to move across the Eastern Branch. Here they began the
regular drill and routine duty to which the other companies
had long been subjected. The size of the company sometimes
made sitting at the mess-table quite crowded, but old soldiers
were ready to endure such a small affliction without much
complaint, especially as a crowded table was better than none
at all.

1864.

Ere the year was ended, the monotony of camp-life was to be
sadly marred, but before the stated May-day, came numerous
weeks of routine. January 1st found many of the soldiers in
possession of luxuries of all sorts, sent down to them from their
northern homes, remainders in some cases of Christmas feasts,
while others were looking for delayed boxes. One man in a
mixed manner grumbles thus in his diary in early '64 days:
"Turkeys came. C. got three months, ball and chain, for sleep-
ing on his post. New recruit and in poor health." Early in
January it is necessary to break up certain liquor-selling places
in (leorgetown. In the wealth of edibles some of the buys in
Company I! have a big dinner, with printed invitations. Happy
the man wliu lias preserved ime of them to this day. All this
time many recruits are conting down to join the regiment, and,
poor fellows, some of them think they get a cool reception,
for on the 0th one man says, "It was so cold that coffee froze
in our cups before we could drink it." Nothing but the writer's
uniform veracity warrants this insertion, and even now incre-
dulity justifies a sus]iicion that, set out to cool, the liquid may
have been left unduly long. On the ir)tli eighty recruits appear.
There is really little stirring during the month, save the arrival
of new men and cook-house bickerings, of which every camp
is sure to have its part.



A GENERAL SHAKINGUP. 77

In February, owing to a smallpox scare, vaccination was
the order of the day, and, "Look out for my sore arm," was not
infi'eqnently heard. Even the most calloused diary-keeper
could not find material for his small pages, except as he re-
counted the books and papers read, the letters written and re-
ceived. Full many a love-match was made during these winter
days, and in rough, noisy liai'racks the most delightful visions
were had of home and happiness to follow, '"when this cruel
war is over." But cold or warm, bleak or pleasant, picket
and guard duty came round with unvarying regularity, and a
good soldier, later to fall at Cold Harbor, is sent in under arrest
because as corporal he failed to turn out with the guard quick-
ly enough. Then came the second March for the dispiriting
of the soldiers, but there are many Mark Tapleys among them
whom weather influenced very little. The 25th of February
brought around an alarm, and Fort Simmons was quickly
manned, but as usual it was a false alarm. It is highly credit-
able to the rank and file of the Ninth Heavy tliat a good audi-
ence gathered, March ;W, at headquarters to hear a George-
town preacher. Brown by name, lecture on "The Martyr Trans-
lators of the Bible." Is there any wonder that such men, when
the test came, gave a good account of themselves? Later still,
in the same place, an equally large and appreciative audience
beard an eloquent discourse on temperance.



CHAPTER X.

A General Shakixg-dp.

The advent of General Grant in Washington and his subse-
quent presence in the Army of the Potomac were making a
decided impression on all wearers of the blue. The changes
in location of Companies C, D, E and G have already been
noted. Corresponding activity was also true of the other com-
panies. All of them took leave of their long-time quarters, and
on the 20th of March made their way to the forts across the
Eastern Branch, all this in accordance with General Orders
No. 21. whereby the regiment, except the 2d Battalion, was di-
rected to form line in the parade ground at Fort Simmons at 4.30
A. M. the 26th. having two days' cooked rations. Company B



78 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.

