The Last Campaign of the Twenty-Second Regiment, N.G., S.N.Y Part 1

The Last Campaign of the Twenty-Second Regiment, N.G., S.N.Y. June and July, 1863.

by George W. Wingate.

On the 18th of June, 1863, it having been definitely ascertained that the rebel horde had invaded Pennsylvania in force, the call of the President was issued to the Empire State, and her militia, leaving everything as it stood--their books unclosed, their ploughs in the furrow--hurried eagerly forward in response, to unite in the defence of our sister State. All day long blue and gray uniforms were das.h.i.+ng frantically backward and forward through the streets, and in and out of the various armories of the city, in search of essentials found missing at the last moment; and in military circles the flurry and commotion were indescribable, particularly at the Palace Garden in Fourteenth street, where the Twenty-second regiment N. G., S. N. Y., a.s.sembling in great haste, were preparing to be "off to the war" on their second campaign.

At last the manifold preparations were completed, and amid tumultuous cheering, the fluttering of handkerchiefs, the ringing of bells, and the thousand bewildering noises of an enthusiastic crowd, the regiment formed and marched away--where to, none knew and none cared, so long as they were doing their country a service.

That night was spent in the cattle-cars of the Camden and Amboy Railroad, and the next morning found us entering the City of Brotherly Love, through which, after being fed and washed at the immortal "Cooper Shop," we took our way for the capital of the state, cheered on by an enthusiastic ovation from the citizens, whose n.o.ble behavior and unstinted hospitality to the thousands of soldiers who have pa.s.sed through the city since the beginning of the war, has obtained for Philadelphia the well-earned reputation of being the most patriotic city in the Union.

The distance from New York to Harrisburg, I believe, may be usually traversed in about eight hours, but (as there was a great need of men), the regiment was kept precisely three days in cattle-cars before being deposited at its destination, no insignificant omen of the fate that awaited its members in the future. Finally, after an immensity of tribulation, we got to Harrisburg, and spent the last of these three days quietly lying alongside of Camp Curtin; this camp, so celebrated in Pennsylvania annals, is a wide level expanse, in the vicinity of the city, and was then crowded with the newly-raised militia, whose general appearance and condition did not inspire us with that exalted idea of their efficiency that the newspapers seemed to have; on the contrary, it seemed to us, that a more indifferent, lazy, uncouth-looking set never was seen outside of rebeldom; but as their ideas of hospitality toward us were demonstrated in copperhead talk and chaffing us with hard names, these views may be prejudiced. At some distance from Camp Curtin, however, were a couple of batteries and some troops from Philadelphia, who really looked like soldiers, and whose appearance inspired the "Yorkers" with a feeling of respect which further acquaintance did not dispel.

But notwithstanding the society, the time hung heavy on our hands, and it was no small relief, when, during the latter part of the afternoon, we were sent across the Susquehanna, some of us into the fortifications, and the others, including the Twenty-second, to camps in the different places near the river, to protect the various approaches and fords in the neighborhood of the city.

It was growing dusky as we arrived at our selected camp-grounds, and, as it was a singular characteristic of the climate of Pennsylvania during our brief sojourn, that darkness is synonymous with rain (for the sun scarcely ever went down before the elements were imitating the movement), it accordingly commenced to rain, and by the time it was fairly dark a heavy storm was raging.

Fortunately, an immense empty barn was at hand, into which the regiment wedged themselves, like sardines in a box, so tight, in fact, that those unfortunates who happened to find themselves under a leak in the roof--and there were many such--had to remain quiet under their douche, and take it coolly for the whole night. The Eleventh and one or two other regiments, being without either barn or tents, were obliged to sleep in the woods all night without any protection whatever, and were consequently regarded as suffering martyrs by all the rest of us, who wondered how they could possibly have lived through it.

Little did those think who shuddered when they talked about sleeping in the rain without cover, that in a very short time they would be doing that very thing themselves, and come to regard it as a mere matter of course, inconvenient to be sure, but so commonplace as to be hardly worth mentioning.

The next morning, having pitched our tents, we entered upon the usual routine of camp life, humdrum to the last extent. Hot as an oven, stupid and monotonous as a prison, the first few days pa.s.sed quietly enough. It is true that the roofs and spires of the capital of Pennsylvania, which we had come to defend, were in plain sight, but a very few visits there, combined with the chilling reception we received in pa.s.sing through it, put an effectual quietus on our hopes of the good time that was coming.

