this are our guns, the muzzles going through a short shelf
near the top of the tent. On the right side as we enter are
bedding, straw, etc. On the lowermost shelf is the water-pail
and above it the dried fruits. Our sabre-belts, cartridge-boxes,
canteens, haversacks, pistols, etc., hang on the tent-pole. Be-
sides, we have three knapsacks, four overcoats, a box for dirty
shirts, extra boots and shoes, wash and slop dishes, towels,
dish-cloths, frying-pan, griddle and extra pail, place for twenty-
four hours" suj)]tly of fuel, a box of hickory nuts, a catch-all
bag, a box of chips, one drum, twenty-flve feet of lumber, kept
inside for subsequent shanty; axe, hammer, punches, seats for
seven or eight men. a quantity of soap-stone and laurel-root,
which we whittle into curious things; a bread-toaster, a pound
or two of nails, some old strap hinges, an old saw, a fire-
poker, etc." Evidently this young man had been used to comfort
at home, for many a city tenement has less articles for daily
use than he enumerates. In the same letter, he says he makes
46
NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
mittens by cutting holes in the heels of a pair of socks and
sewing on, for thumbs, the eliminated toes thereof.
One ofiScer, for his wife's delectation, sends home this dia-
gram of his first and only floor:
Bed.
s
5
O
2,
o
t
O
stove.
•i
D
â–¡
0>
Pi
o
^.
CO
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b"
ej;
a
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5"
o
§
«
B
s
o
s
71
Of course there are the regular rounds of drill, guard-duty
and fatigue, and the general health of the regiment is good.
Rations are helped out by home contributions, for the loved
ones there are not forgetful. One soldier is made happy by an
apple (doubtless there were others), on which he finds the magic
word, "Julia;" another dilates on the taste of a can of peaches,
while others are grateful for boxes of dried fruit, sausage,
mince-pie, and such dainties as only wives and mothers can pre-
pare. Amusements are had in the making of bi'iar-wood pipes,
not always for the use of the maker, for all did not smoke, not
by any means. The playing of whist and poker was well-nigh
universal, though some more thoughtful preferred chess and
checkers. Then many read a deal and of the best, as is evident
in the list of books afforded by one tent, Hugh Miller's "Foot-
steps of the Creator,'' "Mountains of the Bible," "Pollock's
Course of Time," and other solid volumes, though it would be
unfair to imply that any considerable part of the regiment
reached this exalted pitch of literary taste.
Possibly the most important event of this month was the
actual transferal of the 138th New York Infantry to the 9th
Heavy Artillery. The order of conversion was dated Decem-
ber 9th, and the designated numeral came on the 19th. With
such recurrence of the ultimate significant figure, the regiment
could liiU'dly become other than the 9th. The first official pro-
mulgation of the order came at dress-parade, December 21st.
CAMP MORRIS AND THE NINTH HEAVY ARTILLERY. 47
(Changes in military colors speedily followed, blue giving place
to red iu chevrons, stripes and shonkler-stnips. but the new
artillery coats did not come till December 3(»tli. This becoming
an artillery regiment had been so thoroughly forestalled that
it occasioned very little remark. On the same date the 113th
and the 12Dth New York Infantry became the 7th and the 8th
Heavy Artillery, respectively. At this time the several com-
panies were stationed as follows: at Fort Gains, and K; at
Mansfield, B, G, E and H; at Reno, I, D, F and A; Colonel
Welling was near Reno, Seward at Mansfield and Major Taft
at Gains.
The condition of the weather may be inferred from the fact
that the ground was frozen some of the time to the depth of
six inches, and that snow four inches deep did not occasion
surprise; at the same time, thousands of men washed garments
iu a stream not a stone's throw from the reservoir. For a
variety in camp-life, the sergeant of the guard picks up a pri-
vate's gun in the guard quarters and playfully shoots away
two or three of said private's fingers. Of course he didn't
know that the gun was loaded. This type of ignorance is of a
very ancient lineage. A letter, dated this month by a Company
E man to his wife, says, "Every Sunday morning there is com-
pany inspection of arms, knapsacks, clothing, etc. The last day
(if every month comes general inspection, and every second
month a muster for pay, as December. February, etc. Our guns
weigh 16 lbs.; balls, 1^ oz.; cartridges, 2 oz. The fort guns
are mostly 40-pound Parrotts. some heavy howitzers and occa-
sionally a lOO-pound cannon; lots of heavy practice."