to join at the junction of Military and Georgetown roads. The
march began at daybreak, and was a cheerful variation on the
long monotony of the forts, passing, as it did, through Wash-
ington and across the bridge which spanned the Eastern
Branch, sometimes called the Navy Yard bridge. Thence there
was a decided scattering of the companies, a large number of
forts coming under their care as follows: A at Fort Baker, with
the band and regimental headquarters; B, Fort Mahan; F, Forts
Dupont, Wagner and Ricketts, with Lieutenants Allen, Pat-
terson and Stafford, respectively, in charge; H, Fort Meigs;
1, Forts Snyder and Davis, with Captain Hughes and Lieu-
tenant Howard commanding; K, Fort Greble; L, Fort Stanton;
M, Fort Carroll. Of this range Fort Mahan was the most
northerly, and was fully seven miles away from Greble, the
most southerly position. At this time the 1st Battalion com-
prised the men in Forts Baker, Davis, Dupont, Meigs and
Mahan, under Major Snyder, with headquarters at Fort Mahan.
The .3d Battalion included the other forts under Major Burgess,
with headquarters at Fort Carroll. The 2d Battalion was still
in Fort Foote, so the regiment was really in a line of forts ex-
tending a distance of quite eleven miles, though communica-
tion between Fort Foote and the other fortifications was by
water rather than by land. By this latest move, the Ninth was
made to have something to do, first and last, with nearly every
fort on the Maryland side of the Potomac. The life for the
next two months, in each fort, differed very little from that in
another, nor from that in the forts recently left near the river,
though there were incidents peculiar to each one, as at Fort
Mahan Lieutenant Chauncey Fish, just promoted from orderly
sergeant, was given a fine sword by Coui])auy B; he had only
recently returned from a visit home, and with him came, as re-
cruits, two of his sons, one of whom was to later fall at Win-
chester. As this was a company affair. Sergeant Smith made
the presentation, and Sergeant Brock read a reply. The
weapon cost ?10(). In this same fort, later in April, a daughter
of Ebenezcr Page opened a school in the mess-house at fifty
cents per pupil, weekly. Towards the end of the month cer-
tain companies were canvassed by cavalry-men seeking those
who wouhl like to be transferred. The outlook towards tlic
Capitol from nearly all these forts is fine, and it is easier mak-
ing a visit to Washington than it was before the move. Not



A GENERAL SHAKI.NG-UP. 79

a daj was lost in active drill, aud if the regiment is not profi-
cient in infantry, heavy and ii<^ht artillery practice, it is not
the fault of the officers. Battalion drill necessitates long and
occasionally hot marches for some of the companies. May
brings with it the consciousness that the North will soon take
a new departure, and that for the front. Packing up all that a
man thought he could not conveniently carry, was the order of
the day, and it was surprising how many things were dispensed
with, but two weeks later the reduction of baggage was even
greater still. Two Wayne county boys thought to lessen their
jiortable library, and so made up a box to send home, in which
they placed their copies of Virgil, Horace, Longfellow cJ vols.),
Methodist Hymns, etc., determining to depend on memory for
any classical or poetical necessity, and also throwing in two
or three bed-quilts and a pair of boots, they sent it northward.
How carefully the mother of one of those boys treasured the col-
lection, till the close of the war brought home the literary
soldiers! On the 7th of May was promulgated an order specify-
ing what the soldiers might carry in their knapsacks, viz., one
shirt, one pair socks, one pair extra shoes, one pair pants, one
rubber-blanket, one overcoat. It did not take long, when march-
ing actually began, to get rid of nearly all the above-named
necessities.

In the ranks of this immense aggregation of men were hun-
dreds who had recently joined. They had come down from
northern homes, rallied by the nation's cry for more soldiers;
very many, indeed the large majority of them, were lads in their
teens, who three years before were too young for enlistment.
They represented nearly all vocations, but by far the greater
number came from the farm. They represented the same ele-
ment that, nearly a hundred years before, had fought for free-
dom from Britain's yoke. Many, assigned to companies and
taking their guns, essayed the life of an active soldier with no
drill at all. What they learned of the use of their weapons in
parade or in action, was from observation. That they did not
particularly mar the prospects of the regiment is evident in the
sequel. Ere many weeks they were bearing their burdens
and doing their respective duties with ^s much ease and cool-
ness as the veriest veteran by their side.

May 10th came another moving day; this time retracing the
steps across the Branch and through the city to the Virginia



80 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.

