Читать книгу A Summer in Maryland and Virginia; Or, Campaigning with the 149th Ohio Volunteer Infantry - George Perkins - Страница 5

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The winter of 1863–4 on the banks of the Rapidan was passed in preparation by both Grant and Lee’s armies for that wrestle of giants that was to begin in May in the wilderness and end at Appomattox in the following April.

In the southwest Sherman had won Missionary Ridge and Chicamauga and was getting ready for his Atlanta campaign, and a great force was doing garrison duty at various points. General Grant told the President that if he could have thirty thousand new men to relieve the veterans, he could capture Richmond and push the war to an end during the summer. This was a difficult proposition on account of resistance to the draft, and the vigorous activity of the Knights of the Golden Circle and the copperheads in the North.

President Lincoln, however, acting on the suggestion, called to Washington for conference the loyal Governors of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. At this meeting Governor John Brough of Ohio said he would furnish thirty thousand men to serve for one hundred days. Governor Morton of Indiana promised twenty-five thousand. Governor Yates of Illinois twenty thousand, and Stone of Iowa, ten thousand. Governor Brough returned to Ohio, and at once began active work.

On April 23d he issued general order No. 12 calling the National Guard of Ohio into active service for one hundred days, unless sooner discharged, to rendezvous on Monday, May 2d, and to report on that day the number of men present for duty. This call was responded to with alacrity, reports coming in showing thirty-two thousand present. The 27th Regiment of Ross County reported five hundred and ninety-six men.

This Regiment had been organized under a law passed in 1863, forming the Militia into volunteer Companies and Regiments. The 27th was enrolled with the following roster of officers: Colonel, Allison L. Brown; Lt. Col., James H. Haynes; Major, Ebenezer Rozelle; Adjutant, Robert Larrimore; Quartermaster, D. C. Anderson.

The North had suffered an enormous drain upon her resources, had seen her men sent home from the front, suffering from disease and wounds, pitiful survivors of battles in which thousands had gone down to death. The romance and glamor of war had gone, the horror of it remained. There was scarcely a family in the North who did not suffer sorrow that cannot be described, hardly a fireside that did not mourn for a husband or lover, brother or friend, who went forth with pride, never to return. Under such circumstances the men of the hundred days service, knowing just what to expect, hastily arranged their affairs, and from the stores, work-shops and farms, flocked to the defence of their country in the hour of its direst need.

On Wednesday, May 4th, the 27th Regiment O. N. G. reported at Camp Dennison. It was a cold, disagreeable day. Snow fell that afternoon, a day on which men would rather have remained by their own fireside, but a firm determination of duty urged them on.

It was found necessary now to have a reconstruction of the Regiments and Battalions. The eight companies of the 27th were by consolidation reduced to seven. Three companies of the 55th Battalion from Clinton County were added, making ten companies. By orders, the Lieut. Colonel and Adjutant were relieved, and returned to their homes. The Regiment entered the United States service as the 149th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

In the organization of the National Guard, it was generally understood that it was for state service only. The call for active service came at a time when to go entailed great personal sacrifice of business interests on the part of its members. Farmers with scarcity of help, turned over their work to their wives, who in this time of emergency proved themselves helpmeets indeed, carrying the business of the season thru. A few of the members of the Guard were discontented, and by the help of Southern sympathizers, endeavored to fan this sentiment into a flame, and to induce the men to refuse to enter the service. However, to the credit of the men, after an address, delivered by Governor Brough at Camp Dennison, only one Company of the Guard refused to go, and they were promptly and dishonorably mustered out. The officers of the 149th O. V. I. as re-organized were as follows: Colonel, Allison L. Brown; Lieut. Colonel, Owen West; Major, E. Rozelle; Adjutant, T. Q. Hildebrant; Q. M., D. C. Anderson; Surgeon, W. A. Brown; Assistant Surgeon, B. F. Miesse; Chaplain, W. Morris. Non-commissioned staff: Sgt. Major, George L. Wolfe; Quartermaster Sgt., Austin H. Brown; Commissary Sgt., Edward F. Beall; Hospital Steward, James F. Sproat.

