. Early in the war the ration of flour was
served out to the men uncooked; but as the eighteen ounces.
120
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
allowed by the government more than met the needs of the
troops, who at that time obtained much of their living from
outside sources (to be spoken of hereafter), it was allowed,
as they innocently supposed, to be sold for the benefit of the
Company Fund, already referred to. Some organizations.
ނ
UZE
AN ARMY OVEN.
drew, on requisition,
ovens, semi-cylindrical
in form, which were
properly set in stone,
and in these regimen-
tal cooks or bakers
baked bread for the
regiment. But all of
this was in the tenta-
tive period of the war.
As rapidly as the needs

of the troops pressed home to the government, they were
met with such despatch and efficiency as circumstances
would permit. For a time, in 1861, the vaults under the
broad terrace on the western front of the Capitol were con-
verted into bakeries, where sixteen thousand loaves of bread
were baked daily. The chimneys from the ovens pierced
the terrace where now the freestone pavement joins the
grassy slope, and for months smoke poured out of these in
dense black volumes. The greater part of the loaves sup-
plied to the Army of the Potomac up to the summer of 1864
were baked in Washington, Alexandria, and at Fort Monroe,
Virginia. The ovens at the latter place had a capacity of
thirty thousand loaves a day. But even with all these
sources worked to their uttermost, brigade commissaries
were obliged to set up ovens near their respective depots,
to eke out enough bread to fill orders. These were erected
on the sheltered side of a hill or woods, then enclosed in a
stockade, and the whole covered with old canvas.
When the army reached the vicinity of Petersburg, the
supply of fresh loaves became a matter of greater difficulty
ARMY RATIÓNŠ.
121
and delay, which Grant immediately obviated by ordering
ovens built at City Point. A large number of citizen bakers
were employed to run them night and day, and as a result
one hundred and twenty-three thousand fresh loaves were
furnished the army daily from this single source; and so
closely did the delivery of these follow upon the manipu-
lations of the bakers that the soldiers quite frequently

་་་
SOFT BREAD.
Commissary Department, Headquarters Army of the Potomac, Captain J. R. Coxe.
received them while yet warm from the oven. Soft bread
was always a very welcome change from hard bread; yet,
on the other hand, I think the soldiers tired sooner of the
former than of the latter. Men who had followed the sea
preferred the hard bread. Jeffersonville, in Southern Indi-
ana, was the headquarters from which bread was largely
supplied to the Western armies.
I began my description of the rations with the bread as
being the most important one to the soldier. Some old
veterans may be disposed to question the judgment which
gives it this rank, and claim that coffee, of which I shall
speak next, should take first place in importance; in reply
122
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
to which I will simply say that he is wrong, because coffee,
being a stimulant, serves only a temporary purpose, while
the bread has nearly or quite all the elements of nutrition
necessary to build up the wasted tissues of the body, thus
conferring a permanent benefit. Whatever words of con-
demnation or criticism may have been bestowed on other
government rations, there was but one opinion of the coffee
which was served out, and that was of unqualified approval.
The rations may have been small, the commissary or quar-
termaster may have given us a short allowance, but what we

ぶ
​APPORTIONING COFFEE AND SUGAR.
got was good. And what a perfect Godsend it seemed to us
at times! How often, after being completely jaded by a
night march, and this is an experience common to thou-
sands, have I had a wash, if there was water to be had,
made and drunk my pint or so of coffee, and felt as fresh
and invigorated as if just arisen from a night's sound sleep!
At such times it could seem to have had no substitute.
It would have interested a civilian to observe the manner
in which this ration was served out when the army was in
active service. It was usually brought to camp in an oat-
sack, a regimental quartermaster receiving and apportioning
ARMY RATIONS.
123
his among the ten companies, and the quartermaster-sergeant
of a battery apportioning his to the four or six detachments.
Then the orderly-sergeant of a company or the sergeant of
a detachment must devote himself to dividing it. One
method of accomplishing this purpose was to spread a rub-
ber blanket on the ground, more than one if the company
was large, and upon it were put as many piles of the coffee.
as there were men to receive rations; and the care taken to
make the piles of the same size to the eye, to keep the men
from growling, would remind one of a country physician
making his powders, taking a little from one pile and adding
to another. The sugar which always accompanied the coffee
was spooned out at the same time on another blanket.
When both were ready, they were given out, each man
taking a pile, or, in some companies, to prevent any charge
of unfairness or injustice, the sergeant would turn his back
on the rations, and take out his roll of the company. Then,
by request, some one else would point to a pile and ask,
"Who shall have this?" and the sergeant, without turning,
would call a name from his list of the company or detach-
ment, and the person thus called would appropriate the pile
specified. This process would be continued until the last
pile was disposed of. There were other plans for distribu-
ting the rations; but I have described this one because of its
being quite common.
The manner in which each man disposed of his coffee and
sugar ration after receiving it is worth noting. Every soldier
of a month's experience in campaigning was provided with
some sort of bag into which he spooned his coffee; but the
kind of bag he used indicated pretty accurately, in a general
way, the length of time he had been in the service. For exam-
ple, a raw recruit just arrived would take it up in a paper, and
stow it away in that well known receptacle for all eatables,
the soldier's haversack, only to find it a part of a general
mixture of hardtack, salt pork, pepper, salt, knife, fork,
spoon, sugar, and coffee by the time the next halt was made.
124
HARD TACK AND COFFÈÈ.
A recruit of longer standing, who had been through this
experience and had begun to feel his wisdom-teeth coming,
would take his up in a bag made of a scrap of rubber
blanket or a poncho; but after a few days carrying the rub-
ber would peel off or the paint of the poncho would rub off
from contact with the greasy pork or boiled meat ration
which was its travelling companion, and make a black, dirty
mess, besides leaving the coffee-bag unfit for further use.
Now and then some young soldier, a little starchier than his
fellows, would bring out an oil-silk bag lined with cloth,
which his mother had made and sent him; but even oil-silk
couldn't stand everything, certainly not the peculiar inside
furnishings of the average soldier's haversack, so it too
was not long in yielding. But your plain, straightforward
old veteran, who had shed all his poetry and romance, if he
had ever possessed any, who had roughed it up and down
"Old Virginny," man and boy, for many months, and who
had tried all plans under all circumstances, took out an
oblong plain cloth bag, which looked as immaculate as the
every-day shirt of a coal-heaver, and into it scooped with-
out ceremony both his sugar and coffee, and stirred them
thoroughly together.
There was method in this plan. He had learned from a
hard experience that his sugar was a better investment thus
disposed of than in any other way; for on several occasions
he had eaten it with his hardtack a little at a time, had got
it wet and melted in a rain, or, what happened fully as often,
had sweetened his coffee to his taste when the sugar was
kept separate, and in consequence had several messes of
coffee to drink without sweetening, which was not to his
taste. There was now and then a man who could keep the
two separate, sometimes in different ends of the same bag,
and serve them up proportionally. The reader already
knows that milk was a luxury in the army. It was a new
experience for all soldiers to drink coffee without milk.
But they soon learned to make a virtue of a necessity, and
ARMY RATIONS.
125
I doubt whether one man in ten, before the war closed,
would have used the lactic fluid in his coffee from choice.
Condensed milk of two brands, the Lewis and Borden, was
to be had at the sutler's when sutlers were handy, and occa-
sionally milk was brought in from the udders of stray cows,
the men milking them into their canteens; but this was
early in the war. Later, war-swept Virginia afforded very
few of these brutes, for they were regarded by the armies as
more valuable for beef than for milking purposes, and only
those survived that were kept apart from lines of march.

THE MILK RATION.
In many instances they were the chief reliance of Southern
families, whose able-bodied men were in the Rebel army,
serving both as a source of nourishment and as beasts of
burden.
When the army was in settled camp, company cooks gen-
erally prepared the rations. These cooks were men selected
from the company, who had a taste or an ambition for the
business. If there were none such, turns were taken at it;
but this did not often happen, as the office excused men
from all other duty.
When company cooks prepared the food, the soldiers, at
126
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
the bugle signal, formed single file at the cook-house door, in
winter, or the cook's open fire, in summer, where, with a
long-handled dipper, he filled each man's tin with coffee
from the mess kettles, and dispensed to him such other food
as was to be given out at that meal.
For various reasons, some of which I have previously
hinted at, the coffee made by these cooks was of a very in-

MONIC
ليهم
THE COMPANY COOK.
ferior quality and
unpleasant to taste
at times. It was
not to be compar-
ed in excellence
with what the men
made for themselves. I think that when the soldiers were
first thrown upon their own resources to prepare their food,
they almost invariably cooked their coffee in the tin dipper
with which all were provided, holding from a pint to a quart,
perhaps. But it was an unfortunate dish for the purpose,
forever tipping over and spilling the coffee into the fire,
either because the coals burned away beneath, or because
the Jonah upset it. Then if the fire was new and blazing, it
sometimes needed a hand that could stand heat like a steam
safe to get it when it was wanted, with the chance in favor
of more than half of the coffee boiling out before it was
rescued, all of which was conducive to ill-temper, so that

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GOING INTO CAMP.
ווין
را الله
المين
ARMY RATIONS.
129
such utensils would soon disappear, and a recruit would
afterwards be seen with his pint or quart preserve can, its
improvised wire bail held on the end of a stick, boiling his
coffee at the camp-fire, happy in the security of his ration
from Jonahs and other casualties. His can soon became as
black as the blackest, inside and out. This was the typical
coffee-boiler of the private soldier, and had the advantage of
being easily replaced when lost, as canned goods were in
very general use by commissioned officers and hospitals.
Besides this, each man was generally supplied with a small
tin cup as a drinking-cup for his coffee and water.
The coffee ration was most heartily appreciated by the
soldier. When tired and foot-sore, he would drop out of
the marching column, build his little camp-fire, cook his
mess of coffee, take a nap behind the nearest shelter, and,
when he woke, hurry on to overtake his company. Such
men were sometimes called stragglers; but it could, obviously,
have no offensive meaning when applied to them. Tea was
served so rarely that it does not merit any particular de-
scription. In the latter part of the war, it was rarely seen
outside of hospitals.
One of the most interesting scenes presented in army life.
took place at night when the army was on the point of
bivouacking. As soon as this fact became known along the
column, each man would seize a rail from the nearest, fence,
and with this additional arm on the shoulder would enter
the proposed camping-ground. In no more time than it
takes to tell the story, the little camp-fires, rapidly increasing
to hundreds in number, would shoot up along the hills and
plains, and as if by magic acres of territory would be lumi-
nous with them. Soon they would be surrounded by the
soldiers, who made it an almost invariable rule to cook their
coffee first, after which a large number, tired out with the
toils of the day, would make their supper of hardtack and
coffee, and roll up in their blankets for the night. If a
march was ordered at midnight, unless a surprise was in-
130
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
tended, it must be preceded by a pot of coffee; if a halt
was ordered in mid-forenoon or afternoon, the same dish was
inevitable, with hardtack accompaniment usually. It was
coffee at meals and between meals; and men going on guard
or coming off guard drank it at all hours of the night, and
to-day the old soldiers who can stand it are the hardest
coffee-drinkers in the community, through the schooling
which they received in the service.
At a certain period in the war, speculators bought up all
the coffee there was in the market, with a view of compel-
ling the government to pay them a very high price for the
army supply; but on learning of their action the agents of
the United States in England were ordered to purchase
several ship-loads then anchored in the English Channel.
The purchase was effected, and the coffee "corner" tumbled
in ruins.
At one time, when the government had advertised for bids.
to furnish the armies with a certain amount of coffee, one
Sawyer, a member of a prominent New York importing firm,
met the government official having the matter in charge-
I think it was General Joseph H. Eaton on the street, and
anxiously asked him if it was too late to enter another bid,
saying that he had been figuring the matter over carefully,
and found that he could make a bid so much a pound lower
than his first proposal. General Eaton replied that while
the bids had all been opened, yet they had not been made
public, and the successful bidder had not been notified, so
that no injustice could accrue to any one on that account;
he would therefore assume the responsibility of taking his
new bid. Having done so, the General informed Sawyer
that he was the lowest bidder, and that the government
would take not only the amount asked for but all his firm
had at its disposal at the same rate. But when General
Eaton informed him that his first bid was also lower than
any other offered, Sawyer's rage at Eaton and disgust at his
own undue ambition to bid a second time can be imagined.
1
ARMY RATIONS.
131
The result was the saving of many thousands of dollars to
the government.
I have stated that by Army Regulations the soldiers were
entitled to either three-quarters of a pound of pork or bacon
or one and one-fourth pounds of fresh or salt beef. I have
also stated, in substance, that when the army was settled
down for a probable long stop company cooks did the cook-
ing. But there was no uniformity about it, each company
commander regulating the matter for his own command. It
is safe to remark, however, that in the early history of each
regiment the rations were cooked for its members by persons
especially selected for the duty, unless the regiment was sent
at once into active service, in which case each man was im-
mediately confronted with the problem of preparing his own
food. In making this statement I ignore the experience
which troops had before leaving their native State, for in the
different State rendezvous I think the practice was general
for cooks to prepare the rations; but their culinary skill—
or lack of it was little appreciated by men within easy
reach of home, friends, and cooky shops, who displayed as
yet no undue anxiety to anticipate the unromantic living
provided for Uncle Sam's patriot defenders.
Having injected so much, by way of further explanation I
come now to speak of the manner in which, first, the fresh-
meat ration was cooked. If it fell into the hands of the
company cooks, it was fated to be boiled twenty-four times
out of twenty-five. There are rare occasions on record when
these cooks attempted to broil steak enough for a whole
company, and they would have succeeded tolerably if this
particular tid-bit could be found all the way through a steer,
from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail, but as it is
only local and limited the amount of nice or even tolerable
steak that fell to the lot of one company in its allowance
was not very large. For this reason among others the cooks
did not always receive the credit which they deserved for
their efforts to change the diet or extend the variety on the
C
132
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
bill of fare. Then, on occasions equally rare, when the beef
ration drawn was of such a nature as to admit of it, roast
beef was prepared in ovens such as I have already described,
and served "rare," "middling," or "well done." More fre-
quently, yet not very often, a soup was made for a change,
but it was usually boiled meat; and when this accumulated,
the men sometimes fried it in pork fat for a change.
When the meat ration was served out raw to the men, to
prepare after their own taste, although the variety of its
cooking may not perhaps have been much greater, yet it
gave more general satisfaction. The growls most commonly
heard were that the cooks kept the largest or choicest por-
tions for themselves, or else that they sent them to the
company officers, who were not entitled to them. Some-
times there was foundation for these complaints.
In drawing his ration of meat from the commissary the
quartermaster had to be governed by his last selection. If
it was a hindquarter then, he must take a forequarter the
next time, so that it will at once be seen, by those who know
anything about beef, that it would not always cut up and
distribute with the same acceptance. One man would get a
good solid piece, the next a flabby one. When a ration of
the latter description fell into the hands of a passionate man,
such as I have described in another connection, he would
instantly hurl it across the camp, and break out with such
remarks as "something not being fit for hogs," "always his
blank luck," etc. There was likely to be a little something
gained by this dramatic exhibition, for the distributor would
give the actor a good piece for several times afterwards, to
restrain his temper.
The kind of piece drawn naturally determined its dispo-
sition in the soldier's cuisine. If it was a stringy, flabby
piece, straightway it was doomed to a dish of lobscouse,
made with such other materials as were at hand. If onions
were not in the larder, and they seldom were, the little garlic
found in some places growing wild furnished a very accept-
t
ARMY RATIONS.
133
-
able substitute. If the meat was pretty solid, even though
it had done duty when in active service well down on the
shank or shin, it was quite likely to be served as beefsteak,
and prepared for the palate in one of two ways; either
fried in pork fat, if pork was to be had, otherwise tallow fat,
or impaled on a ramrod or forked stick; it was then salted
and peppered and broiled in the flames; or it may have been
thrown on the coals. This broiling was, I think, the favorite

\
BROILING STEAKS.
style with the oldest campaigners. It certainly was more
healthful and palatable cooked in this wise, and was the
most convenient in active service, for any of the men could
prepare it thus at short notice.
The meat generally came to us quivering from the butch-
er's knife, and was often eaten in less than two hours after
slaughtering. To fry it necessitated the taking along of a
frying-pan with which not many of the men cared to burden
themselves. These fry-pans-Marbleheadmen called them
Creepers were yet comparatively light, being made of thin
wrought iron. They were of different sizes, and were kept
134
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
on sale by sutlers. It was a common sight on the march to
see them borne aloft on a musket, to which they were
lashed, or tucked beneath the straps of a knapsack. But
there was another fry-pan which distanced these both in
respect of lightness and space. The soldier called in his own
ingenuity to aid him here as in so many other directions,
and consequently the men could be seen by scores frying
the food in their tin plate, held in the jaws of a split stick,
or fully as often an old canteen was unsoldered and its
concave sides mustered into active duty as fry-pans. The
fresh-meat ration was thoroughly appreciated by the men,
even though they rarely if ever got the full allowance stipu-
lated in Army Regulations, for it was a relief from the salt
pork, salt beef, or boiled fresh meat ration of settled camp.
I remember one occasion in the Mine Run Campaign, during
the last days of November, 1863, when the army was put on
short beef rations, that the men cut and scraped off the
little rain-bleached shreds of meat that remained on the head
of a steer which lay near our line of battle at Robertson's
Tavern. The animal had been slaughtered the day before,
and what was left of its skeleton had been soaking in the
rain, but not one ounce of muscular tissue could have been
gleaned from the bones when our men left it.
er.
The liver, heart, and tongue were perquisites of the butch-
For the liver, the usual price asked was a dollar, and
for the heart or tongue fifty cents.
The "salt horse" or salt beef, of fragrant memory, was
rarely furnished to the army except when in settled camp,
as it would obviously have been a poor dish to serve on the
march, when water was often so scarce.
But even in camp
the men quite generally rejected it. Without doubt, it was
the vilest ration distributed to the soldiers.
It was thoroughly penetrated with saltpetre, was often
yellow-green with rust from having lain out of brine, and,
when boiled, was four times out of five if not nine times out
of ten a stench in the nostrils, which no delicate palate cared
ARMY RATIONS.
135
to encounter at shorter range. It sometimes happened that
the men would extract a good deal of amusement out of
this ration, when an extremely unsavory lot was served out,
by arranging a funeral, making the appointments as com-
plete as possible, with bearers, a bier improvised of boards
or a hardtack box, on which was the beef accompanied by
scraps of old harness to indicate the original of the remains,
and then, attended by solemn music and a mournful proces-
sion, it would be carried to the company sink and dumped,
after a solemn mummery of words had been spoken, and a
volley fired over its unhallowed grave.
So salt was this ration that it was impossible to freshen
it too much, and it was not an unusual occurrence for
troops encamped by a running brook to tie a piece of this
beef to the end of a cord, and throw it into the brook at
night, to remain freshening until the following morning as a
necessary preparative to cooking.
Salt pork was the principal meat ration the main stay
as it were. Company cooks boiled it. There was little else.
they could do with it, but it was an extremely useful ration
to the men when served out raw. They almost never boiled
it, but, as I have already shown, much of it was used for
frying purposes. On the march it was broiled and eaten
with hard bread, while much of it was eaten raw, sand-
wiched between hardtack. Of course it was used with
stewed as well as baked beans, and was an ingredient of
soups and lobscouse. Many of us have since learned to
call it an indigestible ration, but we ignored the existence
of such a thing as a stomach in the army, and then regarded
pork as an indispensable one. Much of it was musty and
rancid, like the salt horse, and much more was flabby,
stringy, "sow-belly," as the men called it, which, at this
remove in distance, does not seem appetizing, however it
may have seemed at the time. The government had a
pork-packing factory of its own in Chicago, from which
tons of this ration were furnished.
136
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Once in a while a ration of ham or bacou was dealt out
to the soldiers, but of such quality that I do not retain very
grateful remembrances of it. It was usually black, rusty,
and strong, and decidedly unpopular. Once only do I recall
a lot of smoked shoulders as being supplied to my company,
which were very good. They were never duplicated. For
that reason, I presume, they stand out prominently in
memory.
The bean ration was an important factor in the sustenance
of the army, and no edible, I think, was so thoroughly ap-
preciated. Company cooks stewed them with pork, and

NEUR
MESS KETTLES AND A MESS PAN.
when the pork was good and the stew or soup was well
done and not burned, a rare combination of circumstan-
ces, — they were quite palatable in this way. Sometimes
ovens were built of stones, on the top of the ground, and
the beans were baked in these, in mess pans or kettles. But
I think the most popular method was to bake them in the
ground. This was the almost invariable course pursued by
the soldiers when the beans were distributed for them to
cook. It was done in the following way: A hole was dug
large enough to set a mess pan or kettle in, and have ample
space around it besides. Mess kettles, let me explain here,
are cylinders in shape, and made of heavy sheet iron. They
are from thirteen to fifteen inches high, and vary in diameter
from seven inches to a foot. A mess pan stands about six
inches high, and is a foot in diameter at the top. I think
one will hold nearly six quarts. To resume; in the bot-
tom of the hole dug a flat stone was put, if it could be
ARMY RATIONS.
137
obtained, then a fire was built in the hole and kept burning
some hours, the beans being prepared for baking meanwhile.
When all was ready, the coals were shovelled out, the kettle
of beans and pork set in, with a board over the top, while
the coals were shovelled back around the kettle; some poles.
or boards were then laid across the hole, a piece of sacking
or other material spread over the poles to exclude dirt, and
a mound of earth piled above all; the net result of which,
when the hole was opened the next morning, was the most
enjoyable dish that fell to the lot of the common soldier.
Baked beans at the homestead seemed at a discount in com-
parison. As it was hardly practicable to bake a single
ration of beans in this way, or, indeed, in any way, a tent's
crew either saved their allowance until enough accumulated
for a good baking, or a half-dozen men would form a joint
stock company, and cook in a mess kettle; and when the
treasure was unearthed in early morning not a stockholder
would be absent from the roll-call, but all were promptly on
hand with plate or coffee dipper to receive their dividends.
Here is a post-bellum jingle sung to the music of “The
Sweet By and By," in which some old veteran conveys the
affection he still feels for this edible of precious memory:-
THE ARMY BEAN.
There's a spot that the soldiers all love,
The mess-tent's the place that we mean,
And the dish we best like to see there
Is the old-fashioned, white Army Bean.
CHORUS.
'Tis the bean that we mean,
And we'll eat as we ne'er ate before ;
The Army Bean, nice and clean,
We'll stick to our beans evermore.
Now the bean, in its primitive state,
Is a plant we have all often met ;
And when cooked in the old army style
It has charms we can never forget. - CHORUS.
138
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
The German is fond of sauer-kraut,
The potato is loved by the Mick,
But the soldiers have long since found out
That through life to our beans we should stick.- CHORUS.
Boiled potatoes were furnished us occasionally in settled
camp.
On the march we varied the programme by frying
them. Onions, in my own company at least, were a great
rarity, but highly appreciated when they did appear, even in
homœopathic quantities. They were pretty sure to appear
on the army table, fried.
Split peas were also drawn by the quartermaster now and
then, and stewed with pork by the cooks for supper, making
pea-soup, or "Peas on a Trencher"; but if my memory
serves me right, they were a dish in no great favor, even
when they were not burned in cooking, which was usually
their fate.
The dried-apple ration was supplied by the government,
"to swell the ranks of the army," as some one wittily said.
There seemed but one practicable way in which this could
be prepared, and that was to stew it; thus cooked it made a
sauce for hardtack. Sometimes dried peaches were furnished
instead, but of such a poor quality that the apples, with the
fifty per cent of skins and hulls which they contained, were
considered far preferable.
At remote intervals the cooks gave for supper a dish of
boiled rice (burned, of course), a sergeant spooning out a
scanty allowance of molasses to bear it company.
Occasionally, a ration of what was known as desiccated
vegetables was dealt out. This consisted of a small piece
per man, an ounce in weight and two or three inches cube of
a sheet or block of vegetables, which had been prepared, and
apparently kiln-dried, as sanitary fodder for the soldiers. In
composition it looked not unlike the large cheeses of beef-
scraps that are seen in the markets. When put in soak for
a time, so perfectly had it been dried and so firmly pressed
that it swelled to an amazing extent, attaining to several
ARMY RATIONS.
139
times its dried proportions. In this pulpy state a favorable
opportunity was afforded to analyze its composition. It
seemed to show, and I think really did show, layers of cab-
bage leaves and turnip tops stratified with layers of sliced
carrots, turnips, parsnips, a bare suggestion of onions,-
they were too valuable to waste in this compound,— and some
other among known vegetable quantities, with a large resid-
uum of insoluble and insolvable material which appeared to
play the part of warp to the fabric, but which defied the
powers of the analyst to give it a name. An inspector
found in one lot which he examined powdered glass thickly
sprinkled through it, apparently the work of a Confederate
emissary; but if not it showed how little care was exercised
in preparing this diet for the soldier. In brief, this coarse
vegetable compound could with much more propriety have
been put before Southern swine than Northern soldiers.
"Desecrated vegetables" was the more appropriate name
which the men quite generally applied to this preparation
of husks.
I believe it was the Thirty-Second Massachusetts Infan-
try which once had a special ration of three hundred
boxes of strawberries dealt out to it. But if there was
another organization in the army anywhere which had such
a delicious experience, I have yet to hear of it.
I presume that no discussion of army rations would be
considered complete that did not at least make mention of
the whiskey ration so called. This was not a ration, prop-
erly speaking. The government supplied it to the army
only on rare occasions, and then by order of the medical
department. I think it was never served out to my com-
pany more than three or four times, and then during a cold
rainstorm or after unusually hard service. Captain N. D.
Preston of the Tenth New York Cavalry, in describing
Sheridan's raid to Richmond in the spring of 1864, recently,
speaks of being instructed by his brigade commander to
make a light issue of whiskey to the men of the brigade,
140
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
and adds, "the first and only regular issue of whiskey I
ever made or know of being made to an enlisted man."
But although he belonged to the arm of the service called
"the eyes and ears of the army," and was no doubt a gal-
lant soldier, he is not well posted; for men who belonged to
other organizations in the Army of the Potomac assure me
that it was served out to them much more frequently than I
have related as coming under my observation. I think there
can be no doubt on this point.
The size of the whiskey allowance was declared, by those
whose experience had made them competent judges, as
trifling and insignificant, sometimes not more than a table-
spoonful; but the quantity differed greatly in different
organizations. The opinion was very prevalent, and un-
doubtedly correct, that the liquor was quite liberally sam·
pied by the various headquarters, or the agents through
whom it was transmitted to the rank and file. While there
was considerable whiskey drank by the men "unofficially,"
that is, which was obtained otherwise than on the order of
the medical department, yet, man for man, the private sol-
diers were as abstemious as the officers. The officers who
did not drink more or less were too scarce in the service.
They had only to send to the commissary to obtain as much
as they pleased, whenever they pleased, by paying for it; but
the private soldier could only obtain it of this official on an
order signed by a commissioned officer, usually the captain
of his company. In fact, there was nothing but his sense of
honor, his self-respect, or his fear of exposure and punish-
ment, to restrain a captain, a colonel, or a general, of what-
ever command, from being intoxicated at a moment when he
should have been in the full possession of his senses leading
his command on to battle; and I regret to relate that these
motives, strong as they are to impel to right and restrain
from wrong-doing, were no barrier to many an officer whose
appetite in a crisis thus imperilled the cause and disgraced
himself. Doesn't it seem strange that the enforcement of
ARMY RATIONS.
141
the rules of war was so lax as to allow the lives of a hun-
dred, a thousand, or perhaps fifty or a hundred thousand
sober men to be jeopardized, as they so often were, by hold-
ing them rigidly obedient to the orders of a man whose head
at a critical moment might be crazed with commissary whis-
key? Hundreds if not thousands of lives were sacrificed
by such leadership. I may state here that drunkenness was
equally as common with the Rebels as with the Federals.
The devices resorted to by those members of the rank and
file who hungered and thirsted for commissary to obtain it,
are numerous and entertaining enough to occupy a chapter;
but these I must leave for some one of broader experience
and observation. I could name two or three men in my
own company whose experience qualified them to fill the
bill completely. They were always on the scent for some-
thing to drink. Such men were to be found in all organi-
zations.
It has always struck me that the government should have
increased the size of the marching ration. If the soldier on
the march had received one and one-half pounds of hard
bread and one and one-half pounds of fresh beef daily with
his sugar, coffee, and salt, it would have been no more than
marching men require to keep up the requisite strength and
resist disease.
By such an increase the men would have been compen-
sated for the parts of rations not issued to them, or the in-
crease might have been an equivalent for these parts, and the
temptation to dishonesty or neglect on the part of company
commanders thus removed. But, more than this, the men
would not then have eaten up many days' rations in ad-
vance. It mattered not that the troops, at a certain date,
were provided with three, four, or any number of days
rations; if these rations were exhausted before the limit for
which they were distributed was even half reached, more
must be immediately issued. As a consequence, in every
summer campaign the troops had drawn ten or fifteen days
142
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
marching rations ahead of time, proving, season after season,
the inadequacy of this ration. This deficiency of active
service had to be made up by shortening the rations issued
in camp when the men could live on a contracted diet with-
out detriment to the service. But they knew nothing of this
shortage at the time, I mean now the rank and file, else
—
what a universal growl would have rolled through the camps
of each army corps while the commissary was "catching up.”
"Where ignorance is bliss," etc.

CHAPTER VIII.
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
They braced my aunt against a board,
To make her straight and tall;
They laced her up, they starved her down,
To make her light and small;
They pinched her feet, they singed her hair,
They screwed it up with pins;
Oh, never mortal suffered more
In penance for her sins.
HOLMES.

O popular history of the war has yet
treated in detail of the various in-
discretions of which soldiers were
guilty, nor of the punishments which
followed breaches of discipline. Per-
haps such a record is wanting be-
cause there are many men yet alive
who cannot think with equanimity
of punishments to which they were
at some period of their service
subjected. Indeed, within a few
months I have seen veterans who,
if not breathing out threatenings
and slaughter, like Saul of Tarsus,
are still unreconciled to some of
their old commanders, and are brood-
ing over their old-time grievances, real or imaginary, or both,
when they ought to be engaged in more entertaining and
profitable business. I shall not, because I cannot, name
all the offences of soldiering to which punishments were
affixed, as no two commanding officers had just the same
violations of military discipline to deal with, — but I shall
BALL AND CHAIN.
143
144
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
endeavor in this chapter to include all those which appeal to
a common experience.
The most common offences were drunkenness, absence
from camp without leave, insubordination, disrespect to
superior officers, absence from roll-call without leave, turbu-
lence after taps, sitting while on guard, gambling, and
leaving the beat without relief. To explain these offences
a little more in detail no soldier was supposed to leave
camp without a pass or permit from the commander of the
regiment or battery to which he belonged. A great many
Gilin.
CARRYING A LOG.
مبارك
did leave for a
few hours at a
time, however,
and took their
chances of being
missed and reported for it.
In some companies, when it
was thought that several were
absent without a permit, a
roll-call was ordered simply
to catch the culprits. Dis-
respect to a superior officer
was shown in many ways.
Some of the more common
ways were to "talk back," in
strong unmilitary language,
and to refuse to salute him
or recognize him on duty,
which military etiquette re-
quires to be done. The other
offences named explain them-
selves.

The methods of punishment were as diverse as the dispo-
sitions of the officers who sat in judgment on the cases of
the offenders. In the early history of a regiment there was
a guard-house or guard-tent where the daily guard were
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
145
wont to assemble, and which was their rendezvous when off
post during their twenty-four hours of duty. But when
the ranks of the regiment had become very much depleted,
and the men pretty well seasoned in military duty, the guard-
tent was likely to be dispensed with. In this guard-tent
offenders were put for different periods of time. Such con-
finement was a common punishment for drunkenness. This
may not be thought a very severe penalty; still, the men
did not enjoy it, as it imposed quite a restriction on their
freedom to be thus pent up and cut off from the rest of
their associates.
Absence from camp or roll-call without leave was pun-
ished in various ways. There was no special penalty for it.
I think every organization had what was known as a Black
List, on which the names of all offenders against the ordi-
nary rules of camp were kept for frequent reference, and
when there was any particularly disagreeable task about
camp to be done the black list furnished a quota for the
work. The galling part of membership in the ranks of the
black list was that all of the work done as one of its victims
was a gratuity, as the member must stand his regular turn
in his squad for whatever other fatigue duty was required.
Among the tasks that were thought quite interesting and
profitable pastimes for the black-listed to engage in, were
policing the camp and digging and fitting up new company
sinks or filling abandoned ones. A favorite treat meted out
to the unfortunates in the artillery and cavalry was the
burying of dead horses or cleaning up around the picket
rope where the animals were tied. In brief, the men who
kept off the black list in a company were spared many a
hard and disagreeable job by the existence of a good long
list of offenders against camp discipline.
This placing of men on the black list was not as a rule
resorted to by officers who cherished petty spites or personal
malice, but by it they designed rather to enforce a salutary
discipline. Such officers had no desire to torture the erring,
146
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
but aimed to combine a reasonable form of punishment with
utility to the camp and to the better behaved class of sol-
diers, and in this I think they were successful. But there
was a class of officers who felt that every violation of camp
rules should be visited with the infliction of bodily pain in
some form. As a consequence, the sentences imposed by
BUCKED AND GAGGED.
these military judges all
looked towards that end.
Some would buck and gag
their victims; some would
stand them on a barrel for
a half-day or a day at a
time; a favorite punish-
ment with some was to
knock out both heads of
a barrel, then make the
victim stand on the ends
of the staves; some would
compel them to wear an
inverted barrel for several
hours, by having a hole
cut in the bottom, through

which the head passed, making a kind of wooden overcoat;
some culprits were compelled to stand a long time with their
arms, extending horizontally at the side, lashed to a heavy
stick of wood that ran across their backs; others were
lashed to a tall wooden horse which stood perhaps eight or
nine feet high; some underwent the knapsack drill, that is,
they walked a beat with a guardsman two hours on and two
or four hours off, wearing a knapsack filled with bricks or
stones. Here is an incident related by a veteran who served
in the Gulf Department: One day a captain in General
Phelps' Brigade put a man on knapsack drill; in other words,
he filled his knapsack with bricks, and made him march with
it up and down the company street. The General had the
habit of going through the camps of his brigade quite fre-
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
147
quently, and that day he happened around just in time to
see the performance, but returned to his quarters apparently
without noticing it. Soon, however, he sent his Orderly to
the Captain with a request to come to his tent.
The Cap-
tain was soon on his way, dressed in his best uniform,
probably expecting, at least, a commendation for his effi-
ciency, or perhaps a promotion. On
reaching the General's tent, he was
admitted, when, after the usual
salute, the following dialogue took
place:-
General P. "Good-morning,
Captain."
Captain."Good-morning, Gen-

eral."
General P.-"I sent for you,
Captain, to inquire of you what
knapsacks were made for.”
Captain."Knapsacks!
why,
I suppose they were made for sol-
diers to carry their spare cloth-
ing in."
General P.—" Well, Captain, I
passed your camp a short time ago
and saw one of your men carrying
bricks in his knapsack up and down.
the company street. Now, go back
to your company, send that man to
his quarters, and don't let me know
THIEF
POSTED.
of your ordering any such punishment again while you are
in my brigade.".
One regiment that I know of had a platform erected, be-
tween twenty-five and thirty feet high, on which the offend-
er was isolated from the camp, and left to broil in the sun
or soak in the rain while a guard paced his beat below, to
keep away any who might like to communicate with him.
148
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Some were tied up by the thumbs, with arms extended full
length, and compelled to stand in that position for hours;
A LOADED KNAPSACK.
some were put into what was known as
the sweat-box. This was a box eigh-
teen inches square, and of the full
height of a man, into which the cul-
prit was placed to stand until re-
leased. Some had their full offence
written out on a board with chalk,
and, with this board strapped to their
backs, were marched up and down
through camp the entire day, without
rest or refreshment.
In the artillery, the favorite punish-
ment was to lash the guilty party to
the spare wheel the extra wheel
carried on the rear portion of every


In
caisson in a battery.
the cavalry, men were some-
times punished by being
compelled to carry their
packed saddle a prescribed
time no small or insig-
nificant burden to men un-
used to a knapsack. Some-
times the
the guilty parties.
were required to carry a
heavy stick of wood on the
shoulder. I knew one such
man, who, because of this
punishment, took a solemn
oath that he would never
do another day's duty in
his company; and he never
ח ע
ISOLATED ON A PLATFORM.
did. From that day forward he reported at sick-call, but
the surgeon could find no traces of disease about him, and
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
149
so returned him for duty. Still the man persistently refused
to do duty, claiming that he was not able, and continued to
report at sick-call. By refusing to eat anything, he reduced.
himself to such a condition that he really appeared diseased,
and at last was discharged, went home, and boasted of his
achievement.
Sometimes double guard-duty was ordered for a man on
account of an omission or act of his while on guard.
This

TIT
ON THE SPARE WHEEL.
punishment gave him four hours on and two off his post or
beat instead of the reverse. His offence may have been
failing or refusing to salute his superior officer. It may
have been that he was not properly equipped. It may have
been for being found off his beat, or for leaving it without
having been properly relieved; or he may have failed in his
duty when the "Grand Rounds" appeared.
When non-commissioned officers sinned, which they did
sometimes, they were punished by being reduced to the ranks.
In some organizations gambling was not allowed, in others
150
HARD TACĂ AND COFFEE,
it was carried on by both officers and privates. In one com-
mand, at least, where this vice was interdicted, culprits in
دد
ON A WOODEN HORSE.
the ranks were punished
by having one-half of the
head shaved — a most hu-
miliating and effective pun-
ishment.

Then "back talk," as
it was commonly called,
which, interpreted, means
answering a superior officer
insolently, was a prolific
cause of punishments. It
did not matter in some
organizations who the offi-
cer was, from colonel or
captain to the last corporal,
to hear was to obey, and
under such discipline the
men became the merest puppets. In theory, such a regi-
ment was the perfect military machine, where every
man was in complete subordination to one master mind.
But the value of such a machine, after all, depended largely
upon the kind of a man the ruling spirit was, and whether
he associated his inflexibility of steel with the justice of Aris-
tides. If he did that, then was it indeed a model organiza-
tion; but such bodies were rare, for the conditions were
wanting to make them abundant. The master mind was too
often tyrannical and abusive, either by nature, or from hav-
ing been suddenly clothed with a little brief authority over
men. And often when nature, if left to herself, would have
made him a good commander, an excessive use of "commis-
sary" interfered to prevent, and the subordinates of such a
leader, many of them appointed by his influence, would
naturally partake of his characteristics; so that such regi-
ments, instead of standing solidly on all occasions, were
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
151
weakened as a fighting body by a lack of confidence in and
personal respect for their leaders, and by a hatred begotten
of unjust treatment. Hundreds of officers were put in com-
mission through influence at court, wealth or personal in-
fluence deciding appointments that
should have been made solely on the
basis of merit. At the beginning
of the war it was inevitable that the
officers should have been inexperi-
enced and uninstructed in the de-
tails of warfare, but later this con-
dition changed, and the service
would have been strengthened and
materially improved by promoting
men who had done honorable ser-
vice and shown good conduct in
action, to commissions in new regi-
ments. It is true that such was the
intent and partial practice in some
States, but the governors, more or
less from necessity, took the advice
of some one who was a warm per-
sonal friend of the applicant, so that
shoulder-straps, instead of being al-
ways conferred for gallant conduct
in the front rank, were sometimes a
mark of distinguished prowess in the mule-train or the cook-
house, which seemed to maintain readier and more influential
communication with the appointing power at the rear than
was had by the men who stood nearest to the enemy.

IN THE SWEAT-BOX.
To bow in meek submission to the uneducated authority
of the civilian, or to the soldier whose record was such as
not to command the respect of his fellows, was the lot of
thousands of intelligent and brave soldiers, the superiors in
all respects, save that of military rank alone, of these self-
same officers; and to be commanded not to answer back,
Uor M
152
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
when they felt that they must utter a protest against injus-
tice, was a humiliation that the average volunteer did not
fully realize when he put his name to the roll, — a humilia-
tion which grew bitterer with
every new indignity. Punish-
ments or rebukes administered by
social inferiors were galling even
when deserved.
It seems ludicrous to me when
I recall the threats I used to hear
made against officers for some of
their misdeeds. Many a wearer
of shoulder-straps was to be shot
by his own men in the first en-
gagement. But, somehow or other,
when the engagement came along
there seemed to be Rebels enough
to shoot without throwing away
ammunition on Union men; and
about that time too the men, who
in more peaceful retreats were so
anxious to shoot their own officers,
could not always be found, when
wanted, to shoot more legitimate
game. In these days, when pri-
vate soldiers are so scarce and
officers so exceedingly abundant, the question might very
naturally arise how the abundance came about if the offi-
cers were so often between two fires; but what I have said
will furnish a solution to the mystery.