Little bills, and big stories of little bills, for necessary purchases; fifteen cents for a cup of (rye) coffee, and other things in proportion, the general indifference of the inhabitants as to which side won in the contest which was impending, and the other annoyances which have been so fully ventilated in the New York newspapers, in a very short time destroyed the clamor for pa.s.ses, and rendered useless the complicated system of signatures which had been devised to prevent the expected rush for those doc.u.ments.

By-and-by we were regaled by perusing in the New York papers the most astounding accounts of the dangers of our position, and of the uprising of Pennsylvania; unquestionably it was all true, but we hadn't seen anything of the kind yet. Still, while laughing over much that we read, we could not help noticing, that as time wore on, a stream of skedaddlers, small at first, but rapidly increasing, was sweeping by the camp; and in a short time crowds of able-bodied natives, driving their flocks and herds, and followed by wagons heaped mountain high with their most precious household goods, blocked up every road leading into the city, and showed that the enemy were rapidly approaching.

Things, however, remained quiet, as far as we were concerned, but it was only the quiet which portends the storm. A night alarm, caused by the guard and pickets firing on spies escaping from the camp under cover of the darkness, more spies, both male and female, in the guard-house, more cattle, more scared natives rus.h.i.+ng by as though a second exodus was at hand, soon put us on the alert.

On Sat.u.r.day, the 27th of June, that portion of the regiment not on picket was hastily marched down the turnpike, and set at work throwing up a line of rifle pits, to cover the road up which the enemy were now rapidly advancing, report said, only four miles off; but as companies C (Capt.

Post), and G (Capt. Howland), had been previously sent some five miles down the same road as pickets, and had not yet been driven in, we took these figures with a slight discount. There was no question, however, but that they were near enough, and we dug away for dear life, from eleven A.

M. to two P. M. (and the Sixty-ninth may be safely defied to produce a bigger hole than we had finished at that time); and in consideration of these unparalleled exertions, those in authority kindly allowed us to rest our wearied limbs--by chopping down a good-sized forest, which interfered with the range of the artillery.

Now, digging rifle pits in a hot sun is so very much like excavating a sewer, that axe-work was fun itself compared with it, so the boys, dropping their spades for axes, went to work with a _vim_, Col. Aspinwall himself setting the example, while each company did its best to outdo the others; and soon the big hickories, two and three feet in diameter, were cras.h.i.+ng in all directions, shaking the very ground with their fall. This, by-the-by, was the "heavy cannonading at Harrisburg," which was telegraphed on to the New York papers, where it greeted our wondering eyes in print the next afternoon.

_Of course_ the people of the vicinity lent their experienced arms to a.s.sist in obstructing the march of the enemy; the deputation of patriots present, up to seven o'clock P. M., numbering precisely four (and two of these were blacks, but none the worse choppers for that). After that hour, through the earnest solicitations of a guard despatched by Colonel Aspinwall, whose fixed bayonets presented an unanswerable argument, the surrounding male population volunteered (?) their aid and axes towards the completion of the work, while the tired troops sought their tents to sleep.

No alarm broke the stillness of the night, and the regiment a.s.sembled the next (Sunday) morning in front of the Colonel's tent for religious services, feeling rather more disposed to be pious than usual, for none knew what might occur before another day was pa.s.sed.

Those services never took place. The men were a.s.sembled, the prayer-books distributed, the Chaplain had risen and was on the point of announcing his text, when the Colonel dashed up at full gallop, with the order--"Go back to your company 'streets,' and strike tents at once!"

The men rushed back to their quarters, and preparations for breaking camp went on in the greatest possible haste, in the midst of which the Chaplain disappeared for parts unknown, and we never laid eyes on him from that day to this.

Company D (Capt. Thornell) was here ordered down to relieve the companies on picket, and in obedience to subsequent orders threw up a line of rifle-pits across the road, to defend the position to which they had been ordered; where they remained, lying on their arms, until they were called in on the morning of the 30th.

