CHAPTER V

 

 

DEPARTURE OF THE SECOND • ITS ROSTER • CAMP CURTIN • LEAVE THE STATE WITHOUT BEING MUSTERED INTO THE UNITED STATES SERVICE• MARCHING WITHOUT ORDERS • BALTIMORE

• SANDY HOOK • DISCONTENT AMONG THE MEN • REFUSAL TO TAKE THE OATH • SENT HOME IN DISGRACE • STRANGE MISMANAGEMENT• MARCH TO BERLIN

 

THE news of the disastrous battle of Bull Run being received, orders were issued for the Second Regiment to prepare to move on the morning of the 24th of July, and accordingly about nine o'clock, they bid farewell to the camp, and marched through Easton across the Lehigh to the depot. Pomp's Cornet Bank escorted them, the bells were rung, the citizens cheered, and the ladies waved their handkerchiefs. The organization of the regiment was as follows:

Colonel, Wm. B. Mann. Lieutenant-Colonel, A. L. Magilton. Major, Wm. McCandless. Adjutant, . Quartermaster, Charles F. Hoyt. Surgeon, Thomas B. Reed. Assistant Surgeon, J. W. Lodge. Sergeant Major, Augustus T. Cross. Quartermaster Sergeant, Wesley S. Mann.

Company A. - Captain, G. A. Woodward. First Lieutenant, R. H. Loudon. Second Lieutenant, Horace Neide.

Company B. - Captain, P. McDonough. First Lieutenant, John D. Schock. Second Lieutenant, John J. Gill.

Company C. - Captain, James N. Byrnes. First Lieutenant, John B. Robinson. Second Lieutenant, Frank Fox.

Company D. - Captain, R. Ellis. First Lieutenant, John Curley. Second Lieutenant, George Young.

Company E. - Captain J. Orr Finnie. First Lieutenant, J. Baxter Fletcher. Second Lieutenant, Alexander Black.

Company F. - Captain, Thomas Bringhurst. First Lieutenant, George W. Kite. Second Lieutenant, William J. D. Edwards.

 

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Company G. - Captain, E. M. Woodward. First Lieutenant, Henry A. Scheetz. Second Lieutenant, John K. Brown.

Company H. - Captain, Timothy Mealey. First Lieutenant, Peter Summers. Second Lieutenant,

Company I - Captain, William Knox, First Lieutenant, Tho­mas Weir. Second Lieutenant, John H. Jack.

Company K - Captain, P. I. Smith. First Lieutenant, Isaac J. Harvey. Second Lieutenant, James C. Justus.

Amidst the cheers of the crowd the cars moved off, and the day being excessively warm, the boys soon proceeded to produce venti­lation by knocking the sides out of the freight cars, with the butts of their muskets. Although the tops of the cars were crowded, and the bridges on the road were very low, but one man was hurt during the passage, he receiving a severe contusion on the back of the head, that set him so wild, that it required several men to hold him down to prevent his jumping off. Along the route flags were displayed from the houses, and at the villages the populace turned out en masse to welcome our passage. About four o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at Harrisburg, and marched out to Camp Curtin, where we enjoyed the novelty and romance of sleeping upon the soft green grass, with nothing but the vault of heaven above us, from which descended a copious shower of rain during the night.

All the regiments of the Reserve, we believe, with but one exception, were mustered into the United States service before leaving the State, and it was Colonel Mann's desire we should also be, but as it would cause a delay of some days, the Colonel was induced by Lieutenant-Colonel Magilton, and with the consent of the Governor, to proceed to Baltimore without its being done. Accordingly, at two o'clock the next afternoon we marched to the railroad, and at dark took the cars and proceeded on our way several miles, where we lay on a sideling until near daybreak the next morning, when moving on, we arrived at Baltimore early in the afternoon, and slept that night upon a common opposite the depot.