ON THE CHINES.
Then, there were hundreds of officers that were to be
settled with when they reached home, and were on an
equality with the private soldier so far as military rank was
concerned. But while there were, as I have previously
intimated, a few who took their resentments out of the ser-
vice with them, they were only few in number, and it is
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
153
doubtful whether any of them ever executed their threat-
ened deeds of violence. Poor underpaid non-commissioned
officers, who occupied the perplexing and uncomfortable
position of go-betweens, were frequently invited by privates
to strip off their chevrons and be handsomely whipped for
some act annoying to said privates; but I never heard of
any n. c. o. sacrificing his chevrons to any such ambition-
for various reasons, of which the fear of a thrashing was
not necessarily one.
There were regiments each of which, when off duty,
seemed to contain at least two or three hundred colonels
and captains, so much social free-
dom obtained between officers and
rank and file, yet at the proper
time there was just one com-
mander of such a regiment to
whom the men looked ready to
do his bidding, even to follow him
into the jaws of death. These
officers were not always devout
men; at an earlier period in their
lives some of them may have
learned to be profane ; some drank
commissary whiskey occasionally,
it may be; but in all their deal-
ings with subordinates, while they
made rigid exactions of them as
soldiers, they never forgot that
they were men, and hence, en-
deavoring to be just in the settle-
ment of camp troubles, protect-
ing their command in the full
enjoyment of all its rights
among similar organizations,

JHIS
A WOODEN OVERCOAT.
never saying "go!" but "come!" in the hour of danger,
they welded their regiment into a military engine as
154
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
solid and reliable as the old Grecian Phalanx. Punishments
in such regiments were rare, for manliness and self-respect
were never crushed out by tyrants in miniature. The char-
acter of the officers had so much to do with determining
STRAPPED TO A STICK.
the nature and
amount of the
punishments in
the army that I
consider what I
have thrown in
here as germane to the subject
of this chapter.
It should be said, in justice
to both officers and privates,
that the first two years of the
war, when the exactions of the
service were new, saw three
times the number of punish-
ments administered in the two
subsequent years; but, aside
from the getting accustomed to
the restraints of the service, campaigning was more contin-
uous in the later years, and this kept both mind and body
occupied. It is inactivity which makes the growler's para-
dise. Then, in the last years of the war the rigors of mili-
tary discipline, the sharing of common dangers and hard-
ships, and promotions from the ranks, had narrowed the gap
between officers and privates so that the chords of mutual
sympathy were stronger than before, and trivial offences
were slightly rebuked or passed unnoticed.
At the beginning of the war many generals were very
fearful lest some of the acts of the common soldier should
give offence to the Southern people. This encouraged the
latter to report every chicken lost, every bee-hive borrowed,
every rail burnt, to headquarters, and subordinates were
required to institute the most thorough search for evidence

OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
155
that should lead to the detection and punishment of the
culprits, besides requiring them to make full restitution of
the value of the property taken. Our government and its
leading officers, military and civil, seemed at that time to
stand hat in hand apologizing to the South for invading its
sacred territory, and almost appearing to want only a proper
pretext to retire honorably from the conflict. But by the
time that the Peninsular Campaign was brought to a close
this kid-glove handling of the enemy had come to an end,
and the wandering shote, the hen-roosts, the Virginia fence ·
and the straw stack came to be regarded in a sense as per-
quisites of the Union army. Punishments for appropriating
them after this time were much rarer, and the difficulty of
finding the culprits increased, as the officers were becoming
judiciously near-sighted.
Drumming out of camp was a punishment administered for
cowardice. Whenever a man's courage gave out in the face

wp. will
"་#
DRUMMING OUT OF CAMP.
of the enemy, at the earliest opportunity after the battle,
he was stripped of his equipments and uniform, marched
through the camp with a guard on either side and four
soldiers following behind him at "charge bayonets," while a
156
ĦARD TACK AND COFFEE.
66
fife and drum corps brought up the rear, droning out the
Rogue's March." He was sure of being hooted and jeered at
throughout the whole camp. There were no restraints put
upon the language of his recent associates, and their vocab-
ularies were worked up to their full capacity in reviling him.
After he had been thoroughly shown off to the entire com-
mand, he was marched outside the
lines and set free. This whole per-
formance may seem at first thought
a very light punishment for so grave
an offence, and an easy escape from
the service for such men. But it
was considered a most disgraceful
punishment. No man liked to be
called a coward, much less to be
turned out of the army in that dis-
reputable way, and the facts re-
corded on his regimental roll side
by side with the honorable record
of his fellows. He was liable to the
death penalty if found in camp af-
terwards. Many more men deserved
this punishment than ever received
it. There were very few soldiers
put out of the service by this
method.
Sometimes an officer was assaulted
by a private soldier or threatened
by him. For all such offences.
soldiers were tried by court-martial,
and sentenced to the guard-house.
or to hard labor at the Rip Raps
or the Dry Tortugas, with loss of
pay; or to wear a ball and chain attached to their ankles
for a stated period. These offences were often committed
under the influence of liquor, but frequently through temper

TIED UP BY THE THUMBS.
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
157
or exasperation at continued and unreasonable exactions, as
the victim believed.
The penalty for sleeping at one's post, that is, when it was
a post of danger, was death; but whether this penalty was
ever enforced in our army I am unable to state. There is a
very touching story of a young soldier who was pardoned by
President Lincoln for this offence, through the pitiful inter-
cession of the young man's mother. Whether it was a chap-
ter from real life, I am in doubt. I certainly never heard of
a sentinel being visited with this extreme penalty for this
offence.
The penalty attaching to desertion is death by shooting,
and this was no uncommon sight in the army; but it did not
seem to stay the tide of desertion in the least. I have seen
it stated that there was no time in the history of the Army
of the Potomac, after its organization by McClellan, when it
reported less than one-fourth its full membership as absent
without leave. The general reader will perhaps be inter-
ested in the description of the first execution of a deserter
that I ever witnessed. It took place about the middle of
October, 1863. I was then a member of Sickles' Third
Corps, and my company was attached for the time being to
General Birney's First Division, then covering Fairfax Sta-
tion, on the extreme left of the army. The guilty party was
a member of a Pennsylvania regiment. He had deserted
more than once, and was also charged with giving informa-
tion, to the enemy whereby a wagon-train had been captured.
The whole division was ordered out to witness the execu-
tion. The troops were drawn up around three sides of a
rectangle in two double ranks, the outer facing inward and
the inner facing outward. Between these ranks, throughout
their entire extent, the criminal was obliged to march, which
he did with lowered head. The order of the solemn proces-
sion was as shown in the accompanying diagram, the arrows
indicating its direction.
First came the provost-marshal, - the sheriff of the army,
158
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
-mounted; next, the band playing (what to me from its
associations has now come to be the saddest of all tunes)

R
ก 4
по
ת ת ת ה ה
CC
FEE
سنا
СС
"E
P, prisoner; C, coffin; G, grave; F, firing party; R, reserve firing party;
E, twelve guards.
Pleyel's Hymn, even sadder than the Dead March in "Saul,"
which I heard less frequently; then followed twelve armed
men, who were deployed diagonally across the open end of
the space, after the procession had completed its round, to
guard against any attempt the prisoner might make to
escape; fourth in order came four men bearing the coffin,
followed by the prisoner, attended by a chaplain, and a single
guard on either side; next, a shooting detachment of twelve
Eleven of these had muskets loaded with ball, while
the twelfth had a blank cartridge in his musket; but as the
muskets had been loaded beforehand by an officer, and mixed
up afterwards, no cne knew who had possession of the mus-
ket with the blank cartridge, so that each man, if he wanted
it, had the benefit of a faint hope, at least, that his was the
musket loaded without ball. After these marched an addi-
tional shooting force of six, to act in case the twelve should
fail in the execution of their duty.
men.
When the slow and solemn round had been completed, the
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
159
prisoner was seated on an end of his coffin, which had been
placed in the centre of the open end of the rectangle, near
his grave. The chaplain then made a prayer, and addressed
a few words to the condemned man, which were not audible
to any one else, and followed them by another brief prayer.
The provost-marshal next advanced, bound the prisoner's
eyes with a handkerchief, and read the general order for the
execution. He then gave the signal for the shooting party
to execute their orders. They did so, and a soul passed into

DEATH OF A DESERTER.
eternity. Throwing his arms convulsively into the air, he
fell back upon his coffin but made no further movement, and
a surgeon who stood near, upon examination, found life to
be extinct. The division was then marched past the corpse,
off the field, and the sad scene was ended.
I afterwards saw a deserter from the First Division of the
Second Corps meet his end in the same way, down before
Petersburg, in the summer of 1864. These were the only
exhibitions of this sort that I ever witnessed, although there
were others that took place not far from my camp. The
artillery was brigaded by itself in 1864 and 1865, and artil-
160
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
lerymen were not then compelled to attend executions
which took place in the infantry.
Here is a story of another deserter and spy, who was shot
in or near Indianapolis in 1863. He had enlisted in the
Seventy-First Indiana Infantry. Not long afterwards he
deserted and went over to the enemy, but soon reappeared
in the Union lines as a Rebel spy. While in this capacity
he was captured and taken to the headquarters of General
Henry B. Carrington, who was then in command of this mil-
itary district. He indignantly protested his innocence of the
charge, but a thorough search for evidence of his treachery
was begun. His coat was first taken and cut into narrow
strips and carefully scrutinized, to assure that it contained
nothing suspicious. One by one, the rest of his garments
were examined and thrown aside, until at last he stood
naked before his captors with no evidence of his guilt having
been discovered. He was then requested to don a suit of
clothes that was brought in. This he did, and then tri-
umphantly demanded his release. But the General told him
to keep cool, as the search was not yet completed; that full
justice should be done him whether guilty or innocent.
Taking up the trousers again, the General noticed that one
of the spring-bottoms was a little stiffer than the other, and
on further investigation with his scissors, sure enough, care-
fully sewed in under the buckram, found a pass from the
Rebel General Kirby Smith.
At this discovery the culprit dropped on his knees, and
begged for his life. He was tried by court-martial, and sen-
tenced to be hanged-hanging is the penalty for treason,
shooting being considered too honorable a death for traitors.
But General Carrington, wishing the influence of the ex-
ecution to be exerted as a check against desertion, which
was very common, decided that he should be shot. It is
customary to detail the shooting squad from the company to
which the deserter belongs. But so enraged were the mem-
bers of this man's company at his offence that they sent a
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
161
unanimous request that the entire company might act as
firing party. This request was refused, however, and a de-
tail of fifteen men made for that purpose. But whereas it is
usual for the sergeant in charge of such a detail to load the
muskets himself, putting blank cartridges into one, two, or
three of the muskets, on this occasion the men were allowed
to load for themselves, and when the surgeon examined the
lifeless body he found fifteen bullets in it, showing that each
one of the fifteen men had felt it to be his duty to shoot his
former comrade, and that he had conscientiously acted up
to that duty.
Shocking and solemn as such scenes were, I do not believe
that the shooting of a deserter had any great deterring influ-
ence on the rank and file; for the opportunities to get away
safely were most abundant. Indeed, any man who was base
enough to desert his flag could almost choose his time for
doing it. The wife of a man in my own company brought
him a suit of citizen's clothing to desert in, which he availed
himself of later; but citizen's clothes, even, were not
always necessary to ensure safety for deserters. When a
man's honor failed to hold him in the ranks, his exit from
military life in the South was easy enough.
I have been asked if all deserters captured were shot.
No; far from it. There were times in the war when the
death penalty for this offence was entirely ignored, and then
it would be revived again with the hope of diminishing the
rapid rate at which desertions took place. Desertion was
the most prevalent in 1864, when the town and city govern-
ments hired so many foreigners, who enlisted solely to get
the large bounties paid, and then deserted, many of them
before getting to the field, or immediately afterwards. They
had no interest in the cause, and could not be expected to
have. These men were called bounty-jumpers, and, having
deserted, went to some other State and enlisted again, to
secure another bounty. In this manner many of them ob-
tained hundreds of dollars without being detected: but
162
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
*.
many more were apprehended, and suffered for it. I knew
of three such being shot at one time, each having taken
three bounties before they were finally captured. The
greater part of these bounty-jumpers came from Canada. A
large number of reliable troops were necessary to take these
men from the recruiting rendezvous to the various regiments
which they were to join.
The mass of recaptured deserters were put to hard labor
on government works. Others were confined in some peni-
tentiary, to work out their unexpired term of service. I be-
lieve the penitentiary at Albany was used for this purpose,
as was also the Old Capitol Prison in Washington. Many
more were sent to the Rip Raps, near Fort Monroe. On the
11th of March, 1865, President Lincoln issued a procla-
mation offering full pardon to all deserters who should re-
turn to their respective commands within sixty days, that
is, before May 10, 1865, with the understanding that they
should serve out the full time of their respective organiza-
tions, and make up all time lost as well. A large number
whose consciences had given them no peace since their
lapse, availed themselves of this proclamation to make
amends as far as possible, and leave the service with a good
name. This act was characteristic of the Emancipator's
matchless magnanimity and forgiving spirit, but scarcely
deserved by the parties having most at stake.
I have already intimated that death by hanging was a
punishment meted out to certain offences against military
law. One of these offences was desertion to the enemy,
that is, going from our army over to the enemy, and enlist-
ing in his ranks to fight on that side. In the autumn of
1864 near Fort Welch, I think it was—I saw three mil-
itary criminals hanged at the same moment, from the same
gallows, for this crime against the government. They were
members of the Sixth Corps. There was less ceremony about
this execution than that of the deserter, whose end I more
fully described. The condemned men were all foreigners,
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
163
ער
and rode to the gallows in an ambulance attended by a
chaplain. The ambulance was well guarded in front, in rear,
and on the flanks. The gallows also was strongly guarded.
If I recollect aright, the troops were not ordered out to
witness the spectacle. Nevertheless, thousands of them
from adjoining camps lined the route, and, standing around
the gallows, saw the prisoners meet their fate. No loyal
heart gave them any sympathy.
In April, 1864, I saw a man hanged for a different offence,
on the plains of Stevensburg. He belonged to the second
division of my own corps. Most of the corps, which
was then twenty-seven thousand strong, must have wit-
nessed the scene, from near or afar. In hanging the cul-
prit the provost-marshal made a dreadful botch of the job,
for the rope was too long, and when the drop fell the man's
feet touched the ground. This obliged the provost-marshal
to seize the rope, and by main strength to hold him clear of
the ground till death ensued. It is quite probable that
strangulation instead of a broken neck ended his life. His
body was so light and emaciated that it is doubtful if, even
under more favorable circumstances, his fall could have
broken his neck.
The report of the Adjutant-General, made in 1870, shows
that there were one hundred and twenty-one men executed
during the war- a very insignificant fraction of those who,
by military law, were liable to the death penalty.

CHAPTER IX.
A DAY IN CAMP.
"I hear the bugle sound the calls
For Réveillé and Drill,
For Water, Stable, and Tattoo,
and all was still.
For Taps
I hear it sound the Sick-Call grim,
And see the men in line,
With faces wry as they drink down
Their whiskey and quinine.”

PARTIAL description of the daily
programme of the rank and file
of the army in the monotony of
camp life, more especially as it
was lived during the years 1861,
'62, and '63, covers the subject-
matter treated in this chapter. I
do not expect it to be all new to
the outside public even, who have
attended the musters of the State
militia, and have witnessed some-
thing of the routine that is followed there. This routine
was the same in the Union armies in many respects, only
with the latter there was a reality about the business, which
nothing but stern war can impart, and which therefore makes
soldiering comparatively uninteresting in State camp - such,
at least, is the opinion of old campaigners.
The private soldiers in every arm of the service had many
experiences in common in camp life, so that it will not be
profitable to describe each in detail, but where the routine
differs I shall be more entertaining and exact by adhering to
the branch with which I am the most familiar, viz.: the light
164
A DAY IN CAMP.
165
artillery; and this I shall do, and, in so doing, shall narrate
not the routine of my own company alone, but essentially of
that branch of the service throughout the army as artillery-
men saw and lived it.
Beginning the army day, then, the first bugle-call blown
was one known in artillery tactics as the Assembly of Bu-
glers, to sound which the corporal or sergeant of the guard
would call up the bugler.
3
ASSEMBLY OF BUGLERS (artillery).
3
3
3
3
2
4
ASSEMBLY OF BUGLERS (infantry).
3
ܙܐ




It was sounded in summer about five o'clock, and in
winter at six. It was the signal to the men to get out of
their blankets and prepare for the morning roll-call, known
as Réveillé. At this signal, the hum of life could be heard
within the tents. "Put the bugler in the guard-house!"—
"Turn out!”—“All up!"—and other similar expressions,
mingled with yawns, groans, and exclamations of deep dis-
gust, formed a part of the response to this always unwelcome
summons. But as only the short space of fifteen minutes
was to intervene before the next call, the Assembly, would
be blown, the men had to bestir themselves. Most of
them would arise at once, do the little dressing that was
required, and perform or omit their toilet, according to the
inclination or habit or time of the individual.
166
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
A common mode of washing was for one man to pour
water from a canteen into the hands of his messmate, and
A CANTEEN WASH.
thus take turns; but this
method was practised most
on the march. In settled
camp, some men had a short
log scooped out for a wash-
basin. Some were not so par-
ticular about being washed
every day, and in the morn-
ing would put the time re-
quired for the toilet into
another "turn over" and
nap. As such men always
slept with their full uniform.
on, they were equivalent to

a kind of Minute Men, ready to take the field for roll-
call, or any other call, at a minute's notice.
ASSEMBLY (artillery).

3
4
ASSEMBLY (infantry).

1261
As soon as the Assembly sounded, the sight presented
was quite an interesting one. The men could be seen
emerging from their tents or huts, their toilet in various
stages of completion. Here was a man with one boot on,
and the other in his hand; here, one with his clothes but-
À DÀY ÎN CAMP.
167
toned in skips and blouse in hand, which he was putting on
as he went to the line; here was one with a blouse on;
there, one with his jacket or overcoat (unless uniformity of
dress on line was required — it was not always at the morn-
ing roll-calls, and in some companies never, only on inspec-
tions). Here and there was a man just about half awake,

FALL IN FOR ROLL-CALL.
having a fist at each eye, and looking as disconsolate and
forsaken as men usually do when they get from the bed
before the public at short notice.
Then, this roll-call was always a powerful cathartic on a
large number, who must go at once to the sinks, and let the
Rebel army wait, if it wanted to fight, until their return.
The exodus in that direction at the sounding of the assem-
bly was really quite a feature. All enlisted men in a com-
pany, except the guard and sick, must be present at this roll-
call, unless excused for good reasons. But as the shirks
always took pride in dodging it, their notice of intention
to be absent from it for any reason was looked at askance
by the sergeants of detachments. The studied agony that
these men would work not only into their features but their
168
ĦARD TACK AND COFFEË.
voice and even their gait would have been ludicrous in the
extreme, if frequent repetitions had not rendered it disgust-
ing; and the humorous aspect of these dodgers was not a
little enhanced by the appearance which they usually had of
having been dressed much as is a statue about to be dedi-
cated, which, at the signal, by the pulling of a single cord,
is instantly stripped of all its drapery and displayed in its
full glory.
Other touches, which old soldiers not artillerymen would
readily recognize as familiar, might be added to the scene.
presented in camp, when the bugle or the drum called the
men into line for the first time in the day. When at last
the line was formed, it was dressed by the orderly, now
called, I believe, first sergeant, and while at "Parade
Rest" the bugles blew.
2
RÉVEILLÉ.


D.C.

There were words improvised to many of these calls,
which I wish I could accurately remember. Those adapted
to Réveillé, in some regiments, ran as follows:-
I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up,
I can't get 'em up, I tell you.
I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up,
I can't get 'em up at all.
The corporal's worse than the private,
The sergeant's worse than the corporal,
A DAY IN CAMP.
169
The lieutenant's worse than the sergeant,
But the captain's worst of all.
I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up,
I can't get 'em up this morning;
I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up,
I can't get 'em up to-day.
These are more appropriate when applied to the infantry,
where the call was blown before the men came into line.
When the bugle ceased to sound, the orderly-sergeant of
a battery said, "Pay attention to Roll-call"; and the roll was
called by the six line or duty sergeants, each of whom had
charge of twenty-five men, more or less. These sergeants
then made their report of "all present or accounted for," or
whatever the report was, to the orderly-sergeant, who, in
turn, reported to the officer of the day in charge. If there
were no special orders to be issued for fatigue duty, or no
checks or rebukes or instructions to be given "for the good
of the order," the line was dismissed. Any men who were
absent without leave were quite likely to be put on the
Black List for their temerity.
Shortly after Réveillé, the buglers sounded forth the shrill
notes of
STABLE CALL.

Here are the words sung to this call:
Go to the stable, as quick as you're able,
And groom off your horses, and give them some corn;
For if you don't do it the captain will know it,
And then you will rue it, as sure as you're born.
FINE.
D.C.

170
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
This call summoned all the drivers in the company to
assemble at the grain pile with their pair of canvas nose-
bags, where the stable sergeant, so called (his rank was that
of a private, though he sometimes put on the airs of a brig-
adier-general), furnished each with the usual ration of grain,
either oats or corn. With this forage, and a curry-comb and

AT THE GRAIN PILE.
brush, they at once proceeded to the picket rope, where,
under the inspection of the six sergeants, supervised also
by the officer of the day and orderly, the horses were
thoroughly groomed. At a given signal, the grooming
ceased, and the nose-bags were strapped on. Sometimes
the feed was given while the grooming was in progress.
The only amusing phase of this duty that I now recall,
occurred when some luckless cannoneer, who would insist
that he did not know the difference between a curry-comb
and a curry of mutton, was detailed to minister to the
sanitary needs of some poor, unsavory, glanders-infected, or
greasy-heeled, or sore-backed, or hoof-rotten brute, that
could not be entirely neglected until he was condemned
by governmental authority. Now the cannoneers of a
battery, who constituted what was known as the Gun
Detachment, were an aristocracy.
an aristocracy. It is worthy of notice
A DAY IN CAMP.
171
that when artillery companies received their first outfit
of horses, there were always at least three men who wished
to be drivers to one who cared to serve as a cannoneer,
the prevailing idea among the uninitiated being that a
driver's position was a safer place in battle than that of
a cannoneer. I will only say, in passing this point, that
they were much disappointed at its exposures when they
came to the reality; but the cannoneers, taking the recog-
nized post of danger from choice, a post whose duties when
well executed were the most showy on parade, as well as
the most effective in action, upon whose coolness and cour-
age depended the safety not only of their own company
but often that of regiments, were nursed by these facts
into the belief that they rightfully outranked the rest of
the rank and file. The posturings and facial contortions of
a cannoneer, therefore, who cherished these opinions, when
called upon to perform such a task as I have specified, can
readily be imagined; if they cannot, I will only say that
they would have excited the risibilities of the most sympa-
thetic heart. The four-footed patients alluded to were
usually assigned to the charge of "Spare Men," that is, men
who were neither drivers nor members of the gun detach-
ments, who, by use, had come to fill the situation meekly
and gracefully. There was one service that a cannoneer
would occasionally condescend to do a driver. When the
army was on the march, a driver would sometimes get
weary of riding and ask a cannoneer to spell him while he
stretched his legs; and just to oblige him, you know, the
cannoneer would get into the saddle and ride two or three
miles, but beyond that he kept to his own sphere.
Following close upon the completion of stable duties
came Breakfast Call, when the men prepared and ate
their breakfast, or received their dipper of coffee and other
rations from the company cook-house. I can add nothing
in this connection to what I have already related in the
chapter on Rations.
172
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
BREAKFAST CALL (in artillery).
Allegro.

3
BREAKFAST CALL (in infantry).
Allegro.
At eight o'clock the bugler blew
SICK CALL (in artillery).
4
3
3
3
-3-
216


3-
·3
4
SICK CALL (in infantry).

Here are the words improvised to this call:
Dr. Jones says, Dr. Jones says:
Come and get your quin, quin, quin, quinine,
Come and get your quinine,
Q-u-i-n-i-n-e !!!
A DAY IN CAMP.
173
In response to this call, some who were whole and needed
not a physician, as well as those who were sick, reported at
the surgeon's tent for prescriptions. Much used to be said
by the soldiers in regard to the competency or incompetency
of army surgeons. It was well understood in war time that,
even though an examination of fitness was required of sur-
geons to secure an appointment in the army, at least in
some States, many charlatans, by some means, received
commissions. Such an examination had as much value as
those the medicine men made of recruits in '64 and '65, for
those who have occasion to remember will agree that a suffi-
cient number of men too old or diseased came to the front
in those years—no, they did not all get as far as the
front to fairly stock all the hospitals in the country. A
part of this showing must be charged to incompetent
physicians, and a part to the strait the government was in
for recruits. The appointment of incompetent surgeons,
on the other hand, is to be condoned in a government sorely
pressed for medical assistance, and all too indifferent, in its
strait, to the qualifications of candidates.
Nothing in this line of remark is to be construed as
reflecting on the great mass of army surgeons, who were
most assiduous workers, and whose record makes a most
creditable chapter in the history of the Rebellion. There
are incompetents in every class.
Every soldier who tried to do his duty, and only re-
sponded to sick-call when in the direst need, should have
received the most skilful treatment to be had; but a strict
regard for the facts compels the statement that a large num-
ber of those who waited upon the doctor deserved no better
treatment than the most ignorant of these men of medicine
were likely to administer. Yes, there were a few individuals
to be found, I believe, in every company in the service, who,
to escape guard or fatigue duty, would feign illness, and, if
possible, delude the surgeon into believing them proper
subjects for his tenderest care. Too often they succeeded,
174
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
and threw upon their own intimate associates the labors of
camp, which they themselves were able to perform, and
degraded their bodies by swallowing drugs, for the ailments
to which they laid claim. I can see to-day, after a lapse of
more than twenty years, these "beats on the government
emerging from their tents at sick-call in the traditional army
overcoat, with one hand tucked
into the breast, the collar up,
cap drawn down, one trousers-

FALL IN FOR YOUR QUININE."
leg hung up on the strap of a government boot, and a
pace slow and measured, appearing to bear as many of
the woes and ills of mankind as Landseer has depicted
in his "Scapegoat."
Sometimes the surgeons were shrewd enough to read
the frauds among the patients, in which case they often
gave them an unpalatable but harmless dose, and reported
them back for duty, or, perhaps, reported them back for
duty without prescription, at the same time sending an
advisory note to the captain of the company to be on the
lookout for them. It was, of course, a great disappointment
A DAY IN CAMP.
175
to these would-be shirkers to fail in their plans, but some of
the more persistent would stick to their programme, and, by
refusing food and taking but little exercise, would in a short
time make invalids of themselves in reality. There were
undoubtedly many men in the service who secured admis-
sion to the hospitals, and finally their discharge, by this
method; and some of these men, by such a course of action,
planted the seeds of real diseases, to which they long since
succumbed, or from which they are now sufferers.
I
I must hasten to say that this is not a burlesque on all
the soldiers who answered to sick-call. God forbid! The
genuine cases went with a different air from the shams.
can see some of my old comrades now, God bless them!
sterling fellows, soldiers to the core, stalwart men when
they entered the army, but, overtaken by disease, they
would report to sick-call, day after day, hoping for a
favorable change; yet, in spite of medicine and the nursing
of their messmates, pining away until at last they disap-
peared went to the hospitals, and there died. Oh, if
such men could only have been sent to their homes before
it was too late, where the surroundings were more congenial
and comfortable, the nursing tender, and more skilful, be-
cause administered by warmer hearts and the more loving
hands of mother, wife, or sister, thousands of these noble
souls could have been saved to the government and to
their families. But it was not to be, and so they wasted
away, manfully battling for life against odds, dying with
the names of dear ones on their lips, dear ones whose
presence at the death-bed was in so many cases impossible,
but dying as honorable deaths as if they had gone down
"With their back to the field and their feet to the foe."
This is one of the saddest pictures that memory brings
me from Rebellion days.
The proverbial prescription of the average army surgeon
was quinine, whether for stomach or bowels, headache or
176
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
toothache, for a cough or for lameness, rheumatism or fever
and ague. Quinine was always and everywhere prescribed
with a confidence and freedom which left all other medicines
far in the rear. Making all due allowances for exaggera-
tions, that drug was unquestionably the popular dose with
the doctors.
After Sick-Call came Water-Call, or
3·
WATERING CALL,

70
at which the drivers in artillery and the full rank and file of
the cavalry repaired to the picket-rope, and, taking their
horses, set out to water them. This was a very simple and

THE PICKET ROPE.
expeditious matter when the army was encamped near a
river, as it frequently was; but when it was not, the horses
were ridden from one-half a mile to two miles before a
stream or pond was found adequate to the purpose. It was
no small matter to provide the animals of the Army of the
Potomac with water, as can be judged from the following
figures: After Antietam McClellan had about thirty-eight
thousand eight hundred horses and mules. When the army
A DAY IN CAMP.
177
crossed the Rapidan into the Wilderness, in 1864, there were
fifty-six thousand four hundred and ninety-nine horses and
mules in it. Either of these is a large number to provide
with water. But of course they were not all watered at the
same pond or stream, since the army stretched across many
miles of territory. In the summer of 1864, the problem of
water-getting before Petersburg was quite a serious one for
man and beast. No rain had fallen for several weeks, and
the animals belonging to that part of the army which was at
quite a remove from the James and Appomattox Rivers had
to be ridden nearly two miles (such was the case in my own
company, at least; perhaps others went further) for water.
and then got only a warm, muddy, and stagnant fluid-that
had accumulated in some hollow. The soldiers were sorely
pressed to get enough to supply their own needs. They
would scoop out small holes in old water courses, and
patiently await a dipperfull of a warm, milky-colored fluid
to ooze from the clay, drop by drop. Hundreds wandered
through the woods and valleys with their empty canteens,
barely finding water enough to quench thirst. Even places
usually dank and marshy became dry and baked under the
continuous drought. But such a state of affairs was not to
be endured a great while by live, energetic Union soldiers;
and as the heavens continued to withhold the much needed
supply of water, shovels and pickaxes were forthwith diverted
from the warlike occupation of intrenching to the more
peaceful pursuit of well-digging, it soon being ascertained
that an abundance of excellent water was to be had ten
or twelve feet below the surface of the ground. These
wells were most of them dug broadest at the top and
with shelving sides, to prevent them from caving, ston-
ing a well being obviously out of the question. Old-
fashioned well-curbs and sweeps were then erected over
them, and man and beast were provided with excellent
water in camp.
Fatigue call was the next in regular order.
178
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Allegro.
3
FATIGUE CALL.
3
1-8
FATIGUE CALL (infantry).
3
3



The artillery were almost never detailed for fatigue duty
outside of their own company. The only exception now
occurring to me was when an artillery brigade headquar-
ters was established near by, and an occasional detail was
made and sent there for temporary service; but that was all.
Our camp fatigue duty consisted in policing or cleaning
camp, building stables, or perhaps I should more accurately
designate them if I called them shelters, for the horses and
mules, burying horses, getting wood and water, and wash-
ing gun-carriages and caissons for inspections.
This building of horse-shelters was at times no mean or
trivial enterprise, and sometimes employed a great many
men a great many days. When the army was on the
march, with no danger impending, the horses were unhar-
nessed and tied to the picket-rope. This was a rope about
two hundred feet long and two inches in diameter, which,
when the battery was drawn up in park, was hitched to the
outer hind wheel of a caisson on one flank of the battery,
and then carried through the hind wheels and over the
ammunition-chests of the intervening caissons and made
fast to a hind wheel of the caisson on the other flank.
A DAY IN CAMP.
179
In camp, a different plan was adopted. If it was in the
open, a line of posts was set at intervals, such as would
keep the rope from sagging low, and to them it was secured.
The earth for ten feet on either side was then thrown up
beneath like a well graded street, so as to drain off readily.
Sometimes the picket was established in the edge of woods,
in which case the rope ran from tree to tree. In summer
camp a shelter of boughs was constructed over the picket.
In winter, a wall of pine-boughs was set up around, to fend
off bleak winds. Now and then, one was roofed with a
thatch of confiscated straw; and I remember of seeing one
nearly covered with long clapboard-like shingles, which
were rifted out of pine-logs.
The character and stability of all such structures
depended largely upon the skill displayed by regimental
and company commanders in devising means to keep
men employed, and on the tenure of a company's stay
in a place. But at this late day I fail to recall a single
instance where the men called a meeting and gave public
expression to their gratitude and appreciation in a vote
of thanks for the kind thoughtfulness displayed by said
commanders. In fact, not this alone but all varieties of
fatigue were accompanied in their doing with no end of
growling.
It was aggravating after several days of exhausting labor,
of cutting and carting and digging and paving, — for some
of the "high-toned" commanders had the picket paved
with cobble-stones, to have boot-and-saddle call blown,
summoning the company away, never to return to that
camp, but to go elsewhere and repeat their building opera-
tions. It was the cheapest kind of balm to a company's
feelings, where so much of love's—or rather unwilling
labor had been lost, to see another company appear, just as
the first was leaving, and literally enter into the labors of
the former, taking quiet and full possession of everything
left behind. Yet such was one of the inevitable concomi-
180
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
tants of war, and so used did the men become to such
upsettings of their calculations that twenty-four hours suf
ficed, as a rule, to wipe out all yearnings for what so
recently had been.
I will add a few words in this connection in regard to the
mortality of horses. Those who have not looked into the
matter have the idea that actual combat was the chief
source of the destruction of horseflesh. But, as a matter
of fact, that source is probably not to be credited with one-
tenth of the full losses of the army in this respect. It is to
be remembered that the exigencies of the service required
much of the brutes in the line of hard pulling, exposure,
and hunger, which conspired to use them up very rapidly;
but the various diseases to which horses are subject largely
swelled the death list. Every few weeks a veterinary sur-
geon would look over the sick-list of animals, and prescribe
for such as seemed worth saving or within the reach of
treatment, while others would be condemned, led off, and
shot. To bury these, and those dying without the aid of
the bullet, I have shown, was a part of the fatigue duty of
artillerymen and cavalrymen.
The procuring of wood was often a task involving no
little labor for all arms of the military service. At Brandy
Station, Virginia, before the army left there on the 3d of
May, 1864, some commands were obliged to go four or five
miles for it. The inexperienced can have little idea of how
rapidly a forest containing many acres of heavy growth
would disappear before an army of seventy-five or a hun-
dred thousand men camped in and about it. The scarcity
of wood was generally made apparent by this fact, that
when an army first went into camp trees were cut with the
scarf two or three feet above the ground, but as the scarcity
increased these stumps would get chipped down often below
a level with the ground.
After fatigue call the next business, as indicated by the
drum or army bugle, was to respond to
A DAY IN CAMP.
181
DRILL CALL (artillery).
Allegro.

4
D
4
24-
DRILL CALL (infantry).

I will anticipate a little by saying that the last drill of
any kind in which my own company engaged took place
among the hills of Stevensburg, but a day or two before
the army started into the Wilderness in '64. From that
time until the close of the war batteries were kept in con-
stant motion, or placed in the intrenchments on siege duty,
thus putting battery drill out of the question; such at least
was the fact with light batteries attached to the various
army corps. The Artillery Reserve, belonging to the Army
of the Potomac, may have been an exception to this. I
have no information in regard to it.
The artillery, like the infantry, had its squad drill, but, as
the marchings and facings were of only trifling importance,
there was an insignificant amount of time spent on them.
The drivers were usually exempted from drill of this kind,
the cannoneers of the gun detachments doing enough of
it to enable them, while drilling the standing-gun drill, so
called, — a drill without horses, to get from line into
·
182
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
versa.
their respective stations about the gun and limber, and vice
But long after this drill became obsolete and almost
forgotten, the men seemed never to be at a loss to find their
proper posts whenever there was need of it.
So far as I know, artillerymen never piqued themselves.
on their skill in marchings by platoons, keeping correct
alignment meanwhile, whether to the front, the rear, ob-
liquely, or in wheelings. Indeed, I remember this part of
their schooling as rather irksome to them, regarding it as
they did, whether rightfully or wrongfully, as ornamental
and not essential. It undoubtedly did contribute to a more
correct military bearing and soldierly carriage of the body,
and, in a general way, improved military discipline: but
these advantages did not always appear to the average
member of the rank and file, and, when they did, were
not always appreciated at their worth.
The drill of light-artillerymen in the school of the piece
occupied a considerable time in the early history of each
company. Before field movements could be undertaken,
and carried out either with much variety or success, it
was indispensable for the cannoneers and drivers to be
fully acquainted with their respective duties; and not only
was each man drilled in the duties of his own post, but in
those of every other man as well. The cannoneers must
know how to be drivers, and the drivers must have some
knowledge of the duties of cannoneers. This qualified a
man to fill not only any other place than his own when a
vacancy occurred, but another place with his own if need
came. This education included a knowledge of the ordi-
nary routine of loading and firing, the ability to estimate
distances with tolerable accuracy, cut fuses, take any part
in the dismounting and mounting of the piece and carriage,
the transfer of limber-chests, the mounting of a spare wheel
or insertion of a spare pole, the slinging of the gun under
the limber in case a piece-wheel should be disabled; even
all the parts of the harness must be known by cannoneer as
A DAY IN ČAMP.
183
well as driver, so that by the time a man had graduated
from this school he was possessed of quite a liberal military
education.
Doing this sort of business over and over again, day after
day, got to be quite tedious, but it all helped to pass away
the three years. One part of this instruction was quite
interesting, particularly if the exercise was a match against
time, or if there was competition between detachments or
sections; this was the dismounting and remounting the
piece and carriage. In this operation each man must know
his precise place, and fit into it as accurately as if he were
a part of a machine. This was absolutely necessary, in
order to secure facility and despatch. In just the measure
that he realized and lived up to this duty, did his gun
detachment succeed in reducing the time of the exercise.
One gun's crew in my company worked with such speed,
strength, unanimity, and precision, that they reduced the
time for performing this manoeuvre, including loading and
firing, to forty-nine seconds. Other batteries may have
done even better. The guns we then used were the steel
Rodmans, weighing something over eight hundred pounds,
and four of us could toss them about pretty much at will.
I say four of us, because just four were concerned in the
lifting of the gun. We could not have handled the brass
Napoleons with equal readiness, for they are somewhat
heavier.
After cannoneers and drivers came to be tolerably familiar
with the school of the piece, field manœuvres with the bat-
tery began. The signal which announced this bit of "en-
tertainment for man and beast" is known to Army Regula-
tions as
BOOTS AND Saddles,

3
-3-
3
184
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
a call whose tones at a later period sent the blood of artil-
lerymen and cavalrymen coursing more rapidly through the
veins when it denoted that danger was nigh, and seeking
encounter.
Battery drill was an enterprise requiring ample territory.
When the vicinity of the camp would not furnish it, the
battery was driven to some place that would. If cannoneers
as a class were more devout than the other members of a
light-artillery company, it must have been because they
were stimulated early in their military career to pray to
pray that the limits of the drill-ground should be so con-
tracted that the battery could not be cantered up and down
a plain more than half a mile in extent, with cannoneers
dismounted and strung along in the rear at intervals varying
with their running capacity or the humor of the command-
ing officer; or, if mounted, clutching at the handles or edge
of the limber-chest, momently expecting to be hurled head-
long as the carriages plunged into an old sink or tent ditch
or the gutter of an old company street, or struck against a
stump or stone with such force as to shake the ammunition
in the chests out of its packing, making it liable to explode
from the next concussion — at least so feared the more timid
of the cannoneers, when their fears of being thrown off
were quieted so that they could think of anything else.
On such occasions they appreciated the re-enforced trousers
peculiar to artillerymen, and wished government had been
even more liberal in that direction. But this mental state
of timidity soon wore off, and the men came to feel more at
home while mounted on these noisiest and hardest-riding of
vehicles; or else sulked in the rear, with less indifference
to consequences.
Notwithstanding the monotony that came of necessity to
be inseparable from them, battery drills were often exhila-
rating occasions. It was in the nature of things for them
to be so, as when the artillery in action moved at all it must
needs move promptly. A full six-gun battery going across
A DAY IN CAMP.
185
a plain at a trot is an animated spectacle. To see it quietly
halted, then, at the command, "Fire to the rear. Caissons
pass your pieces-trot-march. In Battery," break into
moving masses, is a still more animated and apparently
confused scene, for horses and men seem to fly in all
directions. But the apparent confusion is only brief, for
in a moment the guns are seen unlimbered in line, the
cannoneers at their posts, and the piece-limbers and cais-
sons aligned at their respective distances in the rear.
There was an excitement about this turmoil and despatch
which I think did not obtain in any other branch of the
service. The rattle and roar was more like that which is
heard in a cotton-factory or machine-shop than anything
else with which I can compare it. The drill of a light bat-
tery possessed much interest to outsiders, when well done..
It was not unusual, when the drill-ground was in proximity
to an infantry camp, for the men to look on by hundreds.
To see six cannons, with their accompanying six caissons,
sped by seventy-two horses across the plain at a lively pace,
the cannoneers either mounted or in hot pursuit, suddenly
halt at the bugle signal, and in a moment after appear
"In Battery" belching forth mimic thunder in blank car-
tridge at a rapid rate, and in the next minute "limbered
up" and away again to another part of the field, was a
sight full of interest and spirit to the unaccustomed be-
holder; and if, as sometimes happened, there was a com-
pany of cavalry out on drill, to engage in a sham fight with
the battery, a thrilling and exciting scene ensued, which
later actual combats never superseded in memory; for while
the cavalry swept down on the guns at a gallop, with
sabres flashing in the air, the cannoneers with guns loaded
with blank cartridges, of course, stand rigid as death await-
ing the onset, until they are within a few rods of the
battery. Then the lanyards are pulled, and the smoke,
belched suddenly forth, completely envelops both parties
to the bloodless fray.
186
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
As the drilling of a battery was done for the most part
by sounding the commands upon a bugle, it became neces-
sary for cannoneers and drivers to learn the calls; and this
they did after a short experience. Even the horses became
perfectly familiar with some of these calls, and would pro-
ceed to execute them without the intervention of a driver.
Cavalry horses, too, exhibited great sagacity in interpreting
bugle signals.
Sometimes the lieutenants who were chiefs of sections
were sent out with their commands for special drill. A
section comprised two guns with their caissons. There was
little enthusiasm in this piecemeal kind of practice, espe-
cially after familiarity and experience in the drill of the full
battery; but it performed a part in making the men self-
possessed and expert in their special arm of the service.
Beyond that, it gave men and horses exercise, and appetite
for government food, which, without the exercise, would
have been wanting, to a degree at least, and occupied time
that would otherwise have been devoted to the soldier's
pastime of grumbling.
At twelve o'clock the Dinner Call was sounded.
3
2
4
3.
3.
2
-4-
DINNER CALL.

DINNER CALL (infantry).
3
3-
-3

3

·3

3
3
3-
3
·3-
3
A DAY IN CAMP.
187
I can add nothing of interest here beyond what I have
already presented in my talk on rations.
There was nothing in the regular line of duty in light ar-
tillery for afternoons which could be called routine, although
there was more or less standing-gun drill for cannoneers
early in the service. In the infantry, battalion drill often.
occupied the time. The next regular call for a battery was
Water Call, sounded at four o'clock, or perhaps a little later.
On the return of the horses Stable Call was again blown,
and the duties of the morning, under this call, repeated.
At about 5.45 P. M., Attention was blown, soon to be
followed by the Assembly, when the men fell in again for
Retreat roll-call.
4
2
4
2
£4
कब क
D
RETREAT.

26
2/6
188
ĦARD TACK AND COFFEE.
The music for this was arranged in three parts, and when
there were three bugles to blow it the effect was quite pleas-
ing. The name Retreat was probably given this call because

ה
audima
GOING TO WATER.
it came when there was a general retiring from the duties of
the day. This roll-call corresponded with the Dress Parade
of the infantry. Uniformity of dress was a necessity at this
time with the latter, and quite generally too in the artillery;
but the commanders of batteries differed widely in taste and
military discipline. A company of soldiers was what its
captain made it. Some were particular, others were not,
but all should have been in this matter of dress for at least
one roll-call in the day. At this parade all general orders
were read, with charges, specifications, and findings of courts-
martial, etc., so that the name of E. D. Townsend, Assistant
Adjutant-General, became a household word. At this time,
too, lectures on the shortcomings of the company were in
order. The lecturer employed by the government to do
this was usually the officer of the day, though now and
then the captain would spell him. A lecturer of this kind
had two great advantages over a lecturer in civil life; first,
he was always sure of an audience, and, second, he could
A DAY IN CAMP.
189
None of them left
Now and then an
hold their attention to the very close.
while the lecture was in progress.
orderly-sergeant would try his hand in the lecture field,
but unless he was protected by the presence of a pair of
shoulder-straps he was quite likely to be coughed or groaned
down, or in some other way discouraged from repeating the
effort.
The shortcomings alluded to were of a varied character.
I think I mentioned some of them in the chapter on punish-
ments. Sometimes the text was the general delinquency of
the men in getting into line; sometimes it was a rebuke for
being lax in phases of discipline; the men were not suffi-
ciently respectful to superior officers, did not pay the requi-
site attention to saluting, had too much back talk, were too
boisterous in camp, too untidy in line. These, and twenty
other allied topics, all having a bearing on the characteris-
tics essential in the make-up of a good soldier, were preached
upon with greater or less unction and frequency, as circum-
stances seemed to require, or the standard in a given com-
pany demanded.
After the dismission of the line, guard-mounting took
place; but this in the artillery was a very simple matter.
The guard at once formed on the parade line were assigned
to their reliefs, and dismissed till wanted. Sometimes the
guard-mounting took place in the morning, as did that of
the infantry. The neatest and most soldierly appearing
guardsman was selected as captain's orderly. But guard-
mounting in light artillery was not always thus simple.
Camp Barry, near Washington, was used as a school of
instruction for light batteries, for a period of at least three
years. During the greater part of this time there were ten
or a dozen batteries there on an average. Under one of its
commandants, at least, a brigade guard-mounting was held
at eight o'clock A. M., and here members of my company re-
sponded to the bugle-call known as the "Assembly of
Guard," for the first and last time.
190
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
3-
ASSEMBLY OF GUARD.

3
It ran as
The infantry bugle-call for the same purpose was more
familiar, as it was heard daily for months.
follows:


2
4
This call was immediately followed by other music, either
a brass band or a fife-and-drum corps, to which the details.
from the various companies marched out on to the color-
line, where the usual formalities ensued, such in substance
as may be seen at a muster to-day. The guard necessary in
a single company of artillery was so small that the call with
the bugle was rarely if ever sounded, at least in volunteer
companies. A detail of cannoneers stood guard over the
guns night and day, and over the cook-house and quarter-
master's stores at night, and sometimes there was one posted
in front of company headquarters. A detail of drivers, also,
went on duty at night at the picket-rope, to assure that the
horses were kept tied and not stolen by marauding cavalry-
men.
In the safe rear, where, as the men used to say, the officers
were wont to sit up late at night burning out government
candles, while they devised ways and means to keep the
men exercised as well as exorcised, a guard tent was pitched
in front of the camp, in which the guard were compelled to
A DAY IN CAMP.
191
stay when off post, much to their disgust sometimes; but
when the company or regiment was in line along the glorious
front, that unpopular lodging-house was abandoned, and each
guardsmen slept in his own quarters, on his own army
feather-bed, whither the corporal of the guard must come
for his victim in the silent hours when that victim was
wanted to go on post.
With the infantry, guard-mounting took place in the
morning at eight o'clock. The guard was divided into
three equal portions, called reliefs, first, second, and third.
each relief being on post two hours and off four, thus serv-
ing eight hours out of the twenty-four. With all the irk-
someness of the detail, the guardsman enjoyed a temporary
triumph as such, for on that day, at least, he could snap his
fingers at roll-calls and all calls for fatigue duty in short,
was an independent gentleman within certain limits.
I have stated it to have been the duty of the corporal of
the guard to seek out the members of the various reliefs in
their quarters, when the time came for them to go on post.
There was more or less of lively incident attending these ex-
plorations not, however, with the sanction of the corporal,
to whom the liveliness was anything but amusing. Your
corporal of the guard was up to the average of ordinary
officers in intelligence, and, as he was just started on the
ladder of promotions, fully intended to do his whole duty at
least; and so he was wont to prepare himself for his nightly
rounds by obtaining such a knowledge of the local geography
of the camp as would enable him to arouse and assemble his
guard with the least inconvenience to himself and the least
commction to the camp. But the best laid plans of corpo-
rals of the guard would frequently "gang agley,” even
though they used every precaution, and so it was the rule
rather than the exception for him to get into the wrong
tent, and, after waking up all the inmates and getting the
profane to swearing, and all to abusing him for his stupid
intrusion, to retreat in as good order as possible and try
192
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
again. The next time perhaps he would get into the right
one, and, after scrutinizing his list of the guard once more,
call out the name of Smith, for example. No answer.

AL
STOCKADED SIBLEY TENTS.
There was a kind of deafness generated in the service,
which was almost epidemic among guardsmen, especially
night guard; at least, such seemed to be the case, for the
man that was wanted to go out and take his post was inva-
riably the last one in the tent to be awakened by the
summons of the corporal; and long before that waking
moment came, the corporal had as aids on his staff all these
self-same inmates who had been victims to the assumed
deafness of the man sought, and whose voices now fur-
nished no mean chorus to the corporal's refrain.
Sometimes, when the knight of the double chevron was
a man of retiring and quiet demeanor, he would save his
lungs and make an effort to find his man by stepping inside
the tent, and flashing the light of his army candle from the
open side of his tin lantern upon the features of each of the
A DAY IN CAMP.
193
slumberers until he came to his victim, when he would shake
him by the shoulder and arouse him. The only drawback to
this method occurred when the reflections of the corporal woke
up the wrong man, who, if he happened to be one of those
explosive creatures whom I have before mentioned, was not
always complimentary to the intruder in his use of language.
Once in a while, in making his midnight rounds, when
calling the name of one of his guard through the door of
the stockade, the corporal would be politely directed by
some one from within, perhaps the very man he wanted,
to "Next tent below"; and many a time this officer suc-
ceeded in getting such an innocent and unsuspecting house-
hold completely by the ears before being convinced of the
joke which had been played on him, when he would return
to the first tent in no enviable humor; for meanwhile the
men to be relieved were chafing and sputtering away at the
non-appearance of the corporal and the relief. I think there
was no one minor circumstance which vexed soldiers more
than tardy relief from their posts, for every minute that
they waited after the expiration of their allotted time
seemed to them at least ten; so that the reception which
the corporal and relief received when they did arrive was
likely to be far from fraternal.
Speaking of the corporal of the guard reminds me of a
snatch of a song which used to be sung in camp to the tune
of "When Johnny comes marching home." Here is the
fragment:-
My Johnny he now a Corporal is!
Hurrah! Hurrah!
My Johnny he now a Corporal is,
You bet he knows his regular biz,
And we'll all feel gay, etc.
At 8.30 P. M., the bugle again sounded "Attention," fol-
lowed by the "Assembly," about five minutes afterwards,
and the tumbling-out of the company from their evening
sociables, to form in line for the final roll-call of the day,
known as Tattoo.
194
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
TATTOO.

126
ཤིས་
But this was Tattoo in the artillery. A somewhat more
inspiriting call was that of the infantry, which gave the
bugler quite full scope as a soloist. Here it is: -

D



A DAY IN CAMP.
195
Ere the last tone had died away, we could hear, when
camped near enough to the infantry for the purpose, a very
comical medley of names and responses coming from the
several company streets of the various regiments within
ear-shot. It was "Jones!"-" Brown!"-"Smith!"" Joe
Smith!""Green!"-" Gray!"-" O'Neil!"-"O'Reilly!"
-"O'Brien!" and so on through the nationalities, only
that the names were intermingled.
were intermingled. Then, the responses
were replete with character. I believe it to be among the
abilities of a man of close observation to write out quite
at length prominent characteristics of an entire company,
by noting carefully the manner in which the men answer
"Here!" at roll-call. Every degree of pitch in the gamut
was represented. Every degree of force had its exponent.
Some answered in a low voice, only to tease the sergeant,
and roar out a second answer when called again. There
were upward slides and downward slides, guttural tones
and nasal tones. Occasionally, some one would answer for
a messmate, who was absent without leave, and take his
chances of being detected in the act. Darkness gave cover
to much good-natured knavery.
Tattoo was blown in artillery with the company at “Pa-
rade Rest," as at Réveillé. The roll-call and reports followed
just as before, and the company was then dismissed. Well
do I recall, after the lapse of more than twenty years, the
melodious tones of this little bit of army music coming to
our ears so consecutively from various parts of the army as
to make continuous vibrations for nearly fifteen minutes,
softened and sweetened by varying distances, as more than
a thousand bugles gave tongue to the still and clear evening
air, telling us that in the time specified a hundred thousand
men had come out of their rude temporary homes possibly
the last ones they would ever occupy-to respond to their
names, and give token that, though Nature's pall had now
overshadowed the earth, they were yet loyally at their posts
awaiting further orders for their country's service.
196
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
After this roll-call was over, the men had half an hour in
which to make their beds, put on their nightcaps, and adjust
themselves for sleep, as at nine o'clock Taps was sounded,
which in the artillery ran as follows:-
TAPS.


44
In the infantry, the bugle-call for Taps was identical with
the Tattoo call in artillery. At its conclusion a drummer
beat a few single, isolated taps, which closed the army day.
At this signal all lights must be put out, all talking and
other noises cease, and every man, except the guard, be
inside his quarters. In a previous chapter I think I stated
that the Black List caught the men who violated this regu-
lation. Some officers enforced it with greater rigidity than
others, but all must have a quiet camp.
Yet here, as
elsewhere, rank interposed to shield culprits from violations.
of military regulations, and, while the private soldier was
punished for burning his candle or talking to his messmate
after the bugle-signal, general, field, staff, or line officers
could and did get together and carouse, and make the night
turbulent with their revelry into the small hours, with no
one to molest or call them to an account for it, although
making tenfold the disturbance ever caused by the high
private after hours.
Taps ended the army day for all branches of the service,
and, unless an alarm broke in upon the stillness of the night,
the soldiers were left to their slumbers; or, what was oftener
the case, to meditations on home; the length of time in
months and days they must serve before returning thither;
their prospects of surviving the vicissitudes of war; of the
A DAY IN CAMP.
197
boys who once answered roll-call with them, now camped
over across the Dark River; or of plans for business, or
social relations to be entered upon, if they should survive
the war.
All these, and a hundred other topics which fur-
nished abundant field for air-castle-building, would chase one
another through the mind of the soldier-dreamer, till his
brain would grow weary, his eyes heavy, and balmy sleep
would softly steal him away from a world of trouble into
the realm of sweet repose and pleasant dreams.