In a few minutes the camp was struck, and we were marching off, little thinking, as we took our leave of the pleasant spot where our nice new tents were being loaded in wagons pressed for the occasion, of the length of time that would elapse before our heads would get under their (or any other) shelter again--perhaps, if we had, the leave-taking would have been more affecting.

While one half of the remaining portion of the regiment was ordered to hold the rifle-pits, the remainder marched to Bridgeport Station opposite Harrisburg, and proceeded to barricade several houses commanding the approaches to the beautiful railroad bridge erected at this point, with as much industry as though they had not done a thing for a week. Companies A (then commanded by Lieut. Franklin, Capt. Otis being temporarily absent) and I (Capt. Gardiner), with beams, barrels of earth, bundles of lath, railroad sleepers and sand-bags, by ten o'clock P. M., had converted the engine-house in which they were stationed into a loopholed and casemated battery to protect two pieces of the Eighth N. Y. troop, placed there to rake the railroad. In the more laborious parts of this work, lifting railroad sleepers and carrying sand-bags, they were a.s.sisted by a detachment of negroes from the large body at work on the fortifications, and it was really touching to see the patient, uncomplaining way in which these poor men worked. All the preceding night and day with scanty covering they had toiled, digging, carrying heavy beams and sand-bags, and though almost wearied out, without the slightest compulsion, without the use of a single harsh word from their overseer, they still continued. The white volunteers from Harrisburg had long since abandoned the toilsome work; the weary soldiers stopped at nine o'clock; but the negroes kept on.

At twelve o'clock P. M., the Twenty-second and Thirty-seventh, were cautiously awakened and marched stealthily out to cut off the enemy's advanced guard, reported to be reconnoitring in our front. It was an imposing sight to see the long column dimly and silently winding down the roads and through the varying shadows of the night. Not a sound was heard--orders were given in a whisper; and as we drew nearer the enemy's position, the silence was so profound that the heavy breathing of the men was distinctly audible.

After a long march, whispered orders were pa.s.sed down the line, and amid a death-like silence we halted and formed line of battle, fixing bayonets, and freshly capping our pieces in readiness for instant service. Every eye was strained through the darkness to discern the patrols of the enemy in the wavering shadows of the woods and fields, and every ear was stretched to its utmost tension to catch the expected challenge. But the silence was unbroken, and after a few moments' halt the column proceeded, feeling their way with the utmost caution, and expecting at every instant to hear the volley which would announce that the advanced pickets had been encountered; but our caution was unnecessary, the enemy had fallen back and there was nothing to be seen.

The movement was splendidly managed, and only wanted one thing to be a magnificent success, that was--an enemy. "As there wasn't anybody to be captured, we could not capture anybody;" so after marching out some five miles past the pickets, we returned without seeing anything, and at five A. M. lay down by the railroad track to catch a few minutes' rest. Company B (Capt. Remmey), were not allowed even this rest; but were obliged to return to the picket station, down the New c.u.mberland road from which they had been recalled to join in the expedition, and which they did not reach until after seven o'clock.

The next day was spent in line of battle, waiting for an attack; but the rebels kindly allowed us to rest during the day, and to "turn in" at our usual hour at night, without molestation, for which we were exceedingly obliged to them.

In the meantime the preparations for the defence of Harrisburg went on with all possible speed; by this time the fortifications erected there were quite extensive, and it is probable that their looks went far toward dampening the ardor of the "Confeds." But it seemed to us that in the incessant hurry and bustle that were going on around, there was a great want of system; that there was no great mind overseeing everything, and watching that the right man was in the right place. Much of this is certainly unavoidable. A general cannot see everything done with his own eyes, but still the unusual manner in which things were managed--the rus.h.i.+ng at a thing for half a day, then leaving that unfinished, and going at something else; the subordinates at a loss for orders, and almost every one doing what seemed right in his own eyes--was the subject of frequent comment, especially among the "thinking bayonets" of the rank and file.

But in justice it must be said that their opportunities of judging were very limited.

At about ten o'clock on the morning of the 30th of June, an order came from the General commanding, for the Twenty-second and Thirty-seventh New York to prepare for a _two-hours'_ march, nothing to be carried but canteens. A hasty roll of the drum, a few hurried orders from the company officers, the line was formed, and in less than fifteen minutes the regiments were off, leaving everything behind them. They have not got back from that two hours' march yet!