If the boys fared slimly at Thanksgiving, experience taught
them to make ready for Christmas. They couldn't hang up
their stockings, for they had no faith in Santa Claus on the
Potomac. The saint would never trust himself and steeds on
such roofs as they possessed. To the natives the day it-
self was much more like a 4th of July celebration than
the observance of the Savior's birth, but it must not be sup-
jiosed that these soldier boys were disposed to give the day a
particularly religious tone; they were determined, however, on
having just as good a dinner as tlie circumstances would allow.
On the 24th one man records paying a dollar for a gallon of
oysters in ^^'asl)ingtou for his own dinner and buying a chicken
and celery for his captain's. Young men who could make buck-
48 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
wheat cakes in camp and serve them with maple syrup were
equal to getting up a Christmas dinner. Fifteen men in Com-
pany K forgot dull care as they discussed the following bill
of fare at 8 o'clock P. M.: "Cold roast pork, cold roast duck,
bread and butter, pickles, cheese, preserves, apples, pies (the
writer modestly observes that they were the first he ever made),
and four kinds of cake." After encompassing such a layout
the soldiers ought to have been in condition to enjoy the stories
that followed. Twenty good men of Company — ran the guard
just for a supper in a neighboring house. Unluckily sixteen of
them were caught and had to spend the remainder of their
Xmas in the guard-house, — an excellent opportunity to moral-
ize on the mutability of things sublunary and on the exceeding
nearness of sadness to pleasure.* It should be said that the
day, though a world-wide holiday, did not excuse the men
from three hours' company drill.
On the last Sunday of the year, the 2Sth, Secretary Seward
visited camp and the chaplain preached. Somehow or other he
does not seem to fit the feelings of all the boys, some of whom
remark that he is more interested in rabbit and quail hunting
than in the performance of his ministerial functions; but when
was there a time that the fault-finder was not in evidence?
The great majority of our soldiers in camp had very little ap-
preciation for that which became especially dear when death,
in the active campaign, stared them in the face. By the end of
the month officers and men were fairly well fixed for the new
year, though they had not gotten into barracks.
Being thus happily placed, it was not strange that certain
oflBcers should send for their respective helpmeets, and before
the end of December the camp was gladdened with the presence,
among others, of Mrs. Lieutenant Colonel Seward, Mrs. Major
Taft, Mrs. Captain Lyon, Mrs. Quartermaster Knowles,
and Mrs. Lieutenant Wood. Mrs. Colonel Welling and daugh-
ter have been mentioned already.
*Two years later a favorite bit of doggerel, sung to an unwritten
tune, ran thus:
''Oh, it's young men skedaddlers, I'd have you all beware,
Leave off your bounty-jumping and go live upon the square,
For provost guards are plenty and governor's isle is nigh,
They'll leave you there in solitude to pine away and die."
CAMP MORRIS AND THE NINTH HEAVY ARTILLERY. 49
1863.
January comes in on Thursday, and is indicated by a cessa-
tion of drill, a New York custom of setting more store by the
first day of the year than by Christmas, though the Knicker-
bocker habit of calling is not appreciably observed. The per-
manent barracks that had been building for some time were
occupied as early as the 18th of the month, though some com-
panies had entered much earlier, as A on the 11th; B, the 13th
and 14th ; D, the 16th, and G, the 18th. Many of the boys prefer
their old tents, complaining of leaky roofs and lack of light,
for there was no lavish display of windows. Meanwhile dur-
ing the month more work was done on Forts Mansfield, Reno
and Gains, at which latter place was the regimental hospital,
where, on the 26th, died Jonathan Baldwin of Company C, from
Cato, having taken an overdose of opium. Many men are
inducted into the nicety of artillery drill, though that of in-
fantry is not neglected, there being five hours a day of the
latter. On the 8th Messrs. Moore and McCall of Lyons buy out
Sutler Davidson. The wife of Lieutenant Flynn comes to the
camp on the Kith, and on the loth Mrs. Captain Gregory and
boy. Fort Mansfield barracks were occupied by the 1st Bat-
talion, comprising Companies B, D, E and G, under Lieutenant
Colonel Seward. On the 23d Captain Crane of Company H
takes twenty men, and goes out to find the secret of certain
lights which at night have alarmed the guards. He finds, not
will-o'-the-wisps, but necessary illuminations for negro wood-
choppers three-fourths of a mile away; in such prosaic manner
do all the Ninth's troubles terminate.