TAPS
CHAPTER X.
RAW RECRUITS.
She asked for men, and up he spoke, my handsome and hearty Sam,
"I'll die for the dear old Union, if she'll take me as I am":
And if a better man than he there's mother that can show,
From Maine to Minnesota, then let the people know.
1 1 1 77
LUCY LARCOM.

ANY facts bearing upon the subject
of this sketch have been already
presented in the opening chapter,
but much more remains to be told,
and the reader will pardon me, I
trust, for now injecting a little.
bit of personal history to illustrate
what thousands of young men were
doing at that time, and had been
doing for months, as it leads up
directly to the theme about to be
considered.
-
After I had obtained the reluctant consent of my father
to enlist, my mother never gave hers, the next step nec-
essary was to make selection of the organization with which
to identify my fortunes. I well remember the to me eventful
August evening when that decision to enlist was arrived at.
The Union army, then under McClellan, had been driven from
before Richmond in the disastrous Peninsular campaign, and
now the Rebel army, under General Lee, was marching on
Washington. President Lincoln had issued a call for three
198
RAW RECRUITS.
199
hundred thousand three-years' volunteers. One evening,
shortly after this call was made, I met three of my former
school-mates and neighbors in the chief village of the town
I then called home, and, after a brief discussion of the out-
look, one of the quartette challenged, or "stumped," the
others to enlist. The challenge was promptly accepted all
around, and hands were shaken to bind the agreement. I
will add in passing, that three of the four stood by that
agreement; the fourth was induced by increased wages to
remain with his employer, although he entered the service
later in the war, and bears a shell scar on his face to
attest his honorable service.
After the decision had been reached, not to be revoked on
my part as I fully determined, I returned to my home, and
either that night or the next morning informed my father of
the resolution I had taken. Instead of interposing an
emphatic objection, as he had done the previous year,
he said, in substance, "Well, you know I do not want
you to go, but it is very evident that a great many more
must go, and if you have fully determined upon it I shall
not object.”
Having already determined upon the arm of the service
which I should enter, accompanied by three other acquaint-
ances of the same opinion, two of them the school-fellows
mentioned, I started for Cambridge, with a view of seeing
Captain Porter, who was then at home recruiting for the
First Massachusetts Battery, which he commanded, and
enlisting with him, as there were at least two men in his
company who were fellow-townsmen. But we were much
disappointed when the Captain informed us that his com-
pany was now recruited to the number required. However,
we directed our steps back to Boston without delay, and
there, in the second story of the Old State House, enlisted in
a new organization then rapidly filling.
Here is a copy of a certificate, still in my possession, which
I was to present on enlisting. It tells its own story.
200
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
VOLUNTEER ENLISTMENT.
STATE OF
I,
TOWN OF
in the State of
born in
aged
years,
DO HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE to have
day of
18
and by occupation a
volunteered this
to serve as a Soldier in the Army of the United States of America, for
the period of THREE YEARS, unless sooner discharged by proper
authority: Do also agree to accept such bounty, pay, rations, and
clothing, as are, or may be, established by law for volunteers. And
I,
do solemnly swear, that I will bear
true faith and allegiance to the United States of America,
and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their
enemies or opposers whomsoever; and that I will observe and
obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the
orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the Rules
and Articles of War.
Sworn and subscribed to, at
this
BEFORE
day of
18
I CERTIFY, ON HONOR, That I have carefully examined the above
named Volunteer, agreeably to the General Regulations of the Army, and
that in my opinion he is free from all bodily defects and mental infirmity,
which would, in any way, disqualify him from performing the duties of a
soldier.
EXAMINING SURGEON..
I CERTIFY, ON HONOR, That I have minutely inspected the Vol-
unteer,
previously to his enlistment, and that he was
entirely sober when enlisted; that, to the best of my judgment and
belief, he is of lawful age; and that, in accepting him as duly qualified to
perform the duties of an able-bodied soldier, I have strictly observed the
Regulations which govern the recruiting service. This soldier has
eyes,
hair,
complexion, is
Regiment of
feet
inches high.
Volunteers.
RECRUITING Officer.
RAW RECRUITS.
201
No.
शु,
ì
DECLARATION OF RECRUIT.
to VOLUNTEER as a Soldier in the Army of the United States, for the term of
THREE YEARS, Do Declare, That I am
years and
months
of age; That I have never been discharged from the United States service on account of
disability or by sentence of a court-martial, or by order before the expiration of a term
of enlistment; and I know of no impediment to my serving honestly and faithfully as a
soldier for three years.
Witness:
Volunteered at.
18
GIVEN at
The
By
Regiment of
day of
enlistment; last served in Company ( )
Reg't of
Discharged.
18
I,
CONSENT IN CASE OF MINOR.
that the said
DO CERTIFY, That I am the father of
is
years of age; and I do hereby freely
give my CONSENT to his volunteering as a SOLDIER IN THE ARMY OF THE UNITED
STATES for the period of THREE YEARS.
GIVEN at
Witness:
the
day of
186.
desiring
202
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
How often in later years did the disappointment I experi-
enced at not obtaining membership in the company I at first
decided upon recur to me, and how grateful I always felt for
the fate which thus controlled my enlistment. For the lot
of a recruit in an old company was, at the best, not an envi-
able one, and sometimes was made very disagreeable for
him. He stood in much the same relation to the veterans
of his company that the Freshman in college does to the
Sophomores, or did when hazing was the rule and not the
exception. It is to be remembered that he was utterly
devoid of experience in everything which goes to make up
the soldier, the details of camping, cooking, drilling, march-
ing, fighting, etc., which put him at a disadvantage on all
occasions. For this reason he easily became the butt of a
large number of his company
not all, for there were some
men who were ever ready to extend sympathy and furnish
information to him, when they saw it was needed, and did
what they could to raise him to the same general plane
occupied by the old members. But many of the veterans
seemed to forget how they themselves obtained their army
education little by little, and so ofttimes bore down o
recruits with great severity.
In the later years of the war, when large bounties were
being paid by town, city, and State governments, to encour-
age enlistments, these recruits were often addressed as
"bounty-jumpers" by the evil disposed among the old
members. But that term was a misnomer, unless these
men proved later that they were deserving of it, for a
- who
bounty-jumper was a man- I hate to call him one
enlisted only to get the bounty, and deserted at the ear-
liest opportunity.
Recruits, it should be said, as a class, stood the abuse
which was heaped upon them with much greater serenity
of temper than they should have done, and, indeed, so
anxious were they to win favor with the veterans, and
to earn the right to be called and pass for old soldiers,
RAW RECRUITS.
203
that they generally bore indignities without turning upon
their assailants. The term "recruit" in the mouth of a
veteran was a very reproachful one, but after one good
brush with the enemy it was dropped, if the new men
behaved well under fire. In fact, those who abused the
recruits most were themselves, as a rule, the most unreliable
in action and the greatest shirks when on camp duty.

A WOOD DETAIL.
When a detail made up of recruits and veterans was sent
with the wagons for wood, the recruits would be patted
on the back by their wily associates, and cajoled into doing
most of the chopping, and then challenged to lift the
heaviest end of the logs into the wagons, which they
seldom refused to do. In the artillery, it usually fell to
their lot to care for the spare and used-up horses, not
from any intention of imposing upon them, but because
cannoneers and drivers had their regular tasks to perform,
and all recruits entering the artillery began as spare men,
and worked up from the position of private to that of the
highest private-a cannoneer.
204
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
解
​They always came to camp "flush" with money, and
received every encouragement from the bummers of the
company to spend it freely; if they did not do this, they
were in a degree ostracised, and their lot made much
harder. When their boxes of goodies arrived from home,
the lion's share went to the old hands. If the recruit did
not give it to them, the meanest of them would steal it
when he was away on detail.
Then, all sorts of games were played on recruits by men
who liked nothing so well as a practical joke. I recall the
case of a young man in my own company who had just
arrived, and, having been to the quartermaster for his outfit
of clothing and equipments, was asked by one of the prac-
tical jokers why he did not get his umbrella.
"Do they furnish an umbrella?" he asked.
66
Why, certainly," said his persecutor, unblushingly. "It's
just like that fraud of a quartermaster to jew a recruit out
of a part of his outfit, to sell for his own benefit. Go back
and demand your umbrella of him, and a good one too!"
And the poor beguiled recruit returned to the quarter-
master in high dudgeon at the imagined attempt to swindle
him, only to find, after a little breeze, that he had been
victimized by one of the practical jokers of the camp.
There were at least two kinds of recruits to be found in
every squad that arrived in camp. One of these classes
was made up of modest, straightforward men, who accepted
their new situation with its deprivations gracefully, and
brought no sugar-plums to camp with which to ease their
entrance into stern life on government fare and the hard-
ships of government service. They wore the government
clothing as it was furnished them, from the unshapely, un-
comely forage cap to the shoddy, inelastic sock. It mat-
tered naught to them that the limited stock of the quarter-
master furnished nothing that fitted them. They accepted
what he tendered cheerfully, believing it to be all right, and
seemed as happy and as much at ease in a wilderness of
RAW RECRUITS.
205
overcoat and breeches as others did who had been artisti-
cally renovated by the company tailor. But they were
none the less ludicrous and unsoldierly sights to look upon

RECRUITS IN UNIFORM.
in such rigs, and after a while would see themselves as
others saw them, and "spruce up" somewhat.
These men drew their army rations to the full, not slight-
ing the "salt horse," which I have intimated was rarely
taken by old soldiers. They found no fault when detailed
for fatigue duty, were always ready to learn, and in every
way seemed anxious only to do the proper thing to be done,
hoping by such a course to win a speedy and easy ascent to
the plane of importance occupied by the veterans; and this
course undoubtedly did much to give them caste in the eyes
of the latter.
Unlike these men in many particulars was the other class
of recruits. This latter class was not modest or retiring in
demeanor. Its members came to camp in a uniform calcu-
lated to provoke impertinent remarks from the old vets.
Their caps were from the store of a professional hatter, and
the numbers and emblem on the crown were of silver and
gilt instead of homely brass. Their clothing was generally
:
206
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
ustom-made. The pantaloons in particular were not only
made to fit well, but were of the finest material obtainable,
much unlike the government shoddy which covered the old
veteran, and through whose meshes peas of ordinary calibre
would almost rattle.
Then, their boots! such masterpieces of elegance and
extravagance! Of the cavalry pattern, reaching above the
knee, almost doing away with the necessity for pantaloons,
sometimes of plain grained leather, sometimes of enamelled,
elaborately stitched and stamped, but always seeming to
mark their occupant as a man of note and distinction
among his comrades. They seemed a sort of fortification.
about their owner, protecting him from too close contact
with his vulgar surroundings. Alas! it never required
more than one day's hard march in these dashing appen-
dages to humble their possessor so much that he would
evacuate in as good order as possible when camp was
reached, if not compelled to before.
Their underwear was such as the common herd did not
use in service. Their shirts were "boiled," that is, white
ones, or, if woollen, were of some "loud" checkered pat-
tern, only less conspicuous than the flag which they had
sworn to defend. In brief, their general make-up would
have stamped them as military "dudes," had such a class
of creatures been then extant. Of course, it was their
privilege to wear whatever did not conflict with Army
Regulations, but I am giving the impressions they made
on the minds of the old soldiers.
As for government rations, they scoffed at them so long
as there was a dollar of bounty left, and a sutler within
reach of camp to spend it with. But when the treasury
was exhausted they were disconsolate indeed, and wished
that the wicked war was over, with all their hearts. On
fatigue duty they were useless at first, and the old soldiers
made their lot an unhappy one; but by dint of bulldozing
and an abundance of hard service, most of them got their
RAW RECRUITS.
207
fine sentimental notions pretty well knocked out before
they had been many weeks in camp. The sergeants into
whose hands they were put for instruction did not spare
them, keeping them hard at work until the recall from drill.
It was fun in the artillery to see one of these dainty men,
on his first arrival, put in charge of a pair of spare horses,
-spare enough, too, usually. It was expected of him that
he would groom, feed, and
water them. As it often
happened that such a man
had had no experience in
the care of horses, he would
naturally approach the sub-
ject with a good deal of
awe. When the Watering
Call blew, therefore, and
the bridles and horses were
pointed out to him by the
sergeant, the fun began.
Taking the bridle, he would
look first at it, then at the horse, as if in doubt which end
of him to put it on. In going to water, the drivers always
bridled the horse which they rode, and led the other by the
halter. But our unfledged soldier seemed innocent of all
proper information. For the first day or two he would lead
his charges; then, as his courage grew with acquaintance, he
would finally mount the near one, and, with his legs crooked
up like a V, cling for dear life until he got his lesson learned
in this direction. But all the time that he was getting
initiated he was a ridiculous object to observers.

A SPARE MAN AND SPARE HORSES.
The drilling of raw recruits of both the classes mentioned
was no small part of the trials that fell to the lot of billeted
officers, for they got hold of some of the crookedest sticks.
to make straight military men of that the country-or,
rather, countries - produced. Not the least among the
obstacles in the way of making good soldiers of them was
208
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
the fact that the recruits of 1864-5, in particular, included
many who could neither speak nor understand a word of
English. In referring to the disastrous battle of Reams
Station, not long since, the late General Hancock told me
that the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment had received an
accession of about two hundred German recruits only two
or three days before the battle, not one of whom could
understand the orders of their commanding officers. It can

DRILLING THE AWKWARD SQUAD.
be easily imagined how much time and patience would be
required to mould such subjects as those into intelligent,
reliable soldiery.
But outside of this class there were scores of men that
spoke English who would "hay-foot" every time when they
should "straw-foot." They were incorrigibles in almost
every military respect. Whenever they were out with a
squad — usually the "awkward squad"- for drill, they
made business lively enough for the sergeant in charge.
When they stood in the rear rank their loftiest ambition
seemed to be to walk up the backs of their file-leaders, and
then they would insist that it was the file-leaders who were
out of step. Members of the much abused front rank often
RAW RECRUITS.
209
had occasion to wish that the regulation thirteen inches
from breast to back might be extended to as many feet;
but when the march was backward in line, these front
rank men would get square with their persecutors in
the rear.
To see such men attempt to change step while marching
was no mean show. I can think of nothing more apt to
compare it with than the game of Hop Scotch, in which
the player hops first on one foot, then on both; or to the
blue jay, which, in uttering one of its notes, jumps up and
down on the limb; and if such a squad under full headway
were surprised with a sudden command to halt, they went
all to pieces. It was no easy task to align them, for each
man had a line of his own, and they would crane their
heads out to see the buttons on the breast of the second
man, to such an extent that the sergeant might have ex-
claimed, with the Irish sergeant under like circumstances,
"O be-gorra, what a bint row! Come out here, lads, and
take a look at yoursels!"
66
The awkward squad excelled equally in the infantry
manual-of-arins. Indeed, they displayed more real indi-
viduality here, I think, than in the marchings, probably
because it was the more noticeable. At a "shoulder" their
muskets pointed at all angles, from forty-five degrees to a
vertical. In the attempt to change to a "carry," a part of
them would drop their muskets. At an order," no two of
the butts reached the ground together, and if a man could
not always drop his musket on his own toe he was a pretty
correct shot with it on the toe of his neighbor. But, with
all their awkwardness and slowness at becoming acquainted
with a soldier's duties, the recruits of the earlier years in
time of need behaved manfully. They made a poor exhibi-
tion on dress parade, but could generally be counted on
when more serious work was in hand. Sometimes, when
they made an unusually poor display on drill or parade,
they were punished-unjustly it may have been, for what
210
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
they could not help by being subjected to the knapsack
drill, of which I have already spoken.
It was a prudential circumstance that the war came to an
end when it did, for the quality of the material that was
sent to the army in 1864 and 1865 was for the most part of
no credit or value to any arm of the service. The period of
enlistments from promptings of patriotism had gone by, and
the man who entered the army solely from mercenary motives
was of little or no assistance to that army when it was in
need of valiant men, so that the chief burden and responsi-
bility of the closing wrestle for the mastery necessarily fell
largely on the shoulders of the men who bared their breasts
for the first time in 1861, '62, and '63.
I have thus far spoken of a recruit in the usual sense of a
man enlisted to fill a vacancy in an organization already in
the field. But this seems the proper connection in which to
say something of the experiences of men who enlisted with
original regiments, and went out with the same in '61 and
'62.
In many respects, their education was obtained under
as great adversity as fell to the lot of recruits. In some
respects, I think their lot was harder. They knew abso-
lutely nothing of war. They were stirred by patriotic im-
pulse to enlist and crush out treason, and hurl back at once
in the teeth of the enemy the charge of cowardice and
accept their challenge to the arbitrament of war. These
patriots planned just two moves for the execution of this
desire first, to enlist to join some company or regiment;
second, to have that regiment transferred at once to the
immediate front of the Rebels, where they could fight it
out and settle the troubles without delay. Their intense
fervor to do something right away to humble the haughty
enemy, made them utterly unmindful that they must first
go to school and learn the art of war from its very begin-
nings, and right at that point their sorrows began.
-
I think the greatest cross they bore consisted in being
compelled to settle down in home camp, as some regiments
RAW RECRUITS.
211
did for months, waiting to be sent off. Here they were in
sight of home in many cases, yet outside of its comforts
to a large extent; soldiers, yet out of danger; bidding their
friends a tender adieu to-day, because they are to leave them
perhaps forever to-morrow. But the morrow comes,
and finds them still in camp. Yes, there were soldiers who
bade their friends a long good-by in the morning, and
started for camp expecting that very noon or afternoon to
leave for the tented field, but who at night returned again
to spend a few hours more at the homestead, as the de-
parture of the regiment had been unexpectedly deferred.
The soldiers underwent a great deal of wear and tear
from false alarms of this kind, owing to various reasons.
Sometimes the regiment failed to depart because it was
not full; sometimes it was awaiting its field officers; some-
times complete equipments were not to be had; sometimes
it was delayed to join an expedition not yet ready; and thus,
in one way or other, the men and their friends were kept
long on the tiptoe of expectation. Whenever a rumor be-
came prevalent that the regiment was surely going to leave
on a certain day near at hand, straightway there was an
exodus from camp for home, some obtaining a furlough, but
more going without one, to take another touching leave all
around, for the dozenth time perhaps. Many of those who
lived too far away to be sure of returning in time, remained
in camp, and telegraphed friends to meet them at some large
centre, as they passed through on the specified day, which
of course the friends faithfully tried to do, and succeeded if
the regiment set forth as rumored.
I said that many soldiers went home without furloughs.
There was a camp guard hemming in every rendezvous for
troops, with which I was familiar; but no sentinel could see
a man cross his beat if he did not look at him, and this few
of them did. Indeed, many of the sentinels themselves, as
soon as they were posted and the relieving squad were out
of sight, stuck their inverted muskets into the ground and
212
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
decamped, either for their two hours or for the day, and took
their chances of being brought to answer for it. The fact
is, the men of '61 and '62 wanted to go to war, and, whether
they left the camp with or without leave, they were sure to
This fact was quite generally understood by
return to it.
their superiors.
""
This home camp life seems interesting to look back upon.
Hundreds of men did not spend one day in six in camp.
They came often enough to have it known that they had
not deserted, and then flitted again, but other hundreds
conscientiously remained. The company streets on every
pleasant day were radiant with the costumes of "fair
women, and brave men to be. On such a day a young
man sauntering along the parade, or winding in and out
of the various company streets, the willing prisoner of one
or more interesting young women his sisters, perhaps, or
somebody else's walked, the envy of the men who had not
such friends to enliven their camp life, or whose friends were
too far away to visit them. If these latter men secured an
introduction to such a party, it tempered their loneliness
somewhat. And if such a party entered a tent, and joined
in the social round, it made a merry gathering while they
tarried. But there were other promenaders whose passing
aroused no emotions of envy. The husband and father
attended by the loving wife and mother, whose brow had
already begun to wear that sober aspect arising from a fore-
casting of the future, seeing, possibly, in the contingencies
of war, herself a widow, her children fatherless-dependent
on her own unaided hands for all of this world's comforts,
which must be provided for the helplessness of childhood
and youth. The husband, too, leading his boy or girl by
the hand as he walks, is not unmindful of the risks he has
assumed or the comforts he must sacrifice. But his hand is
on the plough, and he will not turn back.
·
Another interesting party often to be seen in the company
street comprised a father, mother, and son, perhaps an only
RAW RECRUITS.
213
boy, who had volunteered for the war.
Their reluctance at
the step which he had taken was manifested by turns in
their looks, words, and acts. But while he remained in the
State, they must be with him as much as possible. See that
carpet-bag which the mother opens, as they take a seat on
the straw in the son's tent! Notice the solicitude which
she betrays as she takes out one comfort or convenience
after another-the socks for cold weather, the woollens to
ward off fever and ague, the medicine to antidote foul water,
the little roll of bandages which may he never have occa-
sion for; the dozen other comforts that he ought to be pro-
vided with, including some goodies which he had better take
along if the regiment should chance to go in a day or two.
And so she loads him up - God bless her!— utterly un-
mindful that the government has already provided him
with more than he can carry very far with his unaided
strength.
Then, the camps were full of pedlers of "Yankee notions,'
which soldiers were supposed to stand in need of. I shall
refer to some of these in another connection.
The lesson of submission to higher military authority was
a hard one for free, honest American citizens to learn, and,
while learning it, they chafed tremendously. It was diffi-
cult for them to realize the difference between men with
shoulder-straps and without them; in fact, they would not
realize it for a long time. When the straps crowned the
shoulders of social inferiors, submission to such authority
was at times degrading indeed. I have already touched
upon this subject. But the most judicious code of military
discipline, even if administered by an accomplished officer
of estimable character, would have met with vigorous oppo-
sition, for a time, from these impetuous and hitherto un-
trammelled American citizens. Fortunately for them, per-
haps, but unfortunately for the service, the line officers were
men of their own selection, their neighbors and friends, who
had met them as equals on all occasions. But now, if such
214
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
an officer attempted to enforce the authority conferred by
his rank, in the interest of better drill or discipline, he was
at once charged by his late equals with "showing off his
authority," "putting on airs," "feeling above his fellows";
and letters written home advertised him as a "miniature
tyrant," etc., which made his position a very uncomfortable
one to hold for a time. But this condition of affairs wore
away soon after troops left the State, when the necessity for
rigid discipline became apparent to every man. And when
the private soldier saw that his captain was held responsible
by the colonel for uncleanly quarters or arms, or unsoldierly
and ill disciplined men, the colonel in turn being held to
accountability by his next superior, the growls grew less
frequent or were aimed at the government rather than the
captain, and the growlers began to settle down and accept
the inevitable, taking lessons in something new every day.
It will be readily seen, I think, that the men composing
the earliest regiments and batteries had also their trials to
endure, and they were many; for not only they but their
superiors were learning by rough experience the art of war.
They were, in a sense, "achieving greatness," while the
recruits had "greatness thrust upon them," often at short
notice. Furthermore, recruits from the latter part of 1862
forward went out with a knowledge of much which they
must undergo in the line of hardship and privation, which
the first rallies had to learn by actual experience. And
while it may be said that it took more courage for men to
go with the stern facts of actual war confronting them than
when its realities were unknown to them, yet it is also true
that many of these later enlistments were made under the
advantage of pecuniary and other inducements, without
which many would not have been made. For patriotism.
unstimulated by hope of reward saw high-water mark in
1861, and rapidly receded in succeeding years, so that
whereas men enlisted in 1861 and early in '62 because they
wanted to go, and without hope of reward, later in '62 towns
RAW RECRUITS.
215
and individuals began to offer bounties to stimulate lagging
enlistments, varying in amount from $10 to $300; and in-
creased in '63 and '64 until, by the addition of State boun-
ties, a recruit, enlisting for a year, received in the fall of '64
from $700 to $1000 in some instances. It was this large
bounty which led old veterans
to haze recruits in many ways.
Of course, there was no justi-
fication for their doing it, only
as the recruits in some instances
provoked it.

""
There was a song composed
during the war, entitled the
"Raw Recruit," sung to the
tune of " Abraham's Daughter,'
which I am wholly unable to re-
call, but a snatch of the first
verse, or its parody, ran about
as follows:
I'm a raw recruit, with a bran'-new suit,
Nine hundred dollars bounty,
And I've come down from Darbytown
To fight for Oxford County.
The name of the town and
county were varied to suit the
circumstances.
Mix
DRAFT
DRAFTED.
In 1863 a draft was ordered
to fill the ranks of the army,
as volunteers did not come for-
ward rapidly enough to meet
the exigencies of the service. Men of means, if drafted,
hired a substitute, as allowed by law, to go in their stead,
when patriotism failed to set them in motion. Many of
these substitutes did good service, while others became de-
serters immediately after enlisting. Conscription was never
216
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
:
more unpopular than when enforced upon American citizens
at this time.
Here is a suggestive extract from a rhyme of that period,
entitled
THE SUBSTITUTE.
A friend stepped up to me one day;
These are the words that he did say:
"A thousand dollars to you I'll owe,
If in my place to war you'll go."
"A thousand dollars? Done!" says I;
""Twill help to keep my family."
I soon was clothed in a soldier's suit,
And off to war as a substitute.
To a conscript camp first I was sent
And to the barracks my steps I bent.
I saw many there who wore blue suits,
And learned they were all substitutes.
Then orders came for us to go,
Way down where blood like rivers flow.
When the soldiers saw me, they yelled, "Recruit!
Why did you come as a substitute ?"

لیر ستم ته
SPECIAL RATIONS.
CHAPTER XI.
BOXES FROM HOME.
SUTLERS.
Can we all forget the bills on Sutler's ledger haply yet,
Which we feared he would remember, and we hoped he would forget?
May we not recall the morning when the foe were threatening harm,
And the trouble chiefly bruited was, "The coffee isn't warm"?
1J.D.B
(Co.G.
PROF. S. B. SUMNER.
F there was a red-letter day to be
found anywhere in the army life of
a soldier, it occurred when he was.
the recipient of a box sent to him by
the dear ones and friends he left to
enter the service. Whenever it be-
came clear, or even tolerably clear,
that the army was likely to make
pause in one place for at least two
or three weeks, straightway the aver-
age soldier mailed a letter home to
mother, father, wife, sister, or brother,
setting forth in careful detail what he should like to have
sent in a box at the earliest possible moment, and stating
with great precision the address that must be put on the
cover, in order to have it reach its destination safely. Here
is a specimen address :

11 A
Sergeant JOHN J SMITH,
Company A., 19th Mass. Regiment,
SECOND BRIGADE, SECOND DIVISION, SECOND CORPS,
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
STEVENSBURG, Va.
Care Capt. James Brown.
As a matter of fact much of this address was unnecessary,
and the box would have arrived just as soon and safely if
217
218
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
the address had only included the name, company, and regi-
ment, with Washington, D. C., added, for everything was
forwarded from that city to army headquarters, and thence
distributed through the army. But the average soldier
wanted to make a sure thing of it, and so told the whole
story.
The boxes sent were usually of good size, often either a
shoe-case or a common soap-box, and were rarely if ever less
than a peck in capacity. As to the contents, I find on the
back of an old envelope a partial list of such articles ordered
at some period in the service. I give them as they stand,
to wit: "Round-headed nails" (for the heels of boots),
"hatchet" (to cut kindlings, tent-poles, etc.),´“pudding,
turkey, pickles, onions, pepper, paper, envelopes, stockings,
potatoes, chocolate, condensed milk, sugar, broma, butter,
sauce, preservative" (for the boots). The quantity of the
articles to be sent was left to the discretion of thoughtful
and affectionate parents.
In addition to the above, such a list was likely to contain
an order for woollen shirts, towels, a pair of boots made to
order, some needles, thread, buttons, and yarn, in the line of
dry goods, and a boiled ham, tea, cheese, cake, preserve, etc.,
for edibles. As would naturally be expected, articles for the
repair and solace of the inner man received most considera-
tion in making out such a list.
How often the wise calculations of the soldier were rudely
dashed to earth by the army being ordered to move before
the time when the box should arrive! And how his mouth
watered as he read over the invoice, which had already
reached him by mail, describing with great minuteness of
detail all the delicacies he had ordered, and many more that
kind and loving hearts and thoughtful minds had put in.
For the neighborhood generally was interested when it
became known that a box was making up to send to a
soldier, and each one must contribute some token of kindly
remembrance, for the enjoyment of the far-away boy in
*
SPECIAL RATIONS.
219
blue. But the thought that some of these good things
might spoil before the army would again come to a stand-
still came upon the veteran now and then with crushing
force. Still, he must needs endure, and take the situation
as coolly as possible.
It was a little annoying to have every box opened and
inspected at brigade or regimental headquarters, to assure
that no intoxicating liquors were smuggled into camp in
that way, especially if one was not addicted to their use.
There was many a growl uttered by men who had lost their
little pint or quart bottle of some choice stimulating bever-
age, which had been confiscated from a box as "contraband
of war," although the sender had marked it with an inno-
cent name, in the hope of passing it through unsuspected
and uninspected. Yet the inspectors were often baffled. A
favorite ruse was to have the bottle introduced into a well
roasted turkey, a place that no one would for a moment
suspect of containing such unique stuffing. In such a case
the bottle was introduced into the bird empty, and filled
after the cooking was completed, the utmost care being
taken to cover up all marks of its presence. Some would
conceal it in a tin can of small cakes; others inserted it in
a loaf of cake, through a hole cut in the bottom. One
member of my company had some whiskey sent for his en-
joyment, sealed up in a tin can; but when the box was
nailed up a nail was driven into the can, so that the owner
found only an empty can and a generally diffused odor of
departed spirits" pervading the entire contents of food
and raiment which the box contained.
66
It was really vexing to have one's knick-knacks and dain-
ties overhauled by strangers under any circumstances, and
all the more so when the box contained no proscribed com-
modity. Besides, the boxes were so nicely packed that it
was next to impossible for the inspector to return all the
contents, having once removed them; and he often made
more or less of a jumble in attempting to do so. I think I
220
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
must have had as many boxes sent as the average among
the soldiers, and simple justice to those who had the hand-
ling of them requires me to state that I never missed a
single article from them, and, barring the breakage of two
or three bottles, which may or may not have been the fault
of the opener, the contents were always undamaged. Some-
times the boxes were sent directly from brigade headquar-

A WAGON-LOAD OF BOXES.
ters to the headquarters of each company without inspection,
and there only those were opened whose owners were known
to imbibe freely on occasion.
The boxes came, when they came at all, by wagon-loads
mule teams of the company going after them. I have
already intimated that none were sent to the army when it
was on the move or when a campaign was imminent; and
as these moves were generally foreshadowed with tolerable
accuracy, the men were likely to send their orders home at
about the same time, and so they would receive their boxes
together. In this way it happened that they came to camp
by wagon-loads, and a happier, lighter-hearted body of men.
than those who were gathered around the wagons could not
have been found in the service. I mean now those who were
SPECIAL RATIONS.
221
the fortunate recipients of a box, for there was always a sec-
ond party on hand who did not expect a box, but who were
on the spot to offer congratulations to the lucky ones; per-
haps these would receive an invitation to quarters to see the
box unpacked. This may seem a very tantalizing invitation
for them to accept; but, nevertheless, next to being the
owner of the prize, it was most entertaining to observe what
some one else was to enjoy.
I think the art of box-packing must have culminated
during the war. It was simply wonderful, delightfully so,
to see how each little corner and crevice was utilized. Not
stuffed with paper by those who understood their business,
thus wasting space, but filled with a potato, an apple, an
onion, a pinch of dried apples, a handful of peanuts, or some
other edible substance. These and other articles filled the
crannies between carefully wrapped glass jars or bottles of
toothsome preserves, or boxes of butter, or cans of condensed
milk or well roasted chickens, and the turkey that each box.
was wont to contain. If there was a new pair of boots
among the contents, the feet were filled with little notions
of convenience. Then, there was likely to be, amid all the
other merchandise already specified, a roll of bandages and
lint, for the much-feared but unhoped-for contingency of
battle. It added greatly to the pleasures of the investigator
to come now and then upon a nicely wrapped package,
labelled "From Mary," "From Cousin John," and perhaps
a dozen other relatives, neighbors, school-mates or shop-mates,
most of which contributions were delicious surprises, and
many of them accompanied by notes of personal regard and
good-wishes.
There were some men in every company who had no one
at home to remember them in this tender and appreciative
manner, and as they sat or stood by the hero of a box and
saw one article after another taken out and unwrapped,
each speaking so eloquently of the loving care and thought-
ful remembrance of kindred or friends, they were moved by
222
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
mingled feelings of pleasure and sadness: pleasure at their
comrade's good-fortune and downright enjoyment of his
treasure, and sadness at their own lonely condition, with
no one to remember them in this pleasant manner, and often
would their eyes fill with tears by the contrast of their own
situation with the pleasant scene before them. But these
men were generally remembered by a liberal donation when-
ever a box came to camp.
Still, there were selfish men in every company, and, if
they were selfish by nature, the war, I think, had a tendency
to make them more so. Such men would keep their prec-
ious box and its precious contents away from sight, smell,
and taste of all outsiders. It was a little world to them,
and all their own. "Send for a box yourself, if you want
one," appeared in their every look, and often found expres-
sion in words. As a boy I have seen a school-mate munch-
ing an apple before now with two or three of his less favored
acquaintances wistfully watching and begging for the core.
But the men of whom I speak never had any core to their
apples; they absorbed everything that was sent them.
I knew one man who, I think, came uncomfortably near
belonging to this class of soldiers. The first box he ever
received contained, among other delicacies, about a peck of
raw onions. Before these onions had been reached in this
man's consumption of the contents of his box a move was
ordered. What was to be done? It was one of the trying
moments of his life. Nineteen out of every twenty men, if
not ninety-nine out of every hundred, would at this eleventh
hour have set them outside of the tent and said, "Here they
are, boys. Take hold and help yourselves!" But not he.
He was the hundredth man, the exception. So, packing
them up with some old clothes, he at once expressed them
back to his home. But, as I have intimated, such men
were few in number, and, while war made this class more
selfish, yet its community of hardship and danger and suffer-
ing developed sympathy and large-hearted generosity among
SPECIAL RATIONS.
223
1
the rank and file generally, and they shared freely with
their less fortunate but worthy comrades.
Nothing, to my mind, better illustrates the fraternity
developed in the army than the following poem, composed
by Private Miles O'Reilly:-
WE'VE DRANK FROM THE SAME CANTEEN.
There are bonds of all sorts in this world of ours,
Fetters of friendship and ties of flowers,
And true lover's knots, I ween.
The girl and the boy are bound by a kiss,
But there's never a bond, old friend, like this-
We have drank from the same canteen.

WE DRANK FROM THE SAME CANTEEN.
It was sometimes water, and sometimes milk,
And sometimes apple-jack fine as silk.
But, whatever the tipple has been,
We shared it together, in bane or bliss,
And I warm to you friend, when I think of this
We have drank from the same canteen.
The rich and the great sit down to dine,
And they quaff to each other in sparkling wine,
From glasses of crystal and green.
224
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
But I guess in their golden potations they miss
The warmth of regard to be found in this-
We have drank from the same canteen.
We have shared our blankets and tents together,
And have marched and fought in all kinds of weather,
And hungry and full we have been;
Had days of battle and days of rest;
But this memory I cling to, and love the best
We have drank from the same canteen.
For when wounded I lay on the outer slope,
With my blood flowing fast, and but little to hope
Upon which my faint spirit could lean,
Oh, then I remember you crawled to my side,
And, bleeding so fast it seemed both must have died,
We drank from the same canteen.
But I will now leave this to me deeply interesting
theme - and introduce
THE ARMY SUTLER.
This personage played a very important part as quarter-
master extraordinary to the soldiers. He was not an en-
listed man, only a civilian. By Army Regulations sutlers
could be appointed "at the rate of one for every regiment,
corps, or separate detachment, by the commanding officer of
such regiment, corps, or detachment," subject to the approval
of higher authority. These persons made a business of sut-
ling, or supplying food and a various collection of other
articles to the troops. Each regiment was supplied with
one of these traders, who pitched his hospital tent near
camp, and displayed his wares in a manner most enticing to
the needs of the soldier. The sutler was of necessity both
a dry-goods dealer and a grocer, and kept, besides, such
other articles as were likely to be called for in the service.
He made his chief reliance, however, a stock of goods that
answered the demands of the stomach. He had a line of
canned goods which he sold mostly for use in officers'
messes. The canning of meats, fruits, and vegetables was
SPECIAL RATIONS.
225
then in its infancy, and the prices, which in time of
peace were high, by the demands of war were so in-
flated that the highest of high privates could not aspire to
sample them unless he was the
child of wealthy parents who
kept him supplied with a stock
of scrip or greenbacks.

It
can readily
be seen that
his thirteen
A SUTLER'S TENT. FROM A WAR-TIME PHOTOGRAPH.
dollars a month (or even sixteen dollars, to which the pay
was advanced June 20, 1864, through the efforts of Henry
Wilson, who strove hard to make it twenty-one dollars)
would not hold out a great while to patronize an army.
sutler, and hundreds of the soldiers when the paymaster
came round had the pleasure of signing away the entire
amount due them, whether two, three, or four months' pay,
to settle claims of the sutler upon them. Here are a few of
his prices as I remember them:
Butter (warranted to be rancid), one dollar a pound;
cheese, fifty cents a pound; condensed milk, seventy-five
cents a can; navy tobacco, of the blackest sort, one dollar
and a quarter a plug. Other than the milk I do not remem-
ber any of the prices of canned goods. The investment
that seemed to pay the largest dividend to the purchaser
226
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
C
was the molasses cakes or cookies which the sutler's vended
at the rate of six for a quarter. They made a pleasant and
not too rich or expensive dessert when hardtack got to be
a burden. Then, one could buy sugar or molasses or flour
of them, though at a higher price than the commissary
charged for the same articles.
The commissary, I think I have explained, was an officer
in charge of government rations. From him quartermasters
obtained their supplies for the rank and file, on a written
requisition given by the commander of a regiment or bat-
tery. He also sold supplies for officers' messes at cost price,
and also to members of the rank and file, if they presented
an order signed by a commissioned officer.
Towards the end of the war sutlers kept self-raising flour,
which they sold in packages of a few pounds. This the men
3.
bought quite generally to make
into fritters or pancakes. It
would have pleased the cele-
brated four thousand dollar
cook at the Parker House, in
Boston, could he have seen
the men cook these fritters.
The mixing was a simple mat-
ter, as water was the only ad-
dition which the flour required,
but the fun was in the turning.
A little experience enabled a
man to turn them without the
aid of a knife, by first giving
the fry-pan a little toss upward and forward. This threw
the cake out and over, to be caught again the uncooked side
down all in a half-second. But the miscalculations and
mishaps experienced in performing this piece of culinary
detail were numerous and amusing, many a cake being
dropped into the fire, or taken by a sudden puff of wind,
just as it got edgewise in the air, and whisked into the dirt.

COOKING PANCAKES.
SPECIAL RATIONS.
227
·
Then, the sutler's pies! Who can forget them? "Moist
and indigestible below, tough and indestructible above,
with untold horrors within." The most mysterious prod-
ucts that he kept, I have yet to see the soldier who can
furnish a correct analysis of what they were made from.
Fortunately for the dealer, it mattered very little as to that,
for the soldiers were used to mystery in all its forms, and
the pies went down by hundreds; price, twenty-five cents
each. Not very high, it is true, compared with other edi-
bles, but they were small and thin, though for the matter of
thickness several times the amount of such stuffing could
have added but little to the cost.
I have said that these army merchants were dry-goods.
dealers. The only articles which would come under this
head, that I now remember of seeing, were army regula-
tion hats, cavalry boots, flannels, socks, and suspenders.
They were not allowed to keep liquors, and any one of them
found guilty of this act straightway lost his permit to suttle
for the troops, if nothing worse happened him.
+
I am of the opinion that the sytlers did not always receive
the consideration that they deserved. Owing to the high
prices which they asked the soldiers for their goods, the
belief found ready currency that they were little better than
extortioners; and I think that the name "sutler" to-day
calls up in the minds of the old soldiers a man who would
not enlist and shoulder his musket, but who was better sat-
isfied to take his pack of goods and get his living out of the
soldiers who were doing his fighting for him. But there is
something to be said on the other side. In the first place,
he filled a need recognized, long before the Rebellion, by
Army Regulations. Such a personage was considered a
convenience if not a necessity at military posts and in cam-
paigns, and certain privileges were accorded him.
In the second place, no soldier was compelled to patronize
him, and yet I question whether there was a man in the
service any great length of time, within easy reach of one
228
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
of these traders, who did not patronize him more or less.
In the third place, when one carefully considers the ex-
pense of transporting his goods to the army, the wastage
of the same from exposure to the weather, the cost of fre-
quent removals, and the risk he carried of losing his stock

SERVING OUT RATIONS AT THE
COOK'S SHANTY.
of goods in case of a dis-
aster to the army, added
to the constant increase in
the cost of the necessaries
of life, of which the soldiers were not cognizant, I do not
believe that sutlers as a class can be justly accused of over-
charging. I have seen one of these merchants since the war,
who seemed seized with the fullest appreciation of the worth
of his own services to the country, and, with an innocent
earnestness most refreshing, applied for membership in the
Grand Army of the Republic, into which only men who have
an honorable discharge from the government are admitted.
There undoubtedly were Shylocks among them, and they
often had a hard time of it; and this leads me to speak of
another risk that sutlers had to assume the risk of being
raided — or “cleaned out," to quote the language of the ex-
pressive army slang. This meant the secret organization of
a party of men in a regiment to fall upon a sutler in the
SPECIAL RATIONS.
229
darkness of night, throw down his tent, help themselves
liberally to whatever they wanted, and then get back
speedily and quietly to quarters. It did not do to carry
stolen goods to the tents, for the next day was likely to see
a detachment of men, accompanied by the sutler, searching
the quarters for the missing property. Sometimes this raid-
ing was done in a spirit of mischief, by unprincipled men,
sometimes to get satisfaction for what they considered his
exorbitant charges. Sometimes the officers of a regiment
sympathized in such a movement, if they thought the
sutler's exactions deserved a rebuke. When this was the
case, it was no easy task to find the criminals, for the officers
were very blind and stupid, or, if the culprits were detected,
they were quietly reminded that if they were foolish enough
to get caught they must suffer the penalty. But sutlers,
like other people, profited by the teachings of experience,
and, if they had faults, soon mended them, so that late in
the war they rarely found it necessary to beg deliverance
from their friends.
The following incident came under my own knowledge in
the winter of '64, while the Artillery Brigade of the Third
Corps lay encamped in the edge of a pine woods near Bran-
dy Station, Virginia. Just in rear of the Tenth Battery
camp, near company headquarters, the brigade sutler had
erected his tent, and every wagon-load of his supplies passed
through this camp under the eyes of any one who cared to
take note. A load of this description was thus inspected on
a particular occasion, and while the wagon was standing in
front of the tent waiting to be unloaded, and without
special guarding, an always thirsty veteran stole up to it,
seized upon a case of whiskey, said to have been destined
for a battery commander, and was off in a jiffy. Less than
three minutes elapsed before the case was missed. At once
the captain of the company was notified, who immediately
gave his instructions to the officer of the day. The bugler
blew the Assembly, summoning every man into line; and
230
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
every man had to be there or be otherwise strictly accounted
for by his sergeant. What it all meant no one apparently
knew. Meanwhile, two lieutenants and the orderly were
carrying on a thorough search of the men's quarters. When
it was completed, the orderly returned to the line, and the
company was dismissed, in a curious frame of mind as to
the cause of all the stir. This soon leaked out, as did also
the fact that no trace of the missing property had been dis-
covered. All was again quiet along the Potomac, except
when the culprit and his coterie waxed a little noisy over
imbibitions of ardent mysteriously obtained, and not until
after the close of the war was the mystery made clear..
It seems that as soon as he had seized his prize he passed
swiftly down through the camp to the picket rope, where
the horses were tied, and there, in a pile of manure thrown
up behind them, quickly concealed the case, and, at the bugle
signal, was prompt to fall into line. Under cover of dark-
ness, the same night, the plunder was taken from the manure-
heap and carried to a hill in front of the camp, where it was
buried in a manner which would not disclose it to the casual
traveller, and yet leave it easily accessible to its unlawful
possessor, and here he resorted periodically for a fresh sup-
ply, until it was exhausted.
I have quoted a few of the prices charged by sutlers.
Here are a few of the prices paid by people in Richmond,
during the latter part of the war, in Confederate money: -
Potatoes $80 a bushel; a chicken $50; shad $50 per pair;
beef $15 a pound; bacon $20 a pound; butter $20 a pound;
flour $1500 a barrel; meal $140 a bushel; beans $65 a
bushel; cow-peas $80 a bushel; hard wood $50 a cord;
green pine $80 a cord; and a dollar in gold was worth $100
in Confederate money.

BORDE
MILK
OF NEW YORK.
CHAPTER XII.
FORAGING.
Can we all forget the foraging the boys were prone to do,
As with problematic rations we were marching Dixie through;
And the dulcet screech of chanticleer or soothing squeal of swine,
When occurred the grateful halt or brief excursion from the line?
PROF. S. B. SUMNER.

