Introduction;  “He Goes Without Saying a Word to the Boys”

“Col. Batchelder starts for home today   The jaes of with out Seging a Mard to the logs.”  This jumbled nonsense turned out to be one of the most enigmatic remarks recorded in Corporal Calvin Conant’s diary entries for April, 1864.   

Interpreting some of his scribbles, is I’m guessing, somewhat like deciphering hieroglyphics.  Its a struggle at times.  Fortunately his daily observations follow a pattern that once recognized are easy to transcribe:   “Pleasant day  I am of [off] duty  Regt out on picket”

  Problems occur when there is a unique entry, and actual handwriting needs to be  deciphered. Comparing letters in known phrases is key to interpreting these passages. 

After no small amount of time staring at,  “I am making coffee Larme,” it  correctly translates to,  “I am making apple sauce.”

There were several examples and encounters with such phrases.

This lengthy preamble is only to explain how the phrase quoted above, “The jaes of with out Seging a Mard to the logs” became, “He goes without saying a word to the boys.  Lt.-Col. Batchelder left for home, without saying a word to the boys!  I almost missed it.  The comment begs the question, “Why?”  Why did he leave without saying farewell to the troops he had commanded off and on for nearly 3 years?

Lt.-Colonel N. Walter Batchelder was a central figure in the 13^th Massachusetts Volunteers since its inception.  He was elected first captain of Company B, 4th Battalion of Rifles, Boston Militia, when that company organized in March 1861, and presumably followed its fortunes on the front lines until he resigned April 15, 1864, just before the beginning of the final campaigns.

His presence seemed so ubiquitous to the 13^th MA, that I suddenly realized, upon reading Conant’s passage, that I knew very little about Batchelder.  His record in the roster is no help:

N. WALTER BATCHEI.DER ; mustered in as lieut.-col., July 16,'61; resigned as lieul.-col., April 15, '64; deceased. ^#1

No other comments about his service are given in the officers’ descriptive list in the original books, except one; “April 15th, 1864;  Discharged benefit of service.”  Here’s another cryptic message.  What does "benefit of service" mean?  Was he sick?  If so, disability would be the reason given.

Reflection on some past references to him in soldiers’ letters, caused a few quotes to come directly to mind. 

On September 23, 1861, shortly after the regiment took the field in Western Maryland, Private John B. Noyes wrote,

“Saturday afternoon we had a game of base ball. After the boys had done the officers played together.  Capt Cary, Lt Col. Batchelder & others played against Capt Fox, Co. A,  Lt. Frost, Co. E,  Morse, Commissary et al.   Batchelder and our Captain beat the others out and out.  It was laughable to see the officers run & get plugged with the ball.  Col. Batchelder tumbled over several times in dodging the ball which was well aimed at him. ^#2

In the letters of Lieutenant Charles B. Fox there are two references to Batchelder’s dislike of Major Jacob Parker Gould.  Gould led the regiment at the Battles of 2nd Bull Run and Antietam.  Batchelder was absent.  Lt. Fox wrote after the Battle of Antietam, October 25, 1862:

“I had quite a talk with the Major to-day.  He is much dis-Satisfied with the state of things in the regiment, and I don’t wonder.  It would not surprise me if both he and the Colonel were to resign.  I don’t think the Major would serve under our second in command.”

And on November 27, 1862, from Camp near Brooks Station, Lt. Fox adds,  Lt-Col. Batchelder called Major Gould, “who led the regiment through the severest actions experienced, a ‘God damned bummer,’  which in camp phrase means a shirk and a loafer…” ^#3

Major Gould, from Stoneham, MA, was an outcast from the Boston clique of original officers in the regiment, so perhaps Batchelder’s snobbery was an extension of that.  Gould’s election to Major, by the rank and file surprised the Bostonians.

Searching for more references I found Warren H. Freeman’s detailed description of a March 15, 1862, Reconnaissance in Force to Newtown, VA from Winchester.  Lt.-Col. Batchelder led the expedition and commanded five companies of the 13^th MA, two companies of Cavalry, and a battery of artillery with 4 parrott guns.  You can read the letter on this website here.

Whenever Colonel Leonard was assigned Brigade command, Batchelder commanded the 13^th Regiment, as he did at Chancellorsville.

And, Lt.-Col. Batchelder wrote the official regimental report of the Gettysburg campaign.  Col. Leonard was present, at the battle July 1st,  but as all the brigade officers fell wounded, one after another, (including the Colonel)  his leadership and attention were probably needed elsewhere, so by the afternoon, Batchelder was in charge. 

In his report he claimed the 13^th MA captured 132 prisoners.  Colonel Gilbert Prey of the 104^th N.Y., which regiment fought alongside the 13^th at Gettysburg, claimed credit for capturing about 30-40 of that number.  Batchelder wrote:

“Our Regt. was ordered to this position to check and stay the flank movements threatened by the enemy. Unsupported it sustained this position under constant fire for an hour and a quarter when it made a charge and captured 132 prisoners, seven of whom were Commissioned Officers. This number of prisoners outnumbered the men of the Regt. then in line. These prisoners were safely conducted to the rear in charge of Lieut. Whitcomb.”

 Colonel Prey wrote:

“Here some 35 or 40 prisoners were taken, but having neither officers nor men to spare to take charge of them, I directed them to pass to the rear and join some already taken by the Thirteenth Massachusetts, which they did.  Fifteen or 20 more prisoners were afterward taken by my regiment and sent to the rear.” ^#4

A veteran of the 104^th N.Y. elaborated on the capture of these prisoners to insure the record was corrected for posterity.

In 1895, Francis N. Bell, of Akron NY, formerly of Company C, 104^th NY, wrote NY State Historian Hugh Hastings a letter, describing with quite some detail, that regiment’s charge upon the Mummasburg road, and the subsequent capture of about 30 prisoners. In the letter he wrote,  “Now then historian, since the credit of this action and capture had been given to the 13^th Mass Regt which fought on our right on the Mummasburg Road we ask that our honors of the 104^th (Wadsworth Guards) be conceded and honorable mention be made in our State History of the gallant charge.” 

Three years later Francis Bell again wrote the “State Historian” in which he stated, “Now historian, I had no orders to poll that lot of Confederates but will you see to it that the 104^th N.Y. Vols. have credit for that, as we learn from Col. Prey that the 13^th Mass has been given credit for it, and we got left as far as history goes…”  The purpose of Bell’s letters were really to name the men who participated and fell in that gallant charge on the Mummasburg Road, in which both units participated.   It was not just the 104th, but all Union army participants of Gettysburg went to great efforts to see that their actions at the battle were properly memorialized.  Whether or not Batchelder’s omission of the 104^th NY was intentional or an honest mistake remains unknown.  ^#5

The photograph above, shows the 104th N.Y. Monument at Gettysburg.  The 13th MA Monument is peaking out from behind the tree on the left,  at the bottom of the hill.

I have one other instance of Lt.-Col. Batchelder in action. 

On November 21, 1863, the 16^th Maine recorded an incident omitted from the 13^th MA history, in which Col. Batchelder took an active part.

“Nov. 21.  Today, about noon, a dragoon, with pistols in hand, and bareheaded, came dashing into camp, shouting,  “The guerrillas are coming!  The guerrillas are coming!”  Colonel Batchelder, Thirteenth Massachusetts,  division officer of the day, shouted, “Turn out!  Turn out the regiment!”  In five minutes the men were under arms, in line, and on their way double-quick.  Major Leavitt was in command of Companies C and H, which were deployed as skirmishers.   Moving half a mile, we reached a wagon-train which Mosby had swooped down upon.  He captured the escort, fetched the mules, set fire to the train, and rode away just as the Sixteenth came upon the ground and gave them a parting yell.  Just as we were retiring, the Third New York Cavalry, mistaking us for rebels, charged upon Companies B and D, wounding two men before they discovered their error.” ^#6

More sources were consulted to fill in some of the gaps in Lt.-Colonel Batchelder’s military record. His whereabouts during the Battles of 2nd Bull Run and Antietam were of especial interest.  The original 13^th MA Company “E” Order Book provided some clues, which are briefly listed here.

In February, 1862, he commanded the regiment.  Col. Leonard commanded all the troops posted around Williamsport and Hancock, Maryland, at the time. Col. Leonard resumed command of the 13^th in March.   On July 14, 1862 Private Sam Webster wrote in his journal, “Lt. Col. Batchelder visited us today.  He is on General Banks staff.”   This accounts for his absence at 2nd Bull Run & Antietam. ^#7

 A follow up search in the Official Records produced one mention of Batchelder, in command of 7 companies, guarding General Banks’ wagon train, in April, 1862, proving Webster’s statement.  Lt. Charles B. Fox also mentions Batchelder being on detached duty during the Battle of 2nd Bull Run.  It was Major Gould who led the regiment at both 2nd Bull Run and Antietam, Col. Leonard being sick. There are frequent mentions in the writings from the rank and file of the regiment, how Major Gould, at first unpopular, earned great respect from the men. ^#8

Company E’s order book shows Batchelder commanding the regiment in mid October, 1862, for 2 weeks until Col Leonard returns, after recuperating from illness. ^#9

Just before the year 1862 ends, Batchelder is away because Major Gould commanded the regiment through the winter encampment of 1863.  The Army of the Potomac reports for January 1, 1863, shows him in command of the 11^th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Col. Richard Coulter’s regiment, of Col. Leonard’s Brigade.  He must have been quite versatile to temporarily assume command of a regiment outside of his own.  He is back with the 13^th Regiment May 1, 1863 and is present at least through the Gettysburg Campaign, presumably through the rest of 1863.

On January 11, 1864,  Captain William Cary wrote Col. Leonard from Mitchell’s Station, “We occupied this ground Dec. 31st the same day Lt. Col. Batchelder went away for “ten days.””    At the date of the letter Batchelder had already been gone 12 days. ^#10

Batchelder is back in March,1864,  and presiding over some court-martials in April.  [see this page below.]  Then he resigned, three months before his term of enlistment was up.

“Resigned, benefit of service.”  Was he disliked?   Apparently so.

A collector friend with an interest in Lt.-Col. Batchelder sent me this quote  attributed to Major-General G. K. Warren, commanding the newly organized 5th Corps:  “getting rid of Lt. Col. Batchelder was a necessary preliminary to inducing his regiment to reenlist as veteran vols, For good of the service”. ^#11

We know Colonel Leonard was actively trying to keep the 13^th Mass. Vols. in the field and trying to get the men to re-enlist for another 3 years.  It appears having Batchelder as number two in command was a deterrent to that goal.  It appears he was encouraged to resign.  Nonetheless the regiment did not sign on for a new term of enlistment, and the survivors proceeded home in mid July 1864.

Nathaniel Walter Batchelder didn’t live too much longer after the war ended.  I found a notice of his death without an obituary.  The paper only states, he died in Boston on Sunday June 28 , 1868.

At findagrave, I learned he came from a large family, with lots of siblings.   A younger brother,  Charles Meriam Batchelder served in the 15^th Massachusetts and was wounded at the battle of Antietam.  Promoted 2nd Lieutenant after the battle, Charles soon mustered out for disability, after the battle of Fredericksburg, declining further promotion.  He lived to age 90. ^#11

Corporal Calvin Conant could have told us more, but he failed to write it down.  Perhaps we wouldn’t have been able to read it anyway.

Rest In Peace Nathaniel.  Exit Stage Left.

NOTES
1.     Three Years in the Army, Charles E. Davis, Jr., 1894, Roster, p. 396.
 2.     The officers referred to in Private Noyes letter are, Captains Joseph S Cary, Company B,  James A Fox, Company A, Lieutenant  Edwin Frost, Company E, and Commissary Officer Charles F. Morse, Company F.
3.   Letterbook,  Charles B. Fox, to Father, 27 Nov. 1862; Massachusetts Historical Society, Fox Family Papers 1795-1936. (Ms N-209).  Fox didn’t name names in his letter, but said, “a Lieut. Col. calls the Major of a regiment, who has led that command, its other field officers being absent, through the severest actions experienced,” which clearly indicates Batchelder & Gould.
4.   Batchelder’s Report, No. 46, August 21, 1863, in Official Records of the War of the Rebellion: Series 1 Vol. 27, part 1 Report No. 46, p. 297.  Colonel Gilbert Prey’s report, No. 48, August 18, 1863 (same volume) p. 300.
5.  Dec. 2, 1895 Affidavit by F.N. Bell, 104 NY Inf. to Col. Hugh Hastings, State of NY Historian;  F. N. Bell,  Letters Feb 6, 1896 and, Feb 22, 1898 to State Historian, N.Y.,  Gettysburg National Battlefield Park. Archives.  Transcribed by Barb Adams March 18 2004.  GETT LIBARY File V6-NY 104 NY.  (Author’s collection).
6.  “The Sixteenth Maine Regiment in the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865,”  by Major A. R. Small; B. Thurston & company Portland, Maine 1886. ,  page 151-152.
7.  Webster diary, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA;  Gen. Banks is Major-General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks who commanded an army corps in 1862. Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Vol. 12, part 3, (Correspondence) p. 50;  listing Batchelder in April 62 at Wagon train.   Charles B. Fox letter Sept 4 1862 Halls Hill “Col. Leonard is quite sick…Lt Col Batchelder is detached, and Major Gould is left alone”…,  Massachusetts Historical Society, Fox Family Papers.  References to Major Gould’s bravery in battle found in letters of Priv. John B. Noyes, Co. B, Priv. Bourne Spooner, Co. D, Lt. Charles B. Fox, Co. K, Col. Gould’s Memorial from Norwich Military Academy written by Grenville Dodge, etc., all in author’s collection. An example is Charles B. Fox’s letter to his father Sunday, Sept. 21 1862  Court House Hospital Hagerstown Md.  He writes, “Major Gould did finely.  He has now the respect of all the officers and men who have been in action under him for his coolness and bravery and his care of his men both in and after battle.”
8.  Letter of William Cary, January 11, 1864 to Col. Leonard, Camp at Mitchell’s Station; Col. Samuel Haven Leonard papers,  Gilder Lehrman, N.Y.; GLC 3393, #15.
9.  Charles B. Fox Letter, Manassas Plains Camp Whitcomb, June 28, 1862.  Lt. Fox commented about Col. Leonard,  “As a drill officer he has few equals, and he also command the respect and confidence of the men, but the climate affects him seriously…”
10.  Findagrave Memorial 10479837, creatd by “Bev” Feb. 14, 2005; accessed March 11, 2025.
11.  The quote is attributed to Gouveneur K. Warren, from the book “Generation on the March” by Edmund Raus.  I have not seen the book and don’t know the source the quote is attributed to, but the quote makes it clear Batchelder was disliked by the men, which would explain Calvin Conant’s diary entry, “He left with out saying a word to the boys.”

What's On This Page

The 13th Regiment is well represented on this page with sources including, Calvin Conant, Co. G;  Austin Stearns, Co. K; Warren H. Freeman, Co. A;  George Henry Hill, Company B;  George E. Jepson,  Co. A;  and Sam Webster, Co. D.

The routine of camp life, drilling and picket duty continued through April.

The big news for many this month, was getting their first in-person glimpse of General Ulysses S. Grant, the new commander of all the armies.  George Jepson’s lengthy recollections cover this topic with great detail, if indeed he uses too much wordage.

Occasional reports from the Signal Station on Garnett’s Mountain are sprinkled though-out the page.  This is the fortified post on the southern most crest of Cedar Mountain, which the 1st Brigade at Mitchell’s Station was in part protecting.

The page starts off with a review of the previous month, March 1864, by a soldier correspondent in the camp of the 39th MA, (nearby the 13th MA).

Then, “April Comes In Like a Lion.”  Storms and bad weather washed out  bridges, stopped the mail, and created uncomfortable muddy conditions all around. Austin Stearns’s account of being on picket in such weather is repeated.  Warren H. Freeman was out at the same time, as was Private James Ross in the “Ninth” New York.  Their written descriptions give a glimpse into the disagreeable conditions of such duty.  Still, it is commented by many on this page, that  picket duty was often preferable to the boredom of routine drilling excercises required while in camp.

Evidence of Massachusetts troops camping in this field has been found on the ground pictured, located on the south end of Cedar Mountain.  It was probably a picket post.  Clark's Mountain, directly across the Rapidan River, is visible in the center background.

Next, “General Grant Reviews the First Brigade.”  It was the first chance of many to personally observe the new commander.  He rode by so quickly on March 8th,  that only a glimpse of him could be had of him.  Not much of an impression was made. Several sources comment on this. 

“General Grant” is the appropriate title of 13th MA soldier George E. Jepson’s fascinating personal reminiscences of his encounters with General Grant during six weeks of close up observation.  Jepson was on duty at head-quarters in Culpeper.  His long tiring prose yields some nice anecdotes about the general and also Ely Parker, the general's aid.  Stick with it, even if the end devolves into hagiography.