Upon the regiment being reported to General Dix, who commanded the Department, and he ascertaining we came there without any order, he declined having anything to do with us, until he telegraphed to Simon Cameron, the Secretary of War, upon the sub­ject. Mr. Cameron, probably vexed at such unauthorized proceedings, and being on bad terms with Colonel Mann, on account of his defeat in the gubernatorial convention, replied in a very unsatisfactory manner, when it was determined to move the regiment to Sandy Hook, which point was then reported to be threatened by the rebels under General Jackson.

 

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where we took cards for Sandy Hook. It numbered one thousand and one, officers and men, and were as fine a body of soldiers as ever passed through the city. Their neat new uniform, their steady tramp and well-dressed lines, with their martial bearing, attracted the at­tention of all, and many were the inquiries as to what regiment it was. At the depot they were met by the Union Relief Committee, who supplied them with an abundance of ice water. On the route to Sandy Hook many American flags were displayed, and at Ellicott's Mill unmistakable signs of loyalty were shown by the waving of handkerchiefs and the cheers of the people. We arrived at the "Point of Rocks" about four P. M., where we found two companies of Vermont three months volunteers, guarding that point. The bridge at this place was burnt by the rebels on the 8th of June, and a huge rock, many tons in weight, tumbled upon the track. The rebels may have been picketing on the opposite bank of the Potomac, but whether they were or not, the boys had the satisfaction of imagining they saw them. After an hour's delay, we started on, finding the road picketed for twelve miles up, the distance to Sandy Hook, where we arrived after dark, and found many of the three months men on their way home, their time having expired, and all the army having that day crossed to the Maryland shore of the Potomac, except a few left to occupy Harper's Ferry, about two miles above. It had been raining hard through the afternoon, the night was exceedingly dark and unpleasant, and after remaining a long while awaiting orders, the men laid down along the road and went to sleep.

The next morning was oppressively hot, and after making cof­fee, we formed and marched to Pleasant Valley, a table-land pla­teau, about a mile back from, and some four hundred feet above, the Potomac. This valley lies between the mountains known as Maryland Heights, abutting opposite Harper's Ferry, and a spur of the Blue Ridge, terminating on the Potomac, at the village of Knoxville, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, overlooking Harper's Ferry, Sandy Hook, and Knoxville, and commanding the country roads running from the former place towards Hagerstown and Frederick. The location was unassailable, except from the opposite Virginia or Loudon Heights, which would really command the position, but for the existence of obstacles almost insuperable to the placing of any battery there. Here we encamped in a wheat stubble-field, and received our camp equipage and tents.

The night of our arrival, the regiment was reported to General Banks, commanding the Department of the Shenandoah, whose first inquiry was by whose authority we came there, and upon his ascertaining we had come upon our "own hook," he declined to have any-

 

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inquiry was by whose authority we came there, and upon his ascertaining we had come upon our "own hook." he declined to have anything to do with us, until he communicated with the War Department. The General, however, assigned us camping grounds, and the next day before night, the Colonel succeeded in obtaining for the men a part of a ration, by indemnifying the commissary of subsistence from any loss.

Discontent among the men soon commenced showing itself, and was increased from the fact of our being encamped next to the Twenty-Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, of which De Korponay was Lieutenant-Colonel and who received their full ration, and of a much better quality than our own. A rumor, that obtained much credence among the men, was put afloat, to the effect, that they being out of the State of Pennsylvania, and not mustered into the United States service, there was no power to hold them. Soon after it came to the knowledge of General Banks that an officer of another regiment was tampering with the men, and had offered to enlist them in his regiment if they would riot be mustered in, an order was issued by him prohibiting the enlistment of any of the men, under penalty of cashiering the officer who did so, and directing the drumming out of camp if any of them were found enlisted. This discontent, there is not the slightest doubt, was countenanced and encouraged by a field officer of our own regiment, whose object was to bring Colonel Mann into bad repute, and wear the eagles upon his own shoulders. Secret meetings were held by the men, and the ringleaders were led to suppose that if the regiment was broken up, they would be sent to Philadelphia, and that the would-be-Colonel would obtain permission to reorganize them, and they would be made officers.