長​だ
​NII
HERE was one other source from
which soldiers
at least, some sol-
diers replenished their larder,
or added to its variety. The means
employed to accomplish this end
was known as Foraging, which is
generally understood to mean a
seeking after food, whether for man
or beast, and appropriating to one's
own use whatsoever is found in
this line, wheresoever it is found
in an enemy's country. It took
the army some time to adopt this mode of increasing its stores.
This arose from the fact that early in the war many of the
prominent government and military officers thought that a
display of force with consideration shown the enemy's prop-
erty would win the South back to her allegiance to the
Union; but that if, on the other hand, they devastated
property and appropriated personal effects, it would only
embitter the enemy, unite them more solidly, and greatly
prolong the war; so that for many months after war began,
Northern troops were prohibited from seizing fence-rails,
poultry, swine, straw, or any similar merchandise in which
231
232
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
they might under some circumstances feel a personal inter-
est; and whenever straw-stacks and fences were appropriated
by order of commanding officers, certificates to that effect
were given the owners, who might expect at some time to be
reimbursed. But the Rebellion waxed apace, and outgrew
all possibility of certificating everybody whose property was
entered upon or absorbed, and furthermore it came to be
known that many who had received certificates were in col-
lusion with the enemy, so that the issuance of these receipts
gradually grew beautifully less.
Then, there was another obstacle in the way of a general
adoption of foraging as an added means of support. It was
the presence in the army of a large number of men who had
learned the ten commandments, and could not, with their
early training and education, look upon this taking to them
selves the possessions of others without license as any dif-
ferent from stealing. These soldiers would neither forage
nor share in the fruits of foraging. It can be readily imag-
ined, then, that when one of this class commanded a regi-
ment the diversion of foraging was not likely to be very
general with his men. But as the war wore on, and it
became more evident that such tender regard for Rebel
property only strengthened the enemy and weakened the
cause of the Union, conscientious scruples stepped to the
rear, and the soldier who had them at the end of the war
was a curiosity indeed.
There are some phases of this question of foraging which
at this late day may be calmly considered, and the right and
wrong of it carefully weighed. In the first place, interna
tional law declares that in a hostile section an army may
save its rations and live off the country. To the large
majority of the soldiers this would be sufficient warrant for
them to appropriate from the enemy whatever they had a
present liking for in the line of provisions. If all laws were
based on absolute justice, the one quoted would settle the
question finally, and leave nothing as an objection to forag-
FORAGING.
233
ing. But while the majority make the laws, the consciences
and convictions of the minority are not changed thereby.
Each man's conscience must be a final law unto himself.
It is well for it


to be so. I on-
ly enlarge upon
this for a mo-
ment to show
that on all moral
questions every
intelligent man
must in a meas-
A DISCOVERY. ACT I.
ure make his own law, having Con-
science as a guide.
The view which the average soldier
took was, as already intimated, in har-
mony with the international law quoted.
This view was, in substance, that the
people of the South were in a state of rebellion against
the government, notwithstanding that they had been duly

;
ACT II
warned to desist from war and return to their allegiance;
that they had therefore forfeited all claim to whatever
property the soldier chose to appropriate; that this was
one of the risks they assumed when they raised the ban-
ner of secession; that for this, and perhaps other reasons,
234
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
they should be treated just as a foreign nation waging
war against the United States, all of which may seem
plausible at first view, and indeed it may be said just
here that if the soldiers had always despoiled the enemy
to supply their own pressing personal needs, or if they
had always taken or destroyed only those things which
could be of service to the enemy in the prosecution of the
war, the arguments against foraging would be considerably
weakened; but the authority to forage carried with it also
the exercise of the office of judge and jury, from whom there
was no appeal. If the owner of a lot of corn or poultry was
to protest against losing it, on the ground that he was a
Unionist, unless the proof was at hand, he would lose his
case that is, his corn and chickens. However sincere he
may have been, it was not possible for him to establish his
Union sentiments at short notice. Indeed, so many who
really were "secesh" claimed to be good Union men, it
came latterly to be assumed that the victim was playing
a false rôle on all such occasions, and so the soldiers
went straight for the plunder, heeding no remonstrances.
Without doubt, hundreds of Union men throughout the
South suffered losses in this way, which, if their loyalty
could have been clearly shown, they would have been
spared.
A good deal of the foraging, while unauthorized and for-
bidden by commanding officers, was often connived at by
them, and they were frequently sharers in the spoils; but I
was about to say that it was not always of the most judicious
kind. No one, better than the old soldiers, knows how desti-
tute many, if not most, of the houses along the line of march
were of provisions, clothing, and domestic animals, after the
first few months of the war. I will amend that statement.
There was one class who knew better than the soldiers,-
the tenants of those houses knew that destitution better
sometimes feigned it, may be, but as a rule it was the ugly
and distressing reality. I am dealing now with the Army
FORAGING.
235
of the Potomac, which travelled the same roads year after
year, either before or behind the Rebel Army of Northern
Virginia. In or near the routes of these bodies little was
attempted by the people in the way of crop-raising, for their
products were sure to feed one or the other of the two
armies as they tramped up and down the state, so that
destitution in some of the wayside cabins and farm-houses
was often quite marked. No one with a heart less hard
than flint could deprive such families of their last cow,
shote, or ear of corn. Yet there were many unauthorized
foragers who would not hesitate a moment to seize and
carry off the last visible mouthful of food. So it has seemed
to me that the cup of Rebellion was made unnecessarily
bitter from the fact that such appeals too often fell on deaf
ears. Granting it to be true that the Rebels had forfeited
all right to whatever property their antagonists saw fit to
appropriate, yet in the absence of those Rebels their families
ought not to suffer want and distress; the innocent should
not suffer for the guilty, and when nothing was known
against them they should not have been deprived of their
last morsel. But there were exceptions. There were some
families who gave information to the Rebel army or de-
tachments of it, by which fragments of ours were killed or
captured, and when this was known the members of that
family were likely sooner or later to suffer for it, as would
naturally be expected.
Some of these families were so destitute that they were
at times driven to appeal to the nearest army headquarters
for rations to relieve their sufferings. To do this it was often
necessary for them to walk many miles. Horses they had
not. They could not keep them, for if the Union cavalry
did not "borrow," the Rebel cavalry would impress them; so
that they were not only without a beast of burden for farm
work, but had none to use as a means of transportation.
Now and then a sore-backed, emaciated, and generally used-
up horse or mule, which had been abandoned and left in the
236
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
track of the army to die, was taken charge of, when the coast
was clear, and nursed back into vitality enough to stand on
at least three of his legs, when, by means of bits of tattered
rope, twisted corn-husks, and odds and ends of leather which
had seen better days, the sorry-looking brute, still bearing the
brand U. S. or C. S. on his rump, partly concealed perhaps
by his rusty oufit, was tackled into a nondescript vehicle,
possibly the skeleton remains of what had been, in years

....
GOING TO ARMY HEADQUARTERS.
gone by, the elegant and stylish family carriage, but fully
as often into a two-wheeled cart, which now answered all
the purposes of the family in its altered circumstances.
One would hardly expect to find in such a brute a Goldsmith
Maid or a Jay Eye See in locomotion, and so as a matter of
fact such a beast was urged on from behind by lusty thwacks
from a cudgel, propelling the family at a headlong walk-
headlong, because he was likely to go headlong at any
moment, from lack of strength, over the rough Virginia
roads.
When such a brute got to be pretty lively once more,
unless he was concealed, he would soon fall into service
again in one of the armies, and possibly another gasping
skeleton left in his place; but later in the war all animals
abandoned by the Union army were shot if any life remained
in them, so that even this resource was to that extent cut
FORAGING.
237
off from the inhabitants, and the family cow, while she was
spared, was fitted out for such service.
But the soldiers did not always content themselves with
taking eatables and forage. Destruction of the most wanton
and inexcusable character was sometimes indulged in. It is
charged upon them when the army entered Fredericksburg,
in 1862, that they took especial delight in bayonetting mir-
rors, smashing piano-keys with musket-butts, pitching crock-
ery out of windows, and destroying other such inoffensive
material, which could be of no possible service to either
party. If they had been imbibing commissary whiskey,
they were all the more unreasonable and outrageous in
their destruction. Whenever a man was detected in the
enactment of such disgraceful and unsoldierly conduct,
he was put under arrest, and sentenced by court-martial.
But this class of men was an insignificantly small frac-
tion of an army, although seeming very numerous to their
victims.
A regularly authorized body of foragers, in charge of
a commissioned officer, never gave way to excesses like
those I have mentioned. Their task was usually well de-
fined. It was to go out with wagons in quest of the con-
tents of smoke-houses or barns or corn-barns; and if a flock
of fowls or a few swine chanced to be a part of the live-
stock of the farms visited, the worse for the live-stock
and Secessia, and the better for the Union army. The
usual plunder secured by regular foraging parties was
hams, bacon sides, flour, sweet potatoes, corn-meal, corn on
the cob, and sometimes corn-shooks as they were called,
that is, corn-leaves stripped from the stalks, dried and
bundled, for winter fodder. The neat cattle in the South
get the most of their living in the winter by browsing,
there being but little hay cured.
In traversing fresh territory, the army came upon exten-
sive quantities of corn in corn-ricks. At Wilcox's Landing,
on the James River, where we crossed in June, 1864, the
238
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Rebel Wilcox, who had a splendid farm on the left bank
of the river, had hundreds of bushels of corn, I should
judge, which the forage trains took aboard before they
crossed over; and on the south side of the James, east from
Petersburg, where Northern troops had never before pene-


Th
A CORN-BARN AND HAY-RICK.
trated, many such stores of corn were appropriated to feed
the thousands of loyal quadrupeds belonging to Uncle Sam.
In this section, too, and in the territory stretching from
the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, immense quantities of to-
bacco were found in the various stages of curing. The
drying-houses were full of it. These houses were rude
structures, having water-tight roofs, but with walls built of
small logs placed two or three inches apart, to admit a free
circulation of air. On poles running across the interior
hung the stalks of tobacco, root upwards. Then, in other
buildings were hogsheads pressed full of the "weed,” in
another stage of the curing. It is well known that Peters-
burg is the centre of a very extensive tobacco-trade, and in
that city are large tobacco-factories.
But the war put a
summary end to this business for the time, by closing north-
ern markets and blockading southern ports, so that this
article of foreign and domestic commerce accumulated in the
hands of the producers to the very great extent found by
the army when it appeared in that vicinity. Every soldier
FORAGING.
239
who had a liking for tobacco helped himself as freely as he
pleased, with no one caring to stay his hand. But I believe
that the experts in
smoking and chew-
ing preferred the
black navy plug of
the sutler, at a dol-
lar and a quarter, to
this unprepared but
purer article to be
had by the taking.
While the army lay
at Warrenton Sulphur Springs, after Gettysburg in '63, a
detail of men was made from my company daily to take
scythes from the "Battery Wagon," and, with a six-mule
team, go off and mow a load of grass wherever they could
find it within our lines, to eke out the government forage.
The same programme was enacted by other batteries in
the corps.

TOBACCO-DRYING HOUSES.
As Sherman's Bummers achieved a notoriety as foragers
par excellence, some facts regarding them will be of interest
in this connection. Paragraphs 4 and 6 of Sherman's Spe-
cial Field Orders 120, dated Nov. 9, 1864, just before start-
ing for Savannah, read as follows:-
"4. The army will forage liberally on the country during
the march. To this end each brigade commander will organ-
ize a good and sufficient foraging party under the command
of one or more discreet officers, who will gather, near the
route travelled, corn or forage of any kind, meat of any
kind, vegetables, corn-meal or whatever is needed by the
command, aiming at all times to keep in the wagons at
least ten days' provisions for his command, and three days'
forage. Soldiers must not enter the dwellings of the inhab-
itants or commit any trespass; but during a halt or camp
they may be permitted to gather turnips, potatoes, and
other vegetables, and to drive in stock in sight of their
240
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
camp. To regular foraging parties must be intrusted the
gathering of provisions and forage at any distance from the
road travelled."
"6. As for horses, mules, wagons, etc., belonging to the
inhabitants, the cavalry and artillery may appropriate freely
and without limit; discriminating, however, between the
rich, who are usually hostile, and the poor and industrious,
usually neutral or friendly. Foraging parties may also
take mules or horses, to replace the jaded animals of their
trains or to serve as pack-mules, for the regiments or bri-
gades. In all foraging of whatever kind, the parties engaged
will refrain from abusive or threatening language, and may,
where the officer in command thinks proper, give written
certificates of the facts, but no receipts; and they will en-
deavor to leave with each family a reasonable portion for
their maintenance."
As Sherman was among the commanders who believed
most heartily in having those who provoked the conflict
suffer the full measure of their crime, the above instructions
seem certainly very mild and humane. On page 182, Vol.
II., of his Memoirs, and also on pages 207-8, in a letter to
Grant, describing the march, he presents a summary of the
working of the plan. His brigade foraging parties, usually
comprising about fifty men, would set out before daylight,
knowing the line of march for the day, and, proceeding on
foot five or six miles from the column, visit every farm and
plantation in range. Their plunder consisted of bacon,
meal, turkeys, ducks, chickens, and whatever else was eata-
ble for man or beast. These they would load into the farm-
wagon or family carriage, and rejoin the column, turning
over their burden to the brigade commissary. "Often,"
says Sherman, "would I pass these foraging parties at the
roadside, waiting for their wagons to come up, and was
amused at their strange collections mules, horses, even
cattle packed with old saddles, and loaded with hams, bacon,
bags of corn-meal, and poultry of every description. . . .
FORAGING.
241
No doubt, many acts of pillage, robbery, and violence were
committed by these foragers, usually called bummers';
for I have since heard of jewelry taken from women, and
the plunder of articles that never reached the commissary;
but these acts were exceptional and incidental." Sherman
further states that his army started with about five thousand
head of cattle and arrived at the sea with about ten thou-
sand, and that the State of Georgia must have lost by his
operations fifteen thousand first-rate mules. As to horses,
he says that every one of the foraging party of fifty who set
out daily on foot invariably returned mounted, accompany-
ing the various wagon-loads of provisions and forage seized,
and, as there were forty brigades, an approximation to the
number of horses taken can be made.
But this travelling picnic of the Western armies was
unique. There is nothing like it elsewhere in the history
of the war. Certainly, the Army of the Potomac could not
present anything to compare with it. As a matter of fact,
there was no other movement in the war whose nature justi-
fied such a season of riotous living as this one. But it
illustrates in a wholesale way the kind of business other
armies did on a retail scale.
There was no arm of the service that presented such favor-
able opportunities for foraging as did the cavalry, and none, I
may add, which took so great an advantage of its opportu
nity. In the first place, being the eyes and the ears of the
army, and usually going in advance, cavalrymen skimmed
the cream off the country when a general movement was
making. Then when it was settled down in camp they
were the outposts and never let anything in the line of
poultry, bee-hives, milk-houses, and apple-jack, not to enu-
merate other delicacies which outlying farm-houses afforded,
escape the most rigid inspection. Again, they were fre-
quently engaged in raids through the country, from the
nature of which they were compelled to live in large
measure off southern products, seized as they went along;
242
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
but infantry and artillery must needs confine their quests
for special rations to the homesteads near the line of
march. The cavalry not only could and did search these
when they led the advance, but also made requisitions on all
houses in sight of the thoroughfares travelled, even when
they were two or three miles away, so that, in all probability,
they ate a smaller quantity of government rations, man for
man, than did any other branch of the land-service; but
they did not therefore always fare sumptuously, for now
and then the cavalry too were in a strait for rations.
Next to the cavalry, the infantry stood the best chance of
good living on foraged edibles, as their picket-duty took
them away some distance from the main lines and often into
the neighborhood of farm-houses, from which they would
buy or take such additions to their rations as the premises
afforded. Then, they went out in reconnoitring parties, or,
perhaps, to do fatigue duty, such as the building of bridges,
or the corduroying of roads, which also opened opportuni-
ties for them to enlist a few turkeys or chickens in the
Union cause.
Perhaps the most unfortunate natives were those who
chanced to live in a house by the roadside in the direct line.
of march of the army, for, from the time the head of the
column struck such a house until the last straggler left it,
there was a continuous stream of officers and men thronging
into and about the premises, all ambitious to buy or beg or
take whatsoever in the line of eatables and drinkables
was to be had by either of these methods. The net result
of this was to leave such families in a starving condition,
and finally begging rations from the army. Those families
by whose premises both armies marched were in the depths
of distress, for Confederate soldiers let little in the way of
provisions escape their maws on their line of march, even in
Virginia; so that it was not unusual for such families to
meet the Union advance with tearful eyes, and relate the
losses which they had sustained and the beggary to which
FORAGING.
243
they had been reduced by the seizure of their last cow and
last ounce of corn-meal. Sometimes, no doubt, they deceived
to ward off impending search and seizure from a new quarter,
but as a rule the premises showed their statements to be true.
Sometimes the inhabitants were shrewd and watchful
enough to scent danger and secrete the articles most pre-
cious to them till the danger was past; but not infrequently
they were a little tardy in adopting such a measure, and
were overhauled just before they had reached cover, and

SCENE AT A WAYSIDE FARM-HOUSE.
despoiled of the whole or a part of their treasure. The
corn-fields of these roadside residents were the saddest of
spectacles after the army had passed along in the early fall,
for no native-born Southron had a finer appreciation of the
excellent qualities of "roasting ears" than the average
Yankee soldier, who left no stalk unstripped of its burden.
Even the stalks themselves were used, to regale the appetites
of the horses and mules.
Volumes might be filled with incidents of foraging. I
will relate one or two that came under my own personal
observation.
The people of Maryland undoubtedly enjoyed greater
exemption from foragers, as a whole, than did those of
Virginia, for a larger number of the former than of the
244
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
latter were supposed to be loyal and were therefore pro-
tected. I say supposed, for personally I am of the opinion
that the Virginians were fully as loyal as the Marylanders.
But a large number of the soldiers when fresh and new in
the service saw an enemy in every bush, and recognized no
white man south of Mason and Dixon's line as other than a
"secesh." Very often they were right, but the point I wish
to make is that they indulged in foraging to a greater
extent probably than troops which had been longer in
service. Before my own company had seen any hard
service it was located at Poolesville, thirty-eight miles from
Washington, where it formed part of an independent bri-
gade, which was included in the defences of Washington,
and under the command of General Heintzelman. While
we lay there drilling, growling, and feeding on government
rations, a sergeant of the guard imperilled his chevrons by
leading off a midnight foraging party, after having first.com-
municated the general countersign to the entire party. On
this particular occasion a flock of sheep was the object of the
expedition. These sheep had been looked upon with long-
ing eyes many times by the men as they rode their horses to
water by their pasture, which was, perhaps, half a mile or
more from camp.
As soon as the foragers came upon them in the darkness,
the sheep cantered away, and their adversaries, who could
only see them when near to them, followed in full pursuit.
As the chase up and down the enclosure, which was not a
very large one, waxed warm, one of the party, more noted
for his zeal than his discretion, drew a revolver and emptied
nearly every barrel among the flock, doing no bodily injury
to the sheep, however, but he did succeed in calling down
upon his head the imprecations of the sergeant, for his lack
of good-sense, and with reason, for in a few minutes the fire
of the outer pickets was drawn. This being heard and
reported in camp, the long-roll was sounded, calling into
line the two regiments of infantry that lay near us, and
FORAGING.
245
causing every preparation to be made to resist the supposed
attack. The foragers, meanwhile, skulked back to camp by
the shortest route, bringing with them two sheep that had
been run down by some of the fleeter of the party. But no
one save an interested few, inside or outside of the company,
ever knew, until the story was told at a reunion of the com-
pany in '79 or '80, the cause of all the tumult in camp that
dark winter's night.
On another occasion a party of five or six men stole out
of camp at midnight, in quest of poultry. They knew of a
farm-house where poultry was kept, but to ascertain its exact
whereabouts at night was no easy task. On looking around
the premises they found that there was no isolated out-build-
ing, whereupon they at once decided that the ell to the main
house must be the place which contained the "biddies"; but
to enter that might rouse the farmer and his family, which
they did not care to do. However, a council of war decided
to take the risk, and storm the place. Investigation showed
the door to be padlocked, but a piece of iron which lay con-
veniently near, on a window-sill, served to pull out the staple,
and the door was open. Meanwhile, guards had been posted
at the corners of the house, with drawn revolvers (which
they would not have dared to fire), and the captures began.
One man entered the ell, and, lighting a match, discovered
that he had called at the right house, and that the feathered
family were at home. Among them he caught a glimpse of
two turkeys, and these, with four fowls taken one at a time
by the neck, to control their noise, were passed to another
man standing at the door with a pen-knife, who, having per-
formed a successful surgical operation on each, gave them to
a third party to put in a bag.
Back of our camp stood the house of a secessionist, — at
least, "Black Mary," his colored servant, said he was one,-
and in his kitchen and cook-stove, for the sum of twenty-
five cents in scrip, having previously dressed and stuffed
them, Mary cooked the turkeys most royally, and one com-
246
HARD TACK AND COFFEE:
missioned officer of our company, at least, sat down to one
of the feasts, blissfully ignorant, of course, as to the source
from which the special ration was drawn.
Bee-hives were among the most popular products of forag-
ing. The soldiers tramped many a mile by night in quest
of these depositories of sweets. I recall an incident oc-
NO JOKE.
curring in the Tenth Ver-
mont Regiment—once bri-
gaded with my company -
when some of the foragers,
who had been out on a
tramp, brought a hive of
bees into camp, after the
men had wrapped them-
selves in their blankets,
and, by way of a joke, set
it down stealthily on the
stomach of the captain of
quite lively in that

one of the companies, making
neighborhood shortly afterwards.
Foragers took other risks than that of punishment for
absence from camp or the column without leave. They
were not infrequently murdered on these expeditions. On
the 7th of December, 1864, Warren's Fifth Corps was
started southward from Petersburg, to destroy the Weldon
Railroad still further. On their return, they found some of
their men, who had straggled and foraged, lying by the
roadside murdered, their bodies stark naked and shockingly
mutilated. One of Sherman's men recently related how in
the Carolinas one of his comrades was found hanged on
a tree, bearing this inscription, "Death to all foragers.
A large number of men were made prisoners while away
from their commands after the usual fruits of foraging
just how many, no one will ever know; and many. of those
not killed on the spot by their captors ended their lives in
the prison-pens.
FORAGING.
247
During the expedition of the Fifth Corps alluded to,
while the column had halted at some point in its march, a
few uneasy spirits, wishing for something eatable to turn up,
had made off down a hill, ahead of the column, had crossed
a stream, and reached the vicinity of a house on the high
ground the other side. Here a keen-scented cavalryman
from the party had started up two turkeys, which, as the
pursuit grew close, flew up on to the top of the smoke-house,
whence, followed by their relentless pursuer, they went

THE TURKE
; DIDN'T CATCH.
still higher, to the ridge-pole of the main house adjoining.
Still up and forward pressed the trooper, his "soul in arms
and eager for the fray," and as the turkeys with fluttering
wings edged away, the hungry veteran, now astride the
ridge-pole, hopped along after, when ping! a bullet whistled
by uncomfortably near him.
66 What in thunder are you about!" blurted the cavalry-
man, suspecting his comrades of attempting to shoot off his
quarry in the moment of victory.
Receiving no satisfactory response from his innocent com-
panions, who had stood interested spectators of his exploit,
yet unconscious of what he was exclaiming at, he once more
addressed himself to the pursuit when, chuck! a bullet
struck a shingle by his leg and threw the splinters in his
face. There was no mistaking the mark or the marksman
this time, and our trooper suddenly lost all relish for turkey,
248
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
and, standing not on the order of his going, came sliding
and tumbling down off the roof, striking the ground with
too much emphasis and a great deal of feeling, where, joined
by his comrades, who by this time had taken in the situa-
tion, he beat a hasty retreat, followed by the jeers of the
Johnnies, and rejoined the column.
A veteran of the Seventh New Hampshire tells of one
Charley Swain, who was not only an excellent duty soldier,

*
Join
A DILEMMA.
:
but a champion forager. While this regiment lay at St.
Augustine, Fla., in 1863, Swain started out on one of his
quests for game, and, although it had grown rather scarce,
at last found two small pigs penned up in the suburbs of the
town. His resolve was immediately made to take them into
camp. Securing a barrel, he laid it down, open at one end,
in a corner of the pen, and without commotion soon had
both grunters inside the barrel, and the barrel standing on
end. By hard tugging he lifted it clear of the pen, and,
taking it on his back, started rapidly for camp. But his
passengers were not long reconciled to such quick and close
FORAGING.
249
transit, for he had not proceeded far before grunts developed
into squeals, squeals into internal dissensions, to which the
bottom of the barrel at last succumbed, and a brace of pigs
were coursing at liberty. Here was a poser for the spoils-
man. If he caught them again, how should he carry them?
While he was attempting to solve this problem the cavalry
patrol hove in sight, and Swain made for camp, where, crest-
fallen and chagrined, he related how he had left to the
greedy maws of the provost-guard the quarry which he had
hoped to share with his mess that night."
In considering this question of foraging, it has not been
my purpose to put the soldiers of the Union armies in an
unfair or unfavorable position as compared with their oppo-
nents. It has been claimed that Southerners on northern
soil were more vindictive and wanton than Northerners on
southern soil; and the reason on which this statement is
based is that the South hated the Yankees, but the North
hated only slavery. Nor is it my intention to charge atroci-
ties upon the best men of either army. They were com-
mitted by the few. And I do not wish to be understood as
declaring foraging a black and atrocious act, for, as I have
shown, it had a legal warrant. I only claim that when the
order once goes forth it leads to excesses, which it is difficult
to control, and such excesses are likely to seriously affect
the unoffending, defenceless women and children with woes
out of all proportion with their simple part in bringing on
the strife. But so it always has been, and so it probably
always will be, till wars and rumors of wars shall cease.

CHAPTER XIII.
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES.
"You'll find lovely fighting
Along the whole line."
KEARNY.

40 ROUNDS
HIS.
The
HAT was an army corps?
name is one adopted into the Eng-
lish language from the French,
and retains essentially its original
meaning. It has been customary
since the time of Napoleon I. to
organize armies of more than fifty
or sixty thousand men into what
the French call corps d'armée or,
as we say, army corps.
It is a familiar fact that soon after the outbreak of the
Rebellion Lieutenant-General Scott, who had served with
great distinction in the Mexican War, found himself too old
and infirm to conduct an active campaign, and so the command
of the troops, that were rapidly concentrating in and around
Washington, was devolved upon the late General Irvin
McDowell, a good soldier withal, but, like every other
officer then in the service, without extended war experience.
His first work, after assuming command, would naturally
have been to organize the green troops into masses that
would be more cohesive and effective in action than single
undisciplined regiments could be. But this he was not
allowed to do. The loyal people of the North were clamor-
ing for something else to be done, and that speedily. The
Rebels must be punished for their treason without delay,
and President Lincoln was beset night and day to this end.
250

FIRST CORPS.
IST DIV.
O
2 NO DIV.
SECOND CORPS.
3RD DIV.
11
IST DIV.
2 NO DIV.
THIRD CORPS.
3RD DIV.
IST DIV.
2ND DIV.
3RD DIV.
THIRD CORPS ARTILLERY BRIGADE. (1863)
IST DIV.
2 NO DIV.
FOURTH CORPS.
3 RO DIV.
IST DIV.
2 NO DIV.
3RD DIV.
PLATE 1.
CORPS AND CORPS BADGĖŠ.
251
In vain did McDowell plead for a little more time. It could
not be granted. If our troops were green and inexperi-
enced, it was urged, so were the Rebels. It is said that
because he saw fit to review a body of eight regiments he
was charged with attempting to make a show, so impatient
was public sentiment to have rebellion put down. So
having done no more than to arrange his regiments in
brigades, without giving them any discipline as such, with-
out an organized artillery, without a commissariat, without
even a staff to aid him, McDowell, dividing his force, of
about 35,000 men, into five divisions, put four of them in
motion from the Virginia bank of the Potomac against the
enemy, and the result was Bull Run, a battle in which
brigade commanders did not know their commands and
soldiers did not know their generals. In reality, the battle
was one of regiments, rather than of brigades, the regiments
fighting more or less independently. But better things were
in store.
Bull Run, while comparatively disastrous as a battle-field,
was a grand success to the North in other respects. It
sobered, for a time at least, the hasty reckless spirits who
believed that the South would not fight, and who were so
unceasingly thorning the President to immediate decisive
action. They were not satisfied, it is true, but they were
less importunate, and manifested a willingness to let the
authorities have a short breathing spell, which was at once
given to better preparation for the future.
All eyes seemed now to turn, by common agreement, to
General George B. McClellan, to lead to victory, who was
young, who had served with distinction in the Mexican War,
had studied European warfare in the Crimea, and, above all,
had just finished a successful campaign in West Virginia.
He took command of the forces in and around Washington
July 27, 1861, a command which then numbered about fifty
thousand infantry, one thousand cavalry, and six hundred
and fifty artillerymen, with nine field batteries, such as they
252
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
were, of thirty guns. A part of these had belonged to
McDowell's Bull Run army, and a part had since arrived
from the North. The brigade organization of McDowell
was still in force on the Virginia side of the Potomac.
say in force. That statement needs qualifying. I have
already said that there was originally no cohesion to these
brigades; but since the battle the army was little better
than a mob in the respect of discipline. Officers and men
were absent from their commands without leave. The
streets of Washington were swarming with them. But I
must not wander too far from the point I have in mind
to consider. I only throw in these statements of the situa-
tion to give a clearer idea of what a tremendous task
McClellan had before him. In organizing the Army of the
Potomac he first arranged the infantry in brigades of four
regiments each. Then, as fast as new regiments arrived-
and at that time, under a recent call of the President for
five hundred thousand three years' volunteers, they were
coming in very rapidly, they were formed into temporary
brigades, and placed in camp in the suburbs of the city to
await their full equipment, which many of them lacked, to
become more efficient in the tactics of "Scott" or "Hardee,"
and, in general, to acquire such discipline as would be valu-
able in the service before them, as soldiers of the Union.
As rapidly as these conditions were fairly complied with,
regiments were permanently assigned to brigades across the
Potomac.
After this formation of brigades had made considerable.
headway, and the troops were becoming better disciplined
and tolerably skilled in brigade movements, McClellan began
the organization of Divisions, each comprising three brigades.
Before the middle of October, 1861, eleven of these divisions
had been organized, each including, besides the brigades of
infantry specified, from one to four light batteries, and from
a company to two regiments of cavalry which had been
specially assigned to it.
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES.
253
The next step in the direction of organization was the
formation of Army Corps; but in this matter McClellan
moved slowly, not deeming it best to form them until his
division commanders had, by experience in the field, shown
which of them, if any, had the ability to handle so large a
body of troops as a corps. This certainly seemed good judg
ment. The Confederate authorities appear to have been
governed by this principle, for they did not adopt the sys-
tem of army corps until after the battle of Antietam, in
September, 1862. But months had elapsed since Bull Run.
Eighteen hundred and sixty-two had dawned. “All quiet
along the Potomac" had come to be used as a by-word and
reproach. That powerful moving force, Public Sentiment,
was again crystallizing along its old lines, and making itself
felt, and "
Why don't the army move?" was the oft-re-
peated question which gave to the propounder no sat-
isfactory answer, because to him, with the public pulse
again at fever-beat, no answer could be satisfactory.
Meanwhile all these forces propelled their energies and
persuasions in one and the same direction, the White
House; and President Lincoln, goaded to desperation by
their persistence and insistence, issued a War Order March
8, 1862, requiring McClellan to organize his command into
five Army Corps. So far, well enough; but the order went
further, and specified who the corps commanders should be,
thus depriving him of doing that for which he had waited,
and giving him officers in those positions not, in his opinion,
the best, in all respects, that could have been selected.
But my story is not of the commanders, nor of McClellan,
but of the corps, and what I have said will show how they
were composed. Let us review for a moment: first, the
regiments, each of which, when full, contained one thousand
and forty-six men; four of these composed a brigade;
three brigades were taken to form a division, and three divis-
ions constituted a corps. This system was not always
rigidly adhered to. Sometimes a corps had a fourth divis-
254
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
ion, but such a case would be a deviation, and not the
regular plan. So, too, a division might have an extra
brigade. For example, a brigade might be detached from
one part of the service and sent to join an army in another
part. Such a brigade would not be allowed to remain
independent in that case, but would be at once assigned
to some division, usually a division whose brigades were
small in numbers.
I have said that McClellan made up his brigades of four
regiments. I think the usual number of regiments for a
brigade is three. That gives a system of threes throughout.
But in this matter also, after the first organization, the plan
was modified. As a brigade became depleted by sickness, cap-
ture, and the bullet, new regiments were added, until, as the
work of addition and depletion went on, I have known a
brigade to have within it the skeletons of ten regiments, and
even then its strength not half that of the original body.
My camp was located at one time near a regiment which
had only thirty-eight men present for duty.
There were twenty-five army corps in the service, at
different times, exclusive of cavalry, engineer, and signal
corps, and Hancock's veteran corps. The same causes
which operated to reduce brigades and divisions naturally
decimated corps, so that some of them were consolidated; as,
for example, the First and Third Corps were merged in the
Second, Fifth, and Sixth, in the spring of 1864. At about
the same time the Eleventh and Twelfth were united to
form the Twentieth. But enough of corps for the present.
What I have stated will make more intelligible what I shall
say about
CORPS BADGES.
What are corps badges? The answer to this question is
somewhat lengthy, but I think it will be considered interest-
ing. The idea of corps badges undoubtedly had its origin
with General Philip Kearny, but just how or exactly when
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES.
255
6
is somewhat legendary and uncertain. Not having become
a member of Kearny's old corps until about a year after the
idea was promulgated, I have no tradition of my own in
regard to it, but I have heard men who served under him
tell widely differing stories of the origin of the Kearny
Patch,' yet all agreeing as to the author of the idea, and also
in its application being made first to officers. General E. D.
Townsend, late Adjutant-General of the United States
Army, in his "Anecdotes of the Civil War," has adopted an
explanation which, I have no doubt, is substantially correct.
He says:
"One day, when his brigade was on the march, General
Philip Kearny, who was a strict disciplinarian, saw some
officers standing under a tree by the roadside; supposing
them to be stragglers from his command, he administered to
them a rebuke, emphasized by a few expletives. The
officers listened in silence, respectfully standing in the 'posi-
tion of a soldier' until he had finished, when one of them,
raising his hand to his cap, quietly suggested that the general
had possibly made a mistake, as they none of them belonged
to his command. With his usual courtesy, Kearny exclaimed,
'Pardon me; I will take steps to know how to recognize my
own men hereafter.' Immediately on reaching camp, he
issued orders that all officers and men of his brigade should
wear conspicuously on the front of their caps a round piece
of red cloth to designate them. This became generally
known as the Kearny Patch.""
6
I think General Townsend is incorrect in saying that
Kearny issued orders immediately on reaching camp for
all "officers and men" to wear the patch; first, because the
testimony of officers of the old Third Corps to-day is that
the order was first directed to officers only, and this would
be in harmony with the explanation which I have quoted;
and, second, after the death of Kearny and while his old
division was lying at Fort Lyon, Va., Sept. 4, 1862, General
D. B. Birney, then in command of it, issued a general order
256
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
announcing his death, which closed with the following para-
graph:
"As a token of respect for his memory, all the officers of
this division will wear crape on the left arm for thirty days,
and the colors and drums of regiments and batteries will be
placed in mourning for sixty days. To still further show
our regard, and to distinguish his officers as he wished, each
officer will continue to wear on his cap a piece of scarlet
cloth, or have the top or crown-piece of the cap made of
scarlet cloth."
The italics in the above extract are my own; but we may
fairly infer from it:
First, that up to this date the patch had been required for
officers alone, as no mention is made of the rank and file in
this order.
66
Second, that General Kearny did not specify the lozenge
as the shape of the badge to be worn, as some claim; for, had
such been the case, so punctilious a man as General Birney
would not have referred in general orders to a lozenge as
a piece of scarlet cloth," nor have given the option of hav-
ing the crown-piece of the cap made of scarlet cloth if the
lamented Kearny's instructions had originally been to wear a
lozenge. This being so, General Townsend's quoted descrip-
tion of the badge as “a round piece of red cloth" is probably
erroneous.
As there were no red goods at hand when Kearny initia-
ted this move, he is said to have given up his own red blan-
ket to be cut into these patches.
Soon after these emblems came into vogue among the
officers there is strong traditional testimony to show that
the men of the rank and file, without general orders, of their
own accord cut pieces of red from their overcoat linings, or
obtained them from other sources to make patches for them-
selves; and, as to the shape, there are weighty reasons for
believing that any piece of red fabric, of whatsoever shape,
was considered to answer the purpose.

FIFTH CORPS.
IST DIV.
+
IST DIV.
2ND DIV
SIXTH CORPS.
2 NO DIV.
SEVENTH CORPS.
3 RODIV.
+
3 RODIV.
IST DIV.
2 NO DIV.
EIGHTH CORPS.
3 RO DIV.
IST DIV.
2ND DIV.
NINTH CORPS.
3R DIV.
1ST DIV.
2ND DIV.
3RD DIV.
4TH DIV.
PLATE II.
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES.
257
These red patches took immensely with the "boys."
Kearny was a rough soldier in speech, but a perfect dare-
devil in action, and his men idolized him. Hence they were
only too proud to wear a mark which should distinguish
them as members of his gallant division. It was said to
have greatly reduced the straggling in this body, and also to
have secured for the wounded or dead that fell into the
Rebels' hands a more favorable and considerate atten-
tion.
There was a special reason, I think, why Kearny should
select a red patch for his men, although I have never seen
it referred to. On the 24th of March, 1862, General
McClellan issued a general order prescribing the kinds of
flags that should designate corps, division, and brigade head-
quarters. In this he directed that the First Division flag
should be a red one, six feet by five; the Second Division'
blue, and the Third Division a red and blue one; - both of
the same dimensions as the first. As Kearny commanded.
the First Division, he would naturally select the same
color of patch as his flag. Hence the red patch.
•
The contagion to wear a distinguishing badge extended
widely from this simple beginning. It was the most natural
thing that could happen for other divisions to be jealous
of any innovation which, by comparison, should throw
them into the background, for by that time the esprit de
corps, the pride of organization, had begun to make itself
felt. - Realizing this fact, and regarding it as a manifestation
that might be turned to good account, Major-General
Joseph Hooker promulgated a scheme of army corps badges
on the 21st of March, 1863, which was the first systematic
plan submitted in this direction in the armies. Hooker took
command of the Army of the Potomac Jan. 26, 1863. Gen-
eral' Daniel Butterfield was made his chief-of-staff, and he,
it is said, had much to do with designing and perfecting the
first scheme of badges for the army, which appears in the
following circular:-
258
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Circular.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTÓMAC.
MARCH 21, 1863.
For the purpose of ready recognition of corps and divisions of the army,
and to prevent injustice by reports of straggling and misconduct through
mistake as to their organizations, the chief quartermaster will furnish, with-
out delay, the following badges, to be worn by the officers and enlisted men
of all the regiments of the various corps mentioned. They will be securely
fastened upon the centre of the top of the cap. The inspecting officers will
at all inspections see that these badges are worn as designated.
First Corps
for Third.
a sphere: red for First Division; white for Second; blue
Second Corps - a trefoil: red for First Division; white for Second; blue
for Third.
Third Corps — a lozenge: red for First Division; white for Second; blue
for Third.
Fifth Corps
blue for Third.
a Maltese cross: red for First Division; white for Second;
Sixth Corps a cross: red for First Division; white for Second; blue for
Third. (Light Division, green.)
Eleventh Corps a crescent: red for First Division; white for Second;
blue for Third.
Twelfth Corps a star: red for First Division; white for Second; blue for
Third.
The sizes and colors will be according to pattern.
By command of
MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER,
- S. WILLIAMS, A.A.G.
Accompanying this order were paper patterns pasted on a
fly-leaf, illustrating the size and color required. It will be
seen that the badges figured in the color-plates are much re-
duced in size. Diligent inquiry and research in the depart-
ments at Washington fail to discover any of the patterns
referred to, or their dimensions; but there are veterans
living who have preserved the first badge issued to them in
pursuance of this circular, from which it is inferred that the
patterns were of a size to please the eye rather than to con-
form to any uniform scale of measurement. A trefoil which
I have measured is about an inch and seven-eighths each
way. It is a copy of an original. The stem is straight,
turning neither to the right nor left.
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES.
259
The arms of the Fifth Corps badge are often figured as
concave, whereas those of a Maltese cross are straight. This
is believed to be a deviation from the original in the minds
of many veterans who wore them,
and they are changed accordingly in
the color-plate.
The Sixth Corps wore a St. An-
drew's cross till 1864, when it changed
to the Greek cross figured in the plate.
That this circular of Hooker's was
not intended to be a dead letter was
shown in an order issued from Fal
mouth, Va., May 12, 1863, in which

he says:
ST. ANDREW'S CROSS.
"The badges worn by the troops when lost or torn off
must be immediately replaced."
And then, after designating the only troops that are with-
out badges, he adds:-
"Provost-marshals will arrest as stragglers all other troops
found without badges, and return them to their commands.
under guard."
There was a badge worn by the artillery brigade of the
Third Corps, which, so far as I know, had no counterpart in
other corps. I think it was not adopted until after Gettys-
burg. It was the lozenge of the corps. subdivided into four
smaller lozenges, on the following basis: If a battery was
attached to the first division, two of these smaller lozenges
were red, one white, and one blue; if to the second, two
were white, one red, and one blue; and if to the third, two
were blue, one red, and one white. They were worn on the
left side of the cap.
The original Fourth Corps, organized by McClellan, did
not adopt a badge, but its successor of the same number
wore an equilateral triangle prescribed by Major-General
Thomas, April 26, 1864, in General Orders No. 62, Depart-
ment of the Cumberland, in which he used much the same
260
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
language as that used by Hooker in his circular, and desig-
nated divisions by the same colors.
The badge of the Seventh Corps was a crescent nearly
encircling a star. It was not adopted until after the virtual
close of the war, June 1, 1865. The following is a para-
graph from the circular issued by Major-General J. J. Rey-
nolds, Department of Arkansas, regarding it:
"This badge, cut two inches in diameter, from cloth of
colors red, white, and blue, for the 1st, 2d, and 3d Divisions.
respectively, may be worn by all enlisted men of the Corps.'
This was an entirely different corps from the Seventh
Corps, which served in Virginia, and which had no badge.
The latter was discontinued Aug. 1, 1863, at the same time
with the original Fourth Corps.
The Eighth Corps wore a six-pointed star. I have not
been able to ascertain the date of its adoption. There was
no order issued.
The Ninth Corps was originally a part of the Army of the
Potomac, but at the time Hooker issued his circular it was
in another part of the Confederacy. Just before its return
to the army, General Burnside issued General Orders No. 6,
April 10, 1864, announcing as the badge of his corps, "A
shield with the figure nine in the centre crossed with a foul
anchor and cannon, to be worn on the top of the cap or
front of the hat." This corps had a fourth division, whose
badge was green. The corps commander and his staff wore
a badge “of red, white, and blue, with gilt anchor, cannon,
and green number.”
December 23, 1864, Major-General John G. Parke, who
had succeeded to the command, issued General Orders No.
49, of which the following is the first section:-
"1. All officers and enlisted men in this command will
be required to wear the Corps Badge upon the cap or hat.
For the Divisions, the badges will be plain, made of cloth in
the shape of a shield-red for the first, white for the second,
and blue for the third. For the Artillery Brigade, the

IST DIV.
TENTH CORPS.
2 NO DIV.
ELEVENTH CORPS.
3 RO DIV.
IST DIV.
2 NO DIV.
3R DIV.
TWELFTH CORPS.
IST DIV.
2 NPDIV.
FOURTEENTH CORPS.
3RD DIV.
IST DIV.
2 N DIV.
FIFTEENTH CORPS.
3RD DIV.
40 ROUNDS
U.S.
40ROUNDS
4OROUNDS
U.S.
U.S.
40 ROUNDS
U.S.
IST DIV."
2ND DIV.
3RD DIV.
4TH DIV.
PLATE III.
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES.
261
shield will be red, and will be worn under the regulation
cross cannon.”
This order grew out of the difficulty experienced in
obtaining the badge prescribed by General Burnside.
The cannon, anchor, etc., were made of gold bullion at
Tiffany's, New York City, and as it was scarcely practicable
for the rank and file to obtain
such badges, they had virtually
anticipated the order of General
Parke, and were wearing the
three plain colors after the man-
ner of the rest of Potomac's
army. The figures in the color-
plate, however, are fashioned
after the direction of General
Burnside's order. The annexed
cut is a fac-simile of one of the
original metallic badges worn by

ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH
CORPS BADGES COMBINED.
AN ORIGINAL NINTH CORPS
BADGE.
a staff officer. This corps had a
fourth division from April 19 to
Nov. 29, 1864.
The Tenth Corps badge was the
trace of a four-bastioned fort. It
was adopted by General Orders
No. 18 issued by Major-General
D. B. Birney, July 25, 1864.

་
The Eleventh and Twelfth Corps.
have already been referred to, in
General Hooker's circular. Ou
On
the 18th of April, 1864, these two
corps were consolidated to form the
Twentieth Corps, and by General
Orders No. 62 issued by Major-
General George H. Thomas, April
26, "a star, as heretofore worn by the Twelfth Corps," was
prescribed as the badge.
262
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
The annexed cut shows the manner in which many of the
corps combined the two badges in order not to lose their
original identity.
The Thirteenth Corps had no badge.
The badge of the Fourteenth Army Corps was an acorn.
Tradition has it that some time before the adoption of this
badge the members of this corps called themselves Acorn
Boys, because at one time in their history, probably when
they were hemmed in at Chattanooga by Bragg, rations were
so scanty that the men gladly gathered large quantities of
acorns from an oak grove, near by which they were camped,
and roasted and ate them, repeating this operation while the
scarcity of food continued. Owing to this circumstance,
when it became necessary to select a badge, the acorn
suggested itself as an exceedingly appropriate emblem for
that purpose, and it was therefore adopted by General
Orders No. 62, issued from Headquarters Department of
the Cumberland, at Chattanooga, April 26, 1864.
The badge of the Fifteenth Corps derives its origin from
the following incident: - During the fall of 1863 the
Eleventh and Twelfth Corps were taken from Meade's army,
put under the command of General Joe Hooker, and sent to
aid in the relief of Chattanooga, where Thomas was closely
besieged. They were undoubtedly better dressed than the
soldiers of that department, and this fact, with the added
circumstance of their wearing corps badges, which were a
novelty to the Western armies at that time, led to some
sharp tilts, in words, between the Eastern and Western sol-
diers. One day a veteran of Hooker's command met an
Irishman of Logan's Corps at the spring where they went
to fill their canteens. "What corps do you belong to?"
said the Eastern veteran, proud in the possession of the dis-
tinguishing badge on his cap, which told his story for him.
"What corps, is it?" said the gallant son of Erin, straight-
ening his back; "the Fifteenth, to be sure." "Where is
your badge?" "My badge, do ye say? There it is!" said
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES.
263
Pat, clapping his hand on his cartridge-box, at his side;
forty rounds. Can you show me a betther?
66
On the 14th of February, 1865, Major-General John A.
Logan, the commander of this corps, issued General Orders.
No. 10, which prescribe that the badge shall be "A minia-
ture cartridge-box, one-eighth of an inch thick, fifteen-
sixteenths of an inch wide, set transversely on a field of
cloth or metal, one and five-eighths of an inch square. Above
the cartridge-box plate will be stamped or worked in a
curve Forty Rounds.'" This corps had a fourth division,
whose badge was yellow, and
headquarters wore a badge in-
cluding the four colors. Logan
goes on to say :
"It is expected that this badge
will be worn constantly by every
officer and soldier in the corps.
If any corps in the army has a
right to take pride in its badge,
surely that has which looks back
through the long and glorious
line of... [naming twenty-nine
different battles], and scores of minor struggles; the corps
which had its birth under Grant and Sherman in the darker
days of our struggle, the corps which will keep on strug-
gling until the death of the Rebellion."