For many in the military, and civilians at home, poor renditions of General Grant like this one from Leslie's Illustrated News, might often have been their first acquaintance with his likeness.

A descent section full of court-martial records, letters to the Massachusetts Governor’s Office,  and other official regimental business follows, with an interesting mash up of subjects.  Its a nice look at some of the routine business and other requirements needed to keep the organization running efficiently. It is of course titled, “Regimental Business.”  Catchy title.

The next part covers April 13-21, 1864.  There is no emerging single theme, so this section is generically titled, “The Narrative Continues.” Another catchy title.   There is a photo essay in this section, of the area around Cedar Mountain, as Sam Webster would have experienced it when he took his pass to visit the Signal Station on April 15.  Corporal Calvin Conant would also go there a few days later with his corporal buddies, John Best & John Brightwell.  (They visited the mountain April 21st).   On April 18 & 19,  a large number of Rebels deserter from an Alabama regiment, crossed the Rapidan to surrender, and came into the picket camp commanded by Captain Jacob A. Howe, of Company A.  Supposedly several more came in the next night.  Calvin Conant says Tom Mahoney, one of the conscripts, deserts from his company, or at least prepares to desert.  Two dates are recorded for his desertion, the latter date seems to conform to Conant’s diary entries. 

And, speaking of the “Conscripts”  on April 22, 1864,  twenty-six of the jolly recruits, that had not yet deserted, took leave of  the regiment and answered to, "the call of the sea."  They transferred to the Navy.  The universal opinion is that they were not missed.

At this point, the page is geting pretty long.  It initially rolled right into May, 1864, ––up to the day the army received orders to march across the Rapidan River into the tangle of the Wilderness.   I reluctantly decided to split the material.  This page ends with the Conscript story, April 22, 1864.

SOURCES USED ON THIS PAGE

For the 13th Mass. Vols:
“Three Years in the Army, Thirteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, 1861-1864” by Charles E. Davis, Jr; Estes & Lauriat, Boston, 1894.
 “Three Years in Company K,” by Sergeant Austin C. Stearns (deceased); Edited By Arthur A. Kent,  Associated University Press; 1976.
 “Diary of Calvin Conant” [Company G]; Miscellaneous Collection, Ridgeway Library, U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center, Carlisle, PA.
 “The Diary of Samuel D. Webster”[Company D]  (HM 48531) are used with permission from The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.   ALSO transcripts of the original Field Diarys, from his family.
 “Letters from Two Brothers Serving in the War for the Union,”  Printed for Private Circulation, Cambridge, 1871. [Warren H. Freeman, Comany A, 13th M.V.I.].
Massachusetts State Archives, Executive Correspondence Collecton; 13th Massachusetts.

For the 16th Maine Vols.:
“The Sixteenth Maine Regiment in the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865,”  by Major A. R. Small; B. Thurston & company Portland, Maine 1886.
“The Road to Richmond,” by Major Abner R. Small, edited by Harold A. Small,  University of California Press, 1959.

For the 39th Mass. Vols.:
“The Thirty-ninth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, 1862-1865;” by Alfred S. Roe, 1914.

For the 9th New York Militia, (83rd N.Y. Vol. Infantry); [2nd Brigade]:
“History of the Ninth Regiment N.Y.S.M.––N.G.S.N.Y. (Eighty-third N.Y. Volunteers.) 1845-1888”, by George A. Hussey, Edited by William Todd, 1889.
“Willing to Run the Risks; Letters from the Civil War, Private James Ross, 9th N.Y.S.M., Co. G, August 1863 –– May 1864.”

For the 104th New York Volunteer Infantry:
“The Civil War Letters of Charles Barber, Private, 104th New York Volunteer Infantry,” Edited by Raymond G. Barber & Gary E. Swinson, Torrance, CA 1991.

OTHER SOURCES:
“Ulysses S. Grant, Memoirs And Selected Letters;” Library of America, New York, 1990.
“The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Major-Genral United States Army” by George Meade, New York, 1913.
“Meade's Army; The Private Notebooks of Lt. Col. Theodore Lyman,”edited by David W. LoweKent State Univ. Press, 2007.
“A Diary of Battle, The Personal Journals of Colonel Charles S. Wainwright, 1861-1865;”  Edited by Allan Nevins; 1962.

PICTURE CREDITS:  All Images are from the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DIGITAL COLLECTIONS with the following exceptions:   104th NY Gettysburg Monument from CW Artifacts Dealer, "Horse Soldier"; Picture of Buglar in the Rain is fromd  "A Pictorial History of The Civil War Years, by Paul. M. Angle, Doubleday & Co., NY 1967, p. 45; Portraits of William R. Warner, Samuel C. Whitney, Charles Hovey, Elliot C. Pierce,  Jacob A. Howe, & Lt-Col Batchelder, are from, U.S. Army Heritage Education Center, Carlilsle, PA, & MASS MOLLUS Collection; Portrait of Herbert A. Reed & Moses Poore Palmer from Digital Commonwealth at: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org;  Portrait of James Ross, "9th NY" is from “Willing to Run the Risks; Letters from the Civil War, Private James Ross, 9th N.Y.S.M., Co. G, August 1863 –– May 1864.”  (A digital copy can be found on-line); The Charles Reed sketches, including the painting of General Grant, can be found at the Library of Congress under “Charles Wellington Reed Papers;”  The Charles Reed corps badges are from the Book Hardtack & Coffee by John D. Billings;  “Drum Corps” illustration by Walton Tabor is from “The American Heritage Century Collection of Civil War Art” ed. by Stephen Sears, American Heritage Publishing Company, New York, 1974.; Images from Harper’s Weekly including “Target Practice,”   “Woman with child”   “Recruiting,”  & “New York Sanitary Fair” are from sonofthesouth.net ; Images from Frank Leslie's Illustrated History of the Civil War; accessed digitally on the Internet Archive at [https://archive.org/details/importantevents00franrich];  Portrait of Samuel M. Morgan from "In Memoriam, John Cleveland Robinson 1817-1897, NY State Monuments Commission, 1918, Albany; The illustration of the Brawling men, [Miners in Camp] is from the New York Public Library, accessed via "Story of the Great American West" p. 194,  Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1977, Pleasantville, NY;  Engraving of pickets in the rain  (Ross Letter) is from Battles & Leaders of the Civil War, Century Co., NY, 1884, 1887, & 1888;  The Steamer Winnepeg is from, Navy Source Online: "Old Navy" shiop Photo  Archives, the original is a watercolor painting by Eik Heyl from Merchant Steam Vessels of the U.S. 1807-1868;  French Navy Officer illustration by artist, by artist  H. De Sta, from "L'Alphabet Militaire" accessed digitally;  Krazy Kat is from "The Komplete Kolor Krazy Kat,  George Harriman" Vol. 1, Kitchen Sink Press, 1990; W. H. Shelton illustration of soldiers on picket is from, “Recollections of a Private” by Warren Lee Goss, Thomas &. Crowell & Co. NY, 1890. accessed on line at internet archive.  ALL IMAGES HAVE BEEN EDITED IN PHOTOSHOP.

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The Month of March In Review

Reports From The Signal Station At Garnett's Peak

SUMMARY OF MARCH, 1864; –– 39^th MA

The camp rumor that rebel cavalry attacked the signal station on March 10 is repeated in this report to the folks back home.  What really happened is a bit of a mystery but James Ross's letter dated March 16 may suggest the reality.   James wrote, “There was a great row a squadron charged where they supposed the enemy was, and when they were returning the infantry mistaking them in the dark gave them a volley and killed a horse and with this the affair ended.”  There was a scare, and the men were called to arms but there were no Confederates present.

Woburn Townsmen, April 15, 1864.

From the defunt website, Letters of the Civil War.

Camp at Mitchell's Station, Va., 
        April 3d 1864.

Dear Townsman: – Again I find myself negligent in writing, and as I have no excuse to offer except laziness, I will endeavor to attend to my duty more faithfully hereafter, and proceed to business.

On Thursday, 10th ult., we were the victims of another “scare” which turned us out before daylight, and kept the whole Brigade under arms for some time.  It was at first reported that the rebels were crossing, but it finally turned out to have been an attack by a squad of rebel cavalry, upon the Signal Station and who were repulsed by our cavalry pickets.  All soon being quiet we took arms and resumed are usual quiet.

And now I have a sad duty to perform, in chronicling the death of one of our comrades, Timothy Sheehan.  He was suddenly attacked with the Pneumonia, and after a short illness of about a week, departed to the great surprise of all.  Although advanced in years, being 47 years of age yet he was ready and willing to do all duties imposed upon him, and was in every sense, a good and faithful soldier.  As is our usual custom whenever practicable we unanimously voted to embalm the body and send it home, so that his friends could pay last tributes of love and respect to the departed.  The next day we attended the funeral services in the Chapel, which consisted of Selections and Prayer, by the Chaplain, and an appropriate hymn sung by the Glee Club of the 39th, after which we followed the remains to near Brigade Headquarters, where we bade farewell to all that was earthly, of our old companion-in-arms and left the body in charge of Sergt. Fowle [Sgt. George E. Fowle, Co. K] and an assistant, who were to accompany it to Brandy Station, where it was to be embalmed and sent home.

As a weekly recreation, we have orders to pack up, and move at a moment’s notice, and on the 18th we were again the victims of another scare, which resulted in packing up everything even taking the shelters from the houses.  Things did look rather suspicious, but as no further orders were received we came to the conclusion that it was a hoax and by dark one could hardly think that there had been such a mixing up of things.  Being on the extreme front line, we are liable to such alarms, proving thus far false, and this time as well, it all arising from the report that Stuart’s rebel cavalry were crossing.

In the midst of our “mess,” we were the recipients of a visit from Geo. Perkins, 6th N. Y. Battery from Brandy Station and he reports all the Woburn boys well and hearty.

On Saturday, 19th ult., we had our regular Monthly Inspection by Lt. Bradley [David H. Bradlee, 13th MA] of the Div. Staff, and we upheld our old reputation for neatness and soldierly qualities.  At night a load of Express boxes arrived, among which were “Gage’s,” and one containing those coffee pots which were so generously presented to us by a liberal citizen of Woburn.  Truly we have reason to be grateful to our mother town, for their many contributions for our comfort, and so far have they excelled all other towns, that we are the envy of the whole regiment.  Depend upon it, we shall remember these tokens of remembrance, and when the trial comes, we will do our duty, our whole duty, both to our Country, and our Town.

The next day, Sunday, 20th, we were paid off, for two months up to the first of March, by Major Burt, U. S. A., and ere this our friends have probably received the allotment.

Tuesday, 22d, we experienced the hardest snow storm, of the winter, rivaling your northern snow storms, both in severity and depth.  While the storm was raging, we were the recipients of three more recruits, Chas. Bush, Moses Butler, and W. C. Stowers, and we trust their stay in the army will be more pleasant than their advent.

The next Thursday, 24th, the company having procured the Silver Bugle, which was subscribed from some time since, presented the same through Lt. Wyman, to our Bugler, J. W. Garfield now detached as Brigade Bugler, as a slight token of their record and friendship.  Joe replied in a few, well fitting remarks, and everything passed off pleasantly to all concerned.

For some time past, we have had to get practice, in which the whole regiment vie with each other, in making the best shot.  On Friday, 26th, Co. K carried off the palm, Newell Z. Tabor, making the best shot in the regiment.

Last Friday, the 107 Penn. having re-enlisted some time since, received their 35 days furlough and started for home, thus giving all so disposed an opportunity to desert.  Therefore, after the drill the “assembly” sounded and every man present or accounted for, so that none of the 39th were among the “skedaddlers.”  To-day, the 90th Penn. of the 2d Brig. came up from Culpeper, and took the place of the 107th, in order that the duty will not come harder, through their absence.

As you are already aware, the First and Third Corps are broken up, our Division taking its position in the Fifth, under Gen. Warren as the Fourth Division of the Corps.*  We are to retain our old corps marks for the present, and all communications can be addressed as formerly.                               Alpha.

(Woburn Townsman; April 15, 1864; pg. 2, col. 4.)
[Digital Transcription by James Burton.]

*The Divison remained the 2nd Division, but in the 5th Corps, instead of the First.

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“April Comes In Like A Lion”

April opened with harsh weather, as described by several soldiers in Colonel Leonard's 1st Brigade, and others camped in Culpeper.  I've also included narratives from the "9th" New York in Henry Baxter's 2nd Brigade, because of their succinct detail, though they were encamped west of Culpeper and followed a different itinerary.

From the Ninth N.Y.:
        The 1st of April was ushered in by a freshet, which carried away several military bridges, and necessitated a great deal of extra work to repair damages.  Rain, sleet and snow prevailed during the week.

From the Thirty-ninth Mass.:
        The One Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania, a member of our brigade, whose Colonel, Thomas F. McCoy, at times commanded the brigade, pretty generally enlisted in the month of February, but its re-enlistment home-going did not begin until this day;  surely no April Fool’s occasion for the happy men who crowded aboard the train which was to carry them hence, all intent on the happiness in store for them;  the “battle summer”  will be well under way before the regiment rejoins us;  a considerable part of the One Hundred and Fourth New York also started away on a similar errand.  On the 3rd, the Ninetieth Pennsylvania came over from the Second Brigade and occupied the camp of the One Hundred and Seventh.  The general harshness of the season marked early April, rain and snow, and not till the seventh day did the weather  clear up effectually and, even then, as matters shaped themselves, there were those who claimed that there was an improvement, not so much on our account as that there might be a bright day for General Grant’s inspection.  It was Fast Day, too, at home, but we were eating all we could get.

From the Sixteenth Maine:
        April 1.  All-fools-day was appropriately observed.  It rained.  The One Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania left us.  The only objection we had to this regiment, they couldn’t eat baked beans, but would persist in eating that abominable slosh called “swagin,” by the boys.

From Austin Stearns, (13th MA) “Three Years in the Army” :
        January, February & March, had gone by, and April had now come, and still the Army was in winter quarters.  How much longer would this last was a question asked, but no one could answer. We knew the time had come for action.  Action ment fight, and fight was death to some ––who, none could tell.  Three months longer and our time was out, but how much those three months ment for us.

From the Diary of Samuel D. Webster, (13th MA):
        Friday, April 1st, 1864.    Very few sells for “all fool’s Day.”  The 107 Penna. Regt. having re-enlisted, went home today on furlough.

Saturday, April 2nd 1864.    Ike [Sam's younger brother] got a package by mail, containing a “net” as we found, because the end was open.  Libby wore it around the tent, and then did it up again.  It had a blue ribbon in it. Ike sneaked off in the evening and took it over to Sophia Yeager.   Joke him considerable.

Pictured is the Yeager Home-site as ot looks today, nestled against the slope of Cedar Mountain.

From the Diary Calvin Conant, (13th MA):
        Friday, April 1, 1864.    Showery day  I am of duty to day  the 107 N York [107th PA]  went home having reinlisted   loot of our subs went off on the train? after cutting the Telegraph wire  [ Note: Although some 13th MA conscripts deserted in April, I can't find references that any deserted early in the month.  But Alfred Roe of the 39th MA suggests several of the conscripts slipped away and deserted among the properly furloughed men, though none from the 39th MA itself were included  with them.––B.F.]

Saturday, April 2, 1864.   Rainy day    I am on duty to day the Regiment went on Picket this noon  took all of our Company except the Ordilees for Hd Quarters    I had to go after the Mail to night   it was dark & muddy [Note: Calvin mentions in his entry of May 3d, that Company G, 13th MA, (his company) was posted guard at headquarters during the entire winter.]

Letter of Warren H. Freeman, April 2nd

From “Letters from Two Brothers Serving in the War for the Union,”  Printed for Private Circulation, Cambridge, 1871.

Letter of Charles Barber, 104th New York Volunteers

In this letter Charles explains the responsibilities of soldiers designated “Pioneers.”

Report From The Signal Station At Garnett's Peak

From the 16th Maine:
        April 3.   The Ninetieth Pennsylvania joined the brigade, and took the barracks vacated by the One Hundred and Seventh.

 From the Diary of Calvin Conant:
          Sunday, April 3, 1864.  Plesant day   I am of guard to day  the 90th P.V. comes down to day they take the place of the 107 [PA]   we have to take some of them in our Camp to stop over night   some have gone up to the 104 [NY]
        [Note:  The 104 NY Vols camped next to the 13^th MA;  The 107^th PA  regiment re-enlisted and left the brigade on furlough in February, 1864.  They would return May 16th, thus missing the very bloody battles of the Wilderness, May 5th & 6th, & Spotsylvania, May 8th - 12th.]