side of tlie I'otdiuac. Heavy Artillery regiments are succeeded,
largely, by 100-day men, sent in from Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Massachusetts, but our immediate successors are, in the main,
from the 10th X. Y. H. A., and we ourselves follow other
heavy artillery regiments that have gone ahead. For the
march, Companies A.B.H.F.and I in part, report at Fort Baker,
and the remainder of I, with L, M and K, join at the bridge.
There was no special incident in the transit, save that the
horses of a coach near the eastern end of the Eastern Branch
bridge having no ears for music, became frightened at our
band, and bolting short about turned the coach completely
over, spilling the ])assengers, but fortunately not harming any-
one. With drums beating and dags tlying we marched over
the plaza to the east of the Capitol, by the south end of said
magnificent structure, and along Tennsylvania avenue, all un-
conscious of our destination, i^ome said we were going back
to the old forts, others said "the front," and when we marched
out upon Long Bridge, we were quite certain we were to have
some experience in Virginia. Company L veterans recall, as
they neared TJnionville and the band played a lively air, a fine
high headed horse prancing to the music, but as they neared
him, they saw he was moving on three legs only, but in perfect
time. The familiar government brand "I. 0." on his flank, told
of battle-strife and his ajjpreciation of marching music. Though
only a horse, preserved for the good he had done, he was greeted
with hearty cheers.

While new regiments were constantly forming and a man
counted for as much in one of them as in the other organiza-
tions, there were considerations of locality that frequently de-
termined the body wherein the recruit was to serve. If he
were not too intent upon getting a commission immediately,
if he were only modestly ambitious, he found the regiments
already in the service better for him than those whose record
was all before them. Hence the numbers that had enlisted
in Auburn and in the old barracks there had received an intro-
duction to soldier's life. The winter of ISO.S and "04. spent in
that place, has a considerable space in the memories of many
a Ninth survivor. There were some men considerably beyond
the age of service, but by discriminating lying and the barber's
art, they manage to pass muster. On the whole, the accessions
to the Army of the Potomac at the beginning of the Battle



A GENERAL SHAKING-UP. 81

Summer added imicli lo its strength. At tiist tliey met some
chafif from the older soldiers, but in the line of dutj all differ-
ences disapjieared, and before Cold Harbor was readied, only
the closest scrutiny could have told who were the old and who
the new. As usual, our party was a large one, and we could
not all sto]i at one fort, so we were distributed. A. F and M
to Fort Richardson, which became the head(iuarters; B and I
went to Fort Barnard; H, to Fort Garrische; K, to Fort Berry,
and L. to Fort Scott. The "boys" of the latter company ever
dilate on the terror of rats in this stronghold. They had to
sleep in the bomb-proofs, and life, waking or sleeping, was a
warfare with the rodents, which stole their food at all times
and made nights hideous by walking over the sleeping soldiers,
one of whom declared, as between rebs and rats, he preferred
the former. The regiment is again as nearly united as it can
be in so many forts. The 2d Battalion that came up from
Fort Foote on the same day found itself placed with C, D and
G in Fort Ward, and E in Fort Reynolds, the former companies
making a long detour by way of Long Bridge and not reach-
ing the fort till nearly midnight. The distance of Fort Ward
from Alexandria is not more than four nor less than three miles,
but the men marched twelve miles to get there. One of them
tersely remarks in his journal, "Military."

Our move was more "military." The 1st Connecticut
Heavy Artillery vacated many of the forts as the Ninth moved
in. Over the main entrance to Fort Richardson the soldiers
had left, in large letters, the Latin motto of the Wooden Xut-
meg State, viz., "Qui transtuUt sustinet.'' which some boys
just from school were able to render to their fellows as, "Who
brought us, will sustain." For once we thought the sentiment
quite as good as our Xew York's "Excelsior." Fairfax Semi-
nary was near. Daily picket-guard was maintained, but there
was very little stability, since on the 1.5th, Companies B and
L were ordered to Fort Worth, still further south. The very
next day there was an inspection at Fort Richardson, just to
see how quickly the men could move. With the exception of
men on duty in the forts, and so could not report, this was the
first time for the men of the Ninth to assemble in a body. Dur-
ing these days active boys are scouring the neighboring coun-
try for adventure and sights. The wounded from the Wilder-
ness are tilling the Seminary Hospital, and thither many go,
6



82 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.

both from curiosity aud possibly to see wouuded friends from
other regiments; when there, few failed to climb to the steeple
of the seminary to get the fine view it afforded. This seminary
was and is an Episcopal theological school. Arlington is not
so very far away, and the building and grounds filled with
memories of the Lee family are thoroughly inspected. Many
a letter carried to northern homes floral souvenirs from the
Arlington flower gardens. Camp distribution comes in for a
visit, and Camp Chase, where the first stop was made nearly
two years before, is also quite near.