FIRST AND FIFTH CORPS BADGES
COMBINED.
The following correct description of the badge worn by
the Sixteenth Army Corps is given by the assistant-inspector
general of that corps, Colonel J. J. Lyon: -" The device is
a circle with four Minie-balls, the points towards the centre,
cut out of it." It was designed by Brevet Brigadier-General
John Hough, the assistant adjutant-general of the corps,
being selected out of many designs, submitted by Major-
General A. J. Smith, the corps commander, and, in his
honor, named the "A. J. Smith Cross." It is easily distin-
guished from the Maltese cross, in being bounded by curved
264
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
instead of straight lines. No order for its adoption was
issued.
The badge of the Seventeenth Corps, said to have been
suggested by General M. F. Ford, and adopted in accord-
ance with General Orders issued by his commander, Major-
General Francis P. Blair, was an arrow. He says, "In its
swiftness, in its surety of striking where wanted, and its
destructive powers, when so intended, it is probably as
emblematical of this corps as any design that could be
adopted.". The order was issued at Goldsboro, N. C., March
25, 1865. The order further provides that the arrow for
divisions shall be two inches long, and for corps headquarters
one and one-half inches long, and further requires the
wagons and ambulances to be marked with the badge
of their respective commands, the arrow being twelve inches
long.
A circular issued from the headquarters of the Eighteenth
Army Corps June 7, 1864, and General Orders No. 108,
from the same source, dated August 25, 1864, furnish all
the information on record regarding the badge of this body.
While both are quite lengthy in description and prescrip-
tion, neither states what the special design was to be. It
was, however, a cross with equi-foliate arms. The circular
prescribed that this cross should be worn by general officers,
suspended by a tri-colored ribbon from the left breast.
Division commanders were to have a triangle in the centre
of the badge, but brigade commanders were to have the
number of their brigade instead; line officers were to sus-
pend their badges by ribbons of the color of their division;
cavalry and artillery officers also were to have distinctive
badges. The whole system was quite complex, and some-
what expensive as well, as the badges were to be of metal
and enamel in colors. . Enlisted men were to wear the plain
cross of cloth, sewed to their left breast. This order was
issued by General W. F. Smith.
General, Orders 108 issued by General E. O. C. Ord

SIXTEENTH CORPS.
SEVENTEENTH CORPS.
IST DIV.
IST DIV.
2ND DIV.
3 RD DIV.
EIGHTEENTH CORPS.
2 NO DIV.
NINETEENTH CORPS.
3RD DIV.
IST DIV.
2ND DIV
3RD DIV
TWENTIETH CORPS.
TWENTY-SECOND CORPS.
TWENTY-THIRD CORPS.
IST DIV.
2ND DIV.
3RD DIV.
PLATE IV.
CORPS AND CORPS BADGĖS.
265
simplified the matter somewhat, requiring line-officers and
enlisted men both to wear the plain cross the color of
their respective divisions, and enlisted men were required to
wear theirs on the front of the hat or top of the cap.
By General Orders No. 11 issued by General Emory
Nov. 17, 1864, the Nineteenth Corps adopted "a fan-leaved
cross, with an octagonal centre." The First Division was t
wear red, the Second blue, and the Third white - the excep-
tion in the order of the colors which proved the rule. The
badge of enlisted men was to be of cloth, two inches square,
and worn on the side of the hat or top of the cap, although
they were allowed to supply themselves with metallic badges
of the prescribed color, if so minded.
The Twenty-First Corps never adopted a badge.
The Twenty-Second adopted (without orders) a badge
quinquefarious in form, that is, opening into five parts, and
having a circle in the centre. This was the corps which
served in the defence of Washington. Its membership was
constantly changing.
The badge adopted by the Twenty-Third Corps (without
General Orders) was a plain shield, differing somewhat in
form from that of the Ninth Corps, with which it was for a
time associated, and which led it to adopt a similar badge.
The following General Order tells the story of the next
Corps' badge:-
HEADQUARTERS TWENTY-FOURTH ARMY Corps,
[General Orders No. 32.]
BEFORE RICHMOND, VA., March 18, 1865.
By authority of the Major-General commanding the Army of the James,
the IIEART is adopted as the badge of the Twenty-Fourth Army Corps.
The symbol selected is one which testifies our affectionate regard for all
our brave comrades alike the living and the dead—who have braved the
perils of the mighty conflict, and our devotion to the sacred cause a cause
which entitles us to the sympathy of every brave and true heart and the
support of every strong and determined hand.
The Major-General commanding the Corps does not doubt that soldiers
who have given their strength and blood to the fame of their former badges,
266
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
will unite in rendering the present one even more renowned than those un-
der which they have heretofore marched to battle.
By command of Major-General JOHN GIBBON.
A. HENRY EMBLER, A. A. A. General.
This corps was largely made up of re-enlisted men, who
had served nine months or three years elsewhere. Here is
another General Order which speaks for itself:-
[Orders.]
HEADQUARTERS TWENTY-FIFTH ARMY Corps,
ARMY OF THE JAMES,
IN THE FIELD, Va., Feb. 20, 1865.
In view of the circumstances under which this Corps was raised and filled,
the peculiar claims of its individual members upon the justice and fair deal-
ing of the prejudiced, and the regularity of the troops which deserve those
equal rights that have been hitherto denied the majority, the Commanding
General has been induced to adopt the Square as the distinctive badge of the
Twenty-Fifth Army Corps.
Wherever danger has been found and glory to be won, the heroes who
have fought for immortality have been distinguished by some emblem to
which every victory added a new lustre. They looked upon their badge with
pride, for to it they had given its fame. In the homes of smiling peace it
recalled the days of courageous endurance and the hours of deadly strife –
and it solaced the moment of death, for it was a symbol of a life of heroism
and self-denial. The poets still sing of the "Templar's Cross," the "Cres-
cent of the Turks, the "Chalice" of the hunted Christian, and the
“White Plume" of Murat, that crested the wave of valor sweeping resist-
lessly to victory.
""
Soldiers! to you is given a chance in this Spring Campaign of making
this badge immortal. Let History record that on the banks of the James
thirty thousand freemen not only gained their own liberty but shattered the
prejudice of the world, and gave to the Land of their birth Peace, Union, and
Liberty.
[Official.]
W. L. GOODRICH,
A. A. A. General.
GODFREY WEITZEL,
Major-General Commanding.
This corps was composed wholly of colored troops.
In the late fall of 1864, Major-General W. S. Hancock re-
signed his command of the Second Corps to take charge
CORPS AND CORPS BADGES.
267
of the First Veteran Corps, then organizing. The badge
adopted originated with Colonel C. H. Morgan, Hancock's
chief-of-staff.
The centre is a circle half the diameter of the whole de-
sign, surrounded by a wreath of laurel. Through the circle
a wide red band passes vertically. From the wreath radiate
rays in such a manner as to form a heptagon with concave
sides. Seven hands spring from the wreath, each grasping a
spear, whose heads point the several angles of the heptagon.
Sheridan's Cavalry Corps had a badge, but it was not
generally worn. The device was "Gold crossed sabres on a
blue field, surrounded by a glory in silver."
The design of Wilson's Cavalry Corps was a carbine from
which was suspended by chains a red, swallow-tail guidon,
bearing gilt crossed sabres.
The badge of the Engineer and Pontonier Corps is thus
described: "Two oars crossed over an anchor, the top of
which is encircled by a scroll surmounted by a castle; the
castle being the badge of the U. S. corps of engineers."
a fact, however, this fine body of men wore only the castle
designed in brass.
As
The badge of the Signal Corps was two flags crossed on
the staff of a flaming torch. This badge is sometimes repre-
sented with a red star in the centre of one flag, but such
was not the typical badge. This star was allowed on the
headquarters flag of a very few signal officers, who were ac-
corded this distinction for some meritorious service per-
formed; but such a flag was rarely seen, and should not
be figured as part of the corps badge.
The Department of West Virginia, under the command of
General Crook, adopted a spread eagle for a badge, Jan.
3, 1865.
The pioneers of the army wore a pair of crossed hatchets,
the color of the division to which they belonged. Then, the
Army of the Cumberland have a society badge. So likewise
have the Army of the Potomac. There are also medals
268
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
presented for distinguished gallantry, worn by a few. They
are not numerous and are seldom to be seen for this
reason, if for no other, they are of precious value to the
owner, and are therefore carefully treasured.
In nearly every corps whose badge I have referred to, the
plan was adopted of having the first three divisions take the
national colors of red, white, and blue respectively. These
corps emblems were not only worn by the men, I refer
now to the Army of the Potomac, but they were also
painted with stencil on the transportation of a corps, its
wagons and ambulances. And just here I may add that
there was no army which became so devotedly attached to
its badges as did the Army of the Potomac. There were
reasons for this. They were the first to adopt them, being
at least a year ahead of all other corps, and more than two
years ahead of many. Then, by their use they were brought
into sharper comparison in action and on the march, and, as
General Weitzel says, "they looked upon their badge with
pride, for to it they had given its fame.'
These badges can be seen in any parade of the Grand
Army, worn on the cap or hat, possibly now and then one
that has seen service. I still have such a one in my pos-
session. But at the close of the war many of the veterans
desired some more enduring form of these emblems, so
familiar and full of meaning to them, and so to-day they
wear pinned to the breast or suspended from a ribbon the
dear old corps badge, modelled in silver or gold, perhaps
bearing the division colors indicated, in enamel or stone, and
some of them inscribed with the list of battles in which the
bearer participated. What is such a jewel worth to the
wearer? I can safely say that, while its intrinsic value may
be a mere trifle, not all the wealth of an Astor and a Van-
derbilt combined could purchase the experience which it
records, were such a transfer otherwise possible.

IST DIV.
TWENTY-FOURTH CORPS
♡
2 NO DIV.
TWENTY-FIFTH CORPS.
3RD DIV.
IST DIV.
Wilson's Cavalry.
2 NO DIV.
Signal Corps.
3RD DIV.
Engineer Corps.
Sheridan's Cavalry.
Baia
EHE
Hancock's Veteran Corps.
ARMY OF WEST VIRCINIA.
IST DIV.
2 NO DIV.
3 RO DIV.
PLATE V.

CHIEF
ARTILLERY
Q'R. MASTER.
CORPS H'DQ'RS.
BRIGADE.
&
IST DIV.
2N DIV.
3 RODIV.
IST BRIGADE.
IST BRIGADE.
ISTBRIGADE.
2 NO BRIGADE.
2ND BRIGADE.
2 NO BRIGADE
3 RRRIGADE
3RDBRIGADE.
3 R BRIGADE.
4TH BRIGADE.
SECOND CORPS FLAGS
1863
PLATE VI.
CHAPTER XIV.
SOME INVENTIONS AND DEVICES OF THE WAR.

A TORPEDO.
HAT "necessity is the mother of
invention " nothing can more
clearly and fully demonstrate
than war.
I will devote this
chapter to presenting some facts
from the last war which illus-
trate this maxim. As soon as
the tocsin of war had sounded,
and men were summoned to
take the field, a demand was
at once made, on both sides of
Mason and Dixon's line, for a
new class of materials the materials of war, for which
there had been no demand of consequence for nearly
fifty years.
The arms, such as they were, had been
largely sent South before the outbreak. But they were
somewhat old-fashioned, and, now that there was a demand
for new arms, inventive genius was stimulated to produce
better ones. It always has been true, and always will
be, that the manufactured products for which there is an
extensive demand are the articles which invention will
improve upon until they arrive as near perfection as it is
possible for the work of human hands to be. Such was the
case with the materials of warfare. Invention was stimu-
lated in various directions, but its products appeared most
numerous, perhaps, in the changes which the arms, ammuni-
tion, and ordnance underwent in their better adaptation to
the needs of the hour.
269
270
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
The few muskets remaining in the hands of the govern-
ment in 1861 were used to equip the troops who left first
for the seat of war. Then manufacturing began on an
immense scale. The government workshops could not pro-
duce a tithe of what were wanted, even though running
night and day; and so private enterprise was called in to
supplement the need. As one illustration, Grover & Baker
of Roxbury turned their extensive sewing-machine work-
shop into a rifle-manufactory, which employed several
hundred hands, and this was only one of a large number in
that section. Alger, of South Boston, poured the immense
molten masses of his cupolas into the moulds of cannon, and
his massive steam-hammers pounded out and welded the
ponderous shafts of gunboats and monitors. The descen-
dants of Paul Revere diverted a part of their yellow metal
from the mills which rolled it into sheathing for govern-
ment ships, to the founding of brass twelve-pounders, or
Napoleons, as they were called; and many a Rebel was laid
low by shrapnel or canister hurled through the muzzle of
guns on which was plainly stamped "Revere Copper Co.,
Canton, Mass." Plain smooth-bore Springfield muskets
soon became Springfield rifles, and directly the process
of rifling was applied to cannon of various calibres. Then,
muzzle-loading rifles became breech-loading; and from a
breech-loader for a single cartridge the capacity was in-
creased, until some of the cavalry regiments that took the
field in 1864 went equipped with Henry's sixteen-shooters,
a breech-loading rifle, which the Rebels said the Yanks
loaded in the morning and fired all day.
I met at Chattanooga, Tenn., recently, Captain Fort, of
the old First Georgia Regulars, a Confederate regiment of
distinguished service. In referring to these repeating rifles,
he said that his first encounter with them was near Olustee,
Fla. While he was skirmishing with a Massachusetts regi-
ment (the Fortieth), he found them hard to move, as they
seemed to load with marvellous speed, and never to have their
SOME INVENTIONS AND DEVICES OF THE WAR. 271
fire drawn. Determined to see what sort of fire-arms were
opposed to him, he ordered his men to concentrate their fire
on a single skirmisher. They did so and laid him low, and
afterwards secured his repeating rifle I think a Spencer's
seven or eight shooter — which they carried along, as a great
curiosity, for some time afterward.
In the navy Invention made equally rapid strides. When
the war broke out, the available vessels were mainly a few
ships-of-the-line, frigates and screw steamers; but these
could be of little service in such a warfare as was evidently
on hand, a warfare which must be carried on in rivers, and

A GUNBOAT.
bays, and coastwise generally, where such clumsy and deep-
draught vessels could not be used. So sloops-of-war, gun-
boats, mortar-boats, double-enders, and iron-clads came to the
front, and the larger old-fashioned craft were used mainly
as receiving ships. But with the increase in range and
calibre of naval armament came a seeking by Invention for
something less vulnerable to their power, and after the en-
counter of the little "Yankee Cheese Box," so called, and the
Rebel Ram "Virginia," the question of what should consti-
tute the main reliance of the navy was definitely settled, and
monitors became the idols of the hour. These facts are all
matters of well written history, and I refer to them now
only to illustrate the truth of the maxim with which I began
the chapter.
272
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
I wish now to give it still further emphasis by citing some
illustrations which the historian has neglected for "nobler
game." Some of the inventions which I shall refer to were
impractical, and had only a brief existence. Of course your
small inventor and would-be benefactor to his kind clearly
foresaw that men who were about to cut loose from the
amenities of civil life would be likely to spend money freely
in providing themselves before their departure with every-

ج
A MORTAR BOAT.
thing portable that might have a tendency to ameliorate the
condition of soldier life. With an eye single to this idea
these inventors took the field.
One of the first products of their genius which I recall
was a combination knife-fork-and-spoon arrangement, which
was peddled through the state camping-grounds in great
numbers and variety. Of course every man must have one.
So much convenience in so small a compass must be taken
advantage of. It was a sort of soldier's trinity, which they all
thought that they understood and appreciated. But I doubt
SOME INVENTIONS AND DEVICES OF THE WAR. 273
whether this invention, on the average, ever got beyond the
first camp in active service.
I still have in my possession the remnants of a water-
filterer in which I invested after enlistment. There was a
metallic mouth-piece at one end of a small gutta-percha
tube, which latter was about fifteen inches long. At the
other end of the tube was a suction-chamber, an inch long
by a half-inch in diameter, with the end perforated, and con-
taining a piece of bocking as a filter. Midway of the
tubing was an air-chamber. The tubing long since dried

:..
A DOUBLE-TURRETED MONITOR.
and crumbled away from the metal. It is possible that I
used this instrument half a dozen times, though I do not
recall a single instance, and on breaking camp just before
the Gettysburg Campaign, I sent it, with some other effects,
northward.
I remember another filterer, somewhat simpler. It con-
sisted of the same kind of mouth-piece, with rubber tubing
attached to a small conical piece of pumice-stone, through
which the water was filtered. Neither of these was ever of
any practical value.
I have spoken of the rapid improvements made in arms.
This improvement extended to all classes of fire-arms alike.
Revolvers were no exception, and Colt's revolver, which
monopolized the field for some time, was soon crowded in
the race by Smith and Wesson, Remington, and others.
Thousands of them were sold monthly, and the newly
274
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
fledged soldier who did not possess a revolver, either by
his own purchase, or as a present from solicitous relatives,
or admiring friends, or enthusiastic business associates, was
something of a curiosity. Of course a present of this kind
necessitated an outfit of special ammunition, and such was at
once procured. But the personal armory of many heroes was
not even then complete, and a dirk knife a real "Arkan-
saw toothpick"- was no unusual sight to be seen hanging
from the belt of some of the incipient but blood-thirsty
warriors. The little town of Ashby in Massachusetts, at one
of its earliest war-meetings, voted "that each volunteer
shall be provided with a revolver, a bowie-knife, and a
Bible, and shall also receive ten dollars in money." The
thought did not appear to find lodgement in the brain of the
average soldier or his friends that by the time the govern-
ment had provided him with what arms, ammunition, and
equipments it was thought necessary for him to have, he would
then be loaded with about all he could bear, without adding
a personal armory and magazine. Nor did he realize that
which afterwards in his experience must have come upon
him with convincing force, that by the time he had
done his duty faithfully and well with the arms which
the government had placed in his hands there would
be little opportunity or need, even if his ambition still
held out, to fall back on his personal arsenal for further
supplies. Members of the later regiments got their eyes
open to this fact either through correspondence with men
at the front, or by having been associated with others
who had seen service. But the troops of '61 and '62
took out hundreds of revolvers only to lose them, give
them away, or throw them away; and as many regi-
ments were forbidden by their colonels to wear them, a
large number were sent back to the North. Revolvers were
probably cheaper in Virginia, in those years, than in any
other state in the Union.
There was another invention that must have been suffi-
SOME INVENTIONS AND DEVICES OF THE WAR. 275
ciently popular to have paid the manufacturer a fair rate on
his investment, and that was the steel-armor enterprise.
There were a good many men who were anxious to be
heroes, but they were particular. They preferred to be live.
heroes. They were willing to go to war and fight as never
man fought before, if they could only be insured against.
bodily harm. They were not willing to assume all the risks.
which an enlistment involved, without securing something
in the shape of a drawback. Well, the iron tailors saw and
appreciated the situation and sufferings of this class of men,
and came to the rescue with a vest of steel armor, worth, as
I remember it, about a dozen dollars, and greaves. The
latter, I think, did not find so ready a market as the vests,
which were comparatively common. These iron-clad war-
riors admitted that when panoplied for the fight their sensa-
tions were much as they might be if they were dressed up
in an old-fashioned air-tight stove; still, with all the dis-
comforts of this casing, they felt a little safer with it on
than off in battle, and they reasoned that it was the right
and duty of every man to adopt all honorable measures to
assure his safety in the line of duty. This seemed solid
reasoning, surely; but, in spite of it all, a large number of
these vests never saw Rebeldom. Their owners were sub-
jected to such a storm of ridicule that they could not bear
up under it. It was a stale yet common joke to remind
them that in action these vests must be worn behind. Then,
too, the ownership of one of them was taken as evidence
of faint-heartedness. Of this the owner was often re-
minded; so that when it came to the packing of the knap-
sack for departure, the vest, taking as it did considerable
space, and adding no small weight to his already too heavy
burden, was in many cases left behind. The officers, whose
opportunity to take baggage along was greater, clung to
them longest; but I think that they were quite generally
abandoned with the first important reduction made in the
luggage.
276
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
One of the first supposed-to-be useful, if not ornamental
stupidities, which some of the earlier troops took to them-
selves by order, was the Havelock. True, its invention ante-
dated the time of which I speak. It was a foreign concep-
tion, and derived its name from an English general who
distinguished himself in the war in India,
where they were worn in 1857. It was a
simple covering of white linen for the cap,
with a cape depending for the protection
of the neck from the sun. They may have
been very essential to the comfort of the
troops in the Eastern climate, but, while
whole regiments went South with them, if
one of these articles survived active service
three months I have yet to hear of it.

:
A HAVELOCK.
Then there were fancy patent-leather
haversacks, with two or three compart-
ments for the assortment of rations, which Uncle Sam was
expected to furnish. But those who invested in them were
somewhat disgusted at a little later stage of their service, when
M
A HAVERSACK AND DIPPER.
they were ordered to throw
away all such "high-toned"
trappings and adopt the regu-
lation pattern of painted cloth.
This was a bag about a foot
square, with a broad strap for
the shoulder, into which sol-
diers soon learned to bundle
all their food and table fur-
niture, which, I think I have
elsewhere stated, after a day's

hard march were always found in such a delightful hodge-
podge.
Now and then an invention was to be found which was a
real convenience. I still have in my possession such a one,
an article which, when not in use, is a compact roll eight and
SOME INVENTIONS AND DEVICES OF THE WAR. 277
one-half inches long and two inches in diameter, and de-
signed to hold pens, ink, and paper. Unrolled, it makes a
little tablet of the length given and five and one-half inches
wide, which was my writing-desk when no better was to be
had.
The Turkish fez, with pendent tassel, was seen on the
heads of some soldiers. Zouave regiments wore them. They
did very well to lie around camp
in, and in a degree marked their
owner as a somewhat conspicuous
man among his fellows, but they
were not tolerated on line; few of
them ever survived the first three
months' campaigning.
And this recalls the large number
of the soldiers' of '62 who did not
wear the forage cap furnished by
the government. They bought the
"McClellan cap," so called, at the
hatters' instead, which in most cases
faded out in a month. This the
government caps did not do, with all
their awkward appearance. They
may have been coarse and unfashion-
able to the eye, but the colors would stand. Nearly every
man embellished his cap with the number or letter of his
company and regiment and the appropriate emblem. For
infantry this emblem is a bugle, for artillery two crossed
cannons, and for cavalıy two crossed sabres.

A ZOUAVE.
One other item occurs to me, not entirely germane to the
chapter, yet interesting enough to warrant its insertion.
This was the great care exercised to have all equipments
prominently marked with the regiment, company, and State
to which the owner belonged. For example, on the back of
the knapsack of every man in a regiment appeared in large
lettering something like this: Co. B, 33d New York Regi-
278
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
L
ment; or, if it was light artillery, this, 10th Mass. Battery.
Nor did the advertising stop here, for the haversacks and
canteens were often similarly labelled, and yet, at the time, it
seemed necessary to somebody that it should be done. At
ány rate, nobody found any fault with it; and if it had been
thought desirable that each article of apparel should be simi-
larly placarded, there would have been a general acquies-
cence on the part of the untutored citizen soldiery, who were
in the best of humor, and with Pope (Alexander not John)
seemed to agree that "Whatever is is right." But how
many of these loudly marked equipments survived the
strife? Perhaps not one. The knapsack may have been
thrown aside in the first battle, and a simple roll composed
of the woollen and rubber blanket substituted for it.
haversacks and canteens were soon lost, and new ones took
their place; and they lasted just as long and were just as
safe as if conspicuously marked. One of the comical sights
of the service was to see Rebel prisoners brought in having
strapped on their backs knapsacks bearing just such label-
ling as that which I have quoted. Of course, these were
trophies which they had either taken from prisoners or had
picked up on some battlefield or in the wake of the Union
army, and appropriated to their own use.
The
Light-artillerymen went to the front decorated with brass
scales on their shoulders, but, finding an utter absence of
such ornaments on the persons of soldiers who had been in
action, and feeling sensitive about being known as recruits,
these decorations soon disappeared. Theoretically, they
were worn to ward off the blows of a sabre aimed by caval-
rymen at the head; practically, it is doubtful whether they
ever served such a purpose.

A SPENCER RIFLE
CHAPTER XV.
THE ARMY MULE.
"Two teamsters have paused, in the shade of the pool,
Rehearsing the tricks of the old army mule;
They have little to say
Of the blue and the gray,
Which they wore when the garments meant shedding of blood-
They're discussing the mule and 'Virginia mud.'"
))))!
T has often been said that the South
could not have been worsted in the
Rebellion had it not been for
the steady re-enforcement
brought to the Union side
by the mule. To just what
extent his services hastened
the desired end, it would be impossible.
to compute; but it is admitted by both
parties to the war that they were in-
valuable.
It may not be generally known
that Kentucky is the chief mule-pro-
ducing State of the Union, with Mis-
souri next, while St. Louis is perhaps the best mule-market in
the world; but the entire South-west does something at mule-
raising. Mules vary more in size than horses. The largest
and best come from Kentucky. The smaller ones are the
result of a cross with the Mexican mustang. These were
also extensively used. General Grant says, in his Memoirs
(vol. 1. p. 69), that while Taylor's army was at Matamoras,
contracts were made for mules, between American traders
and Mexican smugglers, at from eight to eleven dollars

279
280
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
each. But the main source of supply for the Western
States, where they are very generally used, for the South, and
for the government, during war time, was Kentucky. When
the war broke out, efforts were made by Governor Magoffin
of that State or rather by the Legislature, for the Governor
was in full sympathy with the Rebels to have that com-
monwealth remain neutral. For this reason when the
general government attempted to purchase mules there in
1861, they were refused; but in the course of a few weeks
the neutrality nonsense was pretty thoroughly knocked out
of the authorities, Kentucky took its stand on the side of the

HEAD
QUARTERS
3 DIY
A SIX-MULE TEAM.
Union, and the United States government began and contin-
ued its purchase of mules there in increasing numbers till
the close of the war.
What were these mules used for? Well, I have related
elsewhere that, when the war broke out, thousands of
soldiers came pouring into Washington for its defence, and
afterwards went by thousands into other sections of Rebel-
dom. To supply these soldiers with the necessary rations,
forage, and camp equipage, and keep them supplied, thou-
sands of wagons were necessary. Some of the regiments
took these wagons with them from their native State, but
most did not. Some of the wagons were drawn by mules,
already owned by the government, and more mules were
purchased from time to time. The great advantage pos-
sessed by these animals over horses was not at that period
THE ARMY MULË.
281
fully appreciated, so that horses were also used in large
numbers. But the magnitude of the Rebellion grew apace.
Regiments of cavalry, each requiring twelve hundred horses,
and light batteries one hundred and ten, were now rapidly
organizing, calling for an abundance of horse-flesh. Then,
disease, exposure, and hard usage consumed a great many
more, so that these animals naturally grew scarcer as the
demand increased. For certain kinds of work horses must
be had, mules would not do. The horse was good for any
kind of service, as a beast of burden, up to the limits of his
endurance. Not so his half-brother the mule. The latter
was more particular as to the kind of service he performed.

A MULE EATING AN OVERCOAT.
Like a great many bipeds that entered the army, he preferred
to do military duty in the safe rear. As a consequence, if
he found himself under fire at the front, he was wont to make
a stir in his neighborhood until he got out of such inhospi-
table surroundings.
This nervousness totally unfitted him for artillery or
cavalry service; he must therefore be made available for
draft in the trains, the ammunition and forage trains, the
supply and bridge trains. So, as rapidly as it could con-
veniently be done, mules took the place of horses in all the
trains, six mules replacing four horses.
282
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Aside from this nervousness under fire, mules have a great
advantage over horses in being better able to stand hard
usage, bad feed, or no feed, and neglect generally. They
can travel over rough ground unharmed where horses would
be lamed or injured in some way. They will eat brush, and
not be very hungry to do it, either. When forage was short,
the drivers were wont to cut branches and throw before
them for their refreshment. One m. d. (mule driver) tells
of having his army overcoat partly eaten by one of his team
actually chewed and swallowed. The operation made
the driver blue, if the diet did not thus affect the mule.
In organizing a six-mule team, a large pair of heavy ani-
mals were selected for the pole, a smaller size for the swing,
and a still smaller pair for leaders. There were advantages
in this arrangement; in the first place, in going through a
miry spot the small leaders soon place themselves, by their
quick movements, on firm footing, where they can take hold
and pull the pole mules out of the wallow. Again,
with a good heavy steady pair of wheel mules, the driver
can restrain the smaller ones that are more apt to be frisky
and reckless at times, and, assisted by the brake, hold back
his loaded wagon in descending a hill. Then, there was
more elasticity in such a team when well trained, and a
good driver could handle them much more gracefully and
dexterously than he could the same number of horses.
It was really wonderful to see some of the experts drive
these teams. The driver rides the near pole mule, holding in
his left hand a single rein. This connects with the bits of
the near lead mule. By pulling this rein, of course the
brutes would go to the left. To direct them to the right
one or more short jerks of it were given, accompanied by a
sort of gibberish which the mule-drivers acquired in the
business. The bits of the lead mules being connected by an
iron bar, whatever movement was made by the near one
directed the movements of the off one. The pole mules
were controlled by short reins which hung over their necks.
THE ARMY MULE.
283
The driver carried in his right hand his black snake, that is,
his black leather whip, which was used with much effect on
occasion.
When mules were brought to the army they were enclosed
in what was called a corral. To this place the driver in
quest of a mule must repair to make and take his selection,
having the proper authority to do

C
Ε
A CORRAL.
· SO. I will illustrate how it was
done. Here is a figure representing
a corral, having on the inside a fence
running from A to C. AD and BE
are pairs of bars. The driver enters A
the yard, mounted, and, having se-
lected the mule he wants, drives him
toward BE. The bars at AD be-
ing up, and those at BE being down, the mule advances
and the bars BE are put up behind him. He is now
enclosed in the small space indicated by ABDE. The
mule-driver then mounts the fence, bridles the brute of
his choice, lets down the bars at AD, and takes him out.
Why does he bridle him from the fence? Well, because
the mule is an uncertain animal.
In making his selection the driver did not always draw a
prize. Sometimes his mule would be kind and tractable,
and sometimes not. Of course he would saddle him, and
start to ride him to camp; but the mule is not always docile
under the saddle. He too often has a mind of his own.
He may go along all right, or, if he is tricky, he may sud-
denly pause, bracing his forefeet and settling down on his
hind ones, as if he had suddenly happened to think of the
girl he left behind him, and was debating whether or not to
go back after her. It is when the mule strikes such an atti-
tude as this, I suppose, that Josh Billings calls him "a stub-
born fact." But the driver! Well, if at that moment he
was off his guard, he would get off without previous prep-
aration, as a man sometimes sits down on ice, and look at
:
284
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
the mule. If, however, he was on the alert, and well pre-
pared, the mule, in the end, would generally come off second
best. I have referred to the Black Snake. It was the badge
of authority with which the mule-driver enforced his orders.
It was the panacea for all the ills to which mule-flesh was
heir. It was a common sight to see a six-mule team, when

DISMOUNTED.
left to itself, get into an entanglement, seeming inextricably
mixed, unless it was unharnessed; but the appearance of the
driver with his black wand would change the scene as if by
magic. As the heel-cord of Achilles was his only vulnerable
part, so the ears of the mule seemed to be the development
through which his reasoning faculties could be the most
quickly and surely reached, and one or two cracks of the
whip on or near these little monuments, accompanied by the
driver's very expressive ejaculation in the mule tongue,
which I can only describe as a kind of cross between an
unearthly screech and a groan, had the effect to disentangle
them unaided, and make them stand as if at a "present" to
their master. When cff duty in camp, they were usually
hitched to the pole of their wagon, three on either side, and
here, between meals, they were often as antic as kittens or
puppies at play, leaping from one side of the pole to the
THE ARMY MULE.
285
other, lying down, tumbling over, and biting each other,
until perhaps all six would be an apparently confused heap
of mule. If the driver appeared at such a crisis with his
black "ear-trumpet," one second was long enough to dis-
solve the pile into its original mule atoms, and arrange them
again on either side of the pole, looking as orderly and inno-
cent as if on inspection.
An educated mule-driver was, in his little sphere, as com-
petent a disciplinarian as the colonel of a regiment. Nor

OATS FOR SIX.
did he always secure the prompt and exact obedience above
described by applications of the Black Snake alone, or even
when accompanied by the sternest objurgations delivered in
the mule dialect. He was a terror to his subjects in yet.
another way and old soldiers will sustain me in the asser-
tion that the propulsive power of the mule-driver was
increased many fold by the almost unlimited stock of pro-
fanity with which he greeted the sensitive ears of his mule-
ship when the latter was stubborn. I have seen mules, but
now most obdurate, jump into their collars the next moment
!
286
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
with the utmost determination to do their whole duty when
one of these Gatling guns of curses opened fire upon them.
Some reader may prefer to adjudge as a reason for this good
behavior the fear of the Black Snake, which was likely to
be applied close upon the volley of oaths; but I prefer to
assign as a motive the mule's interest in the advancement of
good morals.
In all seriousness, however, dealing only with the fact,
without attempting to prove or deny justification for it, it
is undoubtedly true that the mule-drivers, when duly
aroused, could produce a deeper cerulean tint in the sur-
rounding atmosphere than any other class of men in the
service. The theory has been advanced that if all of these
professional m. d.'s in the trains of the Army of the Poto-
mac could have been put into the trenches around Peters-
burg and Richmond, in the fall of 1864, and have been
safely advanced to within ear-shot of the enemy, then, at a
signal, set to swearing simultaneously at their level-worst,
the Rebels would either have thrown down their arms and
surrendered then and there, or have fled incontinently to
the fastnesses of the Blue Ridge. There may have been
devout mule-drivers in Sherman's army, but I never saw one
east. They may have been pious on taking up this impor-
tant work. They were certainly impious before laying it
down. Nevertheless, in these later days, when they are
living better lives, any twinge of conscience which they
may occasionally feel must be relieved by the knowledge
that General Grant has given them credit for being able to
swear a mule-team out of the mud when it could not be
moved by any other process.
I have stated that the mule was uncertain; I mean as to
his intentions. He cannot be trusted even when appearing
honest and affectionate. His reputation as a kicker is world-
wide. He was the Mugwump of the service. The mule
that will not kick is a curiosity. A veteran relates how,
after the battle of Antiętam, he saw a colored mule-driver
THE ARMY MULE.
287
approach his mules that were standing unhitched from the
wagons, when, presto! one of them knocked him to the
ground in a twinkling with one of those unexpected instan-
taneous kicks, for which the mule is peerless. Slowly pick-
ing himself up, the negro walked deliberately to his wagon,
took out a long stake the size of his arm, returned with the
same moderate pace to his muleship, dealt him a stunning
blow on the head with the stake, which felled him to the
ground. The stake was returned with the same delibera-
tion. The mule lay quiet for a moment, then arose, shook
his head, a truce was declared, and driver and mule were at
peace and understood each other.
Here is another illustration of misplaced confidence. On
the road to Harper's Ferry, after the Antietam campaign in
1862, the colored cook of the headquarters of the Sixtieth
New York Regiment picked up a large and respectable look-
ing mule, to whom, with a cook's usual foresight and ambi-
tion, he attached all the paraphernalia of the cook-house
together with his own personal belongings, and settled
himself down proudly on his back among them. All went
on serenely for a time, the mule apparently accepting the
situation with composure, until the Potomac was reached at
Harper's Ferry. On arriving in the middle of the pontoon
bridge upon which the army was crossing, from some unex-
plained reason-perhaps because, on looking into the water,
he saw himself as others saw him - the mule lifted up his
voice in one of those soul-harrowing brays, for which he is
famous — or infamous — and, lifting his hind legs aloft, in
the next moment tossed his entire burden of cook and cook-
house into the river, where, weighted down with mess-
kettles and other utensils of his craft, the cook must have
drowned had not members of the regiment come to his
rescue. Not at all daunted by this experience, the cookey
harnessed the mule again as before, led him across the
remaining portion of the bridge, where he remounted and
settled himself among his household goods once more, where
288
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
all was well till the Shenandoah was reached. Here, with
another premonitory blast of his nasal trumpet, the mule
once more dumped his load into the rapid rolling river,

DUMPED INTO THE POTOMAC.
when the cook lost all confidence in mules as beasts of
burden, and abandoned him.
Josh Billings says somewhere that if he had a mule who
would neither kick nor bite he would watch him dreadful
"cluss" till he found out where his malice did lay. This
same humorist must have had some experience with the
mule, for he has said some very bright and pat things
concerning him. Here are a few that I recall :-
"To break a mule begin at his head."
"To find the solid contents of a mule's hind leg, feel of it
clussly."
"The man who wont believe anything he kant see aint so
wise az a mule, for they will kick at a thing in the dark."
"The only thing which makes a mule so highly respectable
is the great accuracy of his kicking."
"The mule is a sure-footed animal. I have known
THE ARMY MULE.
289
him to kick a man fifteen feet off ten times in a
second."
These are a few samples, most all of which have reference to
his great ability as a kicker. Unquestionably he had no equal
in this field of amusement to him. His legs were small,
his feet were small, but his ambition in this direction was
large. He could kick with wonderful accuracy, as a matter
of fact. Mule-drivers tell me he could kick a fly off his ear,
as he walked along in the team, with unerring accuracy.
This being so, of course larger objects were never missed
when they were within range. But the distance included
within a mule's range had often to be decided by two or
three expensive tests. One driver, whom I well knew, was
knocked over with a mule's hind foot while standing
directly in front of him. This shows something of their
range.
I have remarked, in substance, that the mule was con-
quered only by laying hold of or striking his ears. It may be
asked how he was shod if he was such a kicker. To do
this, one of two methods was adopted; either to sling him
up as oxen are slung, then strap his feet; or walk him
into a noose, and cast him, by drawing it around his legs.
Of course, he would struggle violently for a while, but when
he
gave in it was all over for that occasion, and he was as
docile under the smith's hands as a kitten. Being surer-
footed and more agile than a horse, of course he gets into
fewer bad places or entanglements; but once in, and having
made a desperate struggle for his relief, and failing, he seems
utterly discouraged, and neither whip nor persuasion can
move him. Then, as in the shoeing, the driver can handle
him with the utmost disregard of heels; but when once on
his feet again, stand aside! He has a short memory. He
lives in the future, and his heels are in business, as usual,
at the old stand.
Of
I need not comment on the size of the mule's ears.
course, everybody who has seen them knows them to be abnor-
290
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
mal in size. But disproportionately large though they may be,
there is one other organ in his possession which surpasses
them; that is his voice. This is something simply tremen-
dous. That place which the guinea-fowl occupies among
the feathered bipeds of the barn-yard in this respect, the
mule holds facile princeps among the domestic quadrupeds.
The poets who lived in the same time with Pericles said of
the latter that "he lightened, thundered, and agitated all
Greece," so powerful was his eloquence. So, likewise, when

THE REAR GUARD OF THE REGIMENT.
the mule raised his voice, all opposition was silent before
him, for nothing short of rattling, crashing thunder, as it
seemed, could successfully compete for precedence with him.
In addition to his great usefulness in the train, he was
used a good deal under a pack-saddle. Each regiment
usually had one, that brought up the rear on the march,
loaded with the implements of the cook-house-sometimes
with nothing to be seen but head and tail, so completely
was he covered in. They were generally convoyed by a
colored man. Sometimes these strong-minded creatures, in
crossing a stream, would decide to lie down, all encumbered
as they were, right in the middle, and down they would
settle in spite of the ludicrous opposition and pathetic pro-.
THE ARMY MULE.
291
•
tests of the convoy. Of course, it was no balm to his wound
to have the passing column of soldiers keep up a running
fire of banter. But there was no redress or relief to be had
until his muleship got ready to move, which was generally
after every ounce of his burden had been stripped off and
placed on terra firma.
When the army was lying in line of battle in such close
proximity to the enemy that the ammunition wagons could
not safely approach it, two boxes were taken and strapped
on a mule, one on each side, "to keep his balance true," and
thus the troops were supplied when needed. ·
At the terrible battle of Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864, a
steady line of pack-mules, loaded with ammunition, filed up
the open ravine, opposite the captured salient, for nearly
twenty hours, in that way supplying our forces, who were so
hotly engaged there.
Rations were furnished in the same manner under similar
circumstances. But now and then a mule would lie down
under his burden, and refuse to budge.
Grant says (vol. i. p. 106): "I am not aware of ever
having used a profane expletive in my life, but I would
have the charity to excuse those who may have done so if
they were in charge of a train of Mexican pack-mules
at the time," alluding to an experience in the Mexican
War.
I believe I have stated that the mule much preferred to
do military duty in the safe rear; but if there was anything
which the war proved with the utmost clearness to both
Yanks and Rebs, it was that there was surely no safe rear.
This being so, the vivacious mule did not always have a
plain and peaceful pilgrimage as a member of the wagon-
train. I vividly recall the enjoyment of my company,
during Lee's final retreat, whenever our guns were unlim-
bered, as they were again and again, to be trained on the
columns of retreating wagon-trains. The explosion of a
shell or two over or among them would drive the long-ears
292
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
wild, and render them utterly unmanageable, and the
driver's best and often his only recourse was to let them go
if there was room ahead. But one demoralized, disorganized
six-mule team would sometimes so effectively block the way,
when the road was narrow, and the pursuit close, as to cause
the capture of that part of the train behind it. Were any
ex-Johnny m. d. to read this chuckling over the misfortunes
of his craft, and not quite appreciate my enjoyment, I

༥་་
MULES LOADED WITH AMMUNITION.
should at once assure him that there are some Yank m.
d.'s who can heartily sympathize with him, having had a
like experience.
From what I have stated, it will be seen that the mule
would be very unreliable in cavalry service, for in action he
would be so wild that if he did not dismount his rider he would
carry even the most valiant from the scene of conflict, or,
what was just as likely, rush madly into the ranks of the
enemy. The same observations would suit equally well as
objections to his service with artillery. On the 5th of
April, 1865, during the retreat of Lee, we came upon a
batch of wagons and a battery of steel guns, of the Arm-
THE ARMY MULĒ.
293
strong pattern, I think, which Sheridan's troopers had cut
out of the enemy's retreating trains. The guns had appar-
ently never been used since their arrival from England.
The harnesses were of russet leather and equally new;
but the battery was drawn by a sorry-looking lot of horses.
and mules, indiscriminately mingled. My explanation for
finding the mules thus tackled was that horses were scarce,
and that it was not expected to use the guns at present, but
simply to get them off safely; but that if it became necessary
to use them they could do so with comparative safety to the
mules as the guns were of very long range.
I should have pronounced these particular mules safe any-
where, even under a hot fire, if extreme emaciation had been
a sure index of departed strength and nerve in this variety
of brute. But that is not mule at all. The next day, at
Sailor's Creek, my corps (Second), after a short, sharp con-
test, made a capture of thirteen flags, three guns, thirteen
hundred prisoners, and over two hundred army wagons, with
their mules. And such mules! the skinniest and boniest
animals that I ever saw still retaining life, I sincerely be-
lieve. For a full week they had been on the go, night and
day, with rare and brief halts for rest or food. Just before
their capture they would seem to have gone down a long hill
into a valley, a literal Valley of Humiliation as it proved,
for there they were compelled to stay and surrender, either
from inability to climb the opposite hill and get away, or
else because there was not opportunity for them to do so
before our forces came upon them. And yet, in spite of the
worn and wasted state of those teams, it is doubtful if their
kicking capacity was materially reduced by it.
The question frequently raised among old soldiers is,
What became of all the army mules? There are thousands
of these men who will take a solemn oath that they never
saw a dead mule during the war. They can tell you of the
carcasses of horses which dotted the line of march, animals
which had fallen out from exhaustion or disease, and left by
294
. HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
the roadside for the buzzards and crows. These they can
recall by hundreds; but not the dimmest picture of a single
dead mule, and they will assure you that, to the best of their
knowledge and belief, the government did not lose one of
these animals during the war. I recently conversed with an
old soldier who remembered having once seen, on the
march, the four hoofs of a mule those and nothing more;
and the conclusion that he arrived at was that the mule,
in a fit of temper, had kicked off his hoofs and gone up.

A
"BUT THE NOBLEST THING THAT PERISHED THERE,
WAS THAT OLD ARMY MULE.' ""
Another soldier, a mule-driver, remembers of seeing a mule-
team which had run off the corduroy road into a mire of
quicksand. The wagon had settled down till its body
rested in the mire, but nothing of the team was visible
save the ear-tips of the off pole mule.
As a fact, however, the mules, though tough and hardy,
died of disease much as did the horses. Glanders took off a
great many, and black tongue, a disease peculiar to them,
caused the death of many more. But, with all their outs,
they were of invaluable service to the armies, and well
deserve the good opinions which came to prevail regarding
their many excellent qualities as beasts of burden. Here is
an incident of the war in which the mule was the hero of
the hour:
THE ARMÝ MÜLE.
295
On the night of Oct. 28, 1863, when General Geary's
Division of the Twelfth Corps repulsed the attacking forces
of Longstreet at Wauhatchie, Tennessee, about two hun-
dred mules, affrighted by the din of battle, rushed in the
darkness into the midst of Wade Hampton's Rebel troops,
creating something of a panis among them, and causing a
portion of them to fall back, supposing that they were at

་
CHARGE OF THE MULE BRIGADE.
tacked by cavalry. Some one in the Union army, who knew
the circumstances, taking Tennyson's "Charge of the Light
Brigade" as a basis, composed and circulated the following
description of the ludicrous event:
CHARGE OF THE MULE BRIGADE.
Half a mile, half a mile,
Half a mile onward,
Right through the Georgia troops
Broke the two hundred.
296
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
'Forward the Mule Brigade!
Charge for the Rebs!" they neighed.
Straight for the Georgia troops
Broke the two hundred.
"Forward the Mule Brigade!”
Was there a mule dismayed?
Not when the long ears felt
All their ropes sundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to make Rebs fly.
On! to the Georgia troops
Broke the two hundred.
Mules to the right of them,
Mules to the left of them,
Mules behind them
Pawed, neighed, and thundered.
Breaking their own confines,
Breaking through Longstreet's lines
Into the Georgia troops,
Stormed the two hundred.
Wild all their eyes did glare,
Whisked all their tails in air
Scattering the chivalry there,
While all the world wondered.
Not a mule back bestraddled,
Yet how they all skedaddled –
Fled every Georgian,
Unsabred, unsaddled,
Scattered and sundered!
How they were routed there
By the two hundred!
Mules to the right of them,
Mules to the left of them,
Mules behind them
Pawed, neighed, and thundered;
Followed by hoof and head.
Full many a hero fled,
Fain in the last ditch dead,
Back from an ass's jaw
All that was left of them,
Left by the two hundred.
THE ARMY MULE.
297
When can their glory fade?
Oh, the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made!
Honor the Mule Brigade,
Long-eared two hundred!
The following plaint in behalf of this veteran quadruped
will close this sketch: -
THE ARMY MULE IN TIME OF PEACE.
"That men are ungrateful can plainly be seen
In the case of that mule standing out on the green.
His features are careworn, bowed down is his head,
His spirit is broken: his hopes have all fled.
He thinks of the time when the battle raged sore,
When he mingled his bray with the cannon's loud roar;
When Uncle Sam's soldiers watched for him to come,
Hauling stores of provisions and powder and rum;
When his coming was greeted with cheers and huzzas,
And the victory turned on the side of the stars.
"These thoughts put new life into rickety bones
He prances just once, then falls over and groans.
A vision comes over his poor mulish mind,
And he sees Uncle Sam, with his agents behind,
Granting pensions by thousands to all who apply,
From the private so low to the officer high;
To the rich and the poor, the wise man and fool,
But, alas! there is none for the 'poor army mule."


الم
CHAPTER XVI.
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCES.