As the regiment had been converted into a heavy artillery
body, it must be recruited to the latter's standard, and Lieu-
tenant Bacon of Company D opened an oflQce in Lyons on the
23d, and Lieutenant A. S. Wood of the same company is made
adjutant, vice W. R. Wasson, promoted major, since the new
organization allowed three majors among the field ofiBcers and
four lieutenants in each company; also there were to be twelve
companies instead of ten, as in the infantry. Captain James W.
Snyder of Company A was the first major under this change,
though his commission and that of Major Wasson were both
dated Dec. 31, 1862. Next to the last day of January witnesses
a brigade review conducted by Colonel L. O. Morris, in which
4
50 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
was displayed the proflciency acquired by months of honest
drill, and which mouths later was to bear rich fruit when these
same regiments of heavy artillery were to leave the forts of their
making and were to follow General Grant into the tangled
undergrowth of the Wilderness and up to the breastworks of
Cold Harbor.
CHAPTER VII.
Life in the Fouts.
The most important regimental event of the month of Feb-
ruary was the accession of Company M. It had been raised
in Genesee county as the 22d ludependent Battery, and had
been mustered into the service of the United States Oct. 28th,
1862. The order for this union was dated February 5th, but
the company did not appear in regimental line till the very
last day of the month.
The regiment is getting pretty well used to routine duty, and
of work there is no lack. Forts, roads, huts, barracks, there
is ample employment for every one, and no end of drill besides.
The news of the day comes from Washington in the shape of
the Chronicle. Colonel John W. Forney's paper, whose pages
few soldiers of the Potomac army will ever forget. The alert
newsboy made a good business by furnishing his papers to reg-
ular customers for twenty-five cents per week. Rules as to the
care of ammunition magazines were especially stringent, and
one of the best men in the regiment was sent to the guard-
house because he did not detect a lighted pipe in the possession
of an ordnance sergeant who tried to play smart with the senti-
nel. His captain, however, got him released speedily and he
went back to his post. The next time this sergeant (he didn't
belong to the Ninth) tried this ti'ick he was himself arrested.
On the 1.5th a vigorous temperance movement was made by
the captain of Company B. who with a squad of men went out
and broke up a licjuor hole, where men had been drinking them-
selves into trouble. There were few regiments staying any
length of time near Washington that did not have similar ex-
periences. For drunkenness all sorts of penalties were iutiicted,
such as standing on a barrel, wearing said barrel, or another
LIFE IN THE FORTS. 51
with only the man's head peering through, called a wooden
overcoat; lashed to a cannon's wheel, or doomed to keep up i
weary march for many long hours with a knapsack filled with
stones or solid shot, fifty pounds sometimes; and yet they
would drink if opportunity offered, i. c, some of the men, not
by any means those who detected fossiliferous limestones in
their digging, or made up the regular Bible-class. Temper
sometimes got the better of men who hardly wished to render
the military deference to the officers with whom they had been
reared and whom they thought no better than themselves.
Court-martials were not unknown, and very severe penalties
were at times inflicted. One man for threatening to strike his
captain was sentenced to serve his term of enlistment at hard
labor, one w'eek in each month to have only a bread and water
diet, and to forfeit all pay. The place for the infliction of such
punishment was usually the Rip Raps, near Fortress Monroe
As this particular soldier was discharged in 186.5 in good re
pute, it must be that industry and repentance had worked re
mission. The first battalion drill was had on the 21st of Feb
ruary. The 22d was properly observed by a salute from al
the forts. About this time there is excitement in camp be
cause of an eft'ort to enforce protection as against free trade
in pies. The men claimed that this particularly American
variety of pastry otlered by outside parties was much better
than that sold by the sutler, but the edict went forth that it
must be the sutler's pies or none. As an immediate result,
smuggling of the most heinous character followed, for what
freeman could endure having restrictions imposed on pie"? Had
not Ralph Waldo Emerson said that he rated the intellectual-
ity of a people in accordance as they did or did not appreciate
pie"? When it came to intellect the Ninth played second to no
one. The 28th saw the inspection of the regiment between
Forts Reno and Bayard on the grounds lately occupied by the
117th New York, which was about joining Burnside's corps.
Major Snyder is now in command in Fort Gains.