The night of May 17 is a long one to many, for certain com-
panies are under arms or on the march nearly every moment
of it, for all have been ordered to report at Fort Richardson
very early. Shelter-tents have been added to our outfit, and
we are ready to go. It is scarcely more than morning on May
18 when we enter Alexandria, 2000 strong, and go upon trans-
ports, the great mass of us quite ignorant of our destination.
Steamers ,John Brooks, John W. D. Prouty and the State of
Connecticut bear us away and down the river. Lost sleep is
sought upon the deck floors, and those who desire amusement
find it in cards and other diversions. The tolling of the ship's
bell as we passed Mt. Vernon called up reflections that possi-
bly the Father of his Country might not be pleased if he knew
in what disordec his children were. Late in the afternoon we
reach Belle Plain Landing at the mouth of the Potomac creek,
and soon go ashore in the midst of a drenching rain, though
to make room for our boat another, filled with rebel prisoners,
is obliged to move out. The Johnnies are dirty and saucy.
Some one suggests that these qualities are usually joined. Some
of the boys, recruits, jiitch their first tents here, and try to dry
off by means of camii-fires. There is a hospital transport at
the dock, and some of our number are borne thereon to be
taken back for treatment.

The rain continues, and during the following night our ears
are treated to the sound of distant cannonading, a part of that
"wild diajiason of war" wliich (Jrant had inaugurated earlier
in the month, and to which our ears were to become so much
accustomed. The next day, the lOth, in the morning Companies
H, I and L started for Fredericksburg in charge of a wagon-
train, reaching there at about 10 P. M. Company D followed
in the afternoon and camped east of the Rappahannock. Each



A GENERAL SHAKINGUP. 83

mau wasajiaiuliis owu cook. On this day a party of rebel prison-
ers passed through the camp, and went aboard a boat bound for
some northern prison. Draw six days' rations. While we were
lying at this point some of us saw Colonel Welling and Lieuten-
ant Colonel Seward go aboard a transport and soon steam
away towards ^\'ashington. Naturally we said to each other,
''What's up!" A few days later we learned what it all meant.
Those who roamed over Belle Plain came to the conclusion
that it derived its name by the law of contraries, for it was
anything but attractive. The shores were composed of con-
glomerated shells not unlike the coquina of Florida. i^till
pleasures were found even there, for the bathing was good,
though some roguish fellows suggested sharks. Many a sol-
dier will recall how very cheap shad were, and how gloriously
he fried them on his tin plate, which became at once griddle
and trencher. To their unsophisticated taste, the result of
their cooking was every Mhit as appetizing as were the famous
planked shad cooked by Daniel Webster himself.

We were not to march hungry nor unarmed, for all started
away from Belle Plain with six days' rations and forty rounds
of cartridges, quite a load in itself. Five companies left on the
afternoon of the 20th — Companies A and K the following
morning, and G at noon on the 22d. This going to the front
was a new experience to most of the men, and it did not take
long to lessen the baggage which the special order had named
as necessary. Hundreds said, "If we only had these blankets
at liome, how nice it would be. but they are a nuisance here,"
and off they would go from the knapsacks. The days were very
warm and the burden great. Seemingly, there was no mo-
ment when some one could not be seen in the act of throwing
away something, till our line of march was effectually indicated
by tons of cast away apparel. One captain, of a very saving
nature, had his feelings hurt by so much wastefulness, and
he did his best to carry a part of the stuff thus discarded, and
was laughed at for his pains: even he had to yield finally and
drop his extra burden. In their extremity, some men threw
away, at once, knapsack and all it contained. Others reduced
it by degrees, while still others made a roll of what they deemed
most precious and, with joined ends, bore it over one shoulder.
Every one felt it necessary to sacrifice something, nnd a New
York old-clothes man could have made his fortune on the



84 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.

material with wliicli om- way was strewn. What we did was
done by every new regiment, and the acres between the laud-
ing and city became the temporary de])ository of our own and
govcrunieut possessions in fabulous (juantities. If those iu
authority had only told us what we really needed and what
we had best leave behind, liow much better it bad been for all;
but the mere waste of projjerty was of small consideration,
and our officers were just as inexperienced as their men.