HE sketch embodied in this
chapter is an attempt in a
limited space to give the public
a more adequate idea of the
medical department of the army,
what it was, how it grew up,
and something of what it ac-
complished. I enter upon it
with a quasi-apology for its
incompleteness, understanding
fully how inadequate any mere
sketch must be regarded by
those whose labors in this department made its record one
of the most remarkable in the history of the war; yet, like
all the other topics treated in this volume, it must undergo
abridgment, and I can only hope that what is presented will,
in some degree, do justice to this much neglected but very
interesting theme in the Rebellion's annals.
At the time of the battle of Bull Run there was no plan
in operation by which the wounded in that battle were
cared for. Before this engagement took place, while the
troops were lying in and around Washington, general
hospitals had been established to provide for the sick. For
this purpose five or six hotels, seminaries, and infirmaries, in
Washington and Georgetown, and two or three in Alexan-
dria, had been taken possession of, and these were all the
hospital accommodations to be found at the end of the first
three months. So general was the opinion that the war
298
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCËS.
299
would be speedily ended no one thought of such a thing
as building permanent structures for hospital purposes.
But this condition of affairs soon after changed. Prepara-
tions for war were made on a grander scale. The Army of
the Potomac, under the moulding hands of McClellan, was
assuming form, and the appointment by him, Aug. 12, 1861,
of Surgeon Charles S. Tripler as medical director of that
army indicated a purpose of having a medical department
set on foot and put in completeness for active service.
Let us pause and glance at the situation as he found it, and
we may, perhaps, the better appreciate the full magnitude of
the task which he had before him.
Army Regulations were the written law to which it was
attempted to have everything conform as far as possible.
But when these regulations were drafted, there was no expec-
tation of such a war as finally came upon us, and to attempt
to confine so large an army as then existed to them as a guide
was as impossible and absurd as for the full-grown man to
wear the suit of clothes he cast off at ten years.
"New times demand new measures and new men,"
and so in certain directions Army Regulations had to be
ignored. For example, they provided only for the establish-
ment of regimental and general hospitals. A regimental
hospital is what its name indicates the hospital of a particu
lar regiment. But if such a hospital became full or received
some patients whose ailments were not likely to submit
readily to treatment, such cases were sent to a General
Hospital, that is, one into which patients were taken regard-
less of the regiment to which they belonged. But in these
early war times, in the absence of a system, any patient who
was able could, at his pleasure, leave one general hospital
and go to another for any reason which seemed sufficient to
him, or he could desert the service entirely.
By general orders issued from the war department May
25, 1861, governors of States were directed to appoint a
300
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
surgeon and assistant surgeon for each regiment. The men
appointed were for the most part country physicians, many
of them with little practice, who, on reaching the field, were,
in some respects, as ignorant of their duties under the
changed conditions as if they had not been educated to the
practice of medicine; and the medical director of the army
found his hands more than full in attempting to get them to
carry out his wishes. So, to simplify his labors and also to
increase the efficiency of his department, brigade hospitals
were organized about the beginning of 1862, and by general
orders from the war department brigade surgeons were
appointed, with the rank of major, and assigned to the staffs
of brigadier-generals. These brigade surgeons had supervis-
ion of the surgeons of their brigades, and exercised this duty
under the instructions of the medical director.
The regimental hospitals in the field were sometimes tents,
and sometimes dwellings or barns near camp. It was partly
to relieve these that brigade hospitals were established. The
latter were located near their brigade or division.
The hospital tent I have already described at some length.
I may add here that those in use for hospital purposes
before the war were 24 feet long by 14 feet 6 inches wide,
and 11 feet 6 inches high, but, owing to their great bulk and
weight, and the difficulty of pitching them in windy weather,
the size was reduced, in 1860, to 14 feet by 14 feet 6 inches,
and 11 feet high in the centre, with the walls 4 feet 6 inches,
and a “fly" 21 feet 6 inches by 14 feet. Each of these
was designed to accommodate eight patients comfortably.
Army Regulations assigned three such tents to a regiment,
together with one Sibley and one Wedge or A tent.
The Sibley tent I have likewise quite fully described. I
will only add here that, not having a " fly," it was very hot in
warm weather. Then, on account of its centre pole and the
absence of walls, it was quite contracted and inconvenient.
For these reasons it was little used for hospital purposes, and
not used at all after the early part of the war.
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCES.
301
The hospital tents in the Army of the Potomac were
heated, for the most part, by what was called, for some
reason, the California Plan. This consisted of a pit, dug
just outside of the hospital door, two and a half feet deep,
from which a trench passed through the tent, terminating
outside the other end in a chimney, built of barrels, or in
such a manner as I have else where described. This trench
was covered throughout its entire extent with iron plates,
which were issued by the quartermaster's department for
that purpose. The radiation of the heat from the plates
kept the tent very comfortable.
The honor of organizing the first field hospital in tents
is said to belong to Dr. B. J. D. Irwin, U. S. A., of the
Army of the Ohio. It occurred at the battle of Shiloh.
While establishing a hospital near the camp of Prentiss'
division of that army, which had been captured the day
before, the abandoned tents still standing suggested them-
selves to him as a convenient receptacle for his wounded.
He at once appropriated the camp for this purpose, and laid
it out in systematic form. It was clearly shown by this and
succeeding experiences during the war that the wounded
treated under canvas did better and recovered more rapidly
than those treated in permanent hospitals.
As fast as they could be procured, hospital tents were
furnished, three to a regiment, in accordance with the pro-
vision of Army Regulations referred to. Each regiment pro-
vided its own nurses and cooks.
cooks. In general hospitals
one nurse was allowed to ten patients, and one cook to
thirty.
The capacity of a regimental hospital tent, like a stage-
coach, varied according to the demand for room. I have said
they were designed to accommodate eight. An old army
surgeon says, “Only six can be comfortably accommodated
in one of them, three on each side." But when the surgeons
were crowded with the wounded, it was a common practice
to set two long narrow boards edgewise through the centre
302
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
of the tent, about twenty inches apart. If boards were want-
ing, two good-sized poles were cut and used instead. Be-
tween these was the passage for the surgeons and nurses.
Behind the boards or poles a filling of straw or fine boughs
was made and covered with blankets. On these latter could
be placed twenty patients, ten on either side; but they were
crowded. When six single cots were put in one of these
tents, three on each side, ample space was afforded to pass
among them.
In the latter part of 1861, the government, realizing its press-
ing needs, began to build general hospitals for the comfort

A TWO-WHEELED AMBULANCE.
and accommodation of its increasing thousands of sick and
wounded, continuing to build, as the needs increased, to the
very last year of the war, when they numbered two
hundred and five.
Before the civil war, the government had never been.
supplied with carriages to convey the sick and wounded.
Only two years before, a board, appointed by the secretary
of war, had adopted for experiment a four-wheeled and a
two-wheeled carriage. The four-wheeled vehicle was tried in
an expedition sent into New Mexico, and was favorably
reported on; the two-wheeled was never tested, but was
judged to be the best adapted to badly wounded men
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCES.
303
(though the contrary proved to be the fact), and so the
board reported in favor of adopting these carriages in the
ratio of five two-wheeled to one four-wheeled.
When Surgeon Tripler took charge, he found several of
these two-wheeled carriages in Washington, but they were
used chiefly as pleasure-carriages for officers, or for some
other private purpose. This was stopped, for a time at least,
and an order was issued, leaving one to a regiment and
requiring the rest to be turned over to the quartermaster's
department. But the perversion of ambulances from their
proper use, I will add in passing, continued, to a greater
or less extent, till the end of the war. This very year
McClellan issued an order for them not to be used except
for the transportation of the sick and wounded, unless by
authority of the brigade commander, the medical director, or
the quartermaster in charge, and the provost-marshal was
ordered to arrest officers and confine non-commissioned offi-
cers and privates for violation of the order.
The most important steps taken towards organizing the
medical department, and placing it on that thorough basis
which distinguished it in the later years of the war, were the
result of the foresight, energy, and skilful management of
Dr. Jonathan Letterman, who was made medical director of
the Army of the Potomac on the 19th of June, 1862. His
labor was something enormous. It was during the progress
of the Peninsular Campaign. All was confusion. Medical
supplies were exhausted. Thousands of sick and wounded
men were dying for want of proper care and medicine. Yet
this campaign, so disastrous in its results to our army from a
military point of view, was a valuable teacher in many
respects, and one of its most pointed and practical lessons
was the necessity shown of having the ambulances organized
and under a competent head. It remained for Dr. Letterman
to appreciate this need, and effect an organization which
remained practically unchanged till the close of the war.
Here is the substance of the plan which he drew up, and
304
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
which General McClellan approved, and published to the
army in orders, Aug. 2, 1862, and which General Meade reis-
sued, with some additions and slight changes, a little more
than a year later.
AMBULANCE CORPS.
All of the ambulances belonging to an army corps were to
be placed under the control of the medical director of that
corps, for now, in addition to a medical director of the army,
there was a subordinate medical director for each army
corps. Such an ambulance corps was put into the hands of
a captain as commandant. This corps was divided and sub-
divided into division, brigade, and regimental trains, cor-
responding to the divisions of the army corps to which it
belonged, having a first lieutenant in charge of a division, a
second lieutenant in charge of a brigade, and a sergeant in
charge of a regimental detachment. Besides these, three
privates, one of them being the driver, were to accompany
each ambulance on the march and in battle. The duties of
all these men, both officers and privates, were very carefully
defined, as well for camp as for the march and battle. Besides
the ambulances, there accompanied each corps one medicine-
wagon and one army wagon to a brigade, containing the
requisite medicines, dressings, instruments, hospital stores,
bedding, medical books, small furniture (like tumblers,
basins, bed-pans, spoons, vials, etc.).
In addition to the foregoing articles, which were carefully
assorted both as to quantity and quality, each ambulance was
required to carry in the box beneath the driver's seat, under
lock and key, the following articles:
Three bed-sacks, six 2-pound cans beef-stock, one leather
bucket, three camp kettles (assorted sizes), one lantern and
candle, six tin plates, six table-spoons, six tin tumblers;
and, just before a battle, ten pounds hard bread were re-
quired to be put into the box.
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCES.
305
There was another scheme, which was conceived and car-
ried into execution by Dr. Letterman, which deserves men-
tion in this connection. This was the establishment of Field
Hospitals, "in order that the wounded might receive the
most prompt and efficient attention during and after an
engagement, and that the necessary operations might be
performed by the most skilful and responsible surgeons, at
the earliest moment." Under Surgeon Tripler, there had
been rendezvous established in rear of the army, to which
all the wounded were taken for immediate attention, before

A FOUR-WHEELED AMBULANCE,
being sent to general hospitals. But there was no recog-
nized system and efficiency in regard to it. Just before an
engagement, a field hospital for each division was established.
It was made by pitching a suitable number of hospital tents.
The location of such a hospital was left to the medical direc-
tor of the corps. Of course, it must be in the rear of the
division, out of all danger and in a place easily reached by
the ambulances. A division hospital of this description was
under the charge of a surgeon, who was selected by the
surgeon-in-chief of the division. With him was an assistant
surgeon, similarly appointed, whose duty it was to pitch the
tents, provide straw, fuel, water, etc., and, in general, make
everything ready for the comfort of the wounded. For
306
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
doing this the hospital stewards and nurses of the division
were placed under his charge, and special details made from
the regiments to assist. A kitchen or cook-tent must be at
once erected and the cooks put in possession of the articles
mentioned as carried in the ambulance boxes and hospital-
wagons, so that a sufficient amount of nourishing food could
be prepared for immediate use.
Another assistant surgeon was detailed to keep a complete
record of patients, with name, rank, company, and regiment,
the nature of their wound, its treatment, etc. He was also
required to see to the proper interment of those who died,
and the placing of properly marked head-boards at their
graves.
Then, there were in each of these division hospitals three
surgeons, selected from the whole division, "without regard
to rank, but solely on account of their known prudence, judg-
ment, and skill," whose duty it was to perform all important
operations, or, at least, be responsible for their performance.
Three other medical officers were detailed to assist these
three. Nor was this all, for the remaining medical officers
of the division, except one to a regiment, were also required
to report at once to the hospital, to act as dressers of wounds
and assistants generally. In addition to these, a proper num-
ber of nurses and attendants were detailed to be on hand.
The medical officers left with regiments were required to
establish themselves during the fighting in the rear of their
respective organizations, at such a distance as not to unnec-
essarily expose themselves, where they could give such
temporary aid to the wounded as they should stand in
need of.
I have said that these hospitals were to be located out of
all danger. That statement needs a little modifying. In
case the tide of battle turned against our army and it was
compelled to retreat, what was before a safe place might
at once be converted into a place of great danger. But a
hospital could not be struck and its patients moved at a
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCES.
307
moment's or even a day's warning, as a rule, and so it was
made the duty of the medical director of a corps to select
a sufficient number of medical officers, who, in case a retreat
was found necessary, should remain in charge of the
wounded. When the Rebels captured such a hospital, it
was their general practice to parole all the inmates that is,
require them to give their word of honor that they would
not bear arms again until they had been properly exchanged

USA
A MEDICINE WAGON.
as prisoners of war. Our government established what
were known as parole camps, where such prisoners were
required to remain until duly exchanged.
I think it can now be readily understood, from even this
fragmentary sketch, how the establishment of these field
hospitals facilitated the care of the wounded, and, by their
systematic workings, saved hundreds of lives. With a skil-
ful, energetic man as medical director of the army, giving
his orders to medical directors of corps, and these carefully
superintending surgeons-in-chief of divisions, who, in turn,
held the surgeons and assistant surgeons and officers of
ambulance corps to a strict accountability for a careful per-
formance of their duties, while the latter fortified them-
selves by judicious oversight of their subordinates, the result
308
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
was to place this department of the army on a footing which
endured, with the most profitable of results to the service,
till the close of the war.
I vividly remember my first look into one of these field
hospitals. It was, I think, on the 27th of November, 1863,
during the Mine Run Campaign, so-called. General French,
then commanding the Third Corps, was fighting the battle
of Locust Grove, and General Warren, with the Second
Corps, had also been engaged with the enemy, and had
driven him from the neighborhood of Robertson's Tavern,
in the vicinity of which the terrific Battle of the Wilderness
began the following May. Near this tavern the field hospi-
tal of Warren's Second Division had been located, and into
this I peered while my battery stood in park not far away,
awaiting orders. The surgeon had just completed an oper-
ation. It was the amputation of an arm about five inches.
below the shoulder, the stump being now carefully dressed
and bandaged. As soon as the patient recovered from the
effects of the ether, the attendants raised him to a sitting
posture on the operating-table. At that moment the thought.
of his wounded arm returned to him, and, turning his eyes
towards it, they met only the projecting stub. The awful
reality dawned upon him for the first time. An arm had
gone forever, and he dropped backwards on the table in a
swoon. Many a poor fellow like him brought to the opera-
tor's table came to consciousness only to miss an arm or a
leg which perhaps he had begged in his last conscious mo-
ments to have spared. But the medical officers first men-
tioned decided all such cases, and the patient had only to
submit. At Peach-Tree Creek, Col. Thomas Reynolds of the
Western army was shot in the leg, and, while the surgeons
were debating the propriety of amputating it, the colonel,
who was of Irish birth, begged them to spare it, as it was
very valuable, being an imported leg, a piece of wit which
saved the gallant officer his leg, although he became so much
of a cripple that he was compelled to leave the service.
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCES.
309
It has been charged that limbs and arms were often use-
lessly sacrificed by the operators; that they were especially
fond of amputating, and just as likely to amputate for a
flesh-wound as for a fractured bone, on the ground that they
could do it more quickly than they could dress the wound;

A FOLDING LITTER.
that it made a neater job, thus gratifying professional pride :
but how the victim might feel about it or be affected by it
then or thereafter did not seem to enter their thoughts. It
was undoubtedly true that many flesh-wounds were so ugly
the only safety for the patient lay in amputation. A fine
fellow, both as a man and soldier, belonging to my company,
lost his arm from a flesh-wound-needlessly, as he and his
friends always asserted and believed.
A corporal of the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery
suffered a compound fracture of the left knee-joint from a
piece of shell by which he was struck at the battle of

A STRETCHER.
Hatcher's Run, Oct. 27, 1864. In the course of time he
reached the Lincoln Hospitals (well do I remember them
as they stood on Capitol Hill where they were erected just
before the bloody repulse at Fredericksburg), where a sur-
geon decided that his leg must come off, and, after instruct-
ing the nurse to prepare him for the operating-room, left the
ward. But the corporal talked the matter over with a
wounded cavalryman (this was a year when cavalrymen were
wounded quite generally) and decided that his leg must not
310
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
come off; so, obtaining the loaded revolver of his comrade,
he put it under his pillow and awaited the reappearance of
the surgeon. He returned not long after, accompanied by
two men with a stretcher, and approached the cot.´
“What are you going to do?" asked the corporal.
66
My boy, we will have to take your leg off," was the reply
of the surgeon.
"Not if I know myself," rejoined the corporal, with
determination expressed in both looks and language.
For a moment the surgeon was taken aback by the sol-
dier's resolute manner. But directly he turned to the men
and said, “Come, boys, take him up carefully," whereupon
the stretcher-bearers advanced to obey the order. At the
same instant the corporal drew the revolver from beneath
his pillow, cocked it, and, in a voice which carried convic-
tion, exclaimed, "The man that puts a hand on me dies!"
At this the men stepped back, and the surgeon tried to rea-
son with the corporal, assuring him that in no other way
could his life be saved. But the corporal persisted in
declaring that if he died it should be with both legs on.
At that "Sawbones" (as the men used to call them) lost
his temper and sought out the surgeon in general charge,
with whom he soon returned to the corporal. This head
surgeon, first by threats and afterwards by persuasion, tried
to secure the revolver, but, failing to do so, turned away, ex-
claiming, with an oath, "Let the d fool keep it and die!"
but a moment after, on second thought, said to the first sur-
geon that, as they wanted a subject to try the water-cure
on, he thought the corporal would meet that want. After
obtaining a promise from the surgeon that he would not
himself take the leg off or allow any one else to, the cor-
poral assented to the proposition.
A can was then arranged over the wounded knee, in such
a manner as to drop water on the cloth which enwrapped
it day and night, and a cure was finally effected.
This is the substance of the story as I received it from the
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCES.
311
lips of the corporal himself, who, let me say in passing, was
reduced to the rank of private, and mustered out of the ser-
vice as such, for daring to keep two whole legs under him.
His bravery in the hour of peril to him-deserved better
things from his country than that.
But to return to the field hospital again; on the ground
lay one man, wounded in the knee, while another sat near,
wounded in the finger. This latter was a suspicious
wound. Men of doubtful courage had a way of shooting
off the end of the trigger-finger to get out of service. But

PLACING A WOUNDED MAN ON A STRETCHER.
they sometimes did it in such a bungling manner that they
were found out. The powder blown into the wound was
often the evidence which convicted them. These men must
be proud of such scars to-day.
Three wounded Rebels also lay in the tent, waiting for
surgical attention. Of course, they would not be put upon
the tables until all of our own wounded were attended to; they
did not expect it. In one part of the tent lay two or three
of our men, who were either lifeless or faint from loss of
blood. Only a few rods away from the tent were some
freshly made graves enclosing the forms of men whose
wounds had proved fatal, either having died on their way
to the hospital or soon after their arrival. Among these was
the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Hesser, who was shot
312
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
in the head while bravely leading the Seventy-second Penn-
sylvania Infantry in a charge. The graves were all plainly
marked with small head-boards. A drizzling rain added
gloom to the scene; and my first call at a field hospital, with
its dismal surroundings, was brief.
One regulation made for this department of the service.
was never enforced. It provided that no one but the
proper medical officers or the officers, non-commissioned
officers, and privates of the ambulance corps should conduct
sick or wounded to the rear, either on the march or in battle,

N.
CARRYING A WOUNDED MAN TO THE REAR.
but as a matter of fact there were probably more wounded men
helped off the field by soldiers not members of the ambulance
corps than by members of that body. There were always
plenty of men who hadn't the interests of the cause so
nearly at heart but what they could be induced, without
much persuasion, when bullets and shells were flying thick,
to leave the front line and escort a suffering comrade to the
rear. Very often such a sufferer found a larger body-guard
than could well make his needs a pretext for their absence from
the line. Then, too, many of these escorts were most unfortu-
nate, and lost their way, so that they did not find their regi-
ment again until after the battle was over. A large number
of them would be included among the Shirks and Beats,
HOSPITALS AND AMBULANCES.
313
whom I have already described. But, in truth, it was not
possible for the ambulance corps to do much more in a hot
fight than to keep their stretchers properly manned. Each
ambulance was provided with two of these, and the severely
wounded who could not help themselves must be placed on
them and cared for first, so that there was often need for a
helping hand to be given a comrade who was quite seriously
wounded, yet could hobble along with a shoulder to lean on.
The designating mark of members of the ambulance corps
was, for sergeants, a green band an inch and a quarter broad
around the cap, and inverted chevrons of the same color on
each arm, above the elbow; for privates the same kind of band
and a half chevron of the same material. By means of this
designation they were easily recognized.
By orders of General Meade, issued in August, 1863,
three ambulances were allowed to a regiment of infantry;
two to a regiment of cavalry, and one to a battery of artil-
lery, with which it was to remain permanently. Owing to
this fact, an artillery company furnished its own stretcher-
bearers when needed. I shall be pardoned the introduction
of a personal incident, as it will illustrate in some measure
the duties and trials of a stretcher-bearer. It was at the
battle of Hatcher's Run, already referred to, or the Boydton
Plank Road, as some called it. The guns had been
ordered into position near Burgess' Tavern, leaving the
caissons and ambulance nearly a half-mile in the rear.
Meanwhile, a flank attack of the enemy cut off our commu-
nications with the rear for a time, and we thought ourselves
sure of an involuntary trip to Richmond; but the way was
opened again by some of our advance charging to the rear,
and by the destructive fire from our artillery. Soon orders
came for the battery to return to the rear. In common
with the rest, the writer started to do so when a sergeant
asked him to remain and help take off one of our lieutenants,
who was lying in a barn near by, severely wounded. So
actively had we been engaged that this was my first
314
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
knowledge of the sad event. But, alas! what was to
be done? Our ambulance with its stretchers was to the
rear. That could not now avail us. We must resort
to other means. Fortunately, they were at hand. An
abandoned army-blanket lay near, and, carefully placing
the lieutenant on this, with one man at each corner, we
started.
But the wounded officer was heavy, and it was, as can
readily be seen, an awkward way of carrying him. Moreover,
his wound was a serious one, mortal as it soon proved,
and
every movement of ours tortured him so that he begged
of us to leave him there to die. Just then we caught sight
of a stretcher on which a wounded Rebel was lying. Some
Union stretcher-bearers had been taking him to the rear
when the flank attack occurred, when they evidently aban-
doned him to look out for themselves. It was not a time
for sentiment; so, with the sergeant at one end of the
stretcher and the narrator at the other, our wounded
enemy was rolled off, with as much care as time would
allow. With the aid of cur other comrades we soon put the
lieutenant in his place, and, raising the stretcher to our
shoulders, started down the road to the rear.
We had gone
but a few rods, however, before the enemy's sharpshooters
or outposts fired on us, driving us to seek safety in the
woods. But it was now dusk, and no easy matter to take
such a burden through woods, especially as it rapidly grew
darker. Suffice it to know, however, that, after more than
an hour's wandering and plunging, our burden was delivered
at the ambulance, where another of our lieutenants, also
mortally wounded, was afterwards to join him. This frag-
ment of personal experience will well illustrate some of the
many obstacles which stretcher-bearers had to contend
with, and disclose the further truth that in actual com.
bat the chances for severely wounded men to be taken from
the field were few indeed, for at such a time stretcher-
bearers, like the proverbial "good men," are scarce.
HOSPITALS AND •
315
AMBULANCES.
I omitted to say in the proper connection that the men
whose wounds were dressed in the field hospitals were
transported as rapidly as convenient to the general hospitals,
where the best of care and attention could be given them.
Such hospitals were located in various places. Whenever
it was possible, transportation was by water, in steamers
specially fitted up for such a purpose. There may be seen
in the National Museum at Washington, the building in
which President Lincoln was assassinated, beautiful models
of these steamers as well as of hospital railway trains with
all their furnishings of ease and comfort, designed to carry
patients by rail to any designated place.
Another invention for the transportation of the wounded
from the field was the Cacolet or Mule Litter, which was borne
either by a mule or a horse, and arranged to carry, some
one and some two, wounded men. But although it was at
first supposed that they would be a great blessing for this
purpose, yet, being strapped tightly to the body of the
animal, they felt his every motion, thus making them
an intensely uncomfortable carriage for a severely wounded
soldier, so that they were used but very little.
The distinguished surgeon Dr. Henry I. Bowditch, whose
son, Lieut. Bowditch, was mortally wounded in the cavalry
fight at Kelly's Ford, voiced, in his "Plea for an Ambulance
System," the general dissatisfaction of the medical profes-
sion with the neglect or barbarous treatment of our wounded
on the battle-field. This was as late as the spring of 1863.
They had petitioned Congress to adopt some system without
delay, and a bill to that effect had passed the House, but on
Feb. 24, 1863, the Committee on Military Affairs, of which
Senator Henry Wilson was chairman, reported against a bill
"in relation to Military Hospitals and to organize an Ambu-
lance Corps," as an impracticable measure at that time, and
the Senate adopted the report, and there, I think, it dropped.
CHAPTER XVII.
SCATTERING SHOTS.
'His coat was e'er so much too short,
His pants a mile too wide,
And when he marched could not keep step
However much he tried."
THE CLOTHING.

ORTY-TWO dollars was the sum al-
lowed by the government to clothe
the private soldier for the space of
one year.
The articles included in
his outfit were a cap or hat (usually
the former), blouse, overcoat, dress
coat, trousers, shirts, drawers, socks,
shoes, a woollen and a rubber blanket.
This was the wardrobe of the infan-
try. It should be said, however, that
many regiments never drew a dress
coat after leaving the state, the
blouse serving as the substitute for that garment. The
artillery and cavalry had the same except that a jacket took
the place of the dress coat, boots that of shoes, and their
trousers had a re-enforce, that is, an extra thickness of cloth
extending from the upper part of the seat down the inside
of both legs, for greater durability in the service required
of these branches in the saddle.
This outfit was not sufficient to last the year through, for
various reasons, and so the quartermaster supplied dupli-
But whatever was
cates of the garments when needed.
drawn from him beyond the amount allowed by the govern-
ment was charged to the individual, and deducted from his
316
SCATTERING SHOTS.
317
pay at the end of the year. If, however, a man was so
fortunate as not to overdraw his allowance, which rarely
happened, he received the balance in cash.
The infantry made way with a large amount of clothing.
Much of it was thrown away on the march. A soldier
burdened with a musket, from forty to eighty rounds
of ammunition, according to circumstances; a haversack
stuffed plump as a pillow, but not so soft, with three days.
rations; a canteen of water, a woollen and rubber blanket,
and a half shelter tent, would be likely to take just what
more he was obliged to. So, with the opening of the spring
campaign, away would go all extra clothing. A choice was
made between the dress coat and blouse, for one of these
must go. Then some men took their overcoat and left their
blanket. In brief, when a campaign was fairly under way
the average infantryman's wardrobe was what he had on.
Only that and nothing more. At the first start from camp
many would burden themselves with much more than the
above, but after a few miles tramp the roadside would be
sprinkled with the cast-away articles. There seemed to be
a difference between Eastern and Western troops in this
respect, for reasons which I will not attempt now to analyze,
for Grant says (Memoirs, vol. ii., pp. 190–191): —
"I saw scattered along the road, from Culpeper to Ger-
mania Ford, wagon-loads of new blankets and overcoats
thrown away by the troops to lighten their knapsacks;
an improvidence I had never witnessed before."
It was a way the Army of the Potomac had of getting into
light marching order.
When the infantry were ordered in on a charge, they
always left their knapsacks behind them, which they might
or might not see again. And whenever they were surprised
and compelled to fall back hastily, they were likely to throw
aside everything that impeded their progress except musket
and ammunition. Then, in the heat of battle, again there
was a dispensing with all encumbrances that would impair
318
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
their efficiency. For these and other reasons, the govern-
mental allowances would not have been at all adequate to
cover the losses in clothing. Recognizing this fact, the gov-
ernment supplied new articles gratis for everything lost in
action, the quartermaster being required to make out a list
of all such articles, and to certify
that they were so lost, before new
ones could be obtained.
But the men who did garrison.
duty were not exempt from long
clothing bills more than were those.
who were active at the front. I
have in mind the heavy artillerymen
who garrisoned the forts around
Washington. They were in receipt
of visits at all hours in the day from
the most distinguished of military
and civil guests, and on this account.
were not only obliged to be efficient.
in drill but showy on parade. Hence
their clothing had always to be of
the best. No patched or untidy
garments were tolerated. In the
spring of 1864, twenty-four thousand
of these men were despatched as re-
enforcements to the Army of the
Potomac, and a fine lot of men they
were. They were soldiers, for the
most part, who had enlisted early in the war, and, having had
so safe — or, as the boys used to say, "soft" — and easy a time
of it in the forts, had re-enlisted, only to be soon relieved of
garrison duty and sent to the front as infantry. But while
they were veterans in service in point of time, yet, so far as
the real hardships of war were concerned, they were simply
recruits. I shall never forget that muggy, muddy morn-
ing of the 18th of May, when, standing by the roadside

IN HEAVY MARCHING ORDER.
SCATTERING SHOTS.
319
near what was known as the "Brown House," at Spottsyl-
vania, I saw this fine-looking lot of soldiers go by. Their
uniforms and equipments all seemed new. Among the regi
ments was the First Maine Heavy Artillery.
"What regiment is this?" was inquired at the head of the
column by bystanders.
"First Maine," was the reply.
After the columns had marched by a while, some one
would again ask what regiment it was, only to find it still
the First Maine. It numbered over two thousand strong,
and, never having lost any men in battles and hard
campaigning, its ranks were full. The strength of these
regiments struck the Army of the Potomac with sur-
prise. A single regiment larger than one of their own
brigades!
These men had started from Washington with knapsacks
that were immense in their proportions, and had clung to
them manfully the first day or two out, but this morning in
question, which was of the sultriest kind, was taxing them
beyond endurance, as they plunged along in the mire march-
ing up to the front; and their course could have been fol-
lowed by the well stuffed knapsacks or "bureaus," as some
of the old vets called them that sprinkled the roadside.
It seemed rather sad to see a man step out of the ranks, un-
sling his knapsack, seat himself for a moment to overhaul
its contents, transfer to his pocket some little keepsake,
then, rising, and casting one despairing look at it, hurry on
after the column. Many would not even open their knap-
sacks, but, giving them a toss, would leave them to fate, and
sternly resume their march. It was the second in the list of
sacrifices that active campaigning required of them. Their
first was made in cutting loose from their comfortable quar-
ters and accumulated conveniences in the forts, which they
had so recently left.
The knapsack, haversack, canteen, and shelter-tent, like
the arms, were government property, for which the com-
320
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
manding officer of a company was responsible. At the end
of a soldier's term of service, they were to be turned in or
properly accounted for.
ARMY CATTLE.
An army officer who was reputed to have been of high
and hasty temper, who certainly seemed to have been capa-
ble of rash and inconsiderate remarks, was once overheard
to say of soldiers that they were nothing but cattle, and de-
served to be treated only as such. In the short sketch here
submitted on the subject of Army Cattle, I do not include
the variety above referred to, but rather the quadrupedal
kind that furnished food for them.
In the sketch on Army Rations I named fresh beef as one
of the articles furnished, but I gave no particulars as to just
how the army was supplied with it. This I will now en-
deavor to do.
When there came an active demand for fresh and salt
meat to feed the soldiers and sailors, at once the price
advanced, and Northern farmers turned their attention more
extensively to grazing. Of course, the great mass of the
cattle were raised in the West, but yet even rugged New
England contributed no inconsiderable quantity to swell the
total. These were sent by hundreds and thousands on rail
and shipboard to the various armies. On their arrival, they
were put in a corral. Here they were subject, like all sup-
plies, to the disposition of the commissary-general of the
army, who, through his subordinates, supplied them to the
various organizations upon the presentation of a requisition,
signed by the commanding officer of a regiment or other body
of troops, certifying to the number of rations of meat required.
When the army was investing Petersburg and Richmond,
the cattle were in corral near City Point. On the 16th of
September, 1864, the Rebels having learned through their
scouts that this corral was but slightly guarded, and that by
SCATTERING SHOTS.
321
making a wide détour in the rear of our lines the chances
were good for them to add a few rations of fresh beef to
the bacon and corn-meal diet of the Rebel army, a strong
force of cavalry under Wade Hampton made the attempt,
capturing twenty-five hundred beeves and four hundred
prisoners, and getting off with them before our cavalry could
intervene. The beeves were a blessing to them, far more
precious and valuable than as many Union prisoners would
have been; for they already had more prisoners than they
could or would feed. As for us, I do not remember that
fresh meat was any the scarcer on account of this raid, for
the North, with its abundance, was bountifully supplying the
government with whatever was needed, and the loss of a
few hundred cattle could scarcely cause even a temporary
inconvenience. Had the army been on the march, away
from its base of supplies, the loss might have been felt more
severely.
Whenever the army made a move its supply of fresh meat
went along too. Who had charge of it? Men were de-
tailed for the business from the various regiments, who
acted both as butchers and drovers, and were excused from
all other duty. When a halt was made for the night, some
of the steers would be slaughtered, and the meat furnished
to the troops upon presentation of the proper requisitions
by quartermasters. The butcher killed his victims with a
rifle. The killing was not always done at night. It often
took place in the morning or forenoon, and the men received
their rations in time to cook for dinner.
The manner in which these cattle were taken along was
rather interesting. One might very naturally suppose that
they would be driven along the road just as they are driven
in any neighborhood; but such was not exactly the case.
The troops and trains must use the roads, and so the cattle
must needs travel elsewhere, which they did. Every herd
had a steer that was used both as a pack animal and a leader.
As a pack animal he bore the equipments and cooking uten-
322
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
sils of the drovers. He was as docile as an old cow or horse,
and could be led or called fully as readily. By day he was
preceded in his lead by the herdsman in charge, on horse-
back, while other herdsmen brought up the rear.
It was
necessary to keep the herd along with the troops for two
reasons safety and convenience; and, as they could not

LEADING THE HERD.
use the road, they skirted the fields and woods, only a short
remove from the highways, and picked their way as best
they could.
By night one of the herdsmen went ahead of the herd on
foot, making a gentle hallooing sound which the sagacious
steer on lead steadily followed, and was in turn faith-
fully followed by the rest of the herd. The herds-
man's course lay sometimes through the open, but often
through the woods, which made the hallooing sound neces-
sary as a guide to keep the herd from straying. They kept
nearer the road at night than in the day, partly for safety's
sake, and partly to take advantage of the light from huge
camp-fires which detachments of cavalry, that preceded
SCATTERING SHOTS.
323
the army, kindled at intervals to light the way, making
them nearer together in woods and swamps than elsewhere.
Even then these drovers often had a thorny and difficult
path to travel in picking their way through underbrush and
brambles.
Such a herd got its living off the country in the summer,
but not in the winter. It was a sad sight to see these
animals, which followed the army so patiently, sacrificed

Will
ها
Z
૧
THE LAST STEER.
P
one after the other until but a half-dozen were left. When
the number had been reduced to this extent, they seemed to
realize the fate in store for them, and it often took the
butcher some time before he could succeed in facing
one long enough to shoot him. His aim was at the curl
of the hair between the eyes, and they would avert their
lowered heads whenever he raised his rifle, until, at last,
his quick eye brought them to the ground.
From the manner in which I have spoken of these herds,
it may be inferred that there was a common herd for the
whole army; but such was not the case. The same system
prevailed here as elsewhere. For example, when the army
entered the Wilderness with three days' rations of hard
324
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
bread, and three days' rations of meat in their haversacks, the
fresh meat to accompany the other three days' rations, which
they had stowed in their knapsacks, was driven along in di-
vision herds. The remainder of the meat ration which they
required to last them for the sixteen days during which it
was expected the army would be away from a base of
supplies was driven as corps herds. In addition to these
there was a general or army herd to fall back upon when
necessary to supply the corps herds, but this was always at
the base of supplies. Probably from eight to ten thousand
head of cattle accompanied the army across the Rapidan,
when it entered upon the Wilderness Campaign.
THE ARMY HORSE.
I have already stated that the horse was the sole reliance
of the artillery and cavalry, and have given the reasons why
the mule was a failure in either branch. I have also stated
that the mule replaced him, for the most part, in the wagon-
trains, six mules being substituted for four horses. I did
not state that in the ambulance train the horses were
retained because they were the steadier. But I wish now to
refer more particularly to their conduct in action and on
duty generally.
First, then, I will come directly to the point by saying that
the horse was a hero in action. That horses under fire behaved
far better than men did under a similar exposure would
naturally be expected, for men knew what and whom to
fear, whereas a horse, when hit by a bullet, if he could get
loose, was fully as likely to run towards the enemy as from
him. But not every horse would run or make a fuss
when wounded. It depended partly upon the horse and
partly upon the character and location of the wound. I
have seen bullets buried in the neck or rump of steady-
nerved horses without causing them to show more than a little
temporary uneasiness. The best illustration of the fortitude

GENERAL HANCOCK AT REAM'S STATION, VA., August 25, 1861.
AUGUST
SCATTERING SHOTS.
327
of horse-flesh that I ever witnessed occurred on the 25th of
August, 1864, at Ream's Station on the Weldon Railroad.
In this battle the fifty-seven or eight horses belonging to
my company stood out in bold relief, a sightly target for the
bullets of Rebel sharpshooters, who, from a woods and corn-
field in our front, improved their opportunity to the full.
Their object was to kill off our horses, and then, by charg-
ing, take the guns, if possible.
It was painfully interesting to note the manner in which
our brave limber-horses — those which drew the guns
succumbed to the bullets of the enemy. They stood har-
nessed in teams of six. A peculiar dull thud indicated that
the bullet had penetated some fleshy part of the animal,
sounding much as a pebble does when thrown into the mud.
The result of such wounds was to make the horse start for a
moment or so, but finally he would settle down as if it was
something to be endured without making a fuss, and thus
he would remain until struck again. I remember having
had my eye on one horse at the very moment when a bullet
entered his neck, but the wound had no other effect upon
him than to make him shake his head as if pestered by a fly.
Some of the horses would go down when hit by the first
bullet and after lying quiet awhile would struggle to their
feet again only to receive additional wounds. Just before
the close of this battle, while our gallant General Hancock
was riding along endeavoring by his own personal fearless-
ness to rally his retreating troops, his horse received a
bullet in the neck, from the effects of which he fell forward,
dismounting the general, and appearing as if dead. Believ-
ing such to be the case, Hancock mounted another horse;.
but within five minutes the fallen brute arose, shook him-
self, was at once remounted by the general, and survived
the war many years.
When a bullet struck the bone of a horse's leg in the
lower part, it made a hollow snapping sound and took him
off his feet. I saw one pole-horse shot thus, fracturing the
328
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
bone. Down he went at once, but all encumbered as he
was with harness and limber, he soon scrambled up and
stood on three legs until a bullet hit him vitally. It seemed
sad to see a single horse left standing, with his five compan-
ions all lying dead or dying around him, himself the object of ·
a concentrated fire until the fatal shot finally laid him low.
I saw one such brute struck by the seventh bullet before he
fell for the last time. Several received as many as five

REAL HORSE SENSE.
""
bullets, and it was thought by some that they would average
that number apiece. They were certainly very thoroughly
riddled, and long before the serious fighting of the day
occurred but two of the thirty-one nearest the enemy re-
mained standing. These two had been struck but not
vitally, and survived some time longer. We took but four
of our fifty-seven horses from that ill-starred fray.
-
But, aside from their wonderful heroism, for I can find no
better name for it, they exhibited in many ways that sagac-
ity for which the animal is famous. I have already referred
to the readiness with which they responded to many of the
bugle-calls used on drill. In the cavalry service they knew
their places as well as did their riders, and it was a frequent
occurrence to see a horse, when his rider had been dismounted
SCATTERING SHOTS.
329
by some means, resume his place in line or column without
him, seemingly not wishing to be left behind. This quality
was often illustrated when a poor, crippled, or generally used-
up beast, which had been turned out to die, would attempt
to hobble along in his misery and join a column as it
passed.
Captain W. S. Davis, a member of General Griffin's staff
of the Fifth Corps, rode a horse which had the very singular
but horse-sensible habit of sitting down on his haunches, like a
dog, after his rider had dismounted. One morning he was
missing, and nothing was seen of him for months; but onę
night, after the corps had encamped, some of the men, who
knew the horse, in looking off towards the horizon, saw
against the sky a silhouette of a horse sitting down. It was
at once declared to be the missing brute, and Captain Davis,
on being informed, recovered his eccentric but highly prized
animal.

Tw
CHAPTER XVIII.
BREAKING CAMP.
ON THE MARCH.
"And now comes boots and saddles!' Oh! there's hurrying to and fro,
And saddling up in busy haste - for what, we do not know.
Sometimes 'twas but a false alarm, sometimes it meant a fight;
Sometimes it came in daytime, and sometimes it came at night."

HE subject of this chapter is a
very suggestive one to the old
soldier. It covers a whole
realm of experience which it
would be nearly impossible to
exhaust. But there is much
in this as in other experiences
which was common to all long-
term veterans, and to this com-
mon experience more especially
I shall address my attention.
From the descriptions which
I have already given of the
various kinds of shelter used by the soldiers it will be read-
ily understood that they got the most comfortably settled
in their winter-quarters, and that in a small way each hut
became a miniature homestead, and for the time being pos-
sessed, to a certain extent, all the attractions of home. The
bunk, the stools, and other furniture, the army bric-a-brac,
whether captured or of home production, which adorned
the rough tenement within and without, all came to have a
value by association in the soldier's thought, a value which
was not fully computed till campaigning impended that
usually direful day, when marching orders came and the
boys folded their tents and marched away. This sketch
330
BREAKING CAMP.-ON THE MARCH.
331
will relate something of army life as it was lived after march-
ing orders were received.
When the general commanding an army had decided
upon a plan of campaign, and the proper time came to put it
in operation, he at once issued his orders to his subordinate
commanders to have their commands ready to take their
place in column at a given hour on a given day. These
orders came down through the various corps, division, bri-
gade, regimental, or battery headquarters to the rank and
file, whose instructions given them on line would be to the
effect that at the stated hour they were to be ready to start
with three days' rations in their haversacks (this was the
usual quantity), the infantry to have forty rounds of ammu-
nition in their cartridge-boxes. This latter quantity was
very often exceeded. The Army of the Potomac went into
the Wilderness having from eighty to a hundred rounds of
ammunition to a man, stowed away in knapsacks, haver-
sacks, or pockets, according to the space afforded, and six
days' rations similarly disposed of. When Hooker started
on the Chancellorsville Campaign, eleven days' rations were
issued to the troops.
Sometimes marching orders came when least expected. I
remember to have heard the long roll sounded one Saturday
forenoon in the camp of the infantry that lay near us in the
fall of '63; it was October 10. Our guns were unlimbered
for action just outside of camp where we had been lying
several days utterly unsuspicious of danger. It was quite a
surprise to us; and such Lee intended it to be, he having
set out to put himself between our army and Washington.
We were not attacked, but started to the rear a few hours
afterwards.
Before the opening of the spring campaign a reasonable
notice was generally given. There was one orderly from
each brigade headquarters who almost infallibly brought
marching orders. The men knew the nature of the tidings
which he cantered up to regimental headquarters with under
332
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
his belt. Very often they would good-naturedly rail at him as
he rode into and out of camp, thus indicating their dislike
of his errand; but the wise ones went directly to quarters
and began to pack up.
When it was officially announced to the men on line at
night that marching orders were received, and that at such
an hour next morning tents would be struck and the men in

PACKING UP.
place, equipped and provided as already stated, those men
who had not already decided the question retired to their
huts and took an account of stock in order to decide what to
take and what to leave. As a soldier would lay out two
articles on the bunk, of equally tender associations, one could
seem to hear him murmur, with Gay,
"How happy could I be with either
Were t'other dear chariner away."
as he endeavored to choose between them, knowing too well
that both could not be taken. The "survival of the fittest
"
BREAKING CAMP.-ON THE MARCH.
333
was the question, which received deeper and tenderer con-
sideration here in one evening than Darwin has ever given it
in the same time. Then, there was the overcoat and the
woollen blanket which should be left? Perhaps he finally
decided to try taking both along for a while. He will leave
the dress-coat and wear the blouse. He has two changes of
flannels. He will throw away those he has on, don a clean
set and take a change with him. These flannels, by the way,
if they were what he drew from the government stores, were
often as rough to the skin as coarse sand-paper, which they
somewhat resembled in color.
From the head of his bunk he takes a collection of old let-
ters which have accumulated during the winter. These he
looks over one by one and commits to the flames with a sigh.
Many of them are letters from home; some are from acquaint-
ances. Possibly he read the Waverly Magazine, and may
have carried on a correspondence with one or more of the
many young women who advertised in it for a "soldier cor-
respondent, who must not be over twenty," with all the virtues.
namable. There was no man in my company from old
Graylocks, of nearly sixty, down to the callow "chicken" of
seventeen but what felt qualified to fill such a bill, "just
for the fun of it, you know." The young woman was
generally "eighteen, of prepossessing appearance, good
education, and would exchange photographs if desired.”
An occasional letter from such a quarter would provoke a
smile as the soldier glanced at its source and contents before
committing it to the yawn of his army fireplace. This rather
unpleasant task completed, he continues his researches and
work of destruction. He tucks his little collection of photo-
graphs, which perhaps he has encased in rubber or leather,
into an inside pocket, and disposes other small keepsakes
about his person. If he intends to take his effects in a knap-
sack, he will at the start have put by more to carry than if he
simply takes his blankets (rubber and woollen) rolled and
slung over his shoulder. Late in the war this latter was the
331
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
most common plan, as the same weight could be borne with
less fatigue in that manner than in a knapsack, slung on the
back.
I have assumed it to be evening or late afternoon when
marching orders arrived, and have thus far related what the
average soldier was wont to do immediately afterwards.
There was a night ahead and the soldiers were wont to
"make a night of it." As a rule, there was little sleep to be
had, the enforcement of the usual rules of camp being relaxed
on such an occasion. Aside from the labor of personal pack-
ing and destroying, the rations, were to be distributed, and
each company had to fall into line, march to the cook-house,
and receive their three or more days' allowance of hardtack,
pork, coffee, and sugar, all of which they must stow away, as
compactly as possible, in the haversack or elsewhere if they
wanted them. In the artillery, besides securing the rations,
sacks of grain — usually oats—must be taken from the grain-
pile and strapped on to the ammunition-chests for the horses;
the axles must be greased, good spare horses selected to sup-
ply the vacancies in any teams where the horses were unfit
for duty; the tents of regimental headquarters must be
struck, likewise the cook-tents, and these, with officers'
baggage, must be put into the wagons which are to join the
trains; —in brief, everything must be prepared for the march
of the morrow.
After this routine of preparation was completed, camp-fires
were lighted, and about them would gather the happy-go-lucky
boys of the rank and file, whose merry din would speedily stir
the blood of the men who had hoped for a few hours' sleep
before starting out on the morrow, to come out of their huts
and join the jovial round; and soon they were as happy as
the happiest, even if more reticent. As the fire died down
and the soldiers drew closer about it, some comrade would
go to his hut, and, with an armful of its furniture, the stools,
closets, and tables I have spoken of, reillumine and en-
liven the scene and drive back the circle of bystanders again.
BREAKING CAMP.- ON THE MARCH.
335
The conversation, which, with the going down of the fire,
was likely to take on a somewhat sober aspect, would again
assume a more cheerful strain. For a time conjectures on
the plan of the coming compaign would be exchanged.
Volumes of wisdom concerning what ought to be done changed
hands at these camp-fires, mingled with much "I told you
so"about the last battle. Alexanders simply swarmed, so

WAITING FOR MARCHING ORDERS.
numerous were those who could solve the Gordian knot of
success at sight. It must interest those strategists now, as
they read history, to see how little they really knew of what
was taking place.
When this slight matter of the proper thing for the army
to do was disposed of, some one would start a song, and then
for an hour at least "John Brown's Body," " Marching
Along," "Red, White, and Blue," "Rally 'round the Flag,"
and other popular and familiar songs would ring out on the
clear evening air, following along in quick succession, and
sung with great earnestness and enthusiasm as the chorus was
336
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
increased by additions from neighboring camp-fires, until tired
Nature began to assert herself, when one by one the company
would withdraw, each going to his hut for two or three
hours' rest, if possible, to partially prepare him for the toils
of the morrow. Ah! is not that an all-wise provision of
Providence which keeps the future a sealed book, placing it
before us leaf by leaf only, as the present? For some of
these very men, it may have been, whose voices rang out so
merrily at that camp-fire, would lie cold and pale ere the
week should close, in the solemn stillness of death.
But morning dawned all too soon for those who gave up
most of the night to hilarity, and all were summoned forth
at the call of the bugle or the drum, and at a time agreed
upon The General was sounded.
2
Presto.
THE GENERAL.