Among the Latins there were calendar days known as dies
non. or no days, and in our northern clime the month of all
others most eligible to the appellation mensis non is March. Disa-
greeable in every way, everywhere, infinitely worse than the
English November, which Tom Hood so unmercifully lam-
pooned, what wonder that the campers by Potomac's shore
52 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
found life almost a burden during its continuance? It was the
reign of slush, yet duty of all kind had to be performed, just
the same as though May blossoms were there. On the 3d of
the month a most distressing accident happened in Company
F, where a man carelessly discharged a gun, killing his wife,
the mother of two children. It was another instance of not
knowing that it was loaded. The horror of it was greater
than that of the battlefield.
The men had been in camp long enough to pretty thoroughly
indicate their dispositions and habits. Those that were filthy
by nature began to be obnoxious to their more cleanly neigh-
bors, and crusades were waged against those who would not
keep themselres clear from body vermin. Then, too, the
natural shirk made himself evident. If he could get others to
do the work, he was perfectly content. Nothing inspired
promptness in him but meal-time. In Company G, out of a
shanty's complement, Private L. was notorious for waiting at
reveille till the very last moment, and then barefooted, clad in
drawers and shirt only, he would rush out to roll-call. Thence
going back he would crawl in till his tent-uiates had built a
fire and prepaied breakfast. There is a limit to all endurance,
and this was Comrade T.'s thought as he took a hot musket
ball, in some way left near the fire, and dropped it down the
back part of L."s drawers conveniently exposed. There was no
hesitation in his resurrection. He came out quickly, effect-
ually, and it is said blasphemously. The lesson was not lost.
There were still rifle-pits to be made, and probably would
have been if the regiment had remained in the defenses to the
end of its term of enlistment. There were advantages, how-
ever, in this proximity to Washington and in having perma-
nent quarters. Dentists came up from the Capital, and a bar-
ber made a living, more or less, at his vocation. All did not
patronize the company cook, some preferring to boil, bake and
stew for themselves, and in this the highest degree of liberty
obtained. During these March nights the officers had military
schools, in which, as one of them said, they had to recite like
school-boys, page after page, all about the ranges of the guns,
charges of powder, elevation, etc. It was a good thing for
them, too.
April was a distinct advance on its predecessor, but even it
was not faultless, since on the 5th April showers degenerated
into snow a foot deep.
LIFE IN THE FORTS. 53
\\itb its new name and character, the regiment now pos-
sessed a brass band, under the leadership of Jacob Sager of
Clyde. If he was more generally known in the 'Jth as "Jake,"
it was because of his ever read.v and genial nature. The first
public appearance of this body was April 6, 1863. But a more
extended sketch of the band and its personnel will be given
in a later chapter. Georgetown is not so far away that men
can not go thither to church if they desire, and some of them
do. though anything so constrained as a church pew almost
gives them cramps.
May brings blossoms and better spirits to the boys, though
two men are injured in Fort Bayard through foolish tinkering
with a shell. The man who brought it into the camp deserted,
and thus escaped punishment. The weather is fine, and activ-
ity along the lines of the Potomac army has its effect in the
defenses, for somehow rumors of rebel raids are constantly in
the air. Hooker's advance tends to magnify every bit of al-
leged news. Pickets were reported driven in on the Virginia
side of the Chain Bridge the 11th, and the next day Lieutenant
Colonel Seward was hurt by a fall from his horse. During the
next week every cloud of dust indicated an attack of rebel
cavalry. Could the latter have been half as ubiquitous as our
men's fancy made them, they would have overrun the whole
North long before. On the 21st the long roll was responded
to by a grand rush to the forts and rifle-pits without order
or officers. Secretary Seward and family witness the dress-
parade on the 21tli. In these days the ofiicers are trying to se-
cure better rifles for the men. but reforms are slow.
The forts, all made and armed, must now be decorated, and
consequently by the early part of June, they are completely
sodded. Anything to keep the boys busy! At 11 P. M. the
28th, another scare calls the men into the rifle-pits, and there
they remain till morn. Excitement is at fever heat. Soldiers
are making the discovery, sure to come to all sooner or later,
that those in authority who are the most lenient in matters
of discipline are not necessarily the best officers. Stories of
this sort are as old as the tale of the Retreat of the Ten Thou-
sand under Xenophon.
