BURNSIDES CAMPAIGN.

 

I.

 

 

FROM ANTIETAM TO FREDERICKSBURG.

 

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With the withdrawal of the invading foe to the south side of the Potomac, General McClellan decided to take advantage of the opportunity offered to rest his army for a short time. His general supplies were scanty,[1] and he was terribly in want of horses. Therefore, when reporting the retreat of the Con­federates to General Halleck, he simply announced his intention of occupying Harper's Ferry,[2] and in accordance with this plan General Sumner took possession of that place on the 22nd. The Bucktails went into camp near Sharpsburg, and the mournful occupation of burying the dead was continued during the i9th, while the wounded were established in hospitals. As the men recovered from their exertions, they exchanged visits with those of other regiments and discussed the probable future movements of the army.

The paucity of commissioned officers present with the Bucktails, and the injurious effect of this lack of efficient leaders, was fully recognized by General Meade. In an endeavor to, in a sense, circumvent the provisions of the law under which

 

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the Reserves had been called into existence,[3] he gave his ap­proval to a petition to be circulated amongst the men. This petition requested that Captain Taylor, of Company H, be commissioned Colonel; that Captain Irvin, of Company K, be commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel; [4]and that Adjutant Harts­horne be commissioned Major.' Approved by Generals Sey­mour and Meade, the petition was forwarded to Governor Curtin, who, however, did not feel justified, even under the existing circumstances, in issuing commissions to men not enti­tled to them according to the law as it then stood. Nor were the commissions made out till the necessary acts of the Legislature were passed in 1863.

On September 30th, Governor Curtin wrote to President Lincoln, calling his attention to the fact that though in July, 1861, the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps had entered the Gov­ernment service numbering  15,760 men, subsequent to the bat­tle of Antietam, the thirteen infantry regiments could not mus­ter 4,ooo. He suggested that the Corps be returned to Harris­burg, where he had little doubt that but a short time would be necessary to recruit it up to its full strength. Not receiving a reply from the President, he then placed himself in communi­cation with General McClellan, who, though he thought well of the proposition, was unable to assent to it, as he had immediate use for the troops.

 

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While the regiment was occupied with its own concerns, the authorities at Washington were anxious that operations by the army should be immediately resumed; yet the Commanding General did not feel justified in moving till his supplies were in better condition and his horses more numerous.

On the 1st of October the President visited the camp in person. He went over the battle-fields of South Mountain and Antietam, and on the 3rd, the Bucktails passed in review before him.

On the 6th General McClellan received an order through General Halleck, from the President, directing him to advance at once.[5] He was given the choice of advancing down the Shenandoah Valley, or of making an advance that would cover Washington. On his choice, however, depended the strength of the reinforcements promised him. Nothing of moment had been done by the loth, when the Confederate General, Stuart, made another of his spectacular raids. With 2,ooo horse, he circled the entire Union rear, regaining Confederate territory unharmed. The Government, stung by this raid, continued to urge prompt movement, but McClellan held back, pleading for clothes and other supplies for his troops. Ultimately, upon the 26th of October, the army got under way, though even then its rate of advance apparently did not satisfy the Government au­thorities.

The Bucktails, strengthened slightly by those, who either at their homes or in the hospitals had recovered their health, marched on the 26th, some twelve miles to the vicinity of South Mountain, proceeding to Berlin, seven miles below Harper's Ferry, on the following day. After lying in camp two days, on the 3oth they crossed the Potomac and bivouacked that night near Lovettsville. Resuming their march on November 1st,

 

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they moved forward to Hamilton. On the 3rd they moved near Union, passing through the town the next day. Resting on the 4th, they were again in motion on the 5th, reaching White Plains. On the morning of the 6th, their division was ordered to proceed to Warrenton, but when a mile away was halted, while the Bucktails were ordered forward. Information being received that the enemy was in possession of the town, which is situated on high ground, half the regiment was de­ployed as skirmishers. Charging forward they soon discovered that there was nothing to dispute their advance, excepting a small body of cavalry, which retired promptly upon being fired upon. The skirmishers were then called in, and at the head of the division, the Bucktails led the way through the town.

The route which the Bucktails, with the First corps to which they belonged, had followed, was southward on the east­ern side of the Blue Ridge, which forms the eastern boundary of the Shenandoah Valley. General McClellan, having decided to advance so as to keep Washington covered, had so moved the troops that with the First, Second and Fifth corps near Warrenton, the Ninth corps on the line of the Rappahannock, the Sixth corps at New Baltimore, Gainesville and Thorough­fare Gap, and the cavalry under General Pleasanton, facing Longstreet, six miles from Culpeper, he was able to state his army was massed near Warrenton, "ready to act in any required "direction" and "perfectly in hand." Though Longstreet was near Culpeper, east of the Shenandoah Valley, Jackson still remained in the Valley itself, and it was McClellan's intention to fall upon his opponent before he could unite his forces, either defeating him in detail, or by forcing him back, to open a route to Richmond.[6]

 

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The night of the 7th was cold, and in the midst of a snow storm, General Buckingham, riding post haste from Washing­ton, .reached General McClellan's tent, bearing an order, issued by order of the President, removing General McClellan and directing General Burnside to assume command.[7]

To the men in the army the announcement came as a blow. "Little Mac" possessed the hearts of nine out of every ten.