Report From The Signal Station At Garnett's Peak

From the Diary of Sam Webster:
        Monday, April 4th 1864.   Visited Ben Willoughby, orderly at the telegraph office, yesterday.  90th Penna join Brigade for piquet duty.  About 100 of them slept in our camp last night;  tried to make things pleasant for them.  Regt. was on piquet.  Rain today.

From the Diary of Calvin Conant:
        Monday, April 4, 1864.  Rainy day  I am on guard to day  Some snow falls toward night  the 90th fellows are raising the devil in our house  and burning up all our wood

Tuesday, April 5.   Rainy day   I am of guard   the Reg came in from Picket  the 90th leave and go down to the 16 Maine Camp  last night  was a stormy one this morning it hailed quite hard(?)   our Adjt come back to night

Sam Webster, continued:
        April 5.  Rain.  Fire smoky so I went visiting.

April 6.  Drew check for $3.00

Calvin Conant, continued:
        Wednesday, April 6, 1864.  Plesant day  I am on duty the mud is quite deep  we draw 10 days rattions of beans &c

Austin Stearns On Picket

A good story is worth repeating.  In Sergeant Austin Stearns' memoirs, he tells of being out on picket for a 3 day spell, with some of the 90th PA boys.  The weather was bad the whole three days.  I posted this remembrance on the February 1864 page with his other recollections of picket duty.  But these particulars fix the date of story between April 4th & 7th.  The 90th PA came down to the camp at Mitchell's on April 3rd, and as Sam Webster wrote, joined the brigade on picket.  The weather was stormy on the 4th & 5th.  So, once again, but in its proper setting, is Sergeant Stearns reminiscence.

The following is from “Three Years in Company K,” by Sergeant Austin C. Stearns (deceased); Edited By Arthur A. Kent,  Associated University Press; 1976.

We used to go out about two miles to the picket post and stay three days at a time. We were divided into three reliefs, one on the posts, one held under arms at the reserve post, and the other could sleep at the reserve, but all were supposed to wear their equipments.  Our turn came once in about six days, or three days out and six days in camp.  Brigade guard mounting was strictly adheared to, which in cold or stormy weather made it extremely disagreeable to us.  I remember of being out at one time when it stormed all the time;  it rained so hard there was no guard mount but each detachment forming as they arrived, we were of the first and had the right, and on reaching to post were on the first relief.  It continued to rain the twenty four hours we were on post.  Coming to the reserve we were supposed to rest keeping our equipments on;  it was just at night and the orders were to keep a half dozen men awake to give an alarm if there was one.

Illustration of pickets examining passes in a snowstorm.

A sergeant of the 90th Pa was to have charge the first part of the night calling me anytime after twelve.  I rolled myself in my blanket and lay down by the fire but a few feet away.  The night wore on, the fires burned low;  when the sergeant awoke and starting up quick, [he] was completely turned around, and when he started to call me, went the wrong way.

I happened to wake up, but being snug and warm dreaded to get up, so lay and heard it all.  He awoke a man and asked him who he was, but he belonged to another regiment.  Then he woke up another sleeper, but he was not the one wanted.

He came back to where he started from to begin anew.  He went to man after man until I thought he had woke up enough to form a relief for the while army.  He had been cussed and called all manner of names that a soldier could think of, and their brains were quite fertile in that direction.

He was now mad clear through and gave a yell at the top of his voice, “wanted to know where that d—d 13th Reg’t was.”

I started up and asked “Whats wanted?”  He felt ashamed to think he could not find me when I was so near, calmed down and said it was time for me to call my men, and then told me what a time he had.  I laughed, but didn’t say I had heard it all.  He lay down by the fire, and I not careing to wake the men, stirred up the fire and smoked the remainder of the night.

In the morning it was snowing hard as as the ground was well trodden over and by moving a few rods away it was higher and dryer, we {a few) thought to move and build new huts.  We did so and had just got our houses done and were congratulating ourselves when the Brigade Officer of the day rode up and saw how well we were obeying the orders about wearing our equipments.  [He] said “What regiment do you belong to?”

We told him.

He wanted to know “Who was in command of that squad?”

I told him I was.

He wanted to know if I didn’t know what the orders were in regard to our equipments  

I told him I did.  He wanted to know then “why we had them off.”  I told him we had taken them off while we were building our huts.

He took my name and rank and said he should report me at Brigade Headquarters, [then] rode away.  That was the last I heard of it.

Calvin Conant, continued:
        Thursday, April 7, 1864.  Plesant day  I am of duty   the Reg are out on drill

Sam Webster, continued:
        April 7.  Regiment inlying picket.  Letter from our Mother.  Sentinel fired at a man for taking a gun off the stack at guard house

Letter of Warren H. Freeman, April 7, 1864

Sergeant Freeman was out on the same picket detail as Sergeant Stearns.

Letters of James Ross, (9th NY), Letter to his Father, Hartford, CT, April 7, 1864

James's two letters, both dated April 7, give more detail about the same kind of hard picket duty experienced by Warren Freeman and Austin Stearns.  They were all out on picket duty at the same time.  I think James' picket post, as described in his letters, might have been on the south slope of “Piney Mountain” in front of the Rapidan River, pictured here.  This side of the ridge faces the river.

 Culpepper, April 7^th 1864       

Dear Mother:

        I know that you will be anxious to hear from me and so take this opportunity of sending you a few lines   I have recd two letters from you since writing one last Friday & one last monday.

It was terrible wet when I recd. the first letter so much so that we were flooded in our shanties and I thought that I would defer writing to you for till it got dry.   Monday night your other letter came and Tuesday morning I was out on picket & had no chance to write. We have just come in we had to walk seven miles to the line and it rained all the time that we were out one steady stream. I tell you that it was no fun I came off post at nine last night and lay down in my wet clothes & with wet feet the rain beating in on my blankets.  I slept or rather dozed till one oclock when the corporal woke me to go out on post again & behold the rain was still beating away it was a lonesome job to go off on the edge of a woods & walk up & down in the mud & water for two hours in the darkness & rain and I was glad when my relief came.

Kingsley was with me but he had the luck to be put on a house where he had a shelter and a good fire. The house was outside the lines & it was against orders to go there but when I was relieved I went over & staid till day light dried my feet and warmed up generally    this morning I had my wet blankets to carry in and they made a load but I am all right now only a little stiff.

I have had bad luck for the two last times on picket it must be my chance to get good weather next time. Such experience would have seemed hard to me a year ago & in fact I dont like it now but it is what we must get used to in the army.  I will write to you tomorrow if I can.

I must close this to mail it today. So that will account for its exceeding shortness. Do not think that I am homesick when men have to stand on post in the mud & lie in the water they cant afford to be homesick. The 11^th Pa. Vols. were on picket with us   They have just been home on furlough and that was the 1^st Picket on which they have been sent. They looked down hearted enough poor fellows for they have had their fun at home and are now in for three years more.  Please accept this for a letter till you get another.

Your affectionate Son      
                                James Ross         

James Ross (9th NY)  Letter to his Mother, Plattsburgh, NY, April 7th 1864

James describes picket duty during a snowstorm and the small farm he encountered that was pillaged by soldiers of  both sides.

Culpepper April 7th 1864

Dear Mother:

I sent you a letter yesterday to let you know that I was all right and to tell you why I had not written before.  I am glad that you recd. the money safely it seems to me as if there was some special providence that watched over the money letters of soldiers.  I never hear of one that is lost & I know of hundreds that are sent. Perhaps the Post Office thieves are ashamed to steal from such letters. I hope to be able to send home some other small sums from time to time that I may not be entirely out of cash when I leave the army, should I have the good fortune some time to get out of it. 

I have recd. the papers all right and was very glad to get them.  I had not seen the “Advocate” before since the heading has been altered.  I think it is the prettiest child’s paper now that I know of.  A Plattsburgh paper is a great treat to the boys here and when one comes it passes round till it is all worn out.

We are doing pretty well here now. The weather is cleared off now it is most beautiful spring weather this morning.  The leaves are opening and the grass springing but very slowly for things do not grow as they do at home. The season is long and things take their own time to grow in. The leaves will be weeks in coming out instead of a few days as at home, but it would do you good to hear the birds sing in the morning, half a dozen kinds as soon as day light appears.

I am quite well better than I have been for some time that picket set me up.  Rogers staid in the shanty was sick all the time but Kingsley I were all right except the wetting we got.  The line that we were on is seven miles distant & it is a regular old tramp there and back but it is a most splendid place to picket in dry weather, I could not ask for a nicer.  In pleasant warm weather picketing is not very bad. You have a nice place in a pine woods generally where you can lie in the sun & read or write only when you are on post.  After one gets used to living in the open air it is much pleasanter to lie under a tree and write or read than it is to be shut up in house doing it, but in wet weather it is not such good fun.

We had our reserve post this time on the side of a mountain. We were one day on the reserve where there was nothing to do and the other day on the line where we had to stand our regular turns on post. The mountain side was covered with immense rocks.  We had two pieces of tent which is only enough for the roof but we pitched it against a rock and that kept the wet out on that side and then we pinned a rubber blanket over the other side.  Then we piled leaves around the bottom to keep the rain from running under us and put pine boughs in the bottom to lie on. Then we laid in our things and got in ourselves   by this time it had to begun to snow a mighty soft storm almost like rain. We were dry inside but mighty cold. Kingsley crawled under the blankets but I could not go to sleep so I stayed up and read. When Kingsley woke it was about two oclock in the afternoon it was still storming and he proposed that we should eat.  So we had some bread and pork. Then he went to bed again. By this time my legs were sore for there was hardly room in the tent to stretch them and it was not high enough to sit up straight in. so I went out but it stormed so hard that I soon came back in for I did not want to get wet. I sat awhile and wished the war was over. Then Kingsley woke up and proposed that we should eat again so we had some more bread and pork for you see that we had nothing else to eat. We also had a drink of water and then both went out and stretched ourselves.

The greater part of the men were without tents and they sat around their fires in the rain looking miserable enough.  by this time it began to get dark and we determined to go to bed.  I will tell you what we had to sleep on. First the ground, then some pine boughs with one rubber blanket spread over them. We had two blankets over us and we took off our overcoats & spread them over all. Then we crawled in and lay very close together for it was not very comfortable there. The rain beat in a little at the ends, and it still stormed away outside, but soon we got pretty warm & went to sleep, just sound enough to dream hard, every hour or two we would wake up and tell what we were dreaming of & then go to sleep again.  At last Kingsley poked his head from under the blankets and cried out that it was daylight. It was still storming, rain & snow.  I went out and fried some pork and made some coffee, and after eating it we sat waiting for orders to pack up.

Soon the sergeant called to us and we turned out and pulled down our house and started for the line half a mile distant;  through mud and water all the way. There we were not sheltered as well as at the reserve post.  At least I was not but it fell to the lot of Kingsley to be put on a house where there was a woman with five small children. I will tell you her story.  There are hundreds of people here just like her.   Before the war broke out she and her husband had a small farm but a very nice one and in as pretty a place as you ever saw. There is a good house though a small one, a nice orchard and every thing snug & nice. When the war broke out first one army held the country, and then the other.  Each party robbed them and soon the horses, and cattle, went &c  Then the armies burnt up their fences, and at last Stuart took her husband off into the rebel army. This was a year ago and she has not seen him since. The crops were planted when he was taken and they grew and she housed some of them.  She had two small cows and she saved some hay to feed them but our cavalry stole it all for their horse and the cows had to live the best way they could. The snow does not lie on the ground here and animals can find a little feed all winter but her cows now are mighty lean, but they still give a little milk, and this she sells to the soldiers and with the money buys flour from our Commissary but her income from this source can not be large for neither of the cows have bags bigger than your fist. she also saved some corn last fall and she has some yet. but what she will do this summer it puzzles me to tell, for she can not plant any thing.  She has five children all of a size Though I guess that they cant be all the same age and she also keeps a lean old dog.  There is always a guard in her house now. The picket sends one. It fell to Kingsley’s lot to be on this time. The guard cuts her wood & brings her water, but the poor woman must be in a hard way to make the best of it.  I think that people at the north should not grumble;  not one of them there knows what hardship is.   Down here the case is different.

Well Kingsley went to his post in the house and I staid on mine it rained all the time and I got pretty wet but it is all over now.  Just as soon as we were relieved it ceased raining and the sun came out. We had a hard tramp in, for our blankets were wet and that made our loads heavy and the mud was terrible. A party of men took a notion to fire their pieces as they came along they shot rather carelessly as soldiers are apt to do and the bullets flew closer to us than was agreeable.  One struck about three feet from one of us, and the others whistled over our heads. We were at little mad at the chaps who did it but that did not do us any good.

When we got into camp they were giving out rations  they gave us pickles the only time that they have done such a thing since I have been in the service.  Three of us got two quarts cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes, splendid pickles;  as good as you ever made.  We also got potatoes, and pork, and fresh meat, and sugar and coffee and bread. We have now on hand seven or eight pounds of pork, three or four of fresh meat;  and that box that you sent me (the last one) piled full of loaves of bread  We cant eat all our bread and have to throw plenty of loaves away; and throw it into the fire.  I have seen twenty loaves thrown out of a tent at once. When we get on the march next summer we will be very hungry for some of this bread, but we cant help that now.  We have also about a peck of beans and plenty of dried apples. so you can see that we have enough to eat.

Please send those socks as soon as you can.  I am badly off for them.  Leave a corner of the package open or you will have to pay letter postage and send a couple of nutmegs in them.  I will wait for a month or two for the shirts, and then I want only one, but that a real good flannel shirt as I will only carry that one on the march in the hot weather.  I send love to all and a paper or two for the little boys. We have plenty of religious papers given us these are two of the nicest.

Your affectionate Son
                                    James Ross.

Please tell me who reads my letters and whether you make them all out readily. If it troubles you much to read them I will try to write plainer.  I have to write a good many and hurry when I get at one, because I am liable to be interrupted at any minute by a call of some kind

J.R.
This letter is for Annie as well as you.

Report From The Signal Station At Garnett's Peak

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Lieutenant-General Grant Reviews the First Brigade

From “Three Years in the Army”, by Charles E. Davis, Jr. (13th  MA).
        On the eighth we were reviewed by General Grant.  Our curiosity was very great to see the new commander.  This review was a new experience to us.  The absence of  “red tape” was one  of its noticeable features.  We waited in line but a short time when an officer was seen approaching at a gallop, completely outstripping the other members of his staff, who found it impossible to keep pace with him, so great was the speed.  He made a complete circuit of the regiment, looking every man square in the face, returning our salute as he passed along, continuing the same rapid gait to each camp of the brigade until the work was completed.  It was performed so quickly that we hardly realized that it was done.  His staff came straggling along as best they could on their panting horses, to the great amusement of the boys.

This review afforded a topic for some lively conversation.  It was so much different from anything we had seen before;  there was such an air of business about it, and so little reaching for adulation, that it produced a good effect by inspiring confidence in the new commander.

From the 39th MA, Alfred S. Roe:
        The general harshness of the season marked early April, rain and snow, and not till the seventh day did the weather  clear up effectually and, even then, as matters shaped themselves, there were those who claimed that there was an improvement, not so much on our account as that there might be a bright day for General Grant’s inspection.  It was Fast Day, too, at home, but we were eating all we could get.

We were out early and active on the 8th, doing very thorough policing.  We were in line at 11 a.m. and before noon, the hero of Vicksburg, accompanied by his staff and General Robinson, appeared, receiving three cheers from the men as he rode by us;  he took a look at our camp and highly complimented its appearance.  Evidently the General had heard of our camp for he went down through the company streets which were spick and span as usual. Then he went out to the picket-line and thence to the signal station on the hill, Colonel Davis going with him.  Everyone was sizing him up and making some sort of a mental entry concerning him, and one man wrote this,  “He has a good, resolute look.”  There seemed to be a general opinion that he was no great talker, but that, as a doer, he would probably be all right.

From the 16th Maine, Major Abner Small:
      April 8.    Reviewed by General Grant.  It was amusing to notice how keenly every one looked at the new commander-in-chief.  Many were disappointed in the appearance of the plain and unpretending general, and no enthusiasm was, or could be shown for the power that lay hidden beneath a modest exterior.  Grant’s face showed the energy of silence, of patience, and a  consciousness of possessing the profound strategy which lies in unswerving persistence.

Abner Small wrote the history of the 16th Maine.  In his own memoirs, titled, “The Road To Richmond,” he wrote the following.

General Grant had set up his headquarters at Culpeper Court House, March 26th.  When it came our turn to be reviewed, April 8th, we strained our eyes to see what the man was like;  but he rode past our regiment so rapidly that we hardly saw him at all.  My clearest recollection of his appearance must be from a later occasion.  After the debonair McClellan, the cocky Burnside, rosy Joe Hooker, and dyspeptic Meade, the calm and unpretentious Grant was not exciting, anyway.  In my mid's eye I see a plainly uniformed general of comon size and build, wearing his campaign hat squarely on his head, and sitting his horse squarely and without distinction.  The figure was not impressive, nor the face under the hat inspiring.  It would be easy now to say that we all perceived in the square and bluntly bearded jaw the force of relentless persistance;  but I doubt we more than glimplsed a quiet solidity.