After marching and counter-marching all over the country for some fourteen miles, the brigade, in the afternoon, encountered the enemy near Sporting Hill or Hampden, and quite a smart engagement ensued, the Twenty-second, supported by some Pennsylvania cavalry (who skedaddled at the first sh.e.l.l), advancing through woods and wheat-fields on the left--Co. A (Capt.

Otis), being detached as a reconnoitring party to cover that flank in the advance--while the Thirty-seventh advanced on the right, as skirmishers, the Philadelphia battery having the centre. At first, a portion of the rebels, posted in one of the immense barns for which Pennsylvania is so celebrated, was enabled to annoy the brigade considerably, wounding a lieutenant and several others of the Thirty-seventh; but they were finally compelled to evacuate, and in a very short time their artillery was silenced, and they were in full retreat along the whole length of the line. This success must be ascribed in a great measure to the gallant conduct of the Philadelphia battery, which, as far as we were able to see, was unquestionably the most efficient of the organizations, that the invasion of her soil had elicited from Pennsylvania patriotism; and in the eyes of our boys, the Philadelphians therefore stood very high.

In this affair the rebels lost some fifteen killed, and twenty or thirty wounded (this being the account given by themselves to the farmers in the vicinity). The Union loss was very slight, though, as usual, there were all sorts of semi-miraculous escapes. After a short pursuit, the approach of darkness admonished us of the necessity of caution; a halt was therefore ordered, and in a short time orders came to go back to camp.

Full of life and spirits, although considerably exhausted by the fatigues of the day, the brigade took up their line of march for Bridgeport. A wagon filled with provisions, belonging to the Twenty-second, had been sent out from the latter place to meet the column as soon as it was known that there had been a "scrimmage," and hearing of the return of the troops, those in charge had halted when some six miles out, and were busily engaged in preparing supper. Orders, however, were sent forward to repack and hurry everything back, so that the men would have supper ready on their arrival in camp.

Supper! how the word put fresh vigor into weary limbs, and kept up the flagging spirits. No one can know, till he has tried, what a difference it makes in the marching powers whether, after a prolonged fast, you are proceeding _toward_ your supper or _away_ from it.

While we were marching merrily along, suddenly the order came to _halt_!

_Rest._ And then it was discovered that, for some unknown reason, the powers that be had decreed that the brigade should spend the night where they were; and there, drenched with perspiration, without rubber blankets, haversacks--anything, in the wet gra.s.s by the side of the road, in the midst of a drizzling rain, they lay down to sleep, about as uncomfortable as men could well be.

When the wagon came up, a little coffee and hard tack were dealt out, but as this event did not take place till about two o'clock in the morning, the number of those who could keep awake to wait for it was very limited.

At daylight in the morning, three crackers per man and _no_ coffee composed a light and frugal repast, on which we started on our first long march.

At about four A. M., the regiments were ma.s.sed in column to hear a speech from their Brigadier; but it was lamentably evident that, however skilled in the art of war he might be, the mantle of eloquence had never fallen on his shoulders. He stated to the men that _he_ had endured as much as they had, slept and eaten as little; that _he_ (on horseback) didn't feel tired, and therefore they (on foot) shouldn't; that _he_ (on horseback) could go to Carlisle, and therefore they could.

Now as no one had objected, or in fact knew, that we were going to Carlisle at all, this a.s.sumption that we were trying to s.h.i.+rk our duty, at a time when all were flattering themselves for making extraordinary sacrifices, did not add many to the rapidly diminis.h.i.+ng circle of the General's admirers.

At the time of starting, and for some time afterwards, it was supposed that Carlisle was in possession of the rebels, and that we would have to fight our way through. Skirmishers were therefore thrown out, and the column, composed of one (I) company of the Twenty-second as an advanced guard, another (B) company deployed as skirmishers, then the Thirty-seventh and Twenty-second (Col. Roome being senior to Col.

Aspinwall) moved cautiously forward; but after going some five or six miles the skirmishers were drawn in, information having been received from paroled prisoners and farmers that the enemy had left the town (though their pickets were still in the immediate vicinity), and we proceeded without any precautions whatever.