This discontent continued until the 1st of August, when it reached its climax. That afternoon Lieutenant-Colonel Fitz John Porter, U.S.A., "the extreme West Pointer," was sent by General Banks to muster the regiment in. Commencing on the right, he discovered mutinous intentions among a portion of the men, which extended to every company in the regiment. This was increased by his very injudicious remarks, he apparently caring very little whether the men were mustered in or not. When they were ordered to hold up their right hand and take the oath of allegiance to their Government, about one-fourth refused to do so. The reasons assigned by them were, that they were armed with smooth-bored muskets, (the only ones the Government at that time could give them,) their crowded tents, (five in each,) bad rations, (better than some of them got at home,) not having overcoats, (in the middle of Summer,) their unwillingness to serve under Colonel Mann, (their own choice,) they,

 

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in fact, like all other men who were doing wrong, using every subterfuge to justify their conduct. They were marched to their quarters, and the names of all who had taken the oath, forwarded to headquarters.

The next morning the regiment was again called out to have the oath administered, and to the surprise of all, those who had taken the oath the day before, were required to take it again, they being informed that those who refused would be sent home in disgrace. The consequence of such injudicious proceedings was what might have been expected, and instead of one-fourth, nearly one-third, or three hundred and twenty refused. They were then marched to General Thomas' headquarters, ordered to stack arms, divest themselves to their accoutrements, and strip off their blouses and blue pants, retaining only their linen pants and shirts. An order was then issued detailing eleven officers, leaving five companies without any officers, to conduct them to Philadelphia, it stating, "This order is peremptory, and must not be disobeyed." Late that afternoon they left Sandy Hook in a special train, the men giving Lieutenant-Colonel Magilton three cheers at their departure. They conducted themselves very orderly, and at Broad and Prime Streets were dismissed to their homes, but how they were received we know not.

The officers, having learned Governor Curtin was in the city, proceeded to the Continental Hotel to call upon him, but he at first declined having an interview with them. Having granted one, however, what was their surprise and indignation at being shown a telegram he had just received from General Banks' Assistant Adjutant-General, stating that they, and over three hundred of the men, having refused to take the oath of allegiance, had been sent home in disgrace. A few moments conversation, however, satisfied His Excellency that a gross and dishonorable deception had been practiced by some officer of the regiment upon General Banks, and he expressed his willingness to issue an order to have the officers mustered in immediately, and furnish them with transportation back to their regiment. But as the officers had been mustered in, the or­der was unnecessary.

Upon their arrival back at Sandy Hook, they were met with another unaccountable surprise, in finding that the men whom they had left in camp, and who had been sworn into the service twice before, had been called upon that day to take the oath for the third time. "It is necessary," said the men, "for a good soldier to carry a Bible with him to be sworn in on, or he will find himself discharged before he knows anything about it." In fact, many of the men, finding it easier to get out of the service than to stay in it, concluded to

 

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go home and enter some other regiment, and out of one thousand and one men who marched through Baltimore two weeks before, but a little over four hundred remained. The men whose officers had been sent home with the deserters, being told they would not return, and that they would be transferred to other companies, left almost in a body.

Who was responsible for such unaccountable and criminally mismanaged proceedings, the reader must judge for himself. It is just to those men to state, though they deserted the flag when almost within sight of the enemy, that, with few exceptions, they entered the service again, and their blood has been poured out upon almost every battlefield of the Army of the Potomac.

On Sunday morning the 11th, the Independent Rangers, of Philadelphia, Captain Wm. McMullin, who were encamped nearby, started home, being escorted to the cars by Company D. The next morning, The First City Troop of Philadelphia Light Cavalry, Captain James, broke camp and marched homeward, via Hagerstown and Baltimore, being escorted a distance on their way by the Twenty­Eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel Geary. These two companies, at the request of the general, had consented to remain some time after their term of service expired, for which they received his thanks.