From the Diary of Calvin Conant, (13th MA):
        Friday, April 8, 1864.     Plesant day  I am on duty   the Brigade was Reviewed by Gen Grant to day and he also Inspected Camp    Lieut Whitney recieved his discharge papers to night  [Lt. Samuel C. Whitney's is pictured below on this page with Col. Leonard's correspondence.]

From the Diary of Sam Webster (13th MA):
        Friday, April 8th, 1864.    Gen. Grant reviewed our Brigade today, about two o’clock, reviewing each regiment in its own camp.  Don’t think him an “extra looking” man.  Wonder if he won’t find this army a little harder to handle, and Lee a better general than he had to contend with in the west.  The command of this army seems fatal to a General’s ambition.  Great deal of talk about the reorganizaton of the army.  Brigade Drum Corps are all turned out together at reveille.  Noise is considerable.  [His field diary adds that he visited the Yeager's again this day.]

Drum Corps by Walton Tabor.

Lewiston Maine Journal;  General Grant Reviews the 16th Maine

It might be worth mentioning here, due to the descriptions in the article below, that General Grant was a phenomenal horseman.

Gen. Grant Reviews the 16th Maine.
Correspondence of the Lewiston Journal.

Mitchell Station, Va., ) 
April 8th, 1864. ) 

Gen. Grant has been here to-day.  I have seen him for the first time.  He came down this morning attended by Maj. Gen. Robinson, (pictured) made a brief call at brigade headquarters, then reviewed the regiments severally of the brigade, after this proceeded to Bald Mountain Station, and by two o’clock had left our  precincts on his way back to Culpepper.  The General does not allow grass to grow under his feet.

One can hardly fail to notise [sp] after what manner an officer of so much distinction is mounted, and you must allow me to say that on this occasion Gen. Grant rode a red horse of large size and rare elegance and beauty ––too large for the rather small stature of the General himself.  As to the man, I was not disappointed as many profess themselves to have been, upon seeing him for the first time.  His physique, though rather slight is of the Napoleonic build, closely knit, compact and solid, a body evidently made for action and endurance. Perhaps the most noticeable single feature is his mouth which has a gripe like trusion.  Beyond all question it assures you that hero is a man of will, of vice-like compressive force.

He is of lightish complexion, sandy whiskers  and hair.  His general appearance is that of extreme modesty, his look is firm and serious, his dress is plain, his horse is plainly caparisoned, everything about him is marked by a simplicity, a seeming force of enterprise, a determination set off, as it appeared to me, by a very graceful bearing.  His mind and body are well fitted to each other.  That mouth tells you how his will gripes its object; such compacted bone and muscle indicate how much he can endure, and his history proves how well he can organize means to ends and bring to pass what he pre-ordains.  Your readers will understand that I am pretending to give only a very meagre description, since I saw him only a few minutes, not within conversing distance, mostly with his head covered.  I never heard him speak.

It would be but a very common place repetition to say that Gen. Grant’s popularity is very great in the army of the Potomac. But fortunately it is a popularity based upon what he has done.  No imagination, no newspaper extravagance has swollen it up for him.  He has performed great deeds;  on them his reputation has been built up, and on them alone.   He may fail in the future, he may be singularly unfortunate, causes beyond control may conspire to his defeat, but his successes hitherto warrant the expectation that he will not fail.  He may not enhance his reputation, but I see not how what he has done can be torn from him.  So many victories and such victories do not come of any lucky accident, and time, it seems  to me, will not impair, but rather promote the greatness of his reputation up to this time.  Waterloo did not wear dim the lustre of Napoleon’s fame, nor could a dozen such failures have taken from him the splendor of military character in which so many victories had clothed him.  His post was secure.  Gen. Grant’s ought to be.  I think it is.  His name is already committed to history as one of the great captains of modern warfare, and that will take care of his fame.  But I think no one has any other feeling than an expectation that his next move will be successful. With the warning of an old prophet continually sounding in our ears ––“Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils” ––I think the conviction is nevertheless universal that this time Richmond falls. Lee will be beaten in the field or compelled to fall back within the entrenchments of the city, and then it will be taken by siege or storm, or both.

Gen. Grant may be neither talker, nor writer, nor orator nor politician nor statesman; it is unnecessary that he should be wither, in order to be a great leader in the field.  Say what you will of reserve force, men have wonderfully succeeded in almost every calling, whose power was quite exclusively in their chosen specialty.  Gen. Grant is concentration, wills daringly, thinks clearly, combines wisely, and concentrates rapidly and crushingly.  All his faculties press toward one intent.  And is it not delightful to see this modest man, so eminent for his deeds, so deaf to the wrongs of politicians?  seemingly satisfied, at least for the present, with glory to be reaped in the field, while the existence of his country is pending in the scale of battle.  It would seem that such a theatre would be large enough for the ambition of any reasonable man, but so it has not always proved.  A weak imagination of occupying the White House has befooled some, and eclipsed the splendor of great opportunities and immortal fame in the field.

It is not anticipated here, that there will be any advance in the army before the first of May, and no one upon the banks of the Rapidan has the slightest means of conjecturing how Gen. Grant intends to move upon Richmond beyond what you enjoy upon the banks of the Androscoggin.  It is the privilege of all to guess, perhaps it would be strange if some did not guess right.  At present it is raining a good part of the time.  It is a season of preparation.  When the hour of action comes, we have  a right to hope, from the hardly earned reputation of Gen. Grant, that it will be decisive and glorious.  May God mightily help him to augment in fame, not donated in anticipation of deeds, but won by long service in the field and many victorious battles.  May all who pray, remember him under the weight of such cares, at the mercy seat of Him who is great in counsel and mighty in executing.  May the General himself not fail to apply continually to that fountain of infinite wisdom and strength.

U.B.      

Rain Stops the Mail Trains

My sincere apologies to the late artist Carl Fallberg for cropping and altering his brilliant cartoon, but I wanted to emphasize the train stuck in the water, so I  removed some clutter.  I highly recommend the book from which this illustration is taken; "Fiddletown & Copperopolis," Heimburger House Publishing, River Forest, IL, 1985; ––if you can find it.  I purchased my copy at the train museum in Perris, California. Its a collection of brilliantly illustrated cartoons about a fictional narrow gauge railway located in the High Sierra Mountains of Califoria.

From the Alfred S. Roe (39^th Mass.):
        Stormy weather was resumed on the 9th and continued almost every day until the excess of water washed away bridges between us and Washington to the extent of stopping trains on the 11th, with consequent lack of mails and other inconveniences;  so efficient, however, were the artificers of the army, the very next day trains resumed running and letters from home made glad the hearts of men.  During these days we were packing all superfluous articles, preparatory to sending to Alexandria, at the same time all were enjoined from writing  about this to the friends at home.  The new management did not believe in the utmost publicity.

From George A. Hussey, (History of the Ninth Regiment, N.Y.S.M.):
        By the 10th indications of active operations were apparent.  Clothing and new shelter tents were issued, and officers were directed to reduce their baggage to the smallest possible compass.  Company drills, in heavy marching order, were held every morning, battalion and brigade drills on alternate days, and, best of all, target practice was ordered––a much needed exercise.  The weather continued rainy, and on the 11th the railroad bridges across Bull Run, Cedar Run and the Rappahannock were carried away by the high water, and no mail arrived.  The absence of letters and newspapers, even for a day, was a subject of comment, as the men had been accustomed to receive these with great regularity during the winter.

(Field) Diary of Sam Webster:
        April 9.   Rain all day.  Pioneers sent back from Division Headquarters.

April 10.  Very black clouds but little rain.  Bridges on Railroad washed off so we get no mail.

Calvin Conant, cont'd:
        Saturday, April 9, 1864.    Rainy day    I am of duty   Whitney goes to night to Washington  on the 4 oclock train  I made a big bull[?] this morning by carying  the Morning report  over with out its being signed by the commanding officer. [1st Lieutenant Samuel C. Whitney, resigned]

Sunday, April 10, 1864.    Rainy day  I am on duty  hail fell in large lumps  Capt Kimbals papers came back dis aproved to night  we recieved no mail to night on account of three Bridges being carried away this side of Washington [Captain  William B. Kimball, it appears, attempted to resign.]

Railroad Bridge over Cedar Run at Mitchell's Station, looking west towards the direction of the First Brigade Camps.  In April, 1864, a freshet caused by heavy rains washed away the military railroad bridge present at that time.

Journal of Colonel Charles Wainwright

From, “A Diary of Battle, The Personal Journals of Colonel Charles S. Wainwright, 1861-1865”;  Edited by Allan Nevins; 1962.

April 10, Sunday. —
        The equinox which did not come when the sun crossed the line, or something quite worthy of it, has been upon us for two days.  All day yesterday the rain fell much in the way it did in old Noah’s time, and had it continued as long as it did with him, we should have all had to take refuge on the top of Poney Mountain.  This morning opened clear and bright, but the rain began again at three in the afternoon and promised to keep it up all night.  Mountain Run is a river, and the rivulet which rises close by me here, a broiling stream;  while every low spot has become a lake.  We have news of the railroad bridge at Cedar Run being carried away;  and others have probably shared the same fate.  There was no mail in this afternoon and may not be for several days to come.

This rain insures our remaining at peace for at least one week more, even if present orders did not point to tomorrow week as the earliest period Grant can have in view for a start. All sutlers and citizens are ordered to quit the army by Saturday next;  this is usually the first premonitory symptom, just as the clearing out of all the sick who are unable to march is the last one before actual orders.  I have had a great deal of comfort in my sutler this winter;  not a complaint has reached me, either of him from the men, or any of the men from him.  At General Patrick's headquarters they speak of him as really an honest and trusty man, most rare qualities in a sutler. [General Marsena Patrick, Army of the Potomac Provost Marshal ]  He has kept us well supplied with poultry and mutton through the winter; occasionally with game and fish, several times of late bringing us shad.   His name is Judd, hailing from Geneva N.Y.  The same order requires all surplus property private & public to be sent to Alexandria at once, which class outlaw my books just before I had got through with Napier.  It also stops the granting of leaves & furloughs, save in extreme cases.

A War Department order assigns General Phil Sheridan to the command of the Cavalry Corps with this army;  he has previously been at the West, in command of infantry.  I know nothing more of him, but a change I think was needed;  neither Pleasonton or Stoneman proved themsevles equal to the position.  The same order unites the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps in one, to be called the Twentieth, under General Hooker.  I wonder how old “Joe” will like the come-down;  they have dropped him very gradually, one step at a time, till he is now somewhere near his proper level.  Howard is to have the Sixth corps, another new consolidation:  Slocum whatever Sherman chooses to give him.*

General Warren interprets “extreme cases” in the question of leaves very strictly:  “the dangerous illness or death of any relative will not hereafter be so considered.”  He thinks that if soldiers can die without their wives coming to them, the rule should work the other way also.  The Ambulance Corps has this winter been regulated by act of Congress;  the system adopted is pretty much that which we have had in this army for a year past.  I am glad of one change it produces, viz; taking the ambulances away from the Batteries, where previous orders placed them  though I was able to make other arrangements with Dr Heard as to my own command.  [Dr. J. T. Heard, formerly 1st Corps Medical Director.]  Now I am to have the whole thing done up in regular style;  stretcher bearers permanently detailed & all.  Lt. York, of the 146th N.Y. has been ordered to report to me as Ambulance officer.

My trimonthly yesterday shewed an aggregate of 1,785 officers and men, including the four temporarily attached batteries;  of these last Gibbs will leave for Washington tomorrow, if he has not gone;  &  “F & K” are to be consolidated with “C” of 3d.  A copy of an order has been sent me assigning a battalion of the 4th N.Y. Art’y to this Corps, but not to me;  I presume however that I am to have it, as it was for the Ar’ty brigades that the regiment was sent down here. ––Having failed to get Crego’s resignation accepted through Gen’l Hunt, [Gen. Henry Hunt, Chief of AoP Artillery]  I have tried another up to Corps H’d Qts, with an endorsement similar to the former one this time to ground his resignation on the “request of his Colonel.”

I am still writing to every one who I can think of as having any power in the matter, with regard to my recruits; but get no satisfaction. Those from the Albany district do not come on at all:  about 300 I estimate have arrived all told.  This is quite an increase & allows us a considerable increase in the number of officers so that promotion is quite brisk in the regiment.

I have a letter from Major Hall about the new organization of the volunteer artillery proposed in my letter to Senator Morgan, copies of which and General Hunt’s I sent to him; he had shown it to Vice-President Hamlin, who had entered strongly into the subject and had promised to see Senator Wilson on the subject.  Hall intended also to send copies to the Maine Senators, and is not only working in the matter , but is quite sanguine of success.  He tells me that he has twenty-one batteries now under him with over 3,000 men.   Capt Rigby was arrested almost as soon as he got up to Washington, drunk in testers; at which I am not very much surprised for they were a hard set in that Battery.

We are almost as much interested in the Sanitary Fair down here as they are in New York. The papers are almost spelled;  I cannot say that I read the full account, but enough to give me some idea of it.  I should judge that it never was equalled in its kind.  The jam seems to be something fearful even now that they have put the price of admission up to a dollar.  Tallmadge sends me a little paper published for it, called the “Spirit of the Fair,” but it is rather a series of short literary articles than any account of their doings.  The subscriptions for the army sword is the most exiting part of it for the army; the contest lies entirely between Grant and McClellan.

We have just got some photographs taken a couple of weeks ago of Artillery Brigade Head Quarters with all hands in front; quite fair considering size & everything.

As yet we get no intimations as to when or which way we start, but things do not look as if it would be any earlier than in previous years. The taking up of two hundred locomotives by government looks like a great sudden concentration of troops on some distant point; a tremendous re-enforcement of this army from the West or vice versa.  For myself, I want util the end of next week before I shall be quite ready.  This leaving everything until the last moment is detestable.  There is no reason whatever why all the changes made in the last three weeks should not have been carried out three months ago, when things would have got into working order; officers would have known their commands and their commands them.

*Notes:  Major-General Joseph Hooker commanded the Army of the Potomac from January 26, 1863 - June 28, 1863.  He asked to be relieved of command due to his argumentative relationship with General Halleck.  Major-General Oliver O. Howard commanded the 11th Corps.  General Henry Slocum would eventually be assigned command of the 20th Army Corps in Tennessee.   Dr. J. T. Heard eventually became Medical Director of the 4th A.C., Army of the Cumberland, after the 1st A.C., Army of the Potomac was dissolved.

The Photograph, Col. Wainwright, (center) alluded to in his journal entry, shows Artillery Brigade Headquarters

(Field) Diary of Sam Webster:
        April 11.    Pioneers move to Brigade headquarters. Target practice. Hit it once out of 4 times.

Diary of Calvin Conant:
        Monday, April 11, 1864.  Very plesant  the sun?  shines  hot––  I am  of duty and am busy viz? altering? ower? 2 pairs? of Pontoons  Was in Battalion drills this afternoon  I am making apple Sauce

Tuesday, April 12, 1864.      Plesant  I am on duty to day   no news is in Camp  we got a Mail to night the first since last Saturday  I got a Report? of the town and a Scope report not?  the town?? [this scribbling & some that follows is illegible.]

Letter of Sergeant George Henry Hill, April 11th

In this letter George Henry is looking forward to a glorious end to the war.

13th Regt Mass Vol
                Mitchels Station
                    April 11-1864

Dear Father
            Your last letter arrived just in season, for the next night, owing to the torrents of water which has fallen for the past week, several bridges between here and Washington were swept away and it will probably be a week or more before we get a mail again.

    This we feel to be a severe loss for the anticipation of a letter at night often causes the time to pass much quicker during the day.  I suppose it will be some time longer than usual before you receive my regular weekly letter on the above account. 

Last Friday we had the pleasure of seeing our famed commander Gen. Grant.  He received us by regiments in our regimental camps and was accompanied by our division commander Gen. Robinson.  His retinue was much smaller than we usually see with a corps General.  Personally he is a very ordinary looking man, but has one very marked feature; determination is written in unmistakable characters on his countenance.  With him to control, and such generals as Meade, Sedgwick, Hancock & Warren to execute his commands, we will know no such word as fail, and to make sure of success we are rejoiced to hear that Hooker (the man in whom this army has today more confidence than in any other) is coming.  Hooker will be to this Army what Jackson was to Lee’s Army. 