The above is the General of infantry. That of the artil-
lery was less often used and entirely different.
At this signal, every tent in a regiment was struck. It
was quite an interesting sight to see several acres of canvas
disappear in a moment, where before it had been the promi-
nent feature in the landscape. As a fact, I believe the
General was little used in the latter part of the war. For
about two years, when the troops were sheltered by the
Sibley, Wedge, and Wall tents, it was necessary to have
them struck at an early hour, in order that they might be
packed away in the wagon-train. But after the Shelter tent
BREAKING CAMP. - ON THE MARCH.
337
came into use, and each man was his own wagon, the
General was seldom heard unless at the end of a long en-
campment; for, when marching orders came, each man
understood that he must be ready at the hour appointed,
even if his regiment waited another day before it left
camp.
No more provoking incident of army life happened, I
believe, than for a regiment to wait in camp long after the
hour appointed to march. But such was the rule rather
than the exception. Many a man's hearth-stone was then
desolate, for if the hour of departure was set for the morn-
ing, when morning came and the stockade was vacated, it
often suffered demolition to increase the heat of the camp-
fires, as previously noted. But as hour after hour wore on,
and men still found themselves in camp with nothing to do
and plenty of help, they began to wish that they had not
been so hasty in breaking up housekeeping and tearing
down their shanties, else they might resort to them and
make their wait a little more endurable. Especially did
they repent if rain came on as they lingered, or if night
again overtook them there with their huts untenable, for it
would have been the work of only a moment to re-cover
them with the Shelter tents. Such waits and their conse-
quences were severe tests to the patience of the men, and
sometimes seemed to work more injury to their morals than
the average army chaplain could repair in days.
But there is an end to all things earthly, this being no
exception. The colors of corps headquarters borne at the
heels of the corps commander, and followed by his staff, are
at last seen moving into the road. The bugler of the divis-
ion having the lead sounds the call Attention.
Allegro.
f
ATTENTION.

338
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
This call is the Attention of infantry at which the men,
already in column, take their places, officers mount, and all
await the next call, which is
1
FORWARD.

D.C.


At this signal the regiments take "right shoulder shift,"
and the march begins. Let the reader, in imagination, take
post by the roadside as the column goes by. Take a look at
corps headquarters. The commander is a major-general.
His staff comprises an assistant adjutant-general, an as-
sistant inspector-general, a topographical engineer, a com-
missary of musters, a commissary of subsistence, a judge-
advocate, several aides-de-camp — and perhaps other officers,
of varying rank. Those mentioned usually ranked from
colonel to captain. In the Union army, major-generals
might command either a division, a corps, or an army, but in
the Confederate service each army of importance was com-
manded by a lieutenant-general. Take a look at the corps
headquarters flag. Feb. 7, 1863, General Hooker decreed
the flags of corps headquarters to be a blue swallow-tail
field bearing a white Maltese cross, having in the centre the
number of the corps; but, so far as I can learn, this decree
was never enforced in a single instance. Mr. James Beale,
in his exceedingly valuable and unique volume, "The
Union Flags at Gettysburg," shows a nondescript cross on
some of the headquarters flags, which some quartermaster
may have intended as a compliance with Hooker's order;
but though true copies of originals they are monstrosities,
which never could have had existence in a well ordered.
brain, and which have no warrant in heraldry or general
BREAKING CAMP.-ON THE MARCH.
339
orders as far as can be ascertained. When the army en-
tered upon the Wilderness Campaign, each corps headquar-
ters floated a blue swallow-tailed flag bearing its own partic-
ular emblem in white, in the centre of which was the figure
designating the corps, in red.
Here comes the First Division. At the head rides its
general commanding and staff. Behind him is the color-
bearer, carrying the division flag. If you are familiar with
the corps badges, you will not need to ask what corps or
division it is. The men's caps tell the story, but the flags
are equally plain-spoken.
This flag is the first division color. It is rectangular in
shape. The corps emblem is red in a white field; the
second has the emblem white in a blue field; the third has
the emblem blue in a white field. The divisions had the
lead of the corps on the march by turns, changing each
day.
But here comes another headquarters. The color-bearer
carries a triangular flag. That is a brigade flag. May 12,
1863, General Hooker issued an order prescribing division
flags of the pattern I have described, and also designated
what the brigade flags should be. They were to be, first of
all, triangular in shape; the brigades of the first division
should bear the corps symbol in red in the centre of a white
field, but, to distinguish them, the first brigade should have
no other mark; the second should have a blue stripe next
the staff, and the third a blue border four and one-half
inches wide around the flag.
The brigades of the second division had the corps symbol
in white in the centre of a blue field, with a red stripe next
the staff to designate the second brigade, and a red border
the third.
The third division had its brigades similarly designated,
with the symbol blue, the field white, and the stripes red.
Whenever there was a fourth brigade, it was designated by
a triangular block of color in each corner of the flag.
340
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
The chief quartermaster of the corps and the chief of
artillery had each his appropriate flag, as designated in the
color-plate, but the arrangement of the colors in the flag of
the chief quartermasters differed in different corps.
This scheme of IIooker's, for distinguishing corps, division,
and brigade headquarters remained unchanged till the end
of the war.
The brigades took turns in having the lead-or, as mili-
tary men say, the right — of the division, and regiments had
the right of brigades by turns.
There goes army headquarters yonder the command-
ing general, with his numerous staff-making for the head
of the column. His flag is the simple star-spangled banner.
The stars and stripes were a common flag for army head-
quarters. It was General Meade's headquarters flag till
Grant came to the Army of the Potomac, who also used it
for that purpose.
This made it necessary for Meade to
change, which he did, finally adopting a lilac-colored swal-
low-tail flag, about the size of the corps headquarters flags,
having in the field a wreath enclosing an eagle, in gold.
You can easily count the regiments in column by their
United States colors. A few of them, you will notice, have a
battle-flag, bearing the names of the engagements in which
they have participated. Some regiments used the national
colors for a battle-flag, some the state colors. I think the vol-
unteers did not adopt the idea early in the war. Originally
battles were only inscribed on flags by authority of the
secretary of war, that is, in the regular army. But the
volunteers seemed to be a law unto themselves, and, while
many flags in existence to-day bear names of battles in-
scribed by order of the commanding general, there are some
with inscriptions of battles which the troops were hardly in
hearing of. The Rebel battle-flag was a blue spangled
saltier in a red field, and originated with General Joe John-
ston after the first Bull Run.
You will have little difficulty in deciding where a regi-
BREAKİNG CAMP.-ON THE MARCH.
341
ment begins or ends. It begins with a field officer and ends
with a mule. Originally it ended with several army wagons;
but now that portion of regimental headquarters baggage
which has not gone to the wagon-train is to be found
stowed about the mule, that is led along by a contraband.
Yes, the head, ears, and feet which you see are the only
visible externals of a mule. He is "clothed upon
" with
the various materials necessary to prepare a "square meal'
for the colonel and other headquarters officers. His trap-
pings would, seemingly, fit out a small family in household
goods of a kind. There is a mess-kettle, a fry-pan, mess-
pans, tent-poles, a fly (canvas), a valise, a knapsack and
haversack, a hamper on each side, a musket, and other mat-
ter which goes to make the burden at least twice the size of
the animal. Four mules were regarded as having the carry-
ing capacity of one army wagon. At the end of the brigade.
you will see two or three of these mules burdened with the
belongings of brigade headquarters.
The mule had other company than the negro ofttimes.
That man who seems to be flour and grease from head to
heels, who needs no shelter nor rubber blanket because he
is waterproof already, perhaps, inside and out, whose
shabby, well-stuffed knapsack furnishes the complement
to the mule's lading, who shuffles along with "no style
about him," is the cook, perhaps, for the regiment, probably
for headquarters, certainly not for Delmonico. It is singu-
lar, but none the less true, that if a man made a slovenly,
indifferent soldier he was fully as likely to get a berth in
the cook-house as to have any other fate befall him. This
remark applies to men who drifted into the business of
"army caterer" after trying other service, and not those
who entered at once upon it.
Here comes a light battery at the rear of the division.
Possibly it is to remain with this part of the corps for the
campaign. Such was sometimes the case, but later a battery
was often used anywhere within the limits of a corps that
342
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
it could be of advantage. This battery has six brass Napo-
leons, 12-pounders. They are very destructive at short
range. It is followed by a battery of steel guns. They
are Parrots, three-inch rifles; best for long range, but good
anywhere. Not so safe for close action, however, as the
Napoleons.
Yonder you can see the Second Division moving across
the fields, made up like the one just passed. It will close in
upon the rear of this division farther up the road. What an
interesting spectacle it presents, the bright sunlight glint-
ing from the thousands of polished muskets, the moving
masses of light and dark blue inching along over the uneven
ground, the various flags streaming proudly in the air,
marking off the separate brigades and regiments. The
column is moving at a moderate pace. It takes some time
for a corps to get under way. If we wait long enough, the
Third Division, made up like the others, will pass by us,
unless it has gone on a parallel road.
It is growing warmer. The column has now got straight-
ened out, and for the last hour has moved forward quite
rapidly. The road is evidently clear of all obstructions, but
the heat and speed begin to tell on the men. Look at the
ground which that brigade has just vacated after its brief
halt for rest. It is strewn with blankets, overcoats, dress-
coats, pantaloons, shirts-in fact, a little of everything from
the outfit of the common soldier. As the Second Corps
advanced into the Wilderness on the morning of May 4,
1864, I saw an area of an acre or more almost literally
covered with the articles above named, many of them prob-
ably extras, but come of them the sole garment of their
kind, left by the owners, who felt compelled, from the in-
creasing weight of their load, to lighten it to the extent of
parting with the blankets which they would need that very
night for shelter. This lightening of the load began before
the columns had been on the road an hour. A soldier who
had been through the mill would not wait for a general
BREAKING CAMP.-ON THE MARCH.
343
halt to occur before parting with a portion of his load, if it
oppressed him; but a recruit would hang to his until he
bent over at an angle of 45° from a vertical, with his eyes
staring, his lower jaw hanging, and his face dripping with
moisture. If you were to follow the column after, say, the
first two miles, you would
find various articles scat-
tered along at intervals by
the roadside, where a sol-
dier quietly stepped out
of the ranks, sat down, un-
slung his knapsack or his
blanket-roll, took out what
he had decided to throw
away, again equipped him-
self, and, thus relieved,
hastened on to overtake
the regiment. It did not
take an army long to get
into light marching order
after it was once fairly on
the road.

I have been dealing with
the first day out of set-
tled camp. On subsequent
days, of course the same
programme would not be
enacted. And, again, if a
man clung to his effects
till noon, he was likely to
do so for the day, as after
noon the thought of shel-
ter for the night nerved
A FOOTSORE STRAGGLER.
him to hold on. But men would drop out in the afternoon
of the first day for another reason. They blistered or chafed
their feet and sat down at the first stream to bathe them,
344
ĦARD TACK AND COFFEE.
after which, if the weather admitted, they could be seen
plodding along barefooted, their pantaloons rolled up a few
inches, and their shoes dangling at the end of their musket-
barrel.
Then, this very crossing of a stream often furnished an
interesting scene in the march of the column. A river
broad and deep would be spanned by a pontoon bridge, but
the common creeks of the South were crossed by fording.
Once in a while (in warm weather) the men would take off
most of their clothing and carry it with their equip-
ments across on their heads. It was 110 uncommon
experience for them to ford streams waist-deep, even
in cool weather. If the bottom was a treacherous one,
and the current rapid, a line of cavalry-men was placed
across the river just below the column to pick up such men
as should lose their footing. Many were the mishaps of such
a crossing, and, unless the enemy was at hand, the first
thing to be done after reaching shore was to strip and
wring out such clothing as needed it. With those who had
slipped and fallen this meant all they had on and what was
in their knapsack besides, but with most it included only
trousers, drawers, and socks.
After the halt which allowed the soldiers time to perform
this bit of laundry work had ended, and the column moved
along, it was not an uncommon sight to see muskets used as
clothes-lines, from which depended socks, shoes, here and
there a shirt, perhaps a towel or handkerchief. But if the
weather was cool the wash did not hang out in this way.
When it became necessary to cross a stream in the night,
huge fires were built on its banks, with a picket at hand,
whose duty it was to keep them burning until daylight, or
until the army had crossed. A greater number of mis-
haps occurred in fording by night than by day even then.
During Meade's retreat from Culpeper, in the fall of 1863,
-it was the night of October 11,-my company forded the
Rappahannock after dark, and went into camp a few rods.
BREAKING CAMP. — ON THE MARCH.
345
away from the ford; and I remember what a jolly night the
troops made of it when they came to this ford. At short
intervals I was awakened from slumber by the laughter or
cheers of the waders, as they made merry at the expense of
some of their number, who came out after immersion using
language which plainly indicated their disbelief in that kind
of baptism. Here was the field for the tired, overloaded

"HEADQUARTERS IN TROUBLE.
headquarters mule to display his obstinacy to a large and
changing audience, by getting midway of the stream and
refusing to budge. I can see the frenzied Ethiopian in
charge, now, waist-deep in water, wild with despair at the
situation, alternating reasoning with pulling and beating,
while the brute lies down in the stream all encumbered with
the baggage, the passing column jeering poor Sambo, and
making the adjacent woodland echo with their loud guffaws
at his helpless yet laughable condition.
That was a noisy night, and it has always been a matter of
wonder to me that we remained undisturbed, with the enemy
less than three miles up the river, as General Birney, with
whom we then were, has left on record. There was no stop-
ping to wring out. But "close up!" was the order after
346
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
crossing, and the dull rattle made by the equipments, the
striking of the coffee dipper on the canteen or buckles, as the
column glided along in the darkness, or the whipping-up of
belated mule-teams, was heard until the gray of morning
appeared.
The army on the march in a rain-storm presented some
aspects not seen in fair weather. As soon as it began to
rain, or just before, each man would remove his rubber
blanket from his roll or knapsack, and put it over his
shoulders, tying it in front. Some men used their shelter
tent instead a very poor substitute, however. But there
was no fun in the marching business during the rain. It
might settle the dust. It certainly settled about everything
else. An order to go into camp while the rain was in
progress was not much of an improvement, for the ground
was wet, fence-rails were wet, one's woollen blanket was
likely also to be wet, hardtack in the haversack wet- in
fact, nothing so abundant and out of place as water. I re-
member going into camp one night in particular, in Pleasant
Valley, Md., on a side-hill during a drenching rain, such as
mountain regions know, and lying down under a hastily
pitched shelter, with the water coursing freely along beneath
me. I was fresh as a soldier then, and this experience, seem-
ing so dreadful then, made a strong impression. Such situa-
tions were too numerous afterwards to make note of even in
memory.
Then, the horses! It made them ugly and vicious to
stand in the pelting rain at the picket-rope. I think they
preferred being in harness on the road. But they were
likely to get subdued the next day, when sloughs and mire
were the rule. If two corps took the same road after a
storm, the worse for the hindermost, for it found deep ruts
and mud-holes in abundance; and as it dragged forward it
would come upon some piece of artillery or caisson in the
mire to the hubs, doomed to stay, in spite of the shoutings
and lashings of the drivers, the swearing of the officers, and
BREAKING CAMP. – ÒN THE MARCH.
347
the lifting and straining of mud-bedraggled cannoneers,
until six more horses were added to extricate it. Anon the
corps would arrive at a place utterly impassable, when down
would go the fence by the roadside, if there was one, and
out would go the column into the field skirting the road,
returning again beyond the mire. At another slough, a staff
officer might be found posted to direct the artillery where to
make a safe passage.
Such places by night were generally lighted by fires built
for that purpose. I remember such a spot in particular
а

THE FLANKERS.
reminiscence of the Mine Run Campaign; I think it was the
night of Dec. 4, 1863. My battery was then attached to
the Third Division of the Third Corps. By the edge of the
slough in question sat General J. B. Carr, the division com-
mander, with a portion of his command near by, and, as a
caisson went down in the mire, he called in his "Blue Dia-
monds" to lift it out, which they did right manfully. There
was no turning into fields that night, for, while the roads
were soft, the fields were softer, and worse travelling I be-
lieve the Army of the Potomac never saw, unless on the
Mud March."
When the army was expecting to run against the enemy
348
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
in its advance, flankers were thrown out on either side of the
column. These flankers were a single file of soldiers, who
marched along a few feet apart parallel to the column, and
perhaps ten or twelve rods distant from it in open country,
but not more than half that distance when it was marching
through woods. In the event of an attack, the flankers on
that side became the skirmish line in action.
It was an interesting sight to see a column break up when
the order came to halt, whether for rest or other reason. It
would melt in a moment, dividing to the right and left, and
scattering to the sides of the road, where the men would sit
down or lie down, lying back on their knapsacks if they had
them, or stretching at full length on the ground. If the lat-
ter was wet or muddy, cannoneers sat on their carriages and
limber-chests, while infantrymen would perhaps sit astride
their muskets, if the halt was a short one. When the halt was
expected to continue for some considerable time the troops

A HALT.
of a corps or division were massed, that is, brought together
in some large open tract of territory, when the muskets
would be stacked, the equipments laid off, and each man
rush for the "top rail" of the nearest fence, until not a rail
remained. The coffee would soon begin to simmer, the pork
to sputter in the flames, and, when the march was resumed,
the men would start off refreshed with rest and rations.
BREAKING CAMP. - ON THE MARCH.
349
But if the halt was for a few minutes only, and the march-
ing had not been relieved by the regular rests usually al-
lowed, the men stiffened up so much that, with their equip-
ments on, they could hardly arise without assistance, and,
goaded by their stiffened cords and tired muscles and
swollen or chafed feet, made wry faces for the first few rods
after the column started. In this manner they plodded on
until ordered into camp for the night, or perhaps double-
quicked into line of battle.
During that dismal night retreat of the Army of the
Potomac from Chancellorsville, a little event occurred which
showed what a choleric man General Meade was on occa-
sion, and to what an exhausted bodily condition the rigors
of a campaign often reduced men. While the general was
sitting with General Warren at one of those camp-fires
always found along the line of march after nightfall, a poor
jaded, mud-bedraggled infantrymen came straggling and
stumbling along the roadside, scarcely able, in his wet and
wearied condition, to bear up under his burden of musket
and equipments. As he staggered past the camp-fire, he
struck, by the merest accident, against General Meade, who
jumped immediately to his feet, drew his sabre, and made a
lunge at the innocent offender, which sent him staggering to
the ground. There he lay motionless, as if dead. At once
Meade began to upbraid himself for his hasty temper, and
seemed filled with remorse for what he had done. Whereat
General Warren made efforts to calm his fears by telling him
it was probably not as serious as he supposed, and thereupon
began to make investigation of the nature of the injury done
the prostrate veteran. To General Meade's great gratifica-
tion, it was found that while his sabre had cut through the
man's clothing, it had only grazed his side without drawing
blood, but so completely worn out had the soldier become
through the exactions of the recent campaign that matter
dominated mind, and he lay in a double sense as if dust had
returned to dust.
CHAPTER XIX.
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
"That every man who swears once drove a mule
Is not believed by any but a fool;
But whosoe'er drove mules and did not swear
Can be relied on for an honest prayer."

ווער
EFORE giving a history
of the wagon-trains which
formed a part, and a nec-
essary part, of every army,
I will briefly refer to what
was known as "Grant's
Military Railroad,” which
was really a railroad built
for the army, and used
solely by it. When the
Army of the Potomac
appeared before Peters-
burg, City Point, on the
James River, was made
army headquarters and the "base of supplies," that is, the
place to which supplies were brought from the North, and
from which they were distributed to the various portions of
the army.
The Lynchburg or Southside Railroad enters
Petersburg from the west, and a short railroad, known as
the City Point Railroad, connects it with City Point, ten
miles eastward. The greater portion of this ten miles fell
within the Union lines after our army appeared before
Petersburg, and, as these lines were extended westward after
the siege was determined upon, Grant conceived the plan of
350
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
351
running a railroad inside our fortifications to save both time
and mule-flesh in distributing supplies along the line. It
was soon done. About five miles of the City Point road
were used, from which the new road extended to the south-
west, perhaps ten miles, striking the Weldon Railroad,
which had been wrested from the enemy. Down this the
trains ran three miles; then a new branch of about two
miles more to the west took them to the left of the Union
lines.
Of course, there were stations along this road at which
supplies were left for those troops near by. These stations
were named after different generals of the army. Meade
and Patrick stations are two names which yet linger in my
memory, near each of which my company was at some time
located. The trains on this road were visible to the enemy
for a time as they crossed an open plain in their trips, and
brought upon themselves quite a lively shelling, resulting in
no damage, I believe, but still making railroading so uncom-
fortable that a high embankment of earth was thrown up,
which completely covered the engine and cars as they rolled
along, and which still stands as a monument to the labors
of the pick-and-shovel brigade. This railroad was what is
known as a surface road, by which is meant that there were
no cuts made, the track being laid on the natural surface of
the ground. When a marsh was met with, instead of filling,
the engineers built a trestling. The effect of such railroad-
ing to the eye was quite picturesque, as a train wound its
serpentine course along the country, up hill and down dale.
appearing much as if it had jumped the track, and was going
across lots to its destination.
But the trains of the army were wagon-trains, and so little
has been written about them in histories of the war that a
limited sketch in this volume will have interest for many
readers.
The trains belong to what is known in French as the
matériel of the army, in distinction from the personnel, the
352
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
I say
men employed. In Roman history we frequently find the bag-
gage-trains of the army alluded to as the impedimenta. The
matériel, then, or impedimenta, of our armies has, very
naturally, been ignored by the historian; for the personnel,
the actors, are of so much more consequence, they have
absorbed the interest of both
writers and readers.
the persons are of much more
consequence, but I must not
be understood as belittling
the importance of the trains.
An army without its varied
supplies, which the trains
care for and provide, would
soon be neither useful nor
ornamental. In fact, an army
is like a piece of machinery,
each part of which is indis-
pensable to every other part.

A MULE DRIVER.
I presume every one of
mature years has an idea of
what army wagons look like.
They were heavy, lumbering
affairs at best, built for hard
service, all, apparently, after
the same pattern, each one having its tool-box in front,
its feed trough behind, which, in camp, was placed length-
wise of the pole; its spare pole suspended at the side; its
wooden bucket for water, and iron "slush-bucket" for
grease, hanging from the hind axle; and its canvas cover,
which when closely drawn in front and rear, as it always
was on the march, made quite a satisfactory "close car-
riage." As a pleasure carriage, however, they were not
considered a success. When the Third Corps was winter-
ing at Brandy Station in 1863-4 the concert troupe, which
my company boasted was engaged to give a week of evening
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
353
entertainments not far from Culpeper, in a large hex-
agonal stockade, which would seat six or seven hundred
persons, and which had been erected for the purpose by
one Lieutenant Lee, then on either General French's or
General Birney's staff I cannot now say which. To convey
us thither over the intervening distance of four or five miles,
as I now remember, we hired a mule-driver with his army
wagon. More than twenty-three years have since elapsed, but
those twelve or fourteen rides, after dark, across the rough
country and frozen ground around Brandy Station were
so thoroughly jolted into my memory that I shall never
forget them.
The seven dollars apiece per night which
we received for our services was but a trifling compen-
sation for the battering and mellowing we endured en
route, and no more than paid for wear and tear. No
harder vehicle can be found to take a ride in than an army
wagon.
By some stroke of good luck, or, perhaps, good manage-
ment, many of the regiments from New England took their
transportation along with them. It consisted, in many
cases, of twenty-five wagons, two for each company, and five
for regimental headquarters. These were drawn at first by
four horses, but afterwards by six mules. A light battery
had three such wagons. They were designed to carry the
baggage of the troops, and when a march was ordered they
were filled with tents, stoves, kettles, pans, chairs, desks,
trunks, valises, knapsacks, boards, in fact, whatever con-
veniences had accumulated about the camps.
-
General Sherman, in his Memoirs (vol. i. p. 178), describes
very graphically the troops he saw about Washington in '61,
as follows:
"Their uniforms were as various as the states and cities
from which they came; their arms were also of every pattern
and calibre; and they were so loaded down with overcoats,
haversacks, knapsacks, tents, and baggage, that it took from
twenty-five to fifty wagons to move the camp of a regiment
354
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
from one place to another, and some of the camps had baker-
ies and cooking establishments that would have done credit
to Delmonico."
General Sherman might have seen much the same situa-
tion near Washington even in '62 and '63. Every company in
a regiment located in the defences of the capital city had
one or more large cook-stoves with other appointments to
match, and when they moved only a few miles they took all
their lares and penates with them. This could then be done
without detriment to the service. It was only when they
attempted to carry everything along in active campaigning
that trouble ensued.
In October, 1861, McClellan issued an order which con-
tained the following provisions:-
"1. No soldiers shall ride in loaded baggage-wagons under
any circumstances, nor in empty wagons unless by special in-
structions to that effect.
"2. Knapsacks shall not be carried in the wagons except
on the written recommendation of the surgeon, which shall
be given in case of sickness.
"3. Tent-floors shall not be transported in public wagons,
and hereafter no lumber shall be issued for tent-floors except
upon the recommendation of the medical director for hospital
purposes.
""
This order was issued before the corps were organized,
while the wagons were yet with their regiments, and while
the men yet had their big knapsacks, which they were
always ready to ride with or toss into a wagon when the
regiment moved. This was the time of transporting tent-
floors, the luxurious fault-finding period before carpets,
feather-beds, and roast beef had entirely lost their charm;
when each man was, in his own way and belief, fully the
size of a major-general; when the medical director of the
army had time, unaided as yet by subordinates, to decide
the question of tent-floors versus no tent-floors for individuals.
Ah, the freshness and flavor of those early war days come back
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
355
to me as I write - each day big with importance, as our
letters, yet preserved to us, so faithfully record.
Not many months elapsed before it became apparent that
the necessities of stern warfare would not permit and should
not have so many of the equipments of civil life, when the
shelter tent, already described, took the place of the larger
varieties; when camp-fires superseded the stoves, and many
cther comfortable but unnecessary furnishings disappeared
from the baggage. Not how little but how much could be
dispensed with then became the question of the hour. The
trains must be reduced in size, and they must be moved in a
manner not to hamper the troops, if possible; but the war
was more than half finished before they were brought into a
satisfactory system of operation.
The greater number of the three-years regiments that
arrived in Washington in 1861 brought no transportation of
any kind. After McClellan assumed command, a depot of
transportation was established at Perryville on the Susque-
hanna; by this is meant a station where wagons and
ambulances were kept, and from which they were sup-
plied.
From there Captain Sawtell, now colonel and brevet briga-
dier general U. S. A., fitted out regiments as rapidly as he
could, giving each six wagons instead of twenty-five, one of
which was for medical supplies. Some regiments, however,
by influence or favor at court, got more than that. A few
wagons were supplied from the quartermaster's depot at
Washington. A quartermaster is an officer whose duty it is
to provide quarters, provisions, clothing, fuel, storage, and
transportation for an army. The chief officer in the quar-
termaster's department is known as the quartermaster-
general. There was a chief quartermaster of the army, and
a chief quartermaster to each corps and division; then, there
were brigade and regimental quartermasters, and finally
the quartermaster-sergeants, all attending in their appropri-
ate spheres to the special duties of this department.
356
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
During the march of the army up the Peninsula in 1862,
the fighting force advanced by brigades, each of which was
followed by its long columns of transportation. But this
plan was very unsatisfactory, for thereby the army was
extended along forest paths over an immense extent of
country, and great delays and difficulties ensued in keeping
the column closed up; for such was the nature of the roads
that after the first few wagons had passed over them they
were rendered impassable in places for those behind. At
least a quarter of each regiment was occupied in escorting
its wagons, piled up with ammunition, provisions, tents,
etc.; and long after the head of the column had settled in
bivouac could be heard the loud shouting of the team-
sters to their jaded and mire-bedraggled brutes, the clatter
of wagon and artillery wheels, the lowing of the driven
herds, the rattling of sabres, canteens, and other equip-
ments, as the men strode along in the darkness, anx-
ious to reach the spot selected for their uncertain quantity
of rest.
At times in this campaign it was necessary for the wagon-
trains to be massed and move together, but, for some reason,
no order of march was issued, so that the most dire con-
fusion ensued. A struggle for the lead would naturally
set in, each division wanting it and fighting for it.
Profanity, threats, and the flourishing of revolvers were
sure to be prominent in the settling of the question, but
the train which could run over the highest stumps and
pull through the deepest mud-holes was likely to come out
ahead.
The verdancy which remained after the first fall of the
Union army at Bull Run was to be utterly overshadowed by
the baptism of woe which was to follow in the Peninsular
Campaign; and on arriving at Harrison's Landing, on the
James, McClellan issued the following order, which paved
the way for better things:-
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
357
Allowance of Transportation, Tents, and Baggage.
Head-Quarters, Army of the Potomaq.
General Orders, }
No. 153.
Camp near Harrison's Landing, Va., August 10, 1862.
I. The following allowance of wagons is authorized:
For the Head-Quarters of an Army Corps
(6
(6
a Division or Brigade
For a Battery of Light Artillery, or Squadron of Cavalry
For a full regiment of Infantry
Four
Three
Three
Six
This allowance will in no case be exceeded, but will be reduced to corre-
spond as nearly as practicable with the number of officers and men actually
present. All means of transportation in excess of the prescribed standard
will be immediately turned in to the depot, with the exception of the
authorized supply trains, which will be under the direction of the Chief
Quartermasters of Corps. The Chief Quartermaster of this Army will
direct the organization of the supply trains.
-
II. The Army must be prepared to: bivouac when on marches away from
the depots. The allowance of tents will therefore be immediately reduced
to the following standard, and no other accommodations must be expected
until a permanent depot is established:
For the Head-Quarters of an Army Corps, Division, or Brigade, one wall
tent for the General Commanding, and one to every two officers of his
staff.
To each full regiment, for the Colonel, Field and Staff officers, three
wall tents.
For all other commissioned officers, one shelter tent each.
For every two non-commissioned officers, soldiers, officers' servants, and
camp followers, as far as they can be supplied, one shelter tent.
One hospital tent will be allowed for office purposes at Corps Head-
Quarters, and one wall tent at Division and Brigade Head-Quarters.
All tents in excess of this allowance will be immediately turned in to
the depots.
Tents of other patterns required to be exchanged for shelter tents will
be turned in as soon as the latter can be obtained from the Quartermaster's
department. Under no circumstances will they be allowed to be carried
when the Army moves.
III. The allowance of officers' baggage will be limited to blankets, a
small valise or carpet bag, and a reasonable mess-kit. All officers will at
once reduce their baggage to this standard. The men will carry no baggage
except blankets and shelter tents. The Chief Quartermaster will provide
storage on the transports for the knapsacks of the men and for the officers'
surplus baggage.
358
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
IV. Hospital tents must not be diverted from their legitimate use, except
for offices, as authorized in paragraph II.
V. The wagons allowed to a regiment or battery must carry nothing but
forage for the teams, cooking utensils for the men, hospital stores, small
rations, and officers' baggage. One of the wagons allowed for a regiment
will be used exclusively for hospital stores, under the direction of the regi-
mental surgeon. The wagon for regimental Head-Quarters will carry grain
for the officers' horses. At least one and a half of the wagons allowed to a
battery or squadron will carry grain.
VI. Hospital stores, ammunition, Quartermaster's Stores, and subsistence
stores in bulk will be transported in special trains.
VII. Commanding officers will be held responsible that the reduction
above ordered, especially of officers' baggage, is carried into effect at once,
and Corps commanders are specially charged to see that this responsibility is
enforced.
VIII. On all marches, Quartermasters will accompany and conduct their
trains, under the orders of their commanding officers, so as never to obstruct
the movement of troops.
IX. All Quartermasters and Commissaries of Subsistence will attend in
person to the receipt and issue of supplies for their commands, and will keep
themselves constantly informed of the situation of the depots, roads, etc.
BY COMMAND OF MAJOR GENERAL MCCLELLAN:
OFFICIAL:
S. WILLIAMS,
Assistant Adjutant General.
Aide-de-Camp.
This order quite distinctly shows some of the valuable
lessons taught by that eventful campaign before Rich-
mond, more especially the necessity of limiting the amount
of camp equipage and the transportation to be used for
that purpose. But it further outlines the beginnings of
the Supply Trains, and to these I wish to direct special
attention.
I have thus far only referred to the transportation pro-
vided for the camp equipage; but subsistence for man and
beast must be taken along; clothing, to replace the wear and
tear of service, must be provided; ammunition in quantity
and variety must be at ready command; intrenching tools
were indispensable in an active campaign, all of which
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
359
:
Some
was most forcibly demonstrated on the Peninsula.
effort, I believe, was made to establish these trains before.
that campaign began, but everything was confusion when
compared with the system which was now inaugurated by
Colonel (now General) Rufus Ingalls, when he became Chief
Quartermaster of the Army of the Potomac. Through his
persevering zeal, trains for the above purposes were organ-
ized. All strife for the lead on the march vanished, for
every movement was governed by orders from army head-
quarters under the direction of the chief quartermaster. He
prescribed the roads to be travelled over, which corps trains
should lead and which should bring up the rear, where more
than one took the same roads. All of the corps trains were
massed before a march, and the chief quartermaster of some
corps was selected and put in charge of this consolidated
train. The other corps quartermasters had charge of their

WAGON-TRAIN CROSSING THE RAPPA-
HANNOCK ON A PONTOON BRIDGE.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.
respective trains, each in turn having his division and bri-
gade quartermasters, subject to his orders. "There never
was a corps better organized than was the quartermaster's
corps with the Army of the Potomac in 1864," says Grant
in his Memoirs.
Let us see a little more clearly what a corps train in-
cluded. I can do no better than to incorporate here the
following order of General Meade :
360
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Head-Quarters, Army of the Potomac.
General Orders,}
August 21, 1863.
In order that the amount of transportation in this Army shall not in any
instance exceed the maximum allowance prescribed in General Order, No.
274, of August 7, 1863, from the War Department, and to further modify
and reduce baggage and supply trains, heretofore authorized, the following
allowances are established and will be strictly conformed to, viz.:
1. The following is the maximum amount of transportation to be allowed
to this Army in the field:
To the Head-Quarters of an Army Corps, 2 wagons or 8 pack mules.
To the Head-Quarters of a Division or Brigade, 1 wagon or 5 pack mules.
To every three company officers, when detached or serving without wagons,
1 pack mule.
To every 12 company officers, when detached, 1 wagon or 4 pack mules.
To every 2 staff officers not attached to any Head-Quarters, 1 pack mule.
To every 10 staff officers serving similarly, 1 wagon or 4 pack mules.
The above will include transportation for all personal baggage, mess chests,
cooking utensils, desks, papers, &c. The weight of officers' baggage in the
field, specified in the Army Regulations, will be reduced so as to bring it
within the foregoing schedule. All excess of transportation now with Army
Corps, Divisions, Brigades, and Regiments, or Batteries, over the allowances
herein prescribed, will be immediately turned in to the Quartermaster's De-
partment, to be used in the trains.
Commanding officers of Corps, Divisions, &c., will immediately cause in-
spections to be made, and will be held responsible for the strict execution of
this order.
Commissary stores and forage will be transported by the trains. Where
these are not conveniemt of access, and where troops act in detachments,
the Quartermaster's Department will assign wagons or pack animals for that
purpose; but the baggage of officers, or of troops, or camp equipage, will not
be permitted to be carried in the wagons or on the pack animals so assigned.
The assignment for transportation for ammunition, hospital stores, subsist-
ence, and forage will be made in proportion to the amount ordered to be car-
ried. The number of wagons is hereinafter prescribed.
The allowance of spring wagons and saddle horses for contingent wants,
and of camp and garrison equipage, will remain as established by circular,
dated July 17, 1863.
2. For each full regiment of infantry and cavalry, of 1000 men, for bag-
gage, camp equipage, &c., 6 wagons.
For each regiment of infantry less than 700 men and more than 500 men,
5 wagons.
For each regiment of infantry less than 500 men and more than 300 men,
4 wagons.
For each regiment of infantry less than 300 men, 3 wagons.
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
361
3. For each battery of 4 and 6 guns for personal baggage, mess chests,
cooking utensils, desks, papers, &c., 1 and 2 wagons respectively.
For ammunition trains the number of wagons will be determined and as-
signed upon the following rules:
1st. Multiply each 12 pdr. gun by 122 and divide by 112.
2d. Multiply each rifle gun by 50 and divide by 140.
3d. For each 20 pdr. gun, 1½ wagons.
4th. For each siege gun, 2 wagons.
5th. For the general supply train of reserve ammunition of 20 rounds to
each gun in the Army, to be kept habitually with Artillery Reserve, 54
wagons.
For each battery, to carry its proportion of subsistence, forage, &c., 2
wagons.
4. The supply train for forage, subsistence, quartermaster's stores, &c.,
to each 1000 men, cavalry and infantry, 7 wagons.
To every 1000 men, cavalry and infantry, for small arm ammunition,
5 wagons.
To each 1500 men, cavalry and infantry, for hospital supplies, 3 wagons.
To each Army Corps, except the Cavalry, for entrenching tools, &c., 6
wagons.
To each Corps Head-Quarters for the carrying of subsistence, forage and
other stores not provided for herein, 3 wagons.
To each Division Head-Quarters for similar purpose as above, 2 wagons.
To each Brigade Head-Quarters for similar purpose as above, 1 wagon.
To each Brigade, cavalry and infantry, for commissary stores for sales to
officers, 1 wagon.
To each Division, cavalry and infantry, for hauling forage for ambulance
animals, portable forges, &c., 1 wagon.
To each Division, cavalry and infantry, for carrying armorer's tools, parts
of muskets, extra arms and accoutrements, 1 wagon.
It is expected that each ambulance, and each wagon, whether in the bag-
gage, supply or ammunition train, will carry the necessary forage for its own
team.
BY COMMAND OF MAJOR GENERAL MEADE:
OFFICIAL:
S. WILLIAMS,
Assistant Adjutant General.
Ass't Adj't Gen'l.
As the transportation was reduced in quantity, the capac-
ity of what remained was put to a severer test. For ex-
ample, when the Army of the Potomac went into the Wilder-
ness in 1864, each wagon was required to carry five days
forage for its animals (600 pounds), and if its other freight
was rations it might be six barrels of salt pork and four
362
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
barrels of coffee, or ten barrels of sugar. Forty boxes of
hardtack was a load, not so much because of its weight as
because a wagon would hold no more. It even excluded
the forage to carry this number. In the final campaign
against Lee, Grant allowed for baggage and camp equipage
three wagons to a regiment of over seven hundred men,
two wagons to a regiment of less than seven hundred and
more than three hundred, and one wagon to less than three
hundred. One wagon was allowed to a field battery. But,
notwithstanding the reductions ordered at different times,
extra wagons were often smuggled along. One captain, in
charge of a train, tells of keeping a wagon and six mules of
his own more than orders allowed, and whenever the in-
specting officer was announced as coming, the wagon, in
charge of his man, Mike, was driven off under cover and
not returned till the inspection was completed. This
enabled him to take along quite a personal outfit for him-
self and friends. But his experience was not unique.
There were many other "contraband" mule-teams smug-
gled along in the same way for the same object.
In leaving Chattanooga to advance into Georgia, General
Sherman reduced his transportation to one baggage-wagon
and one ambulance for a regiment, and a pack-horse or
mule for the officers of each company. His supply trains
were limited in their loads to food, ammunition, and cloth-
ing; and wall tents were forbidden to be taken along,
barring one for each headquarters, the gallant old veteran
setting the example, by taking only a tent-fly, which was
pitched over saplings or fence rails. The general has
recorded in his "Memoirs" that his orders were not strictly
obeyed in this respect, Thomas being the most noted excep-
tion, who could not give up his tent, and "had a big wagon,
which could be converted into an office, and this we used to
call Thomas's circus.'" In starting on his "march to the
sea,” Sherman issued Special Field Orders No. 120; paragraph
3 of this order reads as follows:
6
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS. ·
363
"There will be no general train of supplies, but each corps will have its
anımunition train and provision train distributed habitually as follows:
Behind each regiment should follow one wagon and one ambulance; behind
each brigade should follow a due proportion of ammunition-wagons, provis-
ion-wagons and ambulances. In case of danger each corps commander
should change this order of march, by having his advance and rear brigades
unencumbered by wheels. The separate columns will start habitually at
7 A. M., and make about fifteen miles per day, unless otherwise fixed in
orders.'
I presume the allowance remained about the same for
the Wilderness Campaign as that given in Orders No. 83.
General Hancock says that he started into the Wilderness
with 27,000 men. Now, using this fact in connection with
the general order, a little rough reckoning will give an
approximate idea of the size of the train of this corps.
Without going into details, I may say that the total train of
the Second Corps, not including the ambulances, could not
have been far from 800 wagons, of which about 600 carried
the various supplies, and the remainder the baggage — the
camp equipage of the corps.
When the army was in settled camp, the supply trains
went into park by themselves, but the baggage-wagons
were retained with their corps, division, brigade, or regi-
mental headquarters. When a march was ordered, however,
these wagons waited only long enough to receive their
freight of camp equipage, when away they went in charge
of their respective quartermasters to join the corps supply
train.
I have alluded to the strength of a single corps train.
But the Second Corps comprised only about one-fifth of the
Union army in the Wilderness, from which a little arith-
metic will enable one to get a tolerably definite idea of the
impedimenta of this one army, even after a great reduction
in the original amount had been made. There were prob-
ably over 4000 wagons following the Army of the Potomac
into the Wilderness. An idea of the ground such a train
would cover may be obtained by knowing that a six-mule
364
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
team took up on the road, say, forty feet, but of course they
did not travel at close intervals. The nature of the country
determined, in some degree, their distance apart. In going
up or down hill a liberal allowance was made for balky or
headstrong mules. Colonel Wilson, the chief commissary of
the army, in an interesting article to the United Service
magazine (1880), has stated that could the train which was
requisite to accompany the army on the Wilderness Cam-
paign have been extended in a straight line it would have
spanned the distance between Washington and Richmond,
being about one hundred and thirty miles. I presume
this estimate includes the ambulance-train also. On the
basis of three to a regiment, there must have been as many
as one hundred and fifty to a corps. These, on ordinary
marches, followed immediately in the rear of their respective
divisions.
When General Sherman started for the sea, his army of
sixty thousand men was accompanied by about twenty-five
hundred wagons and six hundred ambulances. These were
divided nearly equally between his four corps, each corps
commander managing his own train. In this campaign the
transportation had the roads, while the infantry plodded
along by the roadside.
The supply trains, it will now be understood, were the
travelling depot or reservoir from which the army re-
plenished its needs. When these wagons were emptied,
they were at once sent back to the base of supplies, to be
reloaded with precisely the same kind of material as before ;
and empty wagons had always to leave the road clear for
loaded ones. Unless under a pressure of circumstances, all
issues except of ammunition were made at night. By this
plan the animals of the supply consumed their forage
at the base of supplies, and thus saved hauling it.
It was a welcome sight to the soldiers when rations drew
low, or were exhausted, to see these wagons drive up to the
lines. They were not impedimenta to the army just then.
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
365
It has sometimes been thought that the wagon-train was a
glorious refuge from the dangers and hard labors endured at
the front, but such was not the case. It was one of the

COMMISSARY DEPOT AT CEDAR LEVEL. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.
most wearing departments of the service. The officers in
immediate charge were especially burdened with responsibil-
ity, as the statement above illustrates. They were charged
to have their trains at a given point at or before a speci-
fied time. It must be there. There was no "if convenient"
or "if possible" attached to the order. The troops must
have their rations, or, more important still, the ammunition
must be at hand in case of need. Sometimes they would
accomplish the task assigned without difficulty, but it
was the exception. Of course, they could not start until
the army had got out of the way. Then, the roads, already
cut up somewhat by the artillery, were soon rendered next
to impassable by the moving trains. The quartermaster in
charge of a train would be called upon to extricate a wagon
here that was blocking the way, to supply the place of a
worn-out horse or mule there; to have a stalled wagon un-
loaded and its contents distributed among other wagons ;
to keep the train well closed up; to keep the right road
even by night, when, of necessity, much of their travelling
was done. And if, with a series of such misfortunes befalling
366
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
him, the quartermaster reached his destination a few hours.
late, his chances were very good for being roundly sworn at
by his superior officers for his delinquency.
During the progress of the train, it may be said, the
quartermaster would ease his nervous and troubled spirit.
by swearing at careless or unfortunate mule-drivers, who, in
turn, would make the air blue with profanity addressed to
their mules, individually or collectively, so that the anxiety
to get through was felt by all the moving forces in the
train. A large number of these drivers were civilians early
in the war, but owing to the lack of subordination which
many of them showed, their places were largely supplied
later by enlisted men, upon whom Uncle Sam had his grip,
and who could not resign or "swear back" without
penalty.
The place of the trains on an advance was in the rear of
the army; on the retreat, in front, as a rule. If they were
passing through a dangerous section of country, they were
attended by a guard, sometimes of infantry, sometimes
cavalry. The strength of the guard varied with the
nature of the danger expected. Sometimes a regiment,
sometimes a brigade or division, was detailed from a corps
for the duty. The nature of Sherman's march was such that
trains and troops went side by side, as already referred to.
The colored division of the Ninth Corps served as train-
guard for the transportation of the Army of the Potomac
from the Rapidan to the James in 1864.
When ammunition was wanted by a battery or a regi-
ment in the line of battle, a wagon was sent forward from
the train to supply it, the train remaining at a safe dis-
tance in the rear. The nearness of the wagon's approach
was governed somewhat by the nature of the ground. If
there was cover to screen it from the enemy, like a hill or a
piece of woods, it would come pretty near, but if exposed it
would keep farther away. When it was possible to do so,
supplies both of subsistence and ammunition were brought
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
367
up by night when the army was in line of battle, for, as
I have said elsewhere, a mule-team or a mule-train under fire
was a diverting spectacle to every one but the mule-drivers.