From May 4th until the 11th the Regiment remained at Camp Dennison, during which time they were uniformed, armed and equipped, and mustered into the United States service. On the night of May 11th orders came for the Regiment to report to Gen. Lew Wallace at Baltimore, Md., going by way of Columbus and Pittsburg. We started at midnight, being crowded into box cars, without a seat or bed except the floor. We rode in this manner for three days and four nights. Thursday noon found us still south of Xenia, and did not reach Pittsburg until Friday evening. There the Regiment was handsomely received. We marched to a hall where a bountiful supper was provided for us by the loyal ladies of that city. That supper to the tired, hungry soldiers was an event long to be remembered. The good people of Pittsburg fed every Regiment that passed through, going or returning. Early the next morning we passed Altoona, Pa., and the great “Horse Shoe Bend.” At this point one of the brakes on our car dropped to the track as we were descending the steep mountain grade; we could hear it “bump, bump,” on the track, but luckily it held, or the history of the 149th would have ended then and there. Nothing could have prevented the train rolling over the mountain side.

However, the longest ride must have an end. Our train pulled into Baltimore at 3 o’clock Sunday morning. As soon as possible Col. Brown reported to General Wallace, and the Regiment was assigned to duty at several points in the city, relieving the 8th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, Col. Porter commanding. Col. Porter with his command, two thousand strong, immediately left for the front, and after six weeks but seven hundred remained, the Col. and all of his staff being killed.

Companies A and F 149th were assigned to Fort No. 1 on the outskirts of Baltimore, Capt. Wm. W. Peabody of Co. A being appointed Garrison Commander.

Between the days of May 4 and 16, 35,982 men, composing forty-one Regiments and one Battalion, were consolidated, organized, mustered, clothed, armed and turned over to the United States military authorities for assignment. The Guard was composed of the most substantial men left in the state, men of every department of trade, and of every profession. Ohio had at that time sent ten per cent of her entire population into the army. What a sacrifice on the altar of the country was this great outburst of patriotism.

Companies A and F settled down to routine garrison duty at Fort No. 1. Cooks were detailed and the men assigned to barracks, Co. A occupying the first floor and Co. F the second. The duties of the day after roll call consisted of dress parade and guard mounting. Guard duty, was by detail, two hours on, and four hours off each being held for duty twenty-four hours. Time was given the men for many trips into the city, and this part of our service was very pleasant and safe. Many of our friends from Ohio came to visit us while we were there and brought money, and good things to eat for the boys. Four Companies of the Regiment were assigned to Fort Federal Hill, and Cos. D, K and I at Headquarters in Baltimore. On May 25th several companies were sent to the eastern shore of Maryland, with Headquarters at Salisbury. They had orders to quell the rebellion sympathizers, and to do Provost guard duty at that point, to guard the telegraph lines and to patrol the Bay for smugglers. The author’s service being with Company A, he is more conversant with the movements of the Regiment in which that Company took part. The memory of it all is dim. Like a dream in the night, it is misty and seems to have occurred ages ago. We who were just boys of from fifteen to eighteen years of age at that time, are now the aged and broken veterans, and the youngsters of today look upon us, just as we used to think of the old Revolutionary soldiers, when we were young. But we were having too good a time in Baltimore for it to last. The last opportunity we had to go down town was on the evening of the 4th of July when there was a grand display of fireworks.

About this time we began to hear rumors of Gen. Early’s invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and it was reported that he was marching on toward Baltimore. He came within four miles of the city and burned the residence of Governor Bradford. In Baltimore the excitement was intense. The bells of the city on that Sunday morning called the citizens to man the Forts, to dig ditches, and throw up earthworks, instead of the church service, and thousands responded to the all. Lieutenant Runkle of the regulars assumed command at Fort No. 1 and began a rigid drill in heavy artillery, our guns were manned, loaded with shell and sighted at prominent houses, groves, etc., that might give shelter to the enemy. This drill was kept up for two days and nights, the men sleeping at their posts, expecting the ball to open at any moment. But Early withdrew his forces and with haste, again entered the Shenandoah Valley.