It is of course needless for me to say that this army is in excellent condition and confident of success, because when were we otherwise.  We always have been ready whenever called upon and are not at all inclined to go back on ourselves at this late day when we are convinced that a pull all together will end the war.   The shock will be fearful when it comes and many of us will go under, but some of us will live to see the end and who dares to doubt that it will be a glorious one.

With much love for all and particularly for my dear father and Mother I am Hopefully your son
                                Geo H.

Return to Table of Contents

GENERAL GRANT.
By George E. Jepson.

Private George Jepson of the 13th MA got to observe General Grant up close for 6 weeks in March and April of 1864.  If the reader can stick with his exhaustive prose, he will be somewhat rewarded.  Supposedly, H. L. Mencken described President Warren G. Harding's prose style as a “hippopotamus struggling to free itself from a slough of molasses.”  The same appliies here.*

This article appeated in Thirteenth Regiment Association Circular #21, December, 1908.  It was first published in the Boston Globe.

“I should like to know what brand of whiskey he uses,” President Lincoln is reported to have humorously rejoined to a party of gentlemen, some of whom were criticising Grant on account of his alleged drinking habits, “so that I could send some of the same kind to our other generals.”

The ghost of this outlived and long-buried charge of habitual indulgence in liquid stimulants by General Grant –– largely the product of envy and malice –– has been suffered to revisit the glimpses of the moon, owing to the lack in a prominent statesman of that negative virtue which our great humorist crystallized into a proverb, when he said of Washington that “he never slopped over.”

It was not so much what the orator said in his unfortunate allusion at Grant's tomb last Memorial Day that is so objectionable –– for the reference was casual and without invidious intent, though tactless and uncalled for ––as the misconstruction which his remarks invited, and the fact that they were calculated to revive and unloose from a proper oblivion the ribald tittle-tattle and venomous aspersions to which Grant was subjected throughout his military career.

Envy like death loves a shining mark;  and as in the case of Washington and Lincoln, Grant's detractors hitherto have suffered the general fate of their species, supplying one would think a sufficient warning to deter any sensible person from courting the dangers of post-mortem defamation.  A delver among the dead bones of the past has only himself to thank if his fingers are stained in the exhumation. But how, by-the-way, could an alumnus of Yale forget the motto every school boy knows:  De mortuis nil nisi bonum?  [“Of the dead, nothing but good is to be said.”]

Roscoe Conklin, in his nominating speech at the Chicago convention in 1880, said of Grant:   “His fame was born not alone of things written and said, but of the arduous greatness of things done.”

Grant was a great general;  great as a dogged, determined fighter;  great in his soldierly readiness and swift decision, and in possessing what Napoleon called as a superlative distinction in a general,  “two o'clock in the morning courage.”  Grant was great in the ability to control and efficiently handle large masses of men;  great as a strategist on original lines, as shown in the Vicksburg campaign (under-taken against the alarmed protest of Sherman, a consummate strategist himself, who in a four-page letter told him his plan was against all the books and bound to fail), to say nothing of minor operations previous to his attaining the supreme command of the entire Union forces.  And so on to the final issue, though often baffled, until his “fighting it out on that line” policy vindicated his strategic genius and spread his fame throughout the civilized world.  And this preeminence was won in despite of his alleged fondness for John Barleycorn.  It is incredible, however, that a man who was a slave to the vice of intemperance could rise, and more rapidly than any military leader in history, from the command of a regiment to the practically supreme direction of an army composed of upwards of a million soldiers, and this without political influence or potential friends.  General Grant may not have been as abstemious as a Daniel, the Prophet, or a Rutherford B. Hayes, and therein he would be in fellowship with some of the world's most illustrious worthies.  But there is no authentic instance in his public career where he was known to be incapacitated through alcohol indulgence.

The recrudescence of this old-time scandal and the wide discussion it has occasioned stirred the writer's ire while at the same time giving a fillip to his memory which, leaping the gulf of forty odd years, vividly revives the impressions made on his youthful mind by the personality of the great commander of the Union armies.  It so chanced that the present chronicler had opportunities of observing General Grant at close range almost daily during a period of five or six weeks, embracing the time when, late in March, 1864, he arrived at Culpeper Court House, Virginia, and assumed command of the Army of the Potomac, up to the general advance the first week of May following.  And during that period nothing in his appearance indicated that he was or ever had been addicted to the habitual use of intoxicants. Strong drink, long indulged in, leaves its stamp upon the countenance.  Grant's face, though bronzed by exposure, was unlined and clear, with a healthy glow, his eye was bright, his lip firm, his hands without a tremor.

The reminiscences that follow, trivial in themselves perhaps, may be deemed interesting as being associated with and casting a side-light on the personality of one whom Union soldiers will ever revere, admire, and honor.

I have never read any account of General Grant that pictured him as he was the day on which he arrived in Culpeper to take command of the army, although that arrival was momentous.  Altogether, be it said without irreverence, he presented a personal aspect the farthest removed from one's idea of a great military leader. There seemed nothing military about him; the  “set up” which a West Pointer is supposed to acquire was noticeably by its absence in his figure, which bore the somewhat slouchy look of a rustic dressed in a soldier's cast-off clothes, and his shambling gait emphasized the comparison. Such was the impression which I and undoubtedly most observers derived from the first view of the hero of so many victories, as he appeared at Culpeper on that chill and blustering March day, which may be said to have marked the first step in the funeral march to the grave of the southern confederacy.

No one witnessing the scene could ever forget its singular features.  Not that they were picturesque or imposing, but rather because of the absence of these elements which naturally would be looked for in an event of historical significance. The general's dislike of display and his disregard of those ceremonious observances which military high cockalorums expect and insist on, were no doubt responsible for the lack of  “poppycock” that marked his advent upon the new stage of his activity whose ultimate end was destined within eleven months to crown him with the unfading laurels of victory and peace !

Culpeper Railroad Station.  View from the North looking South. The building on the left is the Waverly Hotel. The 2nd of the two hotels in town at that time. It stood long after the war into the 1970's when it had deteriorated into a kind of low-rent hotel.  It no longer stands.

The news that the hero of Vicksburg was scheduled to arrive at Culpeper on March 26 had been heralded through all the camps and produced great excitement among the troops. There was a natural desire to obtain passes to go to town in order to welcome the distinguished chief, but these were curtailed to the smallest limit, Grant's distaste for demonstrations in his honor, as aforesaid, being known and duly considered.

The provost marshal had strict orders to prevent any undue gathering of soldiers or citizens in the vicinity of the railroad depot or in the streets. A detachment of the 14th Brooklyn Zouaves constituted the provost guard, and squads of this body patrolled the town continuously as the time for the train's approach drew near.

Culpeper was a rabid “secesh” community, although it contained several Union families.  It was an exceptional household that did not boast of having one or more of its sons in Lee's army or with Mosby's guerrilla band. The region likewise was the familiar stamping ground of the latter.  Perhaps these facts called for a little extra precaution.

As the train came in a double line of the zouaves, posted five paces apart, lined either side of the short street leading from the railroad station, along which the general was to pass in order to reach the headquarters, a commodious brick dwelling-house, which had been prepared for him.

The headquarters of the army of the Potomac, which was under the immediate command of General Meade, it may be said, was at Brandy station, about six miles distant. Grant had already visited Meade and consulted with him regarding future plans.

The Virginia Hotel, left.  The building facade has changed but the building still stands.  The House across the street is gone.

Standing on the piazza of the Virginia Hotel the writer, with several other soldiers detailed on various duties in the town, possessed an excellent point of view from which to witness the coming of the  distinguished chief.  There was no band, no cheers, no excited populace to greet the hero of many conquered foes and stricken fields as he stepped from the train.

The only signs of anything approaching a pageant as the procession formed and started from the station consisted first of Gen. John Newton, commanding the 1st army corps, whose headquarters were in the town, and a few members of his staff, who led the van, escorting two headquarters ambulances, in the first of which were Generals Grant and Meade.  Gen. James S. Wadsworth, that brave white-haired veteran, who had passed unscathed through the ordeals of Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg, but who was to seal his devotion to the cause of the Union by a heroic death at the head of his division a few weeks later, with other notables, occupied the next carriage.  A squadron of the 5th regular cavalry, in war-worn service uniforms, brought up the rear.

There was scarcely a ripple of applause to greet Grant.  Wonder, astonishment or disappointment seemingly rendering the onlookers dumb.  He leaned well forward in answering the salutes of the zouaves, doing this oddly by carrying his hand to his hat brim, with the historic half-burned cigar between his fingers and, as it seemed to veteran soldiers, with an ungraceful and notably perfunctory gesture.

In contrast with the taller and more soldierly figure of Meade, who sat beside him and whose attire was particularly neat, Grant seemed dwarfed, shabby, unsoldierlike, in a word, painfully inferior.

It was perceived as he alighted from the carriage and entered headquarters, that his uniform coat was faded, worn and ill-fitting, and that although he had received his commission as lieutenant-general he still wore a major-general's shoulder straps, which, much tarnished, seemed endeavoring to creep under the armpits as if in an effort at self-effacement typical of their wearer, but due undoubtedly to the stoop in his shoulders,

This negligence in non-essentials was characteristic of the man, a trait that did not mean in him a disdainful disregard of propriety or convention, but rather, it seemed, an absence of sensibility as to their importance.

That it was a fixed idiosyncracy was proved time and again afterward when he would visit the camps or advanced lines, his upper garment a rusty army blouse, and crowned with an old war-worn hat;  and more remarkable yet, in that momentous first interview at Appomattox with General Lee, who was got up in brand new finery and must have looked a splendid figure compared with his victorious adversary who, swordless and clad in this same old business-like blouse, offered, more with the air of a Lazarus in the presence of Dives than a puissant conqueror, the most magnanimous terms of capitulation ever tendered a fallen and helpless foe.

But when Grant returned from a hasty trip to Washington a few days after his coming to Culpeper he was arrayed in a bright new and well-fitting uniform and three brilliant stars glittered on either shoulder.  He seemed a different man altogether. This new “toggery,” however, was only worn on special occasions, and the loose but more comfortable blouse was generally much more in evidence.

Two days after his arrival General Grant began to reorganize the army of the Potomac.[General Meade was responsible for the re-organization of the army, which was approved by the War Department.––B.F.]  The old and nearly decimated 1st corps was consolidated with the 5th, and our well-liked commander, General Newton, was superseded by Gen. G. K. Warren. The latter formed his staff principally from the officers composing that of the 5th, reappointing only one of Newton's, which fact enabled the writer to retain an agreeable, but except to himself, not over-important position at Warren's headquarters.  These were located in the Virginia Hotel on the main street, and as Warren and Grant became quite “chummy” and so continued, at least up to a late period in the Petersburg campaign, when they unfortunately clashed, few days passed that the latter failed to visit our headquarters to see his subordinate;  Grant, to repeat, being no stickler for ceremony himself nor exacting it with undue pomp and circumstance from others.

Warren was a brilliant corps commander and a “fighter from Fightville,” as the boys used to say.  And, if it would not add another to the many controversies growing out of rival claims to distinction on the part of some of our generals, it might be said that it was Warren's keen eye and energetic action on the second day of Gettysburg that, foiling Longstreet's audacious and nearly successful attempt to turn our left flank, assured the final victory.  What promised to be a rout was turned into a repulse thereby;  and Warren's heroic statue standing in such startling prominence, solitary and alone, on Little Round Top seems to supply a tacit recognition of the high claim. This memorial, it will be recalled, is a standing figure, not equestrian as are nearly all the statues on the battlefield. There may have been another reason for this pose, but it always seemed to me that the selection arose from a well-known personal deficiency, for Warren made a sorry figure on horseback and “couldn't ride for a cent,” in the words of one of his staff officers, while Grant was at his best in appearance on horseback. The former was even shorter than Grant (who was only five feet eight inches tall)  and slender, while Grant was rather stockily built, although weighing but one hundred and forty pounds. Warren was quite finicky in his dress, which fact, together with his erect figure, presented a rather notable contrast to that of his chief.

The staffs of the two generals also mingled socially, the large bar-room of the hotel –– its original function, be it said, no longer operative ––affording an attractive lounging place, the window looking out on the main thoroughfare, which was usually thronged with the varied life that was stirring in the town.

One day General Grant came into the room alone, asked for Warren and finding the latter out chatted for a moment or two with one of the young officers and finally sauntered over to the huge fire-place, in which a fire of four-foot logs was burning, the day being quite cold.  Lighting a cigar he seated himself and soon seemed to be lost in gazing ruminatingly into the blaze. A half hour, perhaps longer, he sat there and I have a vivid memory of that silent, huddled-up figure, sitting with his elbows on his knees, his chin resting in one hand, holding between the fingers of the other his now extinguished cigar.  Officers and messengers passed in and out, but nobody ventured to disturb him, each going by with a respectful salute, which, however, in his absorption, was unnoticed.  What he saw in the glowing coals who could tell?  Perhaps he was perfecting some elaborate plan for the undoing of Lee ––perhaps considering that persistent, continuous, fatal movement by the left flank that eventually was to close round his great rival at Appomatox.  At length he roused himself, relighted his cigar, and with an abstracted look and without a word left the house.

The conversation between Grant and others that involuntarily came to my ears at times, though casual and unimportant, no doubt included some bits that would have been interesting to recall.  But it made so little impression on my mind that it has mostly faded, while many incidents, trivial or characteristic, associated with him, are vividly retained in memory. Though he was called “the silent man,” he was a good but not voluble talker.  If I can recall but few remarks of his, there returns a distinct recollection of the gentle, melodious tones of his voice, tones such as almost infallibly denote an amiable temper.

Speaking of melody, it seems singular that with such a voice he absolutely possessed no ear for music or time. And it is a remarkable coincidence that his running mate in his first election to the presidency, Schuyler Colfax, was as singularly deficient in musical sense.

The writer once heard Mr. Colfax while on a lecturing tour in the West ask the leader of a rural band that had just played “Yankee Doodle”  in his honor, the name of the piece, confessing when told, and to the great relief of the bandmaster, that he knew only one tune, “Old Hundred,” and he was sometimes uncertain as to that.

In passing the stable, back of headquarters, on one occasion, I came upon General Warren, engaged in the unusual employment for a corps commander of nailing a loose plank of the incline leading into the same.  He was in fatigue dress and, kneeling upon the dirty planks, seemed to be having some difficulty with the refractory board, which apparently wouldn't “stay put.”  Nobody else seemed to be in sight and, saluting, I offered to help him. “I've been trying for a week to get somebody to fix this,” he explained. “My horse stumbled and nearly threw me when I rode him in here to-day.”  Our combined efforts finally got the plank in place and Warren was hammering in a spike when I saw Grant and his chief of staff, Rawlins, approaching. Both were smiling at beholding Warren thus employed, he, however, did not perceive them until they were close upon him, when he arose and shook hands.

“Do you know, general, that you put me in mind of a little story,” said Grant, in his gentle but penetrating voice. “One of our naval ships was at a Chinese port, and the officers gave a ball on board to some of the English and American residents. They also invited several of the Chinese dignitaries.  While the dance was going at full blast, the commanding officer of the vessel approached the mandarins, or ––whatever their titles were, and asked what they thought of the show.  One of the orientals politely replied that it was very fine and that they enjoyed themselves immensely.  'But,' he added, 'we always employ servants to do such hard work!'”

Warren, laughing heartily with the others, gave the same explanation he had given me, Grant rejoining by quoting Caesar's saying that, after all, if you want a thing done, the sure way is to do it yourself.

Grant was very popular among the rank and file about the town, guards, orderlies, soldiers, etc.  He was unassumedly democratic and approachable.  The “old man,” as they fondly, certainly not disrespectfully, called him, stood on common ground with them, and, whenever he felt like it, would stop and talk with a private soldier as freely as with a brigadier.

A son of Anak, six feet in his stockings, belonging to the head-quarters' guard and a member of the Sixteenth Maine Regiment, and who had been an Aroostook lumberman, was one day accosted by Grant in his saunterings about the streets.  Learning of the Maine man's former occupation, the general opened a discussion regarding wood chopping as a fine art, and frankly owned that he had had a practical experience in that line.

“The old man don't put on no airs,” said the son of Maine, in relating the incident, “an'  he's a  ---- fine feller for a gin'ral.  But you'd oter heered the little cuss tellin' me ––  me!  how to fell a tree, when I allers did my own felling and put up my two cords a day reg'lar ! ”

A set of boxwood chessmen owned by the writer and with which he used to while away a spare hour now and then, was in frequent requisition by the staff officers.  One afternoon I was playing chess with one of the headquarters' clerks when Col. Ely Parker, Grant's assistant adjutant general, entered the room and for a few minutes paused to watch the game.  He had some official documents in his hand and was on his way to the adjutant general's office in the next room.   He was a fine-looking officer, but being a full-blooded Indian –– the hereditary chief of the Six Nations and a direct descendant of the famous Red Jacket –– was very dark complexioned.  He was a polished gentleman and a cultured one, but possessed little of the traditional taciturnity of his race, being on the contrary rather talkative, and exceedingly good-natured.  Colonel Parker was present at Lee's surrender and transcribed for the latter the original draft of the terms agreed upon, which was in Grant's own handwriting.  It is related by Gen. Horace Porter, an eye-witness, that Lee looked somewhat askance upon Parker at first, thinking apparently from his dark face that he was a negro.

