Three Years in the Federal Cavalry Part 7

Under this new _regime_ some very beneficial changes have been wrought.

Schools or camps of instruction have been established, with a more rigid discipline than before, and boards of examination, with all the experience of the past before their eyes, have been organized. Old and incompetent officers have been dismissed, or have slunk away before this incisive catechism, giving way generally to intelligent, young, and efficient men, who, placed at the heads of regiments and brigades, give promise of success in the struggles that await us.

The Rebel cavalry under Stuart has long been organized into an efficient body, which, at times, has sneered at our attempts to match them; and yet they have been made to feel, on some occasions, that we are a growing power, which time and experience may develop into something formidable. But the general successes of the Rebel army have made them all very insolent, in the hope that final victory is already in their grasp.

_February 11._--My old friend and comrade, Sergeant Theodore May, of Pittstown, New York, died this afternoon at two o'clock, after a brief illness, of typhoid fever, which is a great scourge throughout the army.

The death of this valiant fellow-soldier casts a deep gloom over the entire command, in which he has so faithfully served. When we entered the army together at the organization of the regiment, he came a perfect stranger, but his gentle manners and soldierly deportment soon made for him hosts of warm friends. By his gallantry on the field of battle, as well as by the gentleness of his manners and his unblemished conduct in camp, he has won the respect, and even admiration, of all who knew him.

The patriotic motives which induced Sergeant May to quit his pleasant home in the beautiful valley of the Tomhannock, for the privations, hardships, and dangers of military life, have always proved him to be a true and warm sympathizer in his country's cause. It was evidently not the mere love of adventure, or the mere pageantry or glory of war, that led him to make the great sacrifice. He has been with us in every conflict, and shared with us the varied fortunes of the Harris Light.

His death, which he would rather have met on the field of strife, battling manfully against traitors, was reserved for the calm and quiet of the camp, where he spent his last moments urging his comrades to "cheer up and fight on," offering as his dying reason, that "our cause is just, and must triumph." Such a death is a rich legacy to a command.

"He being dead, yet speaketh." We would emulate his virtues.

_February 12._--On recommendation of Lieutenant Frederick C. Lord, I was to-day appointed by Colonel Kilpatrick First Sergeant of Company E, vice Henry Temple, promoted to Sergeant Major. My appointment is to date from the first of January, making me a very desirable New Year's gift, which I shall strive to honor.

_February 22._--Snow has been falling uninterruptedly the livelong day, and yet the boys have been unusually merry, as they were wont to be on this anniversary before the war. Our celebration has been on a scanty scale, and yet we have felt the patriotic stimulus which comes from the great men and days of the past. And truly, the birth of the great Washington gives birth to many interesting thoughts, especially at this period of our history. A national salute has been fired from our fortifications on the Potomac, and the whole country round about us has been made to reverberate with the sound that welcomes in the day.

But all these patriotic manifestations have not prevented the snow-storm and the cold. When we left our home in the North for what was termed "the sunny South," we little expected to find such storms as this here.

While the summers are much cooler than we expected to find them, the days being generally fanned by a beautiful sea-breeze, the winters exceed for cold our highest expectation. The cold is not continuous, but very severe. We have seen the soft ground and water-puddles freeze sufficiently in one night to bear a horse; and in several days and nights the frost has penetrated the earth several inches deep. The snow-storm of to-day is as severe as most storms experienced in the North. The wind has howled from the north-west, burdened with its cold, feathery flakes, which to-night lie at least twelve inches deep in places undisturbed. It is such a storm as our suffering pickets, and indeed our entire army, cannot soon forget.

It may be that the vast forests of Virginia have much to do with its peculiar temperature. As we travel from place to place we are strongly impressed with the vastness of the wilderness, which covers thousands of acres of as fine arable soil as can be found on the continent. How different is this from the notions we had formed of the _Old_ Dominion, while reading of its early settlements, and of its great agricultural advantages. But when we look into its system of land-owning, and find that one individual monopolizes a territory sufficient for a dozen farms, and consequently neglects eleven twelfths of his acres; and then look into its even worse system of labor, we need search no farther for the causes of this backwardness in agricultural pursuits. The implements made use of here on the plantations are such as were rejected by New England farmers over half a century ago; and the _methods_ of cultivation are a century behind the times. Slavery and land-monopoly are the incubus.

Who does not sincerely hope that the time is not far distant, when the rich acres of this great State shall be properly shared by its inhabitants, and when, freed from a burden and curse which have long paralyzed their energies, instinct with new life and enterprise, the people will realize the dignity of labor? Then will the almost interminable forests disappear, and in their stead the industrious yeoman will behold his rich fields of waving grain. Then, too, along the now comparatively useless streams and swift water-courses, will spring up the factory and the mill, whose rolling wheels and buzzing spindles will bring wealth and prosperity to the nation. We are convinced, from what we have seen, that Virginia has water-power enough to turn the machinery of the world. With these changes the school-house will be found by the side of every church, and intelligence and virtue will bless the home of the Presidents.