On July 1st General Early received orders to invade Maryland and advance on Washington. He began preparations by forcing General Siegel to retreat to Maryland Heights where he was cooped up. Early moved by flank, entered Maryland and advanced to Frederick City. On the 9th of July the battle of Monocacy was fought. We at Fort No. 1 began to see some of our soldiers come in from the battle field, among them being Assistant Surgeon Miesse and Chaplain Morris, who stopped at the Fort and gave us an account of the battle. Gen. Wallace had gathered a force of twenty-eight hundred men, consisting of one Maryland Regiment and the rest were hundred days men, among them being the 144th Ohio, and seven companies of the 149th. On the 8th of July a brigade of Ricketts’ Division of the Sixth Corps came up on a train of cars bound for Harper’s Ferry. Wallace informed the Commander “that if he wanted to get to Harper’s Ferry he would have to get the consent of Jubal Early.” He stopped the Brigade and put it in position. During the night Ricketts came up with his other Brigade. He wanted to know what Wallace proposed to do, and was informed that he proposed to fight. Ricketts laughed and said, “with my division and your hundred day men you have only about 6,000. Do you expect to whip Early?” “No,” replied Wallace, “but I propose to make him do two things, develop his strength and whither he is bound.”

If bound for Washington he thought he could delay him at least twenty-four hours, and it would take him two more days to get to Washington, and in that time Grant could get troops from City Point in time to save the Capitol, but without that Early would be in Washington when there was not a man in the entrenchments. Gen. Ricketts agreed with him, and his division was placed. Colonel Brown was ordered to the Stone Bridge over the Monocacy where the Frederick and Baltimore turnpike crosses. His orders were to hold the bridge at all hazards, but if pressed too hard the men were to scatter and save themselves the best they could. The forces under Wallace numbered 5,500, while those of Early were 23,000 of the pick of the Confederate Armies.

Long before daylight on July 9th the 149th was in position at the bridge. They did not have to wait long until Early’s troops were seen passing through Frederick, bound for Washington. Then came the tug of war. Gen. Wallace deployed his men as skirmishers and attracted the attention of the enemy, the object being to deceive him as to the numbers opposing him. They held him in check from daylight until late in the afternoon. During the last hour the only force opposing this veteran army of Earlys was the 149th Ohio. At four o’clock in the afternoon Wallace seeing that his army would be either captured or annihilated, ordered a retreat of all but the 149th. This Regiment was to cover the retreat, and to be sacrificed to save the rest of the army. This was shown by the orders sent to Col. Brown, which were as follows:

4:30 P. M., July 9th, 1864.

Colonel:

Major General Wallace directs me to say that he directs that you hold your position to the very last extremity, and, when nothing more can be done, that you fall back, and if pressed, direct your men to disperse and take care of themselves. This is to be done when nothing more can be done to retard the enemy’s progress.

Respectfully,

E. B. Tyler,

Brig. Gen.

Col. Brown was unaware of the retreat of the rest of the army and was left alone in advance of the stone bridge, beating back the repeated attacks of the enemy until 5:30. At that time a farmer living near informed him of the retreat of the whole Union army except his Regiment, and that they were a mile and a half away. So he gave the order to retreat. Adjutant Hildebrand was sent with three companies and deployed as skirmishers on the left. They showed such steadiness that Early stopped to reform his lines, and behind this thin curtain of skirmishers the Regiment cut its way through and escaped to the north and toward Baltimore.

When Col. Brown and his brave little army overtook General Wallace, the latter was much affected. He embraced him, the tears starting from his eyes, and said, “Colonel, I never expected to see you again.”

General Grant in his report says “they saved Washington.” The 149th in this engagement lost 130 men in killed, wounded and prisoners. The performance of the hundred days men was a revelation to the old soldiers, and a surprise to the enemy. They did not know when they were whipped. Everywhere their duty was well performed. On the long forced marches, sometimes hundreds of miles with insufficient rations, suffering from thirst, tramping the dusty roads with blistered feet, it was all done and suffered by the men cheerfully, and as well as by the veterans of long service. I heard one of the men of the 19th Corps say, “We have served for three years but have never seen campaigning like this.” Gen. Tyler in his official report of the battle of Monocacy says:

“It seldom falls to the lot of veterans to be more tried than was the Ohio National Guard at the stone bridge, and none ever carried out trying and hazardous orders better, or with more determined spirit than did the 149th Ohio, and the men associated with it.”

The enemy had seized the time when Grant had depleted the defensive forces of the Capitol, to endeavor to capture Washington. Early charged up to the very boundary of the city expecting to find the rich prize an easy prey, but the stubborn resistance of the Guard at Monocacy and their vigilance in the forts at Washington were more than a match for all the vaunted dash and daring of his veterans, and he was compelled to retire before the raw Militia of the Buckeye State. This was a source of deep humiliation to the dashing Rebel General which he never got over to the day of his death. Whether the hundred days man was on the alert in the entrenchments of the capital, battling at the front with the veteran forces of the Confederacy or skirmishing on the lines of supply with the wary foe in the rugged passes of the Alleghanies, they were each in his place doing their duty manfully toward the great and final victory which came a few months later.

