Читать книгу The Maryland Line in the Confederate States Army - W. W. Goldsborough - Страница 7

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The morning after the battle of Manassas all seemed chaos, or confusion worse confounded. The cold, disagreeable rain that had set in during the night still continued, and the troops were provided with no means to shelter themselves from the pitiless storm which raged; and to add to this discomfort, the commissary wagons could not be found, and the men were almost entirely without provisions. Staff officers were galloping in every direction, looking for regiments that had been lost on the march of the night before, and it seemed for a while as though the utmost efforts of the general officers and their assistants would never be able to restore order out of all this muddle.

All day long this state of affairs continued. We had gained a great battle, it was true, and had we continued the pursuit, the command would have remained intact to a great degree; but the demoralizing effects of countermarching an army in the moment of victory were here strongly evidenced. The impression had gained ground that an opportunity had been let slip to deal the enemy a fatal blow, and therefore dissatisfaction was expressed on every side, and more than once I heard it said that “if we had not intended following up what successes we might meet with, there was but little gained in fighting the battle.”

Towards evening something like order seemed restored, and we waited in momentary expectation of hearing the command “Forward.” But night came on, and we were still idly facing the pelting rain. Shivering, shaking, and wretched, the troops threw themselves upon the wet ground to await the morrow.

At midnight we were aroused by the rattle of the kettle-drum calling us to arms, and never did men more readily respond to the summons. An order had been received for the First Maryland and the Third Tennessee to accompany Colonel J. E. B. Stuart, with cavalry and artillery, to Fairfax Court House.

The night was intensely dark, and our progress was, therefore, necessarily slow. For hours we toiled through the deep mud, stumbling and falling over rocks, stumps and logs, and mistaking our way every mile, when at daylight we struck the turnpike leading to Alexandria, and but six miles from where we had started.

The rain had now ceased, the clouds grew lighter and lighter, and presently the wind springing up, they were sent fleeting, and dancing, and skipping across heaven’s blue face, to be seen no more, we trusted, for many days to come. Never before had the glorious sun been more heartily welcomed by suffering humanity than it was that morning as it rose with silent majesty in the eastern sky. Never before had it appeared so lovely, never risen with such stately grandeur; and, as we gazed in its full, bright face, and began to feel its warm breath envelop us, we forgot all the sufferings and privations of the past thirty-six hours, and were made as happy as we had just before been miserable.

Evidences of the enemy’s rapid retreat now appeared on every side. The first thing which we encountered was an abandoned wagon, ladened with army bread. Nothing could have been more acceptable, and the troops were bountifully supplied. A little farther a large camp was found, filled with everything conceivable that could contribute to the comfort and efficiency of an army. As we progressed, wagons in great numbers presented themselves, containing army stores, ammunition, arms, etc., while camp kettles, muskets, cartridge boxes, belts, breast-plates, etc., lined the road for miles. Broken-down buggies that had, no doubt, been abandoned by the valiant Yankee members of Congress who had started with the army, bound for Richmond, put in an occasional appearance. At one place a human arm was found that had, no doubt, been amputated in the ambulance which was conveying the sufferer to the rear in the general flight. It evidently had belonged to an officer, for it was of delicate mould and fair as woman’s, and on the little finger was an exquisitely-wrought ring, containing a brilliant and valuable diamond set.

We reached Fairfax Court House by 12 o’clock, where we also found an immense quantity of stores, especially of clothing, which at that time was much needed by the Confederate Government. Nothing could exceed the joy of the inhabitants at once more beholding the gray they loved so well; but more than once they expressed their regret that we had not arrived some hours earlier; “for,” said one of them, “four thousand Yankees left here but this morning, who would have surrendered to a corporal’s guard, and those in advance of them were, if possible, in a worse plight, utterly demoralized, and without the semblance of organization.”

A half mile beyond the village the command went into camp in a woods by the side of the turnpike, there to await orders from General Johnston, whom we supposed moving with the whole army upon Washington, and but a short distance in our rear.

Reclining upon a bundle of straw, resting my tired, aching limbs, I was joined by my first Lieutenant, Shellman, who, with face radiant with joy, informed me that he had just heard the Colonel commanding express his belief that we would surely be in front of Washington before thirty-six hours. With all my heart did I hope it might prove true; but I had my doubts. I did not like the confusion we had witnessed, and feared it would require some days to reorganize the army, and place it in a condition to assume the offensive. That it was possible to yet retrieve the great error committed on the 21st and 22d, I was inclined to believe; but that it would be done was another question; and an observation from a private soldier suggested itself to me more than once. It was made while we were retracing our steps to Manassas after the battle, when all were out of humor. “A President and two Generals,” said he, “are too many to command one army.” And subsequent events proved how correct it was.