A few days after the chess incident, I was alone in the office when Colonel Parker (pictured, below-right) again came in, and with a pleasant word went into the adjutant's room.  He soon came out and sitting down began to speak about chess, referring to the game he had witnessed on his previous visit, in the end suggesting that, as I admitted being but a novice, if I would get out my chessmen he would show me some of the openings and fine points of the queen of games.  An interesting interval was passed in this diversion and then he proposed playing a formal game, he giving me his queen as a handicap.  A move or two only had been made when I heard two or three people come into the room, but without seeing them, my back being toward the door. All at once I became conscious that somebody was looking over my shoulder, and then a mild voice I knew very well said ; “Fair play, Ely, fair play!  Don't take advantage of the boy.”

It was General Grant, and with him were Warren and Rawlins.

“Ely” smiled at the playful admonishment and I drew from what was said, or subsequently explained, that Parker was about to “spring” on me the trick known to chess experts as the “scholar's mate,” which is effected in the first four moves.  Colonel Parker, however, deprecated having any felonious intent, explaining that he had only set the trap as a part of the process of instruction.

A short time afterwards one of Grant's aids-de-camp borrowed my chessmen, saying the general wanted to use them. They were duly returned, but in the vicissitudes of subsequent campaigning they disappeared and I was deprived of what would have been cherished as a priceless souvenir.

During the strenuous fighting days that followed I only occasionally saw General Grant, but his name was on the lips of  “the boys in blue” much oftener than were the names of their immediate commanders, and perhaps on those of  “the boys in gray” as well.

It cannot be said that he was idolized as McClellan once was;  but his soldiers esteemed and admired him and they swore by him;  he satisfied their pride and they took pride in him because without sounding proclamations or theatrical splurge, he pursued the trade of war in a business-like way, showed them the path to success and frequently led the way himself.

This army of lions felt that, at last they had got one of their breed to lead them. When they got to know him better, after the nicknaming habit of soldiers, they played all the changes possible on the inviting initials of his baptismal names; he was Uncle Sam Grant,  United States Grant,  Unconditional Surrender Grant and Union Soldier Grant. Various other expressive sobriquets to which those two letters lent themselves were found, but employed only in a spirit of affectionate drollery.

His campaigns were studied and discussed in the bivouacs, countless characteristic stories about him were told and retold, many without doubt apocryphal, but most all of them illustrating the incontrovertible fact that he possessed seemingly more than mortal insensibility to fear.

Grant was indeed apparently deficient in that sense.  His stoic imperturbability amidst the very vortex of battle was phenomenal;  his self-command was never disturbed;  he always had his wits about him.

He was quick to recognize and praise this trait in others, but was the last one to exemplify Marshal Lannes' maxim that “it is only a coward who boasts that he was never afraid.”  He was the one man in a million who could truthfully make that boast, and he was the last one in that million who would make it. The absence of vainglory, pardonable in some degree in a victorious general, was marked in his speech, his orders and his proclamations.  His modesty and lack of self-appraisal was very nearly a blemish.  He seemed to have no glimpse of his great capacity which needed the spur of necessity, the pressure of responsibility to develop what was in him, to call out the wonderful latent force, the reserved power residing unconsciously under a shrinking, undemonstrative demeanor.

This was the man who in 1861, out of a job and out-at-elbows, when asked why he did not apply for the colonelcy of one of the Illinois regiments then forming, replied hesitatingly:  “I would rather like a regiment, yet there are few men really competent to command a thousand soldiers, and I doubt whether I am one of them.”

General Grant as a rule fixed headquarters during an engagement as near to the firing line as convenience, both in affording a proper coup d'oeil of manoeuvres and for receiving reports, would permit.  There were times, however, when he felt his immediate presence within the zone of fire expedient, and he didn't wait on the order of his going but went at once, to the discomfort of his staff very frequently. They used to say that he liked it, as though it was his native element. It almost seemed that it was so. There is no record that on such occasions his eye flashed electric spark's or that his old war horse, Cincinnati, smelling the battle afar off, snorted “Ha ! ha !”

One of the camp stories floating about during the Wilderness fighting was to this effect:

A young West Pointer had been assigned as an aide to the general, and had followed him on one of these venturesome excursions. The youngster had never been under fire, and the shot and shell were coming pretty thick and fast all about the spot where Grant had halted for the purpose of observing the progress of the action. The “freshie” was a little pale and a little shaky. Observing his condition and sympathizing with him, his chief kindly, if somewhat bluntly, said to him:

“You are a little afraid, Lieutenant. You'll get used to it after awhile all right. Now see here;  if I had a hat in my hand containing 999 white beans and one black bean, and should ask you to pick out the black one without looking, your chance of doing it would be just about as good as your chance of getting hit by one of these bullets or shells.”

At the very moment one of the latter flew by so close that the wind of it was felt by both.

“Well, I almost thought that was the black bean,” said Grant.

“But after all you see it wasn't, Lieutenant.”

The young fellow was heartened at once by his chiefs sang-froid.

The story was too much like Grant not to be true.

He appreciated humor, and keenly enjoyed both hearing and relating funny incidents that had no waspish sting or that directly or by innuendo would not have offended feminine delicacy.  Many examples of his extreme sensibility on this score are told.  He severely drew the line between Democritus and Rabelais.

An instance exemplifying his discernment and remarkable intuitive sense of topography, and which I heard a staff officer relate, occurred during the Wilderness campaign. The battle was raging all along the line. General Grant was sitting on a stump receiving reports and despatching orders. The position was an exposed one, but he could not be prevailed upon to move. An aide dashed up, his manner excited, reported that General Blank required immediate reinforcements, his flank being assailed by overwhelming numbers.  Grant raised his hand with a quick gesture for silence, and listened intently as renewed volleying was heard on the extreme right, while distant cheers, growing fainter as they seemed to recede were borne to the ear. Then, dropping his hand, he calmly said:

“General Blank does not seem to need any help. He has turned on the enemy and is driving him.  That is our musketry, and those cheers are solid Yankee ones, not rebel yells.  My compliments to General Blank and tell him I will come over in a few minutes to inspect his new position.”

Such glimpses of his doings and sayings were caught and circulated throughout the army and spread an intimate knowledge of their leader's character. His popularity rapidly grew and he was enthusiastically hailed whenever he rode along the camps and rifle pits.

Pictured, Edwin Forbes sketch of General Grant in the Wilderness, May 7, 1864.

Once in a while the boys felt a temporary resentment toward him.  Such perhaps, as at the time of what seemed the misjudged battle of Cold Harbor and the needless slaughter attending it, also when General Warren was relieved in so high-handed a manner by Sheridan, for everybody believed the latter acted under Grant's authority.  But this feeling soon wore off.

The army of the Potomac had long been accustomed to useless sacrifices under other leaders.  It was always ready to march, to starve, to fight, and to die, but in doing so wanted the reward it had earned and had so often been deprived of through the incapacity of those leaders –– the reward of a victory not only won, but clinched.  Grant seemed to assure this by his unresting progress in chasing the enemy, driving him from pillar to post and never permitting his own army to back track, playing his game of chess with Lee, with the forward moves all clear in his head, or if one was obstructed, forming new combinations that inexorably at last determined the checkmate at Appomattox and landed the confederacy in the last ditch.

The question has often been broached : What would Grant have done at Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg?  Such speculations are of course idle, because if he had been in command at those battles another set of conditions and preliminaries leading up to them would probably have prevailed. The Grant of 1864 might and in all likehood would have done somewhat different from the McClellan of  '62, the Hooker and the Meade of  '63.  At Antietam Lee would have been smashed and captured before Jackson could have got up from Harper's Ferry, and Jackson would have found the light of his life awaiting him, or rather meeting him half way;  and if he had survived he would never have made that flank movement round our right at Chancellorsville, or if he had started on it Lee and Stonewall would have been beaten in detail;  while on the third day of July, when Pickett's braves, broken and demoralized, fled from the slaughter-pen of Gettysburg, leaving three thousand of their comrades soaking its soil with their blood, while Lee's army, weakened by death, wounds and fatigue, and with only ten or fifteen  rounds of ammunition to each gun, stood on Seminary Ridge waiting with hopeless courage for the counter-charge that did not come –– at that moment the Grant of '64 would undoubtedly have sent the reserve lying behind the Round Tops and which had had no chance to lift a finger, though aching to, in the three days battle –– he, no question, would have hurled those fresh and splendid fighters straight upon grim but disheartened Longstreet; and with the rest of the Union line to back up the assault, only a miracle could have made it possible for Lee's army as a whole to escape back to Virginia.

But Grant in his modest, fair-minded, honest way, settles those questions in these words, for the one instance he cites answers all.  To a friend he said:  “If I had taken command of this army (of the Potomac) two years ago, I should have been very likely to fail, but now I have had so much experience as colonel, brigadier-general, and major-general that I feel entire confidence in myself.  McClellan's lack of that was a great cause of his failure, and any man would have lacked it under the circumstances.”

I have never ceased to marvel that the man as I first saw him on the day he took command of the army at Culpeper Court House, Virginia, this man of moderate size, scraggy whiskers, with a faded, rusty, ill-fitting uniform, the major-general straps on his shoulders seemingly trying to creep under the armpits as if abashed at their prominence, and with the inevitable slump of a cigar between his fingers, –– I have never subdued my wonder that this insignificant and inferior-looking man was the conqueror of Buckner, of Albert Sidney Johnston, of Bragg, of Pemberton, and lastly of Lee and his gallant and so often victorious soldiers.

 

Generals, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Albert Sydney Johnston, Braxton Bragg, & John C. Pemberton, C.S.A.

But the mind of man and his endowments reveal themselves not always to the trained physiognomist or psychologist;  they speak fully only in action and then depend much on opportunity to bring out their qualities; and they not infrequently are a wonder and a mystery to the possessor himself.  Grant's whole and illuminating life, as he has written it, breathes in every page his modest and uninflated spirit and emphasizes this note of unknown and unexpected capacity, whose loftier name is genius, which resided potentially in an exterior far from being to the casual observer what would be considered impressive or commanding.  Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Wellington, Nelson, were all in stature inferior men. Many of their great lieutenants by contrast were comparatively giants in physical proportions.   Several of Grant's generals were men of imposing personal appearance, and were great soldiers besides.  We have only to recall Sherman, Thomas, Burnside, Hancock, Miles, the last two the most splendid specimens of ideal soldierly personalities imaginable.  But, as was said of the great Corsican, the combined rare qualities of Ney, Murat, Augureau, Bernadotte, and the rest of his brilliant galaxy of subordinates would not make a Napoleon, so the figure may justly be repeated in regard to the subject of this writing, that a combination of all the qualities of the brilliant officers that waited upon his orders, yea, and of the able coterie that upheld the hands of Lee, even that superb general himself, would not suffice to match the genius whom the world knows as Ulysses Simpson Grant.  An extravagant statement it may be objected.  But the continued growth of his fame and reputation particularly in foreign lands, the study in their military schools of his tactical and strategic ability as manifested in the campaigns he planned and led, warrant the belief that at no distant day, comparing the extent and duration of the operations he conducted, the difficulties both physical and moral he encountered and above all the numerical strength, the resourcefulness, the valor and unflagging aggressiveness of the foe he combated, comparing all these with the less arduous tasks of the other great captains of history, Grant's military genius, it is within bounds to believe, will shine with an equal if not a more dazzling lustre than theirs.

But genius cannot be explained.   No school can inculcate it. Its manifestations are its sign manual. It is a gift of the gods to men of clay indeed, but as Imogen so finely says:

“Clay and clay differs in dignity,
Whose dust is both alike.”

One of the sublimest utterances of mortal man on the brink of death, and yet uttered with the unconscious simplicity in which a great truth clothes itself, as a truism clothes itself in the inspired words of Holy Writ and as it is clad in the immortal last words of the world's sages –– is the practically final word which the dying soldier of the Republic gave to the world, when within a few days of his death at Mount McGregor, sitting propped up in his arm-chair, he painfully guided his pencil over his lap tablet in the determined effort to finish the last page of the book which he trusted would provide a source of income to his family after he had left them.  He says: “I feel that we are on the eve of a new era, when there is to be great harmony between the Federal and Confederate, I cannot stay to be a living witness to the correctness of this prophecy;  but I feel it within me that it is to be so.”

How true the prophecy;  how infinitely pathetic in their implication of unmurmuring resignation are those four syllables “I cannot stay!”

Who can ponder them without tears!

*Quote attributed to Mecken found in animator Chuck Jones' book, "Chuck Amuck" Harper Collins 1989 (p. 33).

Map of General Grant's Plans for the Spring Campaigns of 1864

The map is from The West Point Military History Series, Atlas For the American Civil War; Map #45.

General Grant's Letter of Instructions to General Meade, April 9, 1864

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Regimental Business, 13th M.V.I.; Court Martial Trials, Promotions, etc.

Papers From the Regiment's Books

The following documents are transcribed from the original company and regimental books accessed via the Genealogy Website, "FamilySearch."  Others of these documents were found amongst Colonel Leonard's papers at the Gilder-Lehrman Institute in New York, and some records come from the Executive Correspondence Collection for the 13th Regiment on file at the Massachusetts State Archives. 

In the original books, orders pertaining to individual soldiers are carefully copied into the ledgers along with a few records of court-martials.  The samples of Court Martials that I've seen suggest that many soldiers and  officers, might have been brought to trial for some infraction of the rules, at one time or another.  The four trials presented here took place on April 9th & 12th, 1864, with one proceeding undated.  I've placed them here, together on the page.  Lt.-Col. N. Walter Batchelder (pictured)  was the investigating officer for the first two cases.

  Private David Brand was one of the "unruly" drafted men of July, 1863.  Lt-Col. Batchelder prefererd charges against him for removing his equipments while on picket. Private Brand would soon transfer to the Navy in just a couple of weeks along with 25 others of the "recruits."   The old soldiers were glad to see them go.  Lt.-Col. Batchelder, after nearly 3 years of hard service, many times commanding the regiment, would also be leaving soon.

Court Martial of David Brand, April 9, 1864

Court Martial of Private William Henderson April 12, 1864

Lt-Col. Batchelder charged Private William Henderson of being Absent Without Leave.  Henderson, another one of the few remaining "recruits" who joined the regiment July 25, 1863, deserted April 26th.

Court Martiasl of Private John Eshmann & Herbert A. Reed, April 12, 1864

Private John Eshmann, (Eishmann on the 13^th MA rosters)  was another drafted "recruit" of '63.  The record says he was from Prussia.  He was brought to trial for attempting to desert, meaning he got caught, unlike the majority of the "recruits" who departed.  Having failed to desert he served with the regiment at least until their term of enlistment expired, and then transferred to the 39^th Volunteers.    

Private Herbert A. Reed (pictured in 1904) is a different kind of case altogether.  He was an original member of the regiment, who enlisted July 16, 1861 for 3 years.   He went AWOL in September 1862, probably for legitimate health reasons at first.  The letters of his friend Albert Liscom are full of mentions of Herbert circulating about Washington, D.C. in the early winter of 1862 –– January 1863.    He was gone for over a year, and returned to the regiment December 17, 1863.  Sergeant Warren H. Freeman  of Company A, mentions Reed in a February 1st 1864 letter home, stating Reed is under arrest and awaitng court-martial, ––yet happy as a clam. The verdict in his case is amusing.   Reed continued serving in the ranks of the 13^th MA for a short while longer, when he was wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness.  His record in the roster makes no mention of his long absence.

Court Martial of Albert F. Brooks, No Date

Private Brooks was another original member of the 3th Mass., who was absent for a long time.   Perhaps he had a legitimate reason. The record of his trial suggests it was conducted at the division, rather than brigade or regiment level, if that is indeed a distinction to be made.  He was one of the holdovers in the 13th Regiment that transferred into the 39^th Mass., in July 1864 to complete his 3 year term of enlistment.  The Roster of the 39^th records Brooks, age 26, bookkeeper from South Reading, as AWOL August 1862––December 24, 1863; ordered to make up time from August 1862 –– July, 1863.  Transferred into Company G, 39^th MA, and then into the 32nd Mass. and mustered out. 

Brooks attended at least one post-war regimental reunion dinner in Boston in 1889, the first year attendees were listed, but his name is not found in attendance after that year.