Lincoln and Grant both said that the services of the hundred days men shortened the war, and, that the President appreciated their service was shown by his issuing a special card of thanks, a copy of which was sent to every man in this service. This was a special favor from the hand of our great war President, that no other troops received, and one of which we can well be proud. It was a tribute to bravery from the great, noble heart of the kindest soul that ever lived on earth.

Gen. J. B. Gordon of the Confederate army whose division was with Early in the fight at Monocacy, says:

“The battle of Monocacy was short, decisive and bloody. While the two armies were contemplating each other from the opposite banks, my division was selected, not to prevent Wallace from driving us out of Maryland, but to drive him from our front. My movement was down the right bank of the Monocacy to a fording place below, the object being to cross the river, and then turn upon the Federal stronghold. My hope and effort were to conceal the movement from Wallace’s watchful eye, until my troops were over, and then to apprise him of my presence on his side of the river, by a sudden rush upon his left flank. But Gen. McClausland’s Cavalry had already attacked a portion of his troops, and he discovered the movement of my division before it could drag itself through the water and up the slippery banks. He at once changed front, and drew up his lines in strong position to meet the assault. This movement presented new difficulties. Instead of finding the Union forces still facing Early’s other divisions beyond the river, giving my isolated command the immense advantage of a flank attack, I found myself separated from all the Confederate infantry, with the bristling front of Wallace’s army before me.

“In addition to this I found other troubles which mitigated against the success of my movement. Across the fields through which we were to advance, there were strong and high farm fences which my men must climb while under fire. Worse still these fields were full of grain stacks so high and close together that no line of battle could be maintained while advancing through them. The movement began, and as my men reached the first line of high fencing and began climbing over, they were met by a tempest of bullets, and many fell at the first volley. They pressed on and around the grain stacks, with no possibility of forming allignment or returning effective fire. The men, deprived of the support and strength of a compact line, pushed forward and drove the Federals back to their second line. The Union troops stood firmly in this second position, bravely defending the railroad and highway to Washington. Between the two hostile lines there was a narrow ravine, down which ran a stream of limpid water. In this ravine the fighting was desperate and at close quarters. To and fro the battle swayed across the little stream, the dead and wounded on both sides mingling their blood in its waters, and when the struggle was ended a crimson current ran toward the river. Nearly one-half of my men fell there. Wallace’s army, after the most stubborn resistance, was driven in the direction of Baltimore. The Confederate victory was won at fearful cost, but it was complete, and the way was opened for Gen. Early’s march to Washington.”

On the 12th day of July Companies A and F under marching orders, left Fort No. 1 and Baltimore for Washington City, where we arrived early the next morning. We lay at the depot until ten o’clock, when we were ordered to “fall in” and with the balance of the Regiment marched up Pennsylvania Ave., greeted by the cheers of the crowds who lined the sidewalks and filled the windows of the buildings. We marched past the White House and the Treasury buildings. At the latter we saw President Lincoln on the steps waving his high hat as we marched by. We went over into Georgetown, where, after a short rest, we joined the 19th Corps in the chase of Early, who, after being repulsed at Fort Stephens retreated to the Shenandoah Valley. We marched to Edwards Ferry, on the Potomac, which we forded about five o’clock in the evening. Disrobing, we tied our clothes around our guns, and at “right shoulder shift arms” entered the water. It was an amusing sight to look up and across the river, at the boys struggling through the water. It was about waist deep and some current. The rocks on the river bottom were slippery, and every little while a boy would go down, gun, clothes and all under water, to struggle on again amid the cheers and laughter of his comrades. But we finally all crossed over and we were told not to dress until we had forded Goose Creek which entered the Potomac a short distance ahead. Early in his haste to get away had burned some of his wagons on the road, and we, in our bare feet had to pick our way carefully through the ashes, which were still glowing. It was amusing. We camped that night on the banks of Goose Creek. The next morning early the march was resumed and we went into camp at Leesburg, Va., where we rested the balance of the day and night. We were ordered to guard the wagon train, and by easy marches reached Snickers Gap on July 17. Our train was halted about a mile back of the Gap and our Regiment camped on a mountain side.