As day after day passed by, and there appeared no indications of offensive operations being resumed, our hopes of a speedy peace vanished, and we saw nothing before us but a protracted and bloody struggle.

Rapidly the enemy reorganized and reinforced his broken and discomfited army; and in an incredibly short time the genius of McClellan had placed around Washington an army and fortifications that it would have been madness for the Confederate Generals to attack.

It was determined, however, to present to them a bold front to conceal as much as possible our own numerical inferiority, and, therefore, the Confederates were advanced until they held possession of Mason’s Hill, but five miles from Alexandria. Munson’s Hill was soon after taken also, after a slight resistance; and the Southern army was thereby placed still nearer to the National Capital.

The infantry, under the command of Colonel J. E. B. Stuart, remained some weeks at Fairfax, when it was ordered to Fairfax Station, on the line of the Orange and Alexandria railroad, there to reunite with the balance of the brigade, now commanded by General Elzey. Here we set ourselves down for a long stay, as everything indicated that hostilities would not be renewed until spring, for both governments seemed to have set to work preparing their respective armies for the desperate fighting to be then begun.

Strict and rigid discipline was sought to be enforced throughout the Confederate army; and it was then we saw the incompetency of many of our officers, and had forebodings of the disastrous results likely to accrue from the wretched system adopted by the government of electing officers to companies instead of their being appointed by the Executive after a searching examination by an experienced and competent soldier.

In a measure, the First Maryland Regiment was free from this evil, which was owing principally to the determined steps taken by Colonel Geo. H. Steuart, who had succeeded Colonel Elzey in its command. An old and experienced soldier himself, he soon saw who was competent and who was not. Some of the latter he disposed of in a summary manner, and with others he thought to bide his time. He enforced discipline to the strictest letter of the old army regulations, which, though at first very objectionable to both officers and men of his command, afterwards became popular as the good resulting therefrom developed itself.

Drill by companies was had in the morning of every favorable day, and drill in the afternoon by battalion, with dress parade in the evening. Both officers and men were required to pay the strictest attention to their clothing and person, and the slightest neglect of either would draw from him a rebuke or punishment. The most rigid sanitary regulations were adopted for the camp; and when the neat appearance and healthy condition of the men were contrasted with that of other regiments around us, the most indifferent were stimulated to exert themselves to their utmost in sustaining the commandant in his efforts to promote the health and comfort of those placed under his charge; and, therefore, from its being at first one of the most obnoxious duties which the soldier had to perform, it became one of the most pleasant.

That Colonel Steuart was popular with the regiment upon assuming command, I cannot say. In fact, I believe he was much disliked; but in less than two months he had won the love and affection of all. Where was there such a camp as that of the First Maryland? Where such drill and discipline; such healthy, rugged looking troops; such neat and soldierly fellows? Where was the regiment that could follow them on a long, weary march with that rapid, elastic step for which they were so famous? Nowhere in the Confederacy. Ever vigilant, ever watchful, ever cheerful in the discharge of their duties, they were the pride and boast of the army.

With his officers, Colonel Steuart was strict and exacting, but always kind and courteous. He established a school for their instruction in tactics, and daily they were assembled at his headquarters for recitation; and not for his commission would one of them have appeared before him unable to recite the lessons he had been instructed to get. As a body, they were as intelligent a set of men as could be found in the army. I am compelled to say, however, that there were one or two disgraceful exceptions in the number.

One of these, in particular, was a Captain Edelin, alias Lum Cooper, who had by some means been elected to the command of a fine company, composed principally of young men from Baltimore. Without even the rudiments of a common school education, holding the truth in utter contempt, and a low swaggerer, he had nothing to recommend him but his having lighted the lamps in the streets of Washington for years, and beat a drum in the war with Mexico. His conduct everywhere in the army was disgraceful in the extreme, and reflected discredit, not only upon the regiment to which he belonged, but upon the State, of which he was neither a native nor a resident. Finally, despised and avoided by all who, without knowing the man, had associated with him in the regiment, he ran the blockade, took the oath of allegiance to the Federal Government, and turned informer upon the Government of which he had been a sworn servant.