General Burnside did not assume actual command until the 9th, preferring to permit General McClellan to finish the move­ments of the troops which he had undertaken. Then instead of taking advantage of the separated condition of the enemy, he decided to move to Fredericksburg, from which place he planned to advance against Richmond.[8] After some delay the army was put into motion towards Fredericksburg, and the Confederates were compelled to follow. General Burnside reorganized the army: the Right Grand division was made to consist of the Second and Ninth corps, under General Sumner; the Center Grand division of the Third and Fifth corps, under General Hooker; and the Left Grand division, of the First and Sixth corps, under General Franklin. Shortly after Antietam, General Reynolds had returned from . Pennsylvania and was assigned to the command of the First corps, to which the division of Pennsylvania Reserves was attached. General Sey-

 

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mour, who had commanded the First brigade of the division at Antietam, had been transferred to a command in South Caro­lina; while the division itself was so reduced numerically that the One-hundred-and-Twenty-First Pennsylvania and the One­hundred-and-Forty-Second Pennsylvania, were attached to it. Its organization then became

Third Division, First Army Corps.

Maj.-Gen. George G. Meade.

First Brigade. Second Brigade

Col. William Sinclair   Col. Albert Magilton

Col. William McCandless 3rd Penna. Reserves

1st Penna. Reserves   4th Penna. Reserves

2nd Penna. Reserves   7th Penna. Reserves

6th Penna. Reserves   8th Penna. Reserves

13th Penna. Reserves   142nd Pennsylvania

                                                                                        (Bucktails )

                                                                                   121St Pennsylvania

 

Third Brigade Brig.

Gen. C. F. Jackson

Col. Joseph Fisher

Lieut.-Col. Robert Anderson

5th Penna. Reserves

9th Penna. Reserves

l0th Penna. Reserves

 11th Penna. Reserves

12th Penna. Reserves

Artillery

1st Pennsylvania light, Battery A.

1st Pennsylvania light, Battery B.

1st Pennsylvania light, Battery G.

5th United States, Battery C[9]

 

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As the Bucktails moved[10] towards Fredericksburg, the orders regarding foraging that had been in force on the Penin­sula were reissued. Private rights were to be respected, and even fence rails were to be held sacred. Campaigning, how­ever, had taught the men that fence rails were unequalled for the purpose of coffee making. Apart from their easy procura­tion they were generally dry, and easily ignited. On one occa­sion, disregarding the orders of their Captain, the Bucktails broke loose before his very eyes, and so improvident were they in their use of this not too plentiful commodity, that there was not enough left for the next morning's breakfast. That this was done, not for the sake of insurbordination, but merely in accordance with Napoleon's declaration that war should be made to support war, is perhaps best illustrated by the experi­ence of Lieutenant Ernest Wright, of Company F. The Lieu­tenant seeing a pig, became so enamored of its charms that he was seized with a desire to possess it. As ill-luck would have it, General Meade, who happened to be passing, saw him, and ordered him to halt. Whether the idea of fresh meat made the Lieutenant reckless, or whether he did not hear, he still pursued his quarry. Upon this General Meade rode up to him and asked him if he did not know that he was disobeying orders; but must have been considerably astonished at the reply he received. In effect the Lieutenant stated that he knew he was transgressing, but that he had little respect for orders that commanded him to go hungry to guard the property of the enemy. Forthwith he was arrested; but that evening, General Meade, upon sending to Regimental Headquarters and finding

 

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that his prisoner was not only a brave and good soldier, but had also recently been promoted, ordered his release.

General Meade, indeed, seems to have had a faculty of appearing where he was not wanted. At a later date, a party of the "Irish Infantry," as Company F was frequently termed, under the general direction of their "Little Orderly," had suc­ceeded in converting a live sheep into dead mutton. The operations on the carcass necessary to prepare it for the fire were being, for obvious reasons, performed in the seclusion of some woods, when General Meade and an orderly appeared. Carrying their "dead" with them, the party retreated through the woods, but the tall figure continued to follow them. Forced to keep moving the men rapidly reached the far side of the woods, beyond which were open fields. There was nothing to do but to drop their booty and run for it. Some of them heard the General calmly direct his Orderly to "Pick that up;" while it was said in camp that evening that "the General was dining "on roast lamb."