Executive Correspondence –– Officer Discharges & Promotions

On April 5th, 1st Lieutenant Sam Whitney tendered his resignation.  Whitney of Stoneham, Mass., mustered into the regiment as Sergeant in Company G.  The 33 year old machinist was later promoted 2nd Lieutenant on the last day of the year in 1862.  Five months later on May 1st, 1863 he was commissioned 1st-Lieutenant.  His picture is below.

 

Captain Moses Poore Palmer, 1st Lieutenant William R. Warner, 1st Lieutenant Samuel C. Whitney.

Colonel Leonard to Governor John Andrew, April 12, 1864

Discharge of James Kennay April 13

Private James Kennay, age 24 upon enlistment, got shot several times on December 7, 1861, during the first Rebel attempt by Stonewall Jacson's men to destroy Dam No. 5 on the C&O Canal.  His wound was not recorded in the roster printed in the regimental history, but his record was rectifiied in 13th Regiment Association Circular #8, December, 1895, when regimental historian Charles E. Davis, Jr., printed corrections to the roster, and his wounds duly noted.   Sergeant Warren H. Freeman, mentioned Kennay's wounds and subsequent recovery in two letters home to his family, dated December 21st, 1861, and January 10th, 1862.

Warren Freeman wrote, “James Kenny came into our tent yesteday; he is getting along well – he is very weak, but does not suffer much pain from his severe wounds; three rifle balls struck him, making six holes, all flesh wounds; five balls passed through his overcoat; it is said here he stood a “right smart chance” of losing his life.”

Upon being discharged from the 13^th MA, Kennay was commissioned 2nd-Lieutenant, Company H, in the 57^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The roster of the 57^th says Kennay was promoted 1st-Lieutenant, October 7, 1864, but never mustered for the rank.  He was discharged for Disability December 27, 1864.  The roster says his record and address since then were unknown.

April 13, 1864:  Some "Recruits" Who Deserted Had Their Sentences Commuted

This Newspaper article post-dates the letter following it, but sets the stage for the letter, so I placed it first in order of presentation.  It lists several deserters sentenced to be shot who were reprieved by President Lincoln.  Several 13^th MA "recruits" are on the list.  The letter that follows this clipping shows an Aide to General Robinson writing Colonel Leonard to ask if the better behaved, and now repentant deserters, might be returned to the ranks for active service.

Letter of S. M. Morgan, General Robinson's Aide, to Colonel Leonard Re: Prisoners

S. M. Morgan (pictured below) was a long-time Staff Officer, Acting Inspector General,  for General John C. Robinson, commanding 2nd Division.

The following letter was found in the collection of Colonel Samuel H. Leonard's Papers at the Gilder-Lehrman Collection at the New York Historical Society; GLC 3393

 Head Quarters                                             
2^nd Division 5^th A.C.               
April 13^th 1864             

Colonel
                    The Sentences in the cases of Privates Swartz (Co. H)  Cartere (Co. D)  Williams (Co. K) &   Mavris, (Co. K)   have been remitted to imprisonment during the War at Dry Tortugas

They have been to see me this morning if any thing can  be done to have their sentences changed so they can return to their Regiments.  I have given one of them permission to go to Mitchels Station to see you.

Since these men have been in charge of Provost Guard they have appeared like very good men.  The Swartzes have come particularly under my observation and I consider it a great loss to lose them as Soldiers

Respectfully
                    Your Obt Servt
                                                S.M. Morgan
                                                    A.I.G.

Col. S. H. Leonard   )
        Comd'g 1st Brigade )

Results

It seems from records in the 13^th & 39^th MA Regiments, that Jacob Schwartz, and George Cartize (as spelled in the rosters) were reprieved and returned to service.  It appears John Williams and Frank Mauvris were sent to prison in the Dry Tortugas.

The Record of these men from the roster of the 13^th Mass., is as follows:

JACOB SCHWARTZE; age, 28; born, Switzerland; butcher; mustered in as priv., Co. E, July 27, '63; deserted, Aug. 30, '63; arrested and transferred to 39th Mass.

GEORGE SCHWARTZ ; age, 26; born, Germany; clerk; mustered in as priv., Co. H, July 27, '63;  deceased, April 21, '64.  [The 13th Regiment Descriptive Book says he deserted August 17, 1863 and was "in arrest." That is all. There is no record of him in the 39th Mass. A note in the original company books says he was sent to prison in Florida.]

GEORGE CARTIZE ; age, 23; born, Corsica; ship-carpenter; mustered in as priv., Co. D, July 27, '63; transferred, July 13, '64, to 39th Inf.

 JOHN WILLIAMS; age, 32; born, Liverpool; sailor; mustered in as priv., Co. K, July 29, '63; deserted, Aug. 22, '63; arrested, sent to Tortugas, and dropped from rolls.  [This record in the roster is copied exactly from the original Regiment Descriptive List.]

FRANK MAUVRIS ; age, 27; born, Greece; mustered in as priv., Co. K, July 28, '63; deserted, Aug. 22, '63; arrested and sent to Tortugas; dropped from rolls.  [The Regiment Descriptive Book says he deserted August 22nd, was arrested, but never returned to the Company.  He was sent to the Tortugas Islands and dropped from the rolls.]

Captain Livermore Placed in Command of Division Pioneers, April 13, 1864

Another minor order found in the original books of the Regiment. 

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The Narrative Continues, April 13 – 21, 1864

Report From The Signal Station At Garnett's Peak

From George A. Hussey, the 9th N.Y.S.M.
        On the 13th Meade moved his headquarters from Brandy Station to Culpeper;  Warren was also established there, and General Grant.  Headquarters were carefully guarded; neither civilian nor soldier could enter the town without a pass from a general officer, and equal care was exercised respecting any one, civilians especially, leaving the town, for fear they might be spies conveying information to the enemy.

Whenever the weather permitted the troops were drilled, and practiced in firing at targets.  It was drill, drill, almost continuously, and the men were glad when sent out on picket duty, for then they escaped the worriment of tactical movements.

Diary of Calvin Conant:
        Wednesday, April 13, 1864.    Plesant day  I am of guard  Drill this fore noon  nothing of Interest going on in camp  I recieve a Letter from father

Thursday, April 14, 1864.    Plesant day   I am on duty   drill this after noon by Cary [Captain William Cary, 13th MA] our Sutler leaves to day   heavy fatigue party out  cleared up camp  Tomas  Mahoney deserted to day    hunch  says he has gone to ––Washington his aunt got the pass for her son  nothing has ben done yet  the Inspector is here Condeming property  [Conant mentions the return of Mahoney (age 21) two days later on April 16.  Mahoney's Record from the 13th MA roster says he deserted on April 17, but the record in the Regiment Descriptive book says he deserted May 4th.  The later makes more sense to me, as May 4th, would have been during the march to Germanna Ford.  His disapearance on April 14 – 16 was probably a trial run.   Mahoney was one of the "recruits" who came to the regiment in July, 1863. He is listed as a 21 year old teamster from New Brunswick.]

Diary of Sam Webster - Picture Essay

Sam Webster's next journal entry mentions Slaughter's Chapel which stood at the base of the northeast spur of Cedar Mountain.  During the August 9th 1862 battle, Mrs. Slaughter retrieved the stain-glass windows from the chapel to save them from destruction.  The chapel was destroyed during the winter encampment of 1864. Soldiers of the First Brigade used the timbers from the chapel for building materials to create the substantial village that was their Winter Encampment, about a mile and a half to the east of the chapel.  Sam  also marked the location of the chapel on the diagram he sketched of the location of the winter camps.  Pictured right, is the site of the Chapel, with a contemporary church located there today.  Confederate veterans are buried in the small graveyard behind the church, including Col. Charles Crittenden, whose mother's farm was just around the corner.

Diary of Sam Webster:
        April 13.  Letter from [Bob] Lyford & [Keener] Shriver.  Two photos from Shriver.  Write to Keener.  Sutler selling at half price.  Drew check for $1.00.  [George A. “Bob” Lyford, was an early chum and mishievous companion of Webster.  Lyford mustered out of the service in January, 1863 after being wounded in the foot at Fredericksburg.] 

  Thursday, April 14th, 1864.    Sutler  moved off to Washington, as did also Mrs. Brown and family, who occupied the house on the Mountain known as “Parson Slaughter’s.”  The house is in need of repairs and nothing but the foundation is left of the little Episcopalian Chapel which used to stand in the pines at the foot of the mountain.

Pictured is the Reverand Phillip Slaughter Home.  Rev. Slaughter was the pre-war neighborhood's legal authority for any local business that concerned inhabitants in the immediate area of this rural community.    Rev. Slaughter  opposed slavery, and favored the idea of a re-settling slaves in Liberia, Africa.  The home was situated atop the slopes of Cedar Mountain.  Rebel artillery was positioned on the property during the 1862 battle. At that time Reverend Slaughter's library had been looted, presumably by Union Cavalry, with papers being strewn all about the grounds under the wheels of Confederate artillery.   The original structure is gone today, but a modern built cabin sits upon the original foundation.

Sam Webster, continued:
        Friday, April 15th, 1864.    “Pass” to Signal Station on Bald Pate. The observatory is a large hut of logs, with openings in the sides and canvas cover.  The glass is large and mounted on pivot.  We were allowed to use it by the gentleman in charge.  On the opposite side of the R. R. –– south of Rapidan –– laid a No. Carolina brigade;  the 48th Mississippi laid quite close to the river.  Up Robinson’s river, about two miles from us, could see a rebel cavalryman on duty.

The station is protected by a detail from the 2nd brigade of our division –– which detail is encamped here.  A line of disconnected pits runs around the hill –– which is quite steep –– a short distance from the top, and the cavalry picket extends around the base some distance off.  Meet Gen. Merritt, the Cavalry Brigadier –– quite a fine looking young man.

Rebel signal station over the Mtn. (Clarke, I think) to the East –– and south of river.  came back over the top of Cedar Mtn., and through the old camp of 2nd brigade which laid here long enough in January to get huts built;  then went back to Culpeper and out on the Sperryville road.  Could easily distinguish the brigade on drill as we came down the Mtn ––an infliction we (Libby and I ) escaped.  Enjoyed a very pleasant day, and escaped a task for drill is a task.

Photo Essay –– Sam's Jaunt April 15

The Signal Station atop “Bald Pate” or, “Garnett's Mountain” was a popular site for visiting.

Below:  View of Bald Pate, Location of the Fortified Signal Station

The fortified Signal Station sat atop the crest of this knoll, which Sam said was quite steep.  A line of fortified rifle pits surrounded the hill.  This Signal Station was a popular destination for visiting civilians and soldiers alike. Mary Ellen Pierce visited here with several officers in tow.   Corporal Calvin Conant would come here accompanied by Sergeants John Best and Sergeant John Brightwell of the 13^th MA, on the 21st of April, six days after Sam's visit.

Below:  Edwin Forbes Signal Station Sketch

War Correspondent Edwin Forbes sketched the Signal Station atop Pony Mountain, which according to Sam Webster's description of the station at Garnett's Mountain, sounded quite like this structure pictured, only with a canvas tent roof.  The Pony Mountain Signal Station was the primary lookout for the Union Army.  Clark's Mountain, the Rebel lookout station is pictured in the background.

 Below:  View to the Rapidan

The Village of Rapidan, sits at the base of the mountain ridge below where the horizon is jagged, (center left).  The Railroad still runs through the town. Sam says the 48th Mississippi was camped on the south side of the river there.  A North Carolina Brigade camped a little further up the hill.

Below:  Clark's Mountain From Bald Pate

Clark's Mountain, site of the Confederate Signal Station on the south side of the Rapidan River across from Raccoon Ford.  This mountain has the highest elevation of all the hills in the region.

Below:  Road Trace at the Base of the Mountain Patrolled by Cavalry

This road trace was regularly patrolled by Union Cavalry,  January –– April 1864, until General Phil Sheridan put a stop to it in order to rest the worn out horses. The road was also picketted by soldiers on outpost duty in John Robinson's 2nd Division of Infantry.  The land was once part of the very large Horseshoe Farm, which still stands situated in a horseshoe bend of the Rapidan River, where it forms a confluence with the Robertson River.  The farm was divided in two and sold at some point.   This road trace is on the northern farm parcel.  It runs at the Southern base of Cedar Mountain.

Below:  The Trail Leading North from the Signal Station Summit

This photo was taken at the summit of Bald Pate, where the Signal Station & Fort were situated.  The trail into the woods leads north along the ridge of Cedar Mountain.  Its very likely the path Sam Webster followed on his jaunt.

Below:  East Side of Cedar Mountain looking South

The 2nd Brigade camped in the saddle between peaks while the Signal Station was built in January.  The Yeager Farm is out of site behind the viewer, not far distant.

Diary of Calvin Conant:
        Friday, April 15, 1864.    Pleasant day I am of duty  there was a Brigade inspection to day by Bradlee [Lt. David H. Bradlee, 13th MA]  a Brigade drill this after noon  looks like more rain 
[Note:  Sam Webster sees the brigade on drill when returning from Rev Slaughters on Cedar Mountain.  He commented that he was happy to escape that task.  The historian of the 9th NY also commented on the monotony of drill, writing that the men preferred to go on picket for relief from the routine of  constant drilling and boredom of camp life. ]

Saturday, April 16, 1864.
        Rainy drizely day  I am on duty nothing  going on in Camp   Tomas Mahony returns to the Company says he has ben to Washington   we draw five days rations of Suger Tea & Beans also Candles & Pork. 
[Note:  Warren H. Freeman will write in a letter dated April 22:   “Lt.-Col. Batchelder received his discharge this day (16th) & Dr. Whitney rejoined us after 6 months in Libby prison.” ]

Sunday, April 17, 1864
        Plesant day  I am of duty to day    the Reg go on Picket   no body in Camp  owing to Graves    John has to go out but is relieved and comes back  Col Batchelder Starts for home to day   he goes of with out Saying a word to the boys  Inspection by Capn francis (?) at 9 

Monday, April 18, 1864.
        Plesant day  as it was most time for me to go on  ther come in a detaill for 6 men to go on guard and they had to rake water to find the men    I had to go out and relive a fellow who they put on that was on the Doc list    had a lazy/cosy(?)  time as I was on the Patrol and did not go out at al

From the Field Diaries of Sam Webster, 13th Mass.:
        April 17, 1864.   Regiment on picket.

April 18.   Seven rebs came in last night. If they got in safe it was agreed to wave the signal flag. Capt. Howe did it.  Journal entry reads:  Seven rebels came into our lines last night, and if kindly received were to have the flag waved on Bald Pate at the signal station.  Captain Howe (of the 13th) of the Brigade staff attended to it. [Captain Jacob A. Howe, 13th MA; pictured above. Sgt. George H. Hill mentions the seven Alabamans who crossed the Rapidan and came over and surrendered in his letter below.]

 Illustration by W. H. Shelton, caption reads:  “ 'Here by the oak,' our men would say in answer to their calls.”

George Henry Hill Letter, April 18, 1864

George Henry was on duty when the 7 Rebel deserters crossed over to the Union picket lines.

Report From The Signal Station At Garnett's Peak

From Alfred S. Roe, 39th Mass.:
        Saddened reflections followed the departure of the sutler, on the 16th, since thereafter, it would be necessary to forego luxuries altogether.  The 19th saw seven discouraged rebels come into our lines, saying that there were many more waiting a chance to get through.  Notwithstanding this, we could see that the enemy was working hard on making breast-works, evidently expecting us to march directly upon them;  nobody knows just what way we shall advance, but it probably will not be by the line surmised by the Confederates.

From the Field Diaries of Sam Webster, 13th Mass.:
        April 19.  Was told that over one hundred came in last niight from Rebeldom.    Journal entry reads: Am told about a hundred Johnnies came in last night.  Reports current that the rebels have their own guns trained on their own camps.

From Charles E. Davis, Jr., “Three Years in the Army”,  (13th MA):
        On the 19th of April an order was received from General Robinson, that “Particular attention will be paid at battalion drill to the formation of squares both direct and oblique, and to the formation of columns against cavalry.   Regiments should be so drilled that the movements can be made promptly,” and that “during an engagement men must not be allowed to leave the ranks to accompany their wounded comrades to the rear;  this duty will be performed by men of the ambulance corps;  neither will they be allowed to leave for want of ammunition. 

We were first drilled in the formation of squares when we were at Fort Independence and pretty continuously ever since, so we were tolerably familiar with that movement.

The remarkable fact about this order and form of drill, is that when the army did advance, they would be fighting for the most part in dense tangled woods, where formation of squares would be an anomaly.

Union Infantry in Hollow Square Formation. (Taken from Eric Wittenberg Rantings of a CW Historian blog).