On the 13th, Colonel Geary received orders to march to the Point of Rocks, twelve miles down the Potomac, and after dark they got into motion, a guide being employed to pilot them by a back road, to prevent the movement being discovered by the enemy. The night was exceedingly dark, and the pilot having intentionally or unintentionally lost the way, and not having any desire to become a stockholder in the Colonel's lead mine, thought it prudent to de­camp; so the Colonel, after hunting around for him for some time, with pistol in hand, turned into a narrow road which proved to be a private lane. As the baggage wagons were passing through the barn yard one of them upset, which was followed by considerable noise, occasioned by the braying of mules, and the shouting and cursing of the teamsters. The Colonel went to the house to procure a lantern, but all his pounding, shouting and throwing stones at the windows, produced no effect. At last he heard meek, tremulous voices issuing from the cellar, and discovered the old folks and children in their night clothes, down there praying for deliverance from the battle they supposed was raging around their house.

On the 14th, orders were received to reduce our baggage as much as possible, and to pack up and send to Harrisburg the extra articles left by the deserters. About one A. M., while in the midst of

 

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the work, the drums beat the "long roll," and the men, dropping everything, were soon in line with their muskets and cartridge boxes. When Dr. Reed went to the hospital to get his instruments, he found his patients hurrying on their clothes, against which he remonstrated without avail, and before he could get a guard to enforce his orders, the sick were in the ranks and could not be got out. Leaving the camp "topsy turvy," in charge of the cooks and teamsters, we started off, and hurrying across the canal at Knoxville, proceeded down the towpath to Berlin, about four miles below, where a party of rebs had been firing upon the pickets of the Nineteenth New York, but with no other effect than the knocking over of some camp kettles and the scattering of their contents. Here we stacked arms and stretched ourselves upon the grass watching an old rascal on horseback wav­ing a white flag, and who doubtlessly was calculating our strength.

On the 8th of June, the rebels burnt the long and substantial bridge that spanned the river at this point, and the only wagon com­munication between the two shores, were the fords above and below the piers. About two weeks back, the rebels had brought an old iron twelve-pounder cannon that had its muzzle knocked off, and was fastened with chains to the front wheels of an old wagon, which they posted on the opposite hills to command the village. They thought it prudent to withdraw the same night and, hiding their cannon, they left, intending to return the next night and get it. The Berlinites, however, found it out, and slipping over brought it away, and at night it was stationed on the pier of the bridge, behind a bulwark of hay bales. Being minus of grape shot, they cut the iron braces of the bridge into slugs, which were about as good as anything else to fire out of it. After remaining here until it was ascertained that the rebels had decamped, we about-faced, and retraced our steps to camp, but all the spirit of the boys was gone, and our march was a quiet one. We arrived about dark, and had a late, but welcome supper.

At this time the Army of the Shenandoah picketed the Potomac for the distance of fifty miles, from Williamsport about twenty miles above the Ferry, until the line joined that of the Army of the Potomac, some thirty miles below. The enemy picketed on the south bank for an equal distance, we having abandoned Virginia, except in the immediate neighborhood of Harper's Ferry.

The greater portion of the rebel army under General Johnson, having joined Beauregard at Manassas, and left the valley of the Shenandoah and the upper Potomac comparatively bare of troops, which relieved all anxiety for the safety of Maryland and Pennsylvania, it was determined to make a corresponding movement of our forces towards Washington, which was not yet considered safe. There-

 

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fore, orders were issued on the night of the 16th, to be prepared to march early the next morning with three days' cooked rations in haversacks. Fortunately, the paymaster, Major Maxwell, arrived that day and paid the regiment off for the twenty-one days owed by the State of Pennsylvania, we having been transferred to the United States service on the 21st of July. This money was very acceptable to the empty pockets of the men, and was duly appreciated by the citizens of Maryland on our march through their State.

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