A MULE-TEAM UNDER FIRE.
CALIBRE
U.S...
One of the most striking reminiscences of the wagon-train
which I remember relates to a scene enacted in the fall of
'63, in that campaign of manoeuvres between Meade and
Lee. My own corps (Third) reached Centreville Heights
before sunset-in fact, was, I think, the first corps to
arrive. At all events, we had anticipated the most of the
trains. At that hour General Warren was having a lively
row with the enemy at Bristoe Station, eight or nine miles
away. As the twilight deepened, the flash of his artillery
and the smoke of the conflict were distinctly visible in the
horizon. The landscape between this stirring scene and our
standpoint presented one of the most animated spectacles
that I ever saw in the service. Its most attractive feature
was the numerous wagon-trains, whose long lines, stretching
away for miles over the open plain, were hastening forward
to a place of refuge, all converging towards a common
centre the high ground lying along the hither side of
Bull Run. The officers in charge of the trains, made some-
what nervous by the sounds of conflict reaching them from
368
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
the rear, impatiently urged on the drivers, who, in turn,
with lusty lungs uttered vigorous oaths at the mules,
punctuated by blows or cracks of the black snake that
equalled in volume the intonations of a rifle; and these
jumped into their harnesses and took the wagons along over
stumps and through gullies with as great alacrity as if the
chief strain and responsibility of the campaign centred in
themselves. An additional feature of animation was pre-
sented by the columns of infantry from the other corps,
which alternated in the landscape with the lines of wagons,
winding along into camp tired and footsore, but without
apparent concern.
I do not now remember any other time
in my experience when so large a portion of the matériel
and personnel of the army could have been covered by a
single glance as I saw in the gathering twilight of that Octo-
ber afternoon.
The system of designating the troops by corps badges was
extended to the transportation, and every wagon was marked
on the side of the canvas covering with the corps badge,
perhaps eighteen inches in diameter, and of the appropriate
color to designate the division to which it belonged. In ad-
dition to this, the number of its division, brigade, and the
nature of its contents, whether rations, forage, clothing, or
anımunition, and, if the latter, the kind, whether artillery
or musket, and the calibre,- were plainly stencilled in large
letters on the cover. All this and much more went to indi-
cate as perfect organization in the trains as in the army it-
self, and to these men, who were usually farthest from the
fray, for whom few words of appreciation have been uttered
by distinguished writers on the war, I gladly put on record
my humble opinion that the country is as much indebted as
for the work of the soldiers in line. They acted well their
part, and all honor to them for it.
A regular army officer, who had a large experience in
charge of trains, has suggested that a bugler for each bri-
gade or division train would have been a valuable auxiliary
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
369
for starting or halting the trains, or for regulating the camp
duties as in artillery and cavalry. It seems strange that so
commendable a proposition was not thought of at the time.
In 1863, while the army was lying at Belle Plain after the
memorable Mud March, large numbers of colored refugees
came into camp. Every day saw some old cart or antiquated
wagon, the relic of better days in the Old Dominion, unload-
ing its freight of contrabands, who had thus made their en-
trance into the lines of Uncle Sam and Freedom. As a large
number of these vehicles had accumulated near his head-
quarters, General Wadsworth, then commanding the first
division of the First Corps, conceived the novel idea of
forming a supply train of them, using as draft steers, to be
selected from the corps cattle herd, and broken for that
purpose. His plan, more in detail, was to load the carts at

YA
THE BULL TRAIN.
the base of supplies with what rations they would safely
carry, despatch them to the troops wherever they might be,
issue the rations, slaughter the oxen for fresh beef, and use
the wagons for fuel to cook it. A very practical scheme,
at first view, surely. A detail of mechanics was made to
370
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
put the wagons in order, a requisition was drawn for yokes,
and Captain Ford of a Wisconsin regiment, who had had
experience in such work, was detailed to break in the steers
to yoke and draft.
The captain spent all winter and the following spring in
perfecting the "Bull Train," as it was called. The first
serious set-back the plan received resulted from feeding the
steers with unsoaked hard bread, causing several of them to
swell up and die; but the general was not yet ready to give
up the idea, and so continued the organization. Chancel-
lorsville battle came when all the trains remained in camp.
But the day of trial was near. When the army started on
the Gettysburg campaign, Captain Ford put his train in rear
of the corps wagon-train, and started, with the inevitable
result.
The mules and horses walked right away from the oxen,
in spite of the goading and lashing and yelling of their
drivers. By nightfall they were doomed to be two or three
miles behind the main train an easy prey for Mosby's
guerilla band. At last the labor of keeping it up and the
anxiety for its safety were so intense that before the Potomac
was reached the animals were returned to the herd, the sup-
plies were transferred or issued, the wagons were burned,
and the pet scheme of General Wadsworth was abandoned
as impracticable.
Quite nearly akin to this Bull Train was the train organ-
ized by Grant after the battle of Port Gibson. His army
was east of the Mississippi, his ammunition train was west
of it. Wagon transportation for ammunition must be had.
Provisions could be taken from the country. He says: “I
directed, therefore, immediately on landing, that all the vehi-
cles and draft animals, whether horses, mules, or oxen, in
the vicinity should be collected and loaded to their capacity
with ammunition. Quite a train was collected during the
30th, and a motley train it was. In it could be found fine
carriages, loaded nearly to the top with boxes of cartridges
ARMY WAGON-TRAINS.
371
that had been pitched in promiscuously, drawn by mules
with plough-harness, straw collars, rope lines, etc.; long-
coupled wagons with racks for carrying cotton-bales, drawn
by oxen, and everything that could be found in the way of
transportation on a plantation, either for use or pleasure."
[Vol. i., p. 488.]
Here is another incident which will well illustrate the
trials of a train quartermaster. At the opening of the
campaign in 1864, Wilson's cavalry division joined the Army
of the Potomac. Captain Ludington (now lieutenant-colo-
nel, U. S. A.) was chief quartermaster of its supply train.
It is a settled rule guiding the movement of trains that
the cavalry supplies shall take precedence in a move, as
the cavalry itself is wont to precede the rest of the army.
Through some oversight of the chief quartermaster of the
army, General Ingalls, the captain had received no order of
march, and after waiting until the head of the infantry sup-
ply trains appeared, well understanding that his place was
ahead of them on the march, he moved out of park into the
road. At once he encountered the chief quartermaster of
the corps train, and a hot and wordy contest ensued, in
which vehement language found ready expression. While
this dispute for place was at white heat, General Meade and
his staff rode by, and saw the altercation in progress without.
halting to inquire into its cause. After he had passed some
distance up the road, Meade sent back an aid, with his com-
pliments, to ascertain what train that was struggling for the
road, who was in charge of it, and with what it was loaded.
Captain Ludington informed him that it was Wilson's cav-
alry supply train, loaded with forage and rations. These
facts the aid reported faithfully to Meade, who sent him back
again to inquire particularly if that really was Wilson's cav-
alry train. Upon receiving an affirmative answer, he again
carried the same to General Meade, who immediately turned
back in his tracks, and came furiously back to Ludington.
Uttering a volley of oaths, he asked him what he meant by
372
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
"You ought to have
"I have a great
throwing all the trains into confusion.
been out of here hours ago!" he continued.
mind to hang you to the nearest tree. You are not fit to be
a quartermaster." In this manner General Meade rated the
innocent captain for a few moments, and then rode away.
When he had gone, General Ingalls dropped back from the
staff a moment, with a laugh at the interview, and, on learn-
ing the captain's case, told him to remain where he was
until he received an order from him. Thereupon Luding-
ton withdrew to a house that stood not far away from the
road, and, taking a seat on the veranda, entered into con-
versation with two young ladies who resided there. Soon
after he had thus comfortably disposed himself, who should
appear upon the highway but Sheridan, who was in com-
mand of all the cavalry with the army. On discovering
the train at a standstill, he rode up and asked:
“What train is this?"
"The supply train of Wilson's Cavalry Division," was
the reply of a teamnster.
"Who's in charge of it?"
66
Captain Ludington."
"Where is he?"
"There he sits yonder, talking to those ladies."
"Give him my compliments and tell him I want to see
him," said Sheridan, much wrought up at the situation, appar-
ently thinking that the train was being delayed that its quar-
termaster might spend further time "in gentle dalliance" with
the ladies. As soon as the captain approached, the general
charged forward impetuously, as if he would ride the cap-
tain down, and, with one of those "terrible oaths" for
which he was famous, demanded to know what he was
there for, why he was not out at daylight, and on after his
division. As Ludington attempted to explain, Sheridan
cut him off by opening his battery of abuse again, threaten-
ing to have him shot for his incompetency and delay, and
ordering him to take the road at once with his train. Hav.

}}
GENERAL MEADE AND THE QUA.LUMASTER.
إلا الا الله
ARMY WAGON-TRAİNS.
375
ing exhausted all the strong language in the vocabulary, he
rode away, leaving the poor captain in a state of distress
that can be only partially imagined. When he had finally
got somewhat settled after this rough stirring-up, he took a
review of the situation, and, having weighed the threatened
hanging by General Meade, the request to await his orders
from General Ingalls, the threatened shooting of General
Sheridan, and the original order of General Wilson, which
was to be on hand with the supplies at a certain specified
time and place, Ludington decided to await orders from
General Ingalls, and resumed the company of the ladies.
At last the orders came, and the captain moved his train,
spending the night on the road in the Wilderness, and when
morning dawned had reached a creek over which it was
necessary for him to throw a bridge before it could be
crossed. So he set his teamsters at work to build a bridge.
Hardly had they begun felling trees before up rode the chief
quartermaster of the Sixth Corps train, anxious to cross.
An agreement was entered into, however, that they should
build the bridge together; and the corps quartermaster set
his pioneers at work with Ludington's men, and the bridge
was soon finished. Recognizing the necessity for the
cavalry train to take the lead, the corps quartermaster
had assented that it should pass the bridge first when
it was completed, and on the arrival of that moment the
train was put in motion, but just then a prompt and deter-
mined chief quartermaster of a Sixth Corps division train,
unaware of the understanding had between his superior, the
corps quartermaster, and Captain Ludington, rode forward and
insisted on crossing first. A struggle for precedence immedi-
ately set in. The contest waxed warm, and language more for-
cible than polite was waking the woodland echoes when who
should appear on the scene again but General Meade. On
seeing Ludington engaged as he saw him the day before,
it aroused his wrath most unreasonably, and, riding up to
him, he shouted, with an oath: "What! are you here again!
376
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Then shaking his fist in his face, he continued: "I am sorry
now that I did not hang you yesterday, as I threatened."
The captain, exhausted and out of patience with the trials
which he had encountered, replied that he sincerely wished
he had, and was sorry that he was not already dead. The
arrival of the chief quartermaster of the Sixth Corps, at this
time, ended the dispute for precedence, and Ludington
went his way without further vexatious delays to overtake
his cavalry division.

"OLD CRONIES"
CHAPTER XX.
ARMY ROAD AND BRIDGE BUILDERS.
"A line of black, which bends and floats
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats."
ނ
LONGFELLOW.

F there is one class of men in this
country who more than all others
should appreciate spacious and
well graded highways, or ready
means of transit from one sec-
tion into another, that class is the
veterans of the Union Army; for
those among them who "hoofed
it" from two to four years in
Rebeldom travelled more miles across country in
that period than they did on regularly constituted
thoroughfares. Now through the woods, now over
the open, then crossing a swamp, or wading a river
of varying depth, here tearing away a fence obstructing the
march, there filling a ditch with rails to smooth the passage
of the artillery, in fact, "short cuts " were so common and
popular that the men endured the obstacles they often pre-
sented with the utmost good-nature, knowing that every
rood of travel thus saved meant fewer foot-blisters and an
earlier arrival in camp.
But there was a portion of the army which could not
often indulge in short cuts, which must "find a way or
make it," or have it made for them by others; and as some
time and much skill and labor were necessary in laying out
and completing such a way in an efficient manner, a body of
377
378
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
men was enlisted for the exclusive purpose of doing this kind
of work. Such a body was the Engineer Corps, often called
the Sappers and Miners of the army; but so little sapping
and mining was done, and that little mainly by the fighting
forces, I shall speak of this body of men as Engineers
the name which, I believe, they prefer.
In the Army of the Potomac this corps was composed of
the Fifteenth and Fiftieth New York regiments of volun-
teers and a battalion of regulars comprising three companies.
They started out with McClellan in the Peninsular Cam-
paign, and from that time till the close of the war were
identified with the movements of this army. These engi-
neers went armed as infantry for purposes of self-defence
only, for fighting was not their legitimate business, nor was
it expected of them. There were emergencies in the history
of the army when they were drawn up in line of battle.
Such was the case with a part of them at least at Antietam,
Gettysburg, and the Wilderness, but, so far as I can learn,
they were never actively engaged.
The engineers' special duties were to make roads passable
for the army by corduroying sloughs, building trestle bridges
across small streams, laying pontoon bridges over rivers,
and taking up the same, laying out and building fortifica-

CORDUROYING.
tions, and slashing. Corduroying called at times for a
large amount of labor, for Virginia mud was such a foe to
rapid transit that miles upon miles of this sort of road had
ARMY ROAD AND BRIDGE BUILDERS.
379
to be laid to keep ready communication between different
portions of the army. Where the ground was miry, two
stringers were laid longitudinally of the road, and on these
the corduroy of logs, averaging, perhaps, four inches in
diameter, was laid, and a cover of brush was sometimes
spread upon it to prevent mules from thrusting their legs
through. Where the surface was simply muddy, no string-
ers were used. It should be said here that by far the
greater portion of this variety of work fell to fatigue details
from the infantry, as did much more of the labor which
came within the scope of the engineers' duties; for the latter
could not have accomplished one-fifth of the tasks devolved
upon them in time. In fact, if I except the laying and

A TRESTLE bridge, No. 1.
taking-up of pontoon bridges, and the laying-out and
superintending of the building of forts, there were none of
the engineers' duties which were not performed by the
fighting force to a large extent. I state this not in detrac-
tion of the engineers, who always did well, but in justice to
the infantry, who so often supplemented the many and trying
duties of their own department with the accomplishments
of the engineer corps. The quartermaster of the army had
a large number of wagons loaded with intrenching tools
with which to supply the troops when their services were
required as engineers.
The building of trestle bridges called for much labor from
the engineers with the Army of the Potomac, for Virginia is
380
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
gridironed with small streams. These, bear in mind, the
troops could ford easily, but the heavily loaded trains must
have bridges to cross on, or each ford would soon have been

༔་་་་
A TRESTLE BRIDGE, NO. 2.
choked with mired teams. Sometimes the bridges built by
the natives were still standing, but they had originally been
put up for local travel only, not to endure the tramp and
rack of moving armies and their thousands of tons of imped-
imenta; wherefore the engineers would take them in hand
and strengthen them to the point of present efficiency. So
well was much of this work done that it endures in places
to-day as a monument to their thoroughness and fidelity, and
a convenience to the natives of those sections.
When a line of works was laid out through woods, much
slashing, or felling of trees, was necessary in its front.
This was especially necessary in front of forts and batteries.
Much of this labor was done by the engineers. The trees
were felled with their tops toward the enemy, leaving stumps
about three feet high. The territory covered by these fallen
trees was called the Slashes, hence Slashing. No large body
of the enemy could safely attempt a passage through such
an obstacle. It was a strong defence for a weak line of
works.
The Gabions, being hollow cylinders of wicker-work with-
out bottom, filled with earth, and placed on the earthworks;
the Fascines, being bundles of small sticks bound at both
ARMY ROAD AND BRIDGE BUILDERS.
381
ends and intermediate points, to aid in raising batteries,
filling ditches, etc.; Chevaux-de-frise, a piece of timber

պալվո
נננני
A LARGE GABION.
traversed with wooden spikes, used especially as a defence
against cavalry; the Abatis, a row of the large branches of
trees, sharpened and laid close together, points
outward, with the butts pinned to the ground;
the Fraise, a defence of pointed sticks, fastened
into the ground at such an incline as to bring the
points breast-high; -all these were fashioned by
the engineer corps,


in vast numbers,
when the army was
besieging Peters-
burg in 1864.
But the crown-
ing work of this
CHEVAUX-DE-FRise.
corps, as it always seemed to me, the department
of their labor for which, I believe, they will be
the longest remembered, was that of ponton-
bridge laying. The word ponton, or pontoon, is
borrowed from both the Spanish and French lan-
guages, which, in turn, derive it from the parent Latin, pons,
FASCINES.
382
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
meaning a bridge, but it has now come to mean a boat,
and the men who build such
ABATIS.
bridges are called by the
French pontoniers. In fact,
the system of ponton bridges
in use during the Rebel
lion was copied, I believe,
almost exactly from the
French model.
The first ponton bridge
which I recall in history

was built by Xerxes, nearly twenty-four hundred years ago,
across the Hellespont. It was over four thousand feet
long. A violent storm broke it up, whereupon the Persian
"got square" by throwing two pairs of shackles into the
sea and ordering his men to give it three hundred strokes
of a whip, while he addressed it in imperious language.
Then he ordered all those persons who had been charged
with the construction of the
bridge to be beheaded. Im-
mediately afterwards he had
two other bridges built, "one
for the army to pass over, and
the other for the baggage and
beasts of burden.
He ap-
pointed workmen more able

ner.
THE FRAISE.
and expert than the former, who went about it in this man-
They placed three hundred and sixty vessels across,
some of them having three banks of oars and others fifty oars
apiece, with their sides turned towards the Euxine (Black)
Sea; and on the side that faced the Egean Sea they put
three hundred and fourteen. They then cast large anchors
into the water on both sides, in order to fix and secure all
these vessels against the violence of the winds and the cur-
rent of the water. On the east side they left three passages.
or vacant spaces, between the vessels, that there might be
room for small boats to go and come easily, when there was
ARMY ROAD AND BRIDGE BUILDERS.
383
After this, upon the
occasion, to and from the Euxine Sea.
land on both sides, they drove large piles into the earth,
with huge rings fastened to them, to which were tied six
vast cables, which went over each of the two bridges: two
of which cables were made of hemp, and four of a sort of
reeds called Bighos, which were made use of in those times
for the making of cordage. Those that were made of hemp
must have been of an extraordinary strength and thickness
since every cubit in length weighed a talent (42 pounds).
The cables, laid over the whole extent of the vessels length-
wise, reached from one side to the other of the sea. When
this part of the work was finished, quite over the vessels
from side to side, and over the cables just described, they
laid the trunks of trees cut for that purpose, and planks
again over them, fastened and joined together to serve as a
kind of floor or solid bottom; all which they covered over
with earth, and added rails or battlements on each side that
the horses and cattle might not be frightened at seeing the
sea in their passage."
Compare this bridge of Xerxes with that hereinafter de-
scribed, and note the points of similarity.
One of the earliest pontons used in the Rebellion was
made of India-rubber. It was a sort of sack, shaped not
unlike a torpedo, which had to be inflated before use.
When thus inflated, two of these sacks were placed side by
side, and on this buoyant foundation the bridge was laid.
Their extreme lightness was a great advantage in transpor-
tation, but for some reason they were not used by the engi-
neers of the Army of the Potomac. They were used in the
western army, however, somewhat. General F. P. Blair's
division used them in the Vicksburg campaign of 1863.
Another ponton which was adopted for bridge service
may be described as a skeleton boat-frame, over which was
stretched a cotton-canvas cover. This was a great improve-
ment over the tin or copper-covered boat-frames, which had
been thoroughly tested and condemned. It was the variety
384
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
used by Sherman's army almost exclusively. In starting for
Savannah, he distributed his ponton trains among his four
corps, giving to each about nine hundred feet of bridge ma-
terial. These pontons were suitably hinged to form a wagon

A
ར。
A CANVAS PONTOON BOAT. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.
body, in which was carried the canvas cover, anchor, chains,
and a due proportion of other bridge materials. This kind
of bridge was used by the volunteer engineers of the Army
of the Potomac. I recall two such bridges.
One spanned the Rapidan at Ely's Ford, and was crossed
by the Second Corps the night of May 3, 1864, when it en-
tered upon the Wilderness campaign. The other was laid
across the Po River, by the Fiftieth New York Engineers,
seven days afterwards, and over this Hancock's Veterans
crossed those, at least, who survived the battle of that
eventful Tuesday - before nightfall.
But all of the long bridges, notably those crossing the
Chickahominy, the James, the Appomattox, which now come
to my mind, were supported by wooden boats of the French
pattern. These were thirty-one feet long, two feet six inches
deep, five feet four inches wide at the top, and four feet at
the bottom. They tapered so little at the bows and sterns
as to be nearly rectangular, and when afloat the gunwales
were about horizontal, having little of the curve of the
skiff.
The floor timbers of the bridge, known as Balks, were
twenty-five and one-half feet long, and four and one-half
ARMY ROAD AND BRIDGE BUILDERS.
385
inches square on the end. Five continuous lines of these
were laid on the boats two feet ten inches apart.
The flooring of the bridge, called chesses, consisted of
boards having a uniform length of fourteen feet, a width of
twelve inches, and a thickness of one and a half inches.
To secure the chesses in place, side-rails of about the same
dimensions as the balks were laid upon them over the outer
balks, to which the rails were fastened by cords known as
rack-lashings.
The distance between the centres of two boats in position
is called a bay. The distance between the boats is thirteen
feet ten inches. The distance between the side-rails is
eleven feet, this being the width of the roadway.
An abutment had to be constructed at either end of a

状
​AN ANGLE OF FORT HELL (SEDGWICK) SHOWING GABIONS, CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE,
ABATIS AND FRAISE. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.
bridge, which was generally done by settling a heavy timber
horizontally in the ground, level with the top of the bridge,
confining it there by stakes. A proper approach was then
made to this, sometimes by grading, sometimes by cordu-
roying, sometimes by cutting away the bank.
386
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
The boats, with all other bridge equipage, were carried
upon wagons, which together were known as the Ponton
Train. Each wagon was drawn by six mules. A single
boat with its anchor and cable formed the entire load for
one team. The balks were loaded on wagons by themselves,
as were also the chesses, and the side-rails on others. This
system facilitated the work of the pontoniers. In camp, the
Ponton Train was located near army headquarters. On the
march it would naturally be in rear of the army, unless its
services were soon to be made use of. If, when the column
had halted, we saw this train and its body-guard, the engi-
neers, passing to the front, we at once concluded that there
was one wide river to cross," and we might as well settle
down for a while, cook some coffee, and take a nap.
66
In order to get a better idea of ponton-bridge laying, let
us follow such a train to the river and note the various steps
in the operation. If the enemy is not holding the opposite
bank, the wagons are driven as near as practicable to the
brink of the water, unloaded, and driven off out of the
way. To avoid confusion and expedite the work, the corps
is divided up into the abutment, boat, balk, lashing, chess,
and side-rail parties. Each man, therefore, knows just what
he has to do. The abutment party takes the initiative, by
laying the abutment, and preparing the approaches as already
described. Sometimes, when the shore was quite marshy,
trestle work or a crib of logs was necessary in completing
this duty, but, as the army rarely approached a river except
over a recognized thoroughfare, such work was the exception.
While this party has been vigorously prosecuting its
special labors, the boat party, six in number, have got a
ponton afloat, manned it, and ridden to a point a proper
distance above the line of the proposed bridge, dropped
anchor, and, paying out cable, drop down alongside the
abutment, and go ashore. The balk party are on hand with
five balks, two men to each, and having placed these so that
one end projects six inches beyond the outer gunwale of
·
ARMY ROAD AND BRIDGE BUILDERS.
387
the boat, they make way for the lashing party, who lash
them in place at proper intervals as indicated on the gun-
wales. The boat is then pushed into the stream the length
of the balks, the hither ends of which are at once made fast
to the abutment.
The chess party now step to the front and cover the
balks with flooring to within one foot of the ponton.
Meanwhile the boat-party has launched another ponton,

A WOODEN PONTOON BOAT. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.
dropped anchor in the proper place, and brought it along-
side the first; the balk party, also ready with another bay of
balks, lay them for the lashing party to make fast; the boat
being then pushed off broadside-to as before, and the free end
of the balks lashed so as to project six inches over the shore
gunwale of the first boat. By this plan it may be seen that
each balk and bay of balks completely spans two pontons.
This gives the bridge a firm foundation. The chess party
continue their operations, as before, to within a foot of the
second boat. And now, when the third bay of the bridge is
begun, the side-rail party appears, placing their rails on the
chesses over the outside balks, to which they firmly lash them,
the chesses being so constructed that the lashings pass be-
tween them for this purpose.
The foregoing operations are repeated bay after bay till
the bridge reaches the farther shore, when the building of
388
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
another abutment and its approaches completes the main
part of the work. It then remains to scatter the road-
way of the bridge with a light covering of hay, or straw, or
sand, to protect it from wear, and, perhaps, some straighten-
ing here and tightening there may be necessary, but the
work is now done, and all of the personnel and matériel
may cross with perfect safety. No rapid movements are
allowed, however, and man and beast must pass over at a walk.
A guard of the engineers is posted at the abutment, order-
ing "Route step!" "Route step!" as the troops strike the
bridge, and sentries, at intervals, repeat the caution further
along. By keeping the cadence in crossing, the troops would
subject the bridge to a much greater strain, and settle it
deeper in the water. It was shown over and over again
that nothing so tried the bridge as a column of infantry.
The current idea is that the artillery and the trains must
have given it the severest test, which was not the case.
In taking up a bridge, the order adopted was the reverse.
of that followed in laying it, beginning with the end next
the enemy, and carrying the chess and balks back to the
other shore by hand. The work was sometimes accelerated
by weighing all anchors, and detaching the bridge from the
further abutment, allow it to swing bodily around to the
hither shore to be dismantled. One instance is remembered
when this manœuvre was executed with exceeding despatch.
It was after the army had recrossed the Rappahannock,
following the battle of Chancellorsville. So nervous were
the engineers lest the enemy should come upon them at
their labors they did not even wait to pull up anchors, but
cut every cable and cast loose, glad enough to see their
flotilla on the retreat after the army, and more delighted
still not to be attacked by the enemy during the operation,
so says one of their number.
One writer on the war speaks of the engineers as grasp-
ing "not the musket but the hammer," a misleading remark,
for not a nail is driven into the bridge at any point.

ur
A PONTOON BRIDGE AT BELLE PLAIN, VA. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.
Mill
ARMY ROAD AND BRIDGE BUILDERS.
391
When the Army of the Potomac retreated from before
Richmond in 1862 it crossed the lower Chickahominy on a
bridge of boats and rafts 1980 feet long. This was con-
structed by three separate working parties, employed at the
same time, one engaged at each end and one in the centre.
It was the longest bridge built in the war, of which I have
any knowledge, save one, and that the bridge built across
the James, below Wilcox's Landing, in 1864. This latter
was a remarkable achievement in ponton engineering. It
was over two thousand feet long, and the channel boats
were firmly anchored in thirteen fathoms of water. The
engineers began it during the forenoon of June 14, and
completed the task at midnight. It was built under the
direction of General Benham for the passage of the wagon-
trains and a part of the troops, while the rest crossed in
steamers and ferry-boats.
But ponton bridges were not always laid without opposi-
tion or interference from the enemy. Perhaps they made
the most stubborn contest to prevent the laying of the
bridges across the Rappahannock before Fredericksburg in
December, 1862.
The pontoniers had partially laid one bridge before day-
light, but when dawn appeared the enemy's sharpshooters,
who had been posted in buildings on the opposite bank,
opened so destructive a fire upon them that they were
compelled to desist, and two subsequent attempts to
continue the work, though desperately made, were like-
wise brought to naught by the deadly fire of Mississippi
rifles. At last three regiments, the Seventh Michigan, and
the Nineteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts, volunteered
to cross the river, and drive the enemy out of cover, which
they did most gallantly, though not without considerable
loss. They crossed the river in ponton boats, charged up
the steep bank opposite, drove out, or captured the Rebels
holding the buildings, and in a short time the first ponton
bridge was completed. Others were laid near by soon after.
392
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
I think the engineers lost more men here - I mean now in
actual combat than in all their previous and subsequent
service combined.
Ponton bridges were a source of great satisfaction to the
soldiers. They were perfect marvels of stability and steadi-
ness. No swaying motion was visible. To one passing
across with a column of troops or wagons no motion was
discernible. It seemed as safe and secure as mother earth,
and the army walked them
confidence as if they were.
while my company was cross-
on the bridge laid at Point
Webster Atkinson, a can-
about six feet and a quarter
low, he was afterwards mor-
Hatcher's Run, being well-
fatigue of the all-night march
walked off the bridge. For-
with the same serene
I remember one night
ing the Appomattox
of Rocks that D.
noneer, who stood
in boots dear fel-
tally wounded at
nigh asleep from the
we were undergoing,
tunately for him, he

་་
POPLAR GROVE CHURCH.
stepped-not into four or five fathoms of water, but
a ponton. As can readily be imagined, an unexpected
step down of two feet and a half was quite an "eye-
ARMY ROAD AND BRIDGE BUILDERS.
393
opener" to him, but, barring a little lameness, he suffered no
harm.
The engineers, as a whole, led an enjoyable life of it in
the service. Their labors were quite fatiguing while they
lasted, it is true, but they were a privileged class when com-
pared with the infantry. But they did well all that was
required of them, and there was no finer body of men in the
service.
The winter-quarters of the engineers were, perhaps, the
most unique of any in the army. In erecting them they
gave their mechanical skill full play. Some of their officers'
quarters were marvels of rustic design. The houses of one
regiment in the winter of '63-4 were fashioned out of the
straight cedar, which, being undressed, gave the settlement
a quaint but attractive and comfortable appearance.
Their streets were corduroyed, and they even boasted
sidewalks of similar construction. Poplar Grove Church,
erected by the Fiftieth New York Engineers, a few miles
below Petersburg, in 1864, still stands, a monument to their
skill in rustic design.

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CHAPTER XXI.
TALKING FLAGS AND TORCHES.
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"Ho! my comrades, see the signal
Waving through the sky;
Re-enforcements now appearing,
Victory is nigh.'

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ES, there were flags in the army
which talked for the soldiers,
and I cannot furnish a more
entertaining chapter than one
which will describe how they
did it, when they did it, and
what they did it for. True,
all of the flags used in the
service told stories of their own.
What more eloquent than "Old
Glory," with its thirteen stripes,
reminding us of our small be-
ginning as a nation, its blue
field, originally occupied by
the cross of the English flag when Washington first gave
it to the breeze in Cambridge, but replaced later by a
cluster of stars, which keep a tally of the number of
States in the Union! What wealth of history its subse-
quent career as the national emblem suggests, making it
almost vocal with speech! The corps, division, and brigade
flags, too, told a little story of their own, in a manner
already described. But there were other flags, whose sole
business it was to talk to one another, and the stories they
told were immediately written down for the benefit of the
394
TALKING FLAGS AND TORCHES.
395
soldiers or sailors. These flags were Signal flags, and the
men who used them and made them talk were known in
the service as the Signal Corps.
What was this corps for? Well, to answer that question
at length would make quite a story, but, in brief, I may say
that it was for the purpose of rapid and frequent com-
munication between different portions of the land or naval
forces. The army might be engaged with the enemy,
on the march, or in camp, yet these signal men, with
their flags, were serviceable in either situation, and in the
former often especially so; but I will begin at the begin-
ning, and present a brief sketch of the origin of the Signal
Corps.
The system of signals used in both armies during the
Rebellion originated with one man Albert J. Myer,
who was born in Newburg, N. Y. He entered the army
as assistant surgeon in 1854, and, while on duty in New
Mexico and vicinity, the desirability of some better method
of rapid communication than that of a messenger impressed
itself upon him. This conviction, strengthened by his
previous lines of thought in the same direction, he
finally wrought out in a system of motion telegraphy.'
*
Recognizing to some extent the value of his system, Con-
gress created the position of Chief Signal Officer of the
army, and Surgeon Myer was appointed by President
Buchanan to fill it. Up to some time in 1863 Myer was
not the Chief Signal Officer alone, but the only signal
officer commissioned as such, all others then in the corps -
and there were quite a number being simply acting sigual
officers on detached service from various regiments.
One of the officers in the regular army, whom Surgeon
* These facts are taken from a small pamphlet written by Lieutenant J.
Willard Brown of West Medford, Mass., and issued by the Signal Corps
Association. Other facts pertaining to signalling have been derived from
"A Manual of Signals," written by General Myer (Old Probabilities) him-
self, since the war.
396
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Myer had instructed in signalling while in New Mexico,
went over to the enemy when the war broke out and organ-
ized a corps for them.
From this small beginning of one man grew up the Signal
Corps. As soon as the value of the idea had fairly pene-
trated the brains of those whose appreciation was needed to
make it of practical value, details of men were made from
the various regiments around Washington, and placed in
camps of instruction to learn the use of the "Signal Kit,"
so called. The chief article in this kit was a series of
seven flags, varying from two feet to six feet square.
Three of these flags, one six feet, one four feet, and one two
feet square, were white, and had each a block of red in
the centre one-third the dimensions of
the flag; that is, a flag six feet square
had a centre two feet square; two flags
were black with white centres, and two
were red with white centres. When the
flags were in use, they were tied to a
staff, whose length varied with the size
of the flag to be used. If the distance
to signal was great, or obstructions in-
tervened, a long staff and a large flag
were necessary; but the four-foot flag
was the one in most common use.
It will be readily inferred that the lan-
guage of these flags was to be addressed
to the eye and not the ear. To make
that language plain, then, they must be
distinctly seen by the persons whom they
addressed. This will explain why they
were of different colors. In making sig-
nals, the color of flag to be used depended
upon the color of background against
which it was to appear. For example, a white flag, even
with its red centre, could not be easily seen against the

PLATE 1.
TALKING FLAGS AND TORCHES.
397
sky as a background.
In such a situation a
black flag was necessary.
With green or dark-
colored backgrounds the
white flag was used, and
in fact this was the flag
of the signal service,
having been used, in
all probability, nine
times out of every ten
that signals were made.
Before the deaf and
dumb could be taught to

PLATE 2.
talk, certain mo-
PLATE 3.
tions were agreed
upon to represent
particular ideas,
letters, and fig-
ures. In like man-
ner, a key, or code,
was constructed
which interpreted
the motions of the
sigual flag, for
it talked by mo-
tions,― and in ac-
cord with which
the motions were

made. Let me illustrate these motions by the accompany.
ing cuts.
398
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
Plate 1 represents a member of the Signal Corps in posi-
tion, holding the flag directly above his head, the staff
vertical, and grasped by both hands. This is the position
from which all the motions were made.
Plate 2 represents the flagman making the numeral “2”
or the letter "i." This was done by waving the flag to the
right and instantly returning it to a vertical position. To
make "1" the flag was waved to the left, and instantly
returned as before. See plate 3. This the code translated
as the letter "t" and the word "the." "5" was made by
waving the flag directly to the front, and returning at once
to the vertical.
The signal code most commonly used included but two
symbols, which made it simple to use. With these, not only
could all the letters of the alphabet and the numerals be
communicated, but an endless variety of syllables, words,
phrases, and statements besides. As a matter of fact, how-
ever, it contained several thousand combinations of numerals
with the significance of each combination attached to it.
Let me illustrate still further by using the symbols "2"
and "1."
Let us suppose the flagman to make the signal for
"1," and follow it immediately with the motion for “2."
This would naturally be read as 12, which the code
showed to mean O.
mean O. Similarly, two consecutive waves
to the right, or 22, represented the letter N. Three waves
to the right and one to the left, or 2221, stood for the
syllable tion. So by repeating the symbols and changing
the combinations we might have, for example, 2122, meaning
the enemy are advancing; or 1122, the cavalry have halted;
or 12211, three guns in position; or 1112, two miles to the
left, all of which would appear in the code.
Let us join a signal party for the sake of observing the
method of communicating a message. Such a party, if
complete, was composed of three persons, viz., the signal
officer (commissioned) in charge, with a telescope and field-
TALKING FLAGS AND TORCHES.
399
glass; the flagman, with his kit, and an orderly to take
charge of the horses, if the station was only temporary.
The point selected from which to signal must be a command-
ing position, whether a mountain, a hill, a tree-top, or a
house-top. The station having been attained, the flagman
takes position, and the officer sweeps the horizon and inter-
mediate territory with his telescope to discover another
signal station, where a second officer and flagman are
posted.
Having discovered such a station, the officer directs hist
man to "call" that station. This he does by signalling the
number of the station (for each station had a number), re-
peating the same until his signal is seen and answered. It
was the custom at stations to keep a man on the lookout,
with the telescope, for signals, constantly. Having got the
attention of the opposite station, the officer sends his mes-
sage. The flagman was not supposed to know the import of
the message which he waved out with his flag. The officer
called the numerals, and the flagman responded with the
required motions almost automatically, when well practised.
At the end of each word motion "5" was made once; at
the end of a sentence "55"; and of a message “555.”
There were a few words and syllables which were conveyed
by a single motion of the flag; but, as a rule, the words had
to be spelled out letter by letter, at least by beginners.
Skilled signalists, however, used many abbreviations, and
rarely found it necessary to spell out a word in full.
So much for the manner of sending a message. Now let
us join the party at the station where the message is being
received. There we simply find the officer sitting at his tele-
scope reading the message being sent to him. Should he
fail to understand any word, his own flagman signals an
interruption, and asks a repetition of the message from the
last word understood. Such occurrences were not frequent,
however.
The services of the Signal Corps were just as needful and
400
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
valuable by night as in daylight; but, as the flags could not
then talk understandingly, Talking Torches were substituted
for them. As a "point of reference" was needful, by which
to interpret the torch signals made, the flagman lighted a
"foot torch," at which he stood firmly while he signalled
with the "flying torch." This latter was attached to a staff
of the same length as the flagstaff, in fact, usually the flag-
staff itself. These torches were of copper, and filled with
turpentine. At the end of a message the flying torch was
extinguished.
The rapidity with which messages were sent by experi-
enced operators was something wonderful to the uneducated
looker-on. An ordinary message of a few lines can be sent
in ten minutes, and the rate of speed is much increased
where officers have worked long together, and understand
each other's methods and abbreviations.
Signal messages have been sent twenty-eight miles; but
that is exceptional. The conditions of the atmosphere and
the location of stations were seldom favorable to such long-
distance signalling. Ordinarily, messages were not sent more
than six or seven miles, but there were exceptions. Here is
a familiar but noted one:
In the latter part of September, 1864, the Rebel army
under Hood set out to destroy the railroad communications
of Sherman, who was then at Atlanta. The latter soon
learned that Allatoona was the objective point of the enemy.
As it was only held by a small brigade, whereas the enemy
was seen advancing upon it in much superior numbers, Sher-
man signalled a despatch from Vining's Station to Kenesaw,
and from Kenesaw to Allatoona, whence it was again sig-
nalled to Rome. It requested General Corse, who was at the
latter place, to hurry back to the assistance of Allatoona.
Meanwhile, Sherman was propelling the main body of his
army in the same direction. On reaching Kenesaw, "the
signal officer reported," says Sherman, in his Memoirs, "that
since daylight he had failed to obtain any answer to his call
TALKING FLAGS AND TORCHES.
401
for Allatoona; but while I was with him he caught a faint
glimpse of the tell-tale flag through an embrasure, and after
much time he made out these letters
'C' 'R' 'S' 'E' 'H' 'E' 'R'
and translated the message 'Corse is here.' It was a source
of great relief, for it gave me the first assurance that Gen-
eral Corse had received his orders, and that the place was
adequately garrisoned."
General Corse has informed me that the distance between
the two signal stations was about sixteen miles in an air
line. Several other messages passed later between these
stations, among them this one, which has been often re-
ferred to:-
ALLATOONA, Georgia, Oct. 6, 1864 — 2 P. M.
Captain L. M. DAYTON, Aide-de-Camp:
I am short a cheek-bone and an ear, but am able to whip all h-l yet. My
losses are heavy. A force moving from Stilesboro to Kingston gives me
some anxiety. Tell me where Sherman is.
JOHN M. CORSE, Brigadier-General.
The occasions which called the Signal Corps into activity
were various, but they were most frequently employed in
reporting the movements of troops, sometimes of the Union,
sometimes of the enemy. They took post on elevated sta-
tions, whether a hill, a tall tree, or the top of a building.
Any position from which they could command a broad view
of the surrounding country was occupied for their purpose.
If nature did not always provide a suitable place for look-
out, art came to the rescue, and signal towers of considerable
height were built for this class of workers, who, like the
cavalry, were the "eyes" of the army if not the ears. I
remember several of these towers which stood before Peters-
burg in 1864. They were of especial use there in observing
the movements of troops within the enemy's lines, as they
stood, I should judge, from one hundred to one hundred
and fifty feet high. Although these towers were erected
402
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
somewhat to the rear of the Union main lines, and were a
very open trestling, they were yet a conspicuous target for
the enemy's long-range guns and mortar-shells.
Sometimes the nerve of the flagman was put to a very
severe test, as he stood on the summit of one of these frail
structures waving his flag, his situation too like that of Ma-
صد الالام القرائية
SIGNAL TREE-TOP.
homet's coffin, while the Whit-
worth bolts whistled sociably by
him, saying, "Where is he?
Where is he?" or, by another
interpretation, "Which one?
Which one?" Had one of these
bolts hit a corner post of the
lookout, the chances for the flag-
man and his lieutenant to reach
the earth by a new route would
have been favorable, although the
engineers who built them claimed
that with three posts cut away the
tower would still stand. But, as
a matter of fact, I believe no shot
ever seriously injured one of the
towers, though tons weight of iron
must have been hurled at them.
The roof of the Avery House, be-
fore Petersburg, was used for a
signal station, and the shells of the
enemy's guns often tore through
below much to the alarm of the signal men above.
Signalling was carried on during an engagement between
different parts of the army. By calling for needed re-enforce-
ments, or giving news of their approach, or requesting am-
munition, or reporting movements of the enemy, or noting
the effects of shelling, in these and a hundred kindred
ways the corps made their services invaluable to the troops.
Sometimes signal officers on shore communicated with others

TALKING FLAGS AND TORCHES.
403
on shipboard, and, in one instance, Lieutenant Brown told
me that through the information he imparted to a gunboat
off Suffolk, in 1863, regarding the effects of the shot which
were thrown from it, General Longstreet had since written
him that the fire was so accurate he was compelled to with-
draw his troops. The sig-

nals were made from the
tower of the Masonic Hall
in Suffolk, whence they were
taken up by another signal
party on the river bluff, and
thence communicated to the
gunboat.
Not long since, General
Sherman, in conversation,
alluded to a correspondent
of the New York Herald "
whom he had threatened to
hang, declaring that had he
done so his "death would
have saved ten thousand
lives." The relation of this
anecdote brings out another
interesting phase of signal-
corps operations. It seems
that one of our signal offi-
cers had succeeded in read-
ing the signal code of the
enemy, and had communicated the same to his fellow-offi-
cers. With this code in their possession, the corps was
enabled to furnish valuable information directly from Rebel
headquarters, by reading the Rebel signals, continuing to do
so during the Chattanooga and much of the Atlanta cam-
paign, when the enemy's signal flags were often plainly
visible. Suddenly this source of information was completely
cut off by the ambition of the correspondent to publish all
A SIGNAL TOWER BEFORE PETERS-
BURG, VA.
404
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
the news, and the natural result was the enemy changed
the code. This took place just before Sherman's attack on
Kenesaw Mountain (June, 1864), and it is to the hundreds
slaughtered there that he probably refers. General Thomas
was ordered to arrest the reporter, and have him hanged as
a spy; but old "Pap" Thomas' kind heart banished him to
the north of the Ohio for the remainder of the war, instead.
When Sherman's headquarters were at Big Shanty, there
was a signal station located in his rear, on the roof of an old
gin-house, and this signal officer, having the "key" to the
enemy's signals, reported to Sherman that he had translated
this signal from Pine Mountain to Marietta, "Send an
ambulance for General Polk's body," which was the first
tidings received by our army that the fighting bishop had
been slain. He was hit by a shell from a volley of artillery
fired by order of General Sherman.
To the men in the other arms of the service, who saw this
mysterious and almost continuous waving of flags, it seemed
as if every motion was fraught with momentous import.
"What could it all be about?" they would ask one another.
A signal station was located, in '61-2, on the top of what
was known as the Town Hall (since burned) in Poolesville,
Md., within a few rods of my company's camp, and, to the
best of my recollection, not an hour of daylight passed with-
out more or less flag-waving from that point. This particu-
lar squad of men did not seem at all fraternal, but kept
aloof, as if (so we thought) they feared they might, in an
unguarded moment, impart some of the important secret
information which had been received by them from the
station at Sugar Loaf Mountain or Seneca. Since the war,
I have learned that their apparently excited and energetic
performances were, for the most part, only practice between
stations for the purpose of acquiring familiarity with the
code, and facility in using it.
It may be thought that the duties of the Signal Corps
were always performed in positions where their personal
TALKING FLAGS AND TORCHES.
405
safety was never imperilled. But such was far from the
fact. At the battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, a signal offi-
cer had climbed a tall pine-tree, for the purpose of directing
the fire of a section of Union artillery, which was stationed
at its foot, the country being so wooded and broken that the
artillerists could not certainly see the position of the enemy.
The officer had nailed a succession of cleats up the trunk,
and was on the platform which he had made in the top of
the tree, acting as signal officer, when the Rebels made a
charge, capturing the two guns, and shot the officer dead at
his post.
From the important nature of the duties which they
performed, the enemy could not look upon them with very
tender regard, and this fact they made apparent on every
opportunity. Here is an incident which, I think, has never
been published: -
When General Nelson's division arrived at Shiloh, Lieu-
tenant Joseph Hinson, commanding the Signal Corps at-
tached to it, crossed the Tennessee and reported to General
Buell, after which he established a station on that side of
the river, from which messages were sent having reference.
to the disposition of Nelson's troops. The crowd of strag-
glers (presumably from Grant's army) was so great as to
continually obstruct his view, and in consequence he pressed
into service a guard from among the stragglers themselves
to keep his view clear, and placed his associate, Lieutenant
Hart, in charge. Presently General Grant himself came
riding up the bank, and, as luck would have it, came into
Lieutenant Hinson's line of vision. Catching sight of a cav-
alry boot, without stopping to see who was in it, in his impa-
tience, Lieutenant Hart sang out: "Git out of the way there!
Ain't you got no sense?" Whereupon Grant very quietly
apologized for his carelessness, and rode over to the side of
General Buell. When the lieutenant found he had been
addressing or "dressing" a major-general, his confusion can
be imagined. (See frontispiece).
406
пид
HMC 100-AYÐ
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
After arriving before Fort McAllister, General Sherman
sent General Hazen down the right bank of the Ogeechee to
take the fort by assault, and himself rode down the left
bank to a rice plantation, where General Howard had es-
tablished a signal station to overlook the river and watch
for vessels. The station was built on the top of a rice-mill.
From this point the fort was visible, three miles away. In
due time a commotion in the fort indicated the approach of
Hazen's troops, and the signal officer discovered a signal
flag about three miles above the fort, which he found was
Hazen's, the latter inquiring if Sherman was there. He was
answered affirmatively, and informed that Sherman expected
the fort to be carried before night. Finally Hazen signalled
that he was ready, and was told to go ahead. Meanwhile,
a small United States steamer had been descried coming up
the river, and, noticing the party at the rice-mill, the follow-
ing dialogue between signal flags ensued:
“Who are you?”
66
General Sherman."
"Is Fort McAllister taken ?"
"Not yet; but it will be in a minute."
And in a few minutes it was taken, and the fact signalled
to the naval officers on the boat, who were not in sight of
the fort.
During the battle of Gettysburg, or, at least, while Sickles
was contending at the Peach Orchard against odds, the
sigual men had their flags flying from Little Round Top;
but when the day was lost, and Hood with his Texans
pressed towards that important point, the signal officers
folded their flags, and prepared to visit other and less dan-
gerous scenes. At that moment, however, General Warren
of the Fifth Corps appeared, and ordered them to keep
their signals waving as if a host were immediately behind
them, which they did.
General E. P. Alexander, the officer referred to as having
organized the Rebel Signal Corps, in an article in the
TALKING FLAGS AND TORCHES.
407
Century Magazine for January, 1887, describing "Pickett's
Charge," says that he was "particularly cautioned, in moving
the artillery, to keep it out of sight of the signal-station upon
Round Top." In a foot-note referring to this caution he
says:
"This suggests the remark that I have never understood
why the enemy abandoned the use of military balloons early
in 1863, after having used them extensively up to that time.
Even if the observer never saw anything, they would have
been worth all they cost, for the annoyance and delays they
caused us in trying to keep our movements out of their
sight. That wretched little signal-station upon Round Top
that day caused one of our divisions to lose over two hours,
and probably delayed our assault nearly that long. During
that time a Federal corps arrived near Round Top, and be-
came an important factor in the action which followed."
In a note addressed to the historian of the Signal Corps
Association, to whom General Alexander has furnished a
sketch of the organization of the Rebel Signal Corps, he
says:
"You are more than welcome to the compliment I paid
the signal-station on Round Top in my article in the Jan-
uary Century. I have forgiven all my enemies now; and
though you fellows there were about the last that I did for-
give, I took you in several years ago, and concluded to 'let
by-gones be by-gones.'
แ
Thy work is done; along Virginia's river
No more thy signal flies;
From Georgia's hills by night no more the quiver
Of thy red torch shall rise.
"There came a noon when from the bastions frowning
Of every fort and bay
Flung out a banner; hurrying on and crowning
The mountains far away.
408
HARD TACK AND COFFEE.
"We left undecked no hamlet's little steeple
That loud with joy-bells rung;
And from the breasts of a too happy people
Its passion-flowers were hung.
"We knew its language; knew our work was over;
And hailed, while ours we furled,
The only Flag whose sovereign folds shall cover
Henceforth our Western world."
OF NEW YORK

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