Report From The Signal Station At Garnett's Peak

From the Diary of Calvin Conant:
        Tuesday, April 19, 1864.   Plesant day  I am relieved by Bill Trow at the guard house  come in and arrest the other two fellows through this night   feel very well after my seige(?) of yesterday  
        [Note:  The 13th MA roster lists 3 soldiers named Trow, all born in Concord, Mass., so I presume they are brothers.  They all enlisted together in the 13th MA Regiment on July 16, 1861.  William H. Trow, or Bill as Calvin Conant names him, was the oldest upon enlistment at age 25. Thomas Trow was age 23, and John A. Trow was age 19.  William and Thomas were enrolled in Company G, and John was in Company F.  John, the youngest mustered out of the regiment May 19, 1862.  Thomas and Bill mustered out at the end of service August 1, 1864.  Thomas was wounded at the battles of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. He mustered out with the rank of Sergeant. His occupation was listed as shoemaker.  Bill was wounded at 2nd Bull Run.  His occupation was listed as sailor.]

Wednesday, April 20, 1864.
        Plesant day I am on duty to day  Lieut Washburn  come back to day plenty of Whisky up to Hd Quarters.

Thursday, April 21, 1864.
        Plesant day I am of duty got a pass with Best & Brightwell and Went up on Slaughter Mountain and to the Signal Station  got a loot of old letters and locks out of a old house traveled about 8 miles feel some tired  Chas. F. Morse come back to the Reg to day after a absence of  2 years   looks seady enough  [Brightwell & Best are: Color Corporal John Brightwell, and  Corporal John Best, both of Company G.]

Note:  Once again Corporal Calvin Conant’s handwriting gives me fits.  At first I thought he wrote “Geo. F. Morse come back…” simple enough.  Problem is there is no George F. Morse, a common enough name, in the ranks of the 13th MA. There is a George T. Morse, of Co. G., Corporal Conant’s company.  There is a Captain Charles F. Morse, who left the regiment and became a big wheel in the Commissary Department. On closer examination it does indeed look like Calvin may have written “Chas” and not “Geo.”  Probably Captain Charles F. Morse was paying a visit to his former comrades in the regiment. His record states he had a change of service in April, 1864, possibly giving him time to visit.   Conant's comment that “he looks seedy enough” is hilarious !  Charles record from the roster:

CHAS. F. MORSE; age, 29; born, Marlboro', Mass.; mustered in as 2d lieut., Co. F, July 16, '61; mustered out as capt.. May 10, '65; promoted to capt. and commissary of subsistence, Aug. 30, '62; served with the Army of the Potomac until April, '64; then at Chicago, as depot commissary of subsistence until March, '65, when returned to Army of Potomac as inspector of the commissary department of all the armies operating against Richmond residence, Marlboro', Mass.

The northern most knoll of Cedar Mountain viewed from the west. This is the vicinity of the Yeager Farm so often visited by Sam Webster.  Calvin Conant and his friends would have seen it from this side when they went on their hike.   The 13th Mass., camped near here in the Summer of 1862, during General John Pope's Campaign.

(Field) Diary of Sam Webster:
        April 21.  Brigade drill.

Friday, April 22nd 1864
        A number of men who are sailors have been transferred and went off today.  (Field diary says):  Marines went off.  Drew waist belt.

Corporal Calvin Conant, continued:
        Friday, April 22, 1864.    Plesant day  I am on duty ––26 of this Reg left this morning to be transferred in to the Navy they had a Special train for them at 8 oclock  the Reg is Inline Picket to day

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The "Recruits" Join the Navy

The drafted men came to the 13th MA Vols in July, 1863 and caused nothing but trouble, as documented in the regimental history and periodically on this website.  Other regiments in the 2nd Division noticed, and sometimes experienced themselves, the disruptive nature of these "recruits" from the Summer of 1863.   The “Ninth” N.Y. recorded the following in their regimental history:

On the 14th [July, 1863] the first conscripts–– or drafted men––the Ninth had seen arrived from Pennsylvania, and were assigned to the Ninetieth regiment, from that State, and on the 15th the Twelfth and Thirteenth Massachusetts received accessions of the same kind of material.  The rank and file of the army looked upon this class of recruits as a very undesirable addition to the army.  Socially, they were almost ostracised, and to this fact was doubtless due the numerous desertions, which commenced at the date of their arrival.*

Subsequently the “Ninth” soon received their own batch of drafted men; quite a number of them too.

On the 20th two hundred conscripts arrived for the Ninth, and the next day the work of making soldiers of them began.  They were divided into squads, and drilled from six to eight o’clock in the morning, and from four to six in the afternoon.  It was too much for some of the greenhorns, for on the 23rd the surgeons examined a few who were found totally unfit for military duty, and they were sent home––rejoicing, no doubt.  Ninety-four more were received on the 27th, and by the 29th arms and equipments were supplied, and the recruits took their places in the ranks. The weather during the month had been very hot, fortunately the men had not much marching and there was but little sickness.

Its important to note, that James Ross was one of the drafted men who came to the “Ninth” in July.  Ross was an excellent soldier as his letters posted on this website attest.  So there were some good men mixed in with the bad apples.  Towards late September the drafted men in the “Ninth” began to disappear.

About this time the conscripts began to disappear rapidly.  How they could make their way ––undetected––to the north side of the Potomac is a mystery, explainable only by the supposition that guard and teamsters were bribed to favor their escape.  On the 28th Lieutenant-Colonel [Joseph A.] Moesch,  other officers, and Sergeant [Benjamine F.]  Bowne, with a detail for guard, who had been sent to New York for the purpose, arrived with three hundred and sixty-five conscripts.  What a medley!  A number of them could not speak English.  Many of them were French Canadians, and had doubtless been sent on as substitutes for drafted citizens.

When it was afterwards learned that among the recruits were criminals, who had been induced to enlist in the army in order to escape incarceration in jail, the old members were justly indignant.  It is a fact that judges of petty courts gave the convicted prisoners the choice of going to jail or enlisting in the army or navy!   Is it to be wondered at, that when the three years for which the regiment enlisted had expired, the original members refused to reenlist, as a body, in the old regiment ?

In April 1864, many of these troublesome men took the opportunity to transfer to the Navy at the Government's behest.

A call having been made for volunteers for the Navy from among the soldiers, about thirty of the Ninth ––all of them “Conscripts” ––left on the 6th [April, 1864]  for their new duty.

The 16th Maine and 39th Mass., didn't seem to have the same problem with their "substitutes" that the other regiments in the brigade experienced.  The 39th MA was a new regiment, just arrived in the field in July 1863, so it wasn't necessary to honor them by filling their ranks with criminal conscripts.  They didn't need any new men.  They wrote:

During these days [August, 1863]  many drafted men arrive and are added to certain older regiments, though the permanent good derived from their coming is hardly commensurate with the trouble and expense incident to their presence.**

The 16th Maine didn't make a fuss in their regimental history about the recruits they received.  In fact, the Maine boys were often the victims of theft committed by the 13th MA recruits.  Perhaps the drafted men in Maine were too far off from Boston and New York to take in substitutes who participated in the summer draft riots.  The 16th Maine simply recorded that on April 22nd,  “Fifty men were transferred to the navy and veteran reserve corps.”

*Hussy, Ninth NY p. 293.
**Roe, 39th MA, p. 99.

Charles E. Davis, Jr. in his inimitable style records the transfer of the 13th MA "recruits" to the navy.

From, “Three Years in the Army, Thirteenth Massachusetts Volunteers” by Charles E. Davis, Jr; Estes & Lauriat, Boston, 1894.

In accordance with an act of Congress, approved February 24, 1864, an order was issued from Army Headquarters on the 29th of March, containing a provision that “Any person now in the military service of the United States, who shall furnish satisfactory proof that he is a mariner by vocation, or an able seaman, or an ordinary seaman, may enlist into the navy, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the President of the United States.”  The regulations provided that the commanding officer of each company should forward all applications for transfer with the proof that the applicants were mariners by vocation. 

When the news of the passage of this order reached the army some of the boys thought a transfer to the navy might be a good way to round off their three years’ service;  but, as the provisions of the act were read, it was seen that unless a man could splice the main brace, dance a hornpipe, or was master of other nautical accomplishments, such as hitching up the trowsers, a habit peculiar to man-of-war’s men, or he could tell when the sun crossed the foreyard, he could not be accepted.  The only nautical experience most of us had was that gained by paddling a raft on a duck-pond during our school days, which was not sufficient to come within the meaning of  “vocation.”  There were times when fatigued by long marches, or when compelled to rest one’s bones on the unyielding surface of the frozen ground, that we wished ourselves snugly stowed away in a hammock between decks, undisturbed by the inclemency of the weather.  In spite of the allurements of comfort, which our imaginations associated with a  “Life on the ocean wave,” we hesitated before jumping from the frying-pan into the fire.  Even the natural hankering which the human mind has for riches, and which was said might be gratified by the distribution of prize-money, failed to stimulate our cupidity.

Our companions, the substitutes, looked at the matter differently.   They were disgusted with the tiresome routine of a soldier’s life, and longed to go where rations of rum were provided with regularity.  Some of these men had served in the navy under other names, and knew what they were talking about.  According to the government’s idea, the vigor and strength that rum was supposed to impart to the muscles of a sailor was unnecessary to the soldier.

There were twenty-six of our roistering buccaneer bounty-jumpers who availed themselves of the provisions of the order, and they were promptly transferred, and it was “good riddance to bad rubbish” when they left.

According to Samuel Johnson, “Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.”  Hence the appropriateness of transferring our substitutes.

The original orders were transcribed in Regimental Company Books, of which Companies A and E were found, and downloaded, at the genealogy website “Family Search.”

Company A

Company E

Names of Recruits who Transferred to the Navy, April 22nd, 1864

Calvin Conant reported 26 men went off to join the navy, and historian Charles E. Davis, jr. wrote the same number into the regimental history. Warren Freeman also wrote home and said  26 substitutes were transferred.  There was no list of names accompanying these reports.  Consulting rosters in the MA Adjutant General's Report of 1864, and what records I could find in the original Regimental Books, I came up with 25 in number.  So, apparently, someone is missing.  But so many of the Conscripts gave false names when they mustered into service, and so many duplicate names exist within their ranks its hard to determine who is number 26.  Here is the list as far as I could determine from official records.

COMPANY A John Francis age, 25, Azore Islands, seaman; George Happleton, age 22, England, butcher; Leroy Gott, age 24, England, seaman; William Hudson, age 25, Ireland, laborer; Michael Keeting, age 22, Ireland, seaman; George Keith, age 29, Ireland, seaman; James Murphy, age 24, Ireland, seaman; John Robertson, age 26, England, seaman. COMPANY B John J. Gibson, age 30, Nova Scotia, seaman. COMPANY D James Begley, age 25, England, sailor; William Brown, age 35, Scotland, sailor. COMPANY E Archibald Anderson, age 25, Scotland, seaman; David Brand, age 28, Scotland, carpenter; Edward Coleman, age 21, England, seaman; John E. Evans, age 22, England, seaman; James King, age 26, Ireland, seaman; Edward Pelham, age 28, England, seaman. COMPANY F John Hanson, age 21, Canada, seaman; James Martin, age 21, England, laboror; Henry McCurdle, age 23, Ireland, seaman; Michael Murphy, age 27, Ireland, seaman. COMPANY G Frank Brown, age 23, Nova Scotia, seaman; James Kelly, age 22, England, seaman;

COMPANY H Henry Johnson, age 33, Germany, mariner. COMPANY I Augustine Morrison, age 26, Scotland, baker.

Letter of Warren Freeman, April 22, 1864

Sergeant Warren H. Freeman, himself an early recruit who joined the regiment in January, 1862, sums up the feelings of the old soldiers towards the departing recruits in this letter home dated April 22nd.

April 22. –– We shall not probably move for some days yet, although all the sutlers have been ordered to the rear, and everything is being made ready for the recommencement of the war on an extensive scale.  When we move we are to carry eight day’s rations in our haversacks.

General Grant visited our corps again about two weeks since;  we were simply drawn up in line in our regimental camp;  he rode by each regiment.  He is rather an ordinary looking man;  I should sooner take him for a chaplain than a great general.  I presume he has about 100,000 men in this army now.

I came off picket again yesterday;  we had nice weather the whole three days.  While out there some of the boys found some arrow-heads:  they are stone, wrought out in the shape of darts;  there was probably an Indian encampment here at some former period.

We got rid of twenty-six of our subs this morning;  they are transferred to the navy.  There were eight out of our company;  they seemed willing to go, and we did not shed a tear at parting.  I think they would not be reliable soldiers in front of the enemy.

On the 16th Lieutenant-colonel Batchelder received his discharge, and Dr. Whitney rejoined us after about six months’ imprisonment in Libby prison.

So Joseph P. Burrage’s remains were brought home in December, and there were funeral services in the Orthodox Church before the town authorities, and many relatives and friends, and Rev. Mr. Cady pronounced a discourse, full of beautiful passages illustrative of the life of this noble and brave youth;  but in the description of the brief struggle near Lookout Mountain, where Joseph gave up his life, he was thrilling indeed;  so you write –– well, the sad task could not have been in better hands –– for Mr. Cady does excel in productions of this kind;  and good Deacon Field has reproduced, for gratuitous distribution, this well deserved tribute, in the highest style of the art of printing;  and dispenses the same in the most liberal manner –– four copies coming to our family.  Please thank him for me for my copy. I trust I may live to return home to peruse it.

But I will draw to a close.  Please remember me to all who may inquire after    Warren.

Keeping Tabs on the Conscripts

Charles E. Davis, Jr. reported 185 recruits joined the regiment in late July, 1863.  I counted 195, checking against the Adjutant General's Report, but Davis noted, many of the men forgot the alias names they enlisted under, and there were several duplicate names in the roster. There were 4 men namd Thomas Sullivan for instance. However, considering Corporal Conant's diary entry regarding the desertion of Thomas Mahoney, and the departure of a large number who were transferred to the navy, (26 reported, but I could only account for 25) there were still about 63 recruits left in the ranks in late April, after the transfer of some to the navy.   Using the rosters tallied on the “Conscripts” page of this website,*  Company A had 9, (4 more whom would desert on May 5th, before the Battle of the Wilderness);  Company B had 3;  Company C had 6,  (2 of whom deserted on April 24 & 25 respectively);  Company D had 8;  Company E had 7;  Company F had 8;  Company G had 5, (1 of whom deserted May 4th);  Company H had 6; and Company K had 2.   So another 11 deserted before the Battle of the Wilderness, fought on May 5th & 6th 1864, bringing the number of  “recruits” in the ranks down to about 52.  Three of these were killed in the coming campaigns and three were wounded.

*The roster on that page compared the Massachusetts Adjutant General's report of 1864 against the roster of the 13th Mass. Vols. as printed in their history. See Site Map / History Detail Pages / On The Rappahannock; Part 2, The Consripts.

John Parra

Recruit John Parra may account for the 26th conscript sent away on the 22nd, although his record states he transferred to the Department of the Northwest on April 20th.  Parra was a deserter from the Confederate Army.  Sergeant Melvin Walker of Company K, told his version of John Parra's story with some detail in his memoir, “A Personal Experience.”  This story is posted on "The Conscripts" page of this website; (Summer; 1863).  Walker was friends with Sergeant Austin Stearns, also of K Company.  Here is Stearns telling of John Parra's story.

Quite a number of rebel soldiers had enlisted in our army and they were afraid of being taken prisoners, so the oppertunity was given them to go west and fight the Indians.  John Parra of K company who came to us as a sub and in fact the only one that did not desert, availed himself of this priviledge.  His story is quite unique. 

He said he was from a wealthy family in Havana Cuba, that when he was young he was in the Lopez insurrection,* was captured and tried and sent to Spain to serve a life sentence in the chain gang.  After serving a few years, through the influence of his family and his youth he was pardoned, but was never to set foot again on Spanish soil. He was engaged in the tobacco business in Vicksburg Miss., was married and had children when the war broke out.  Not being a citizen, he thought he was safe from the army.  In the second year they raised a company in Vicksburg and he was urged to go as a cook, which he did with the promise that he would never be called upon to fight.  After a short time a gun was placed in his hands and he had to take his turn with the rest.  In one of the Western battles he was taken prisoner and soon after he took the oath of allegiance to the U.S.

Coming to New York he thought to establish himself in business in a small way and, finding one of his countrymen, he obtained a loan of a few hundred dollars and was just ready to start when he found one of his old chums of the Lopez expedition and the joy was so great and the liquor so strong that he had no money when he came to himself.  Massachusetts was paying three hundred dollars bounty, and he immediately enlisted and sent the money to the friend who had loaned him some.

*One of the expeditions led by Narcisco Lopez, an advocate of Cuba's annexation to the United States, between 1848 and 1854.  For more about the Lopez Expedition, and John Parra's story, see, "The Conscripts" page of this website.

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