The day was beautiful, though rapidly becoming too warm for comfort, and the route lay through a most lovely country. Scarcely anywhere can the eye rest on finer scenery, more beautiful fields, more comfortable houses, or more magnificent barns (for magnificent is the only adjective applicable to those structures) than those of southern Pennsylvania. But alas! the houses were deserted, the farms pillaged--everything of value, everything that could walk, or be eaten, or--stolen, was gone--swept away by the invader, and the peaceful population driven from their homes by the ruthless hand of war.

A few hours' marching brought us past the scene of yesterday's "scrimmage," and enlivened by the prospect of another fight, as the fatigue and stiffness of the previous night wore off, the echoes of song and laughter floated down the column, taken up and re-echoed from company to company till they died away in the distance, "and all went merry as a marriage bell"--for a time.

The roads were good, the air pure, the halts frequent--there was nothing to find fault with. The people, hitherto the only objectionable feature of the country, were as kind and hospitable as we could desire; and in Hogestown, a little village on the "pike," and all along the road, wherever there were occupied houses, the women (and very pretty women some of them were, too) turned out _en ma.s.se_, with trays of bread and apple b.u.t.ter, and buckets of cool spring water, to help along the tired troops.

A happy contrast with the customs of the capital we had left behind us.

A regiment of Reserves, who had started fresh and well-fed from Harrisburg that morning, and had gained on us while we were r.e.t.a.r.ded by the slow progress of the skirmishers through the tall grain and tangled wheat, hurried up when the rumor began to spread that Carlisle was evacuated, and in a manner displaying equal ignorance of the rules of war and politeness, undertook to push their way through the brigade, "to get in ahead of the Yorkers," and win the honors of the victory from those who had borne the burden and heat of the day. In attempting this they soon found that they had calculated without their host, and that the commanding officers of the Twenty-second had cut their eyeteeth long before putting foot in Pennsylvania. When they pushed up on the right, the head of the column gently obliqued that way; if they changed around, a simple "left oblique"

rendered the movement needless; and when they attempted by high strategy to come up on _both_ sides, the order, "_By company into line_," filled the road from fence to fence with a solid front of men, who serenely swept forward, refusing to budge from their path for all the "preserves" "ever pickled."

Then, letting down the fences, they took to the fields, and attempted to get by that way. At the sight of this a wild cry of "double quick" went up from the rear to the front of the column, and breaking into a "double" the brigade swept on for a mile or more, leaving their followers vanis.h.i.+ng in their rear, whence, either from their being exhausted, or from hearing that the rebels had _not_ left Carlisle, they never emerged to trouble us.

We had heard, it is true, from pa.s.sing buggies, and straggling squads of paroled prisoners, that the village itself had been evacuated; but all had united in a.s.serting that the rebels were still very near, several stating that they were just on the outskirts of the place. Under these circ.u.mstances an ordinary mind would think that there was no necessity for hurrying. The Reserves were "gone in," and if there was the least danger, common sense required that the men should be brought into the city as fresh as possible; but our commander did not see things in that light, and consequently walked deliberately into a trap, which came within a hair's breadth of proving fatal to the whole command.

The skirmishers had been called in before this, and the march had been rapid; it now became "_forced_." That meant, in this instance, a march pursued without regard to the health, comfort or fatigue of the troops, against the expostulations of the surgeons; where speed is such an object that everything must be disregarded, and well or ill, suffering or not, the men must push on.

And we did push on, and from our halt, more than ten miles from Carlisle, till we prepared to meet the enemy in the city, no rest was allowed. When we arrived at Kingston, a small but patriotic village on the road, where the women stood at their doors with piles of bread and apple b.u.t.ter, all expected, as a matter of course, that we would be allowed to rest and eat something; but notwithstanding that no rations had been received since the morning of the previous day, (except a little bread obtained by a few of the lucky ones at Hogestown), and although it was now noon, yet our Brigadier refused to allow a moment's halt, and the men were compelled to close up and march away from the food that stood ready for them. Any one who thinks this was not a sacrifice had better try the experiment.

For a little while the march continued as usual. Thirteen miles pa.s.sed; a few quietly dropped out; all were growling, not loud but deep. Fourteen, more vacancies--fifteen--the weather growing oppressive with the sultry heat of mid-day. No shade, no water, no rest; no complaining now, but men dropping out with frightful rapidity. All those who were not pure "grit"