The route itself was through a veritable land of desolation.
Whatever it may have been in the past, three years of war had
swept off everything that made life worth living. If there
were inhabitants, like some rodents they must have burrowed.
On our way we met an ambulance conveying wounded from
the front to the landing. Among them were many from the
1st JIaine, long our neighbors in the defenses. They had had
their baptism of blood, and had made a glorious record. While
camping and waiting for the other companies, it is said that
Caiitain Gregory of B was bitten in the tomjile by a rattle-
snake, and that this contributed to his death at Cold Harbor
more than the wound received there. At noon or ;i little past,
the last company, except G. also guarding a wagon-train, came
up and had a sight of the Rappahannock and Fredericksburg.
Some veterans who had first gone out in 1861 retained vivid
recollections of their long day on Stafford Heights, and it was
just a renewal of old actjuaintanccs, but to the majority all
was new. The words had long been very, very familiar, and
now we were having the realities that went with those words.
Head-boards here and there told of the dead in the long days
of '62 and '63, when Burnside and Hooker, staking their for-
tunes lost.

The noteworthy hamlet of Falmouth is at our right, and oppo-
site is Fredericksburg, with its ragged steeples and yawning
walls, its mined bridges and bullet-marred houses. We are
standing on laud that may have belonged to Washington, and
before us may be the very spot, on the river's bank, where the
youthful athlete stood when he made that famous throw of u
silver dollar across the Hapjiahannock. While wailing by the
river, some of the men crossed over and found the city one
great hos])ital. The Wilderness and Sjjottsylvania were only
a few miles away, and the wounded from these terrible fields
were here by the thousands. The scenes of the amputating



REACHING THE FRONT. 85

t;ibU's weiv uot eakiilated to iiisjiirc tlie yoiiii}^ iiicu, who were
to soon experience similar dangers. So absorbed were they in
the bloody present, they had little disposition to think of the
city's past, but had they been inclined, they might have found
the Masonic Lodge room in whicli Washington was initiated
just before he was of age. and the very Bible on which he laid
his hands, i. c, if they had been disposed to break in. In the
northern part of the city, they might have found the home of
Washington's mother, the very house in which she breathed
her last, and where her distinguished son often visited her,
and a little to the westward her grave with the marble monu-
ment by its side, for it was never reared. All this the boys
might have seen, but probably no one did. Their thoughts
were quite too prosaic and practical for historic reminders, and
besides the school-master was not with them.



CHAPTER XI.

Reaching the Front.

Though we are standing on the margin of the river, though
the citv before us was filled with dead and wounded, and
though the sound of distant artillery was frequent, we were not
as yet at that ever movable point known as the Front. For
several days we were to continue to be only an isolated regi-
ment guarding a wagon-train, which some of the boys confi-
dently asserted was forty miles long. There were several hun-
dred wagons in the train. At 2 P. M. we march down and
across the river, for the first time, in hundreds of instances, on
a pontoon bridge. We almost envied the natty sailors who sat
in several of the boats doing some kind of guard-duty; they
looked so clean and neat when contrasted with our soiled uni-
forms, and we were only beginning. We had hardly more than
passed through the city when we were halted near Marye's
Heights, once flaming with rebel fire, and in time to be the cem-
etery of so many loyal dead, and waited a while. During the
interval a thunder-storm coming up, some of the boys put
up their shelter-tents, and then was shown just how many per-
sons could get under that diminutive canvas; "seven or eight"
is one record, and one nf those men insisted on keeiting his



86 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.

feet dry also. That night we had our first specimen of march-
ing in the dark. There were no "taps" for us, though at mid-
night or thereabouts we were halted and permitted to lie down.
Of course when eleven large companies were strung along sev-
eral miles, the same hour would not apply to all. The grass
was very wet, and we had thrown away that which would now
make us comfortable. Happy the boys who have retained their
rubber-blankets and shelter-tents, for two men could place a
poncho, rubber side down on the ground, then lay one-half the
shelter on that, making with knapsack (when saved) for pillow,
a fair "shake-down." For covering, the order of tent and blank-
et was reversed. By lying very closely together, two partners
could get along very well through a Virginia night, but alas
for the lad who had nothing, whose improvidence had left him
overcoatless and blanketless!

For him there was no refuge but the camp-fire, and then when