June. 18(}3. is a busy month in Virgina. Hooker and Lee
are preparing for Gettysburg, and naturally the forts are hives
of apprehension. Diligence is not lacking, and shots enough
54 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
are fired at targets to enable the cannoneers to become excel-
lent marksmen, if the need should arise. On the very first
day of the month. General Heintzelman said, "No more passes;"
but boys did leave the camp in citizen's clothing, just for the
fun of it, running the risk of severe punishment if caught. On
the 3d all women save those doing company work are ordered
from camp. Quite a number of oflScers and men had set up a
sort of primitive housekeeping. Possibly two or three soldiers'
wives in each company, had been designated to do laundry
work, mending, etc.
Pickets are sent out each day, five from each company. The
7th New York Artillery is with us and the cavalry beyond.
It is early in this month that we have our first skirmish drill.
The regiment was in line on the parade-ground of Camp Morris,
near Fort Simmons, Company B at the right. Colonel Welling,
Lieutenant Colonel Seward and the other staff officers being
in front of the centre. After a brief consultation with his staff
officers. Colonel Welling gave the following order to the first
sergeant of Company B : "Orderly Fish, I direct you to organize
a skirmish line from this battalion." Sergeant Fish promptly
called the battalion to attention and directed to count in fives,
which numbers (fives) he marched three paces to the front, and
the left guide sergeants of the respective companies one pace
to the front. After dressing the line. Sergeant Fish reported
to Colonel Welling that the skirmish line was organized. Here
was begun the drill in which the regiment soon became pro-
ficient, as was shown later in field service.
Tuesday, the 9th of June, Secretaries Seward and Salmon P.
Chase of the treasury favor us with a call. Two days later,
in the night, the men again rallied to the forts; the next night
the long roll brought on another scare. The wonder is that
so many false cries of "wolf" did not produce a condition of
indifference. The Harper's Ferry road is thoroughly picketed.
Each day brings its reports, each more startling than its pred-
ecessor. Lieutenant Colonel Seward had been away in .\ubuin,
but these rumors of rebel attack bring him back on th.' I'Jth.iliat
he may be on hand if needed. Again the long roll in the night
of the 18th resulted in keeping the men out in the rain, and all
because an over-cautious sentinel had fired his gun at a horse.
The 21st cannonading is lu'ard seemingly at Thoroughfare Gap
[it really is at Upperville]. The 23d Companies D and G,
COMPANY A STREET. FORT SIMMONS.
HEADQUARTERS Sith BATTALION. ^D N. Y. H. A. FORT C. F. SMITH.
LIFE IN THE FORTS. 55
with two from the 1st Maine Heavy .Vrtillcr.v, march ten miles
to a point near Fort Thayer on the Bajtiniore & Washington
I'ailroad to work on rifle-pits and batteries, three miles from
Washington and two from Bladensburg. On the same day A
tents followed, the entire detachment being under the com-
mand of Major Shepard* of the 1st Maine. The men dig ten
hours a day, all on account of fear of rebel cavalry that are
reported prowling about. These companies remained here till
July 8th, when they returned to their quarters.
The efforts to secure a better gun succeeded in part, and on
the -4th of June some of the companies were supplied with
Springfield muskets. The 28th brought a scare pretty near the
forts, since on that day, between Tennallytown and Rockville,
the rebels captured and destroyed a large wagon-tiaiu. This was
bringing the sound of arms right home, and as a consequence
excitement ran high.f Cavalry pickets were driven in, and it
did seem for a while as thongli the boys might have some
fighting to do.
July, the memorable month of 1SC3, finds the Ninth at em-
ployment no more warlike than the handling of pick and shovel.
and filling in the chinks with drilling. The consciousness that
some one must do such work was consoling to certain ones,
but more were restive under the routine, and many grumbling
letters were written home. "Gettysburg" is on every lip, and
the boys remark on their having all the hard work and none of
the glory, though they did think there was some chance for
them when Stuart came so near. The women and the sick
were sent to "Washington, and every preparation was made to
withstand an attack. The band was ordered upon the breast-
works, and bade play "Yankee Doodle" for all that they were
worth. The boys had lots of wind, and they pumped it into
♦Major Russell B. Shepard subsequently became colonel of the regi-
ment and brevet brigadier general. When, the next year, the regi-
ment went to the front, it was soon in the thickest of the fight, audits
death record in battle was the largest of all the 2,047 regiments that