We have also many times been led to think, while lying in these chilly woods, that a greater warmth would be imparted to the atmosphere if the forest-trees were felled and the land put under cultivation,--a change sufficiently great to be appreciable throughout the State.

"UNCHRONICLED HEROES."

_Sunday, March 1._--The usual Sunday morning inspection was omitted on account of rain. Rain, rain had fallen for many days almost incessantly.

The regiment has been earnestly at work throughout the day in building stables for the horses, which have suffered greatly from being kept standing too long in the mud. Under these circ.u.mstances our horses are afflicted with the scratches, many of them so badly as to render them unserviceable, and occasionally they lose their lives.

By this cause and through hard work my little black mare, which I drew by lot at Camp Suss.e.x in the autumn of 1861, has at last succ.u.mbed, and, with a grief akin to that which is felt at the loss of a dear human friend, I have performed the last rite of honor to the dead. The Indian may love his faithful dog, but his attachments cannot surpa.s.s the cavalryman's for his horse. They have learned to love one another in the most trying vicissitudes of life, and the animal manifests affection and confidence quite as evidently as a human being could.

The cavalier, it is true, is often compelled to drive at a most fearful rate, as when bearing hurried despatches, or making a charge, frequently causing almost immediate blindness to the animal. Or, may be, he continues on a march for many days and nights in succession, as on a raid, averaging at least sixty-five miles in twenty-four hours, with little water and less forage; unable to remove the saddle, which has to be tightly bound, until the animal is so badly galled that the hair comes off with the blanket at its first removal.

Sufferings like these often cause the death of a large proportion of a command; and to a careless looker-on these things would appear to be mere neglects. But these cruel military necessities only develop more perfectly the rider's sympathy for his suffering beast, and bind them in closer and more endearing bonds.

Some men had rather injure themselves than have their horses harmed, and the utmost pains are taken to heal them in case they are wounded. Each regiment has its veterinary surgeon, whose skill is taxed to the utmost in his branch of the healing art.

Among the most touching scenes we have witnessed, are those in which the mortally wounded horse has to be abandoned on the field of carnage.

With tearful eyes the rider and perhaps owner turns to take a last look of the "unchronicled hero," his fellow-sufferer, that now lies weltering in his blood, and yet makes every possible effort to follow the advancing column. The parting is deeply affecting.

Often the cavalryman finds no object to which he may hitch his horse for the night save his own hand; and thus with the halter fast bound to his grasp he lies down with a stone, or perhaps his saddle, for a pillow, his faithful horse standing as a watchful guardian by his side. At times the animal will walk around him, eating the gra.s.s as far as he can reach, and frequently arousing him by trying to gain the gra.s.s on which he lies; yet it is worthy of note, that an instance can scarcely be found where the horse has been known to step upon or in anywise injure his sleeping lord. Such a scene the poet undoubtedly had in his mind when he sang:

"The murmuring wind, the moving leaves Lull'd him at length to sleep, With mingled lullabies of sight and sound."

Such experiences as these had taught me to love my faithful and true friend. But I found I was not the only man in the command who was bereaved of his _first_ love. Only a few horses of the original number which we drew still remain, and several of them are either partially or totally blind, though yet serviceable. The hardships of the camp and the campaign are more destructive of animal than human flesh. Men are often sheltered from the storm when the horses are exposed, and the men are sometimes fed when the horses have to go hungry.

In battle the horse is a larger mark than the man, and hence is more frequently hit, so that more than twice the number of horses fall in every engagement than men. The cavalryman is more shielded from the deadly missile than the infantryman. The horse's head and shoulders will often receive the bullet which was intended for the rider's body. This is true also of the elevated portions of the saddle, with the rolls of blankets and coats and bag of forage. A difference has also been noticed between the casualties in cavalry and infantry regiments under equal exposure. This difference is wholly explained when we consider the jolting and swift motion of the man as his horse leaps forward in the fray, making him a very uncertain mark for the enemy.

BRIGHT DAYS.

_March 3._--This is the first bright day we have seen in more than three weeks. The mud around our camps, especially in the neighborhood where we water our horses, is terrible, and the roads are almost bottomless.

However, long trains of forage and commissary-wagons may be seen pa.s.sing to and fro, with horses and mules in mud from "stem to stern."

Cavalcades of mudded horses and riders traverse the camps and adjoining fields in various directions.

Large flocks of crows--the most soldier-like bird in the world--with their high-perched vedettes when alighted, and their military line of march when on the wing, afford some lessons of diversion and instruction. It would seem as if all the ravens of the United States had congregated here, having been attracted by the carrion of battle-fields and the refuse of camps. Turkey buzzards, birds which are always on the wing, and that none of us ever yet saw alighted, wheel through the air like eagles, gazing down upon us with seeming defiance. The sights are of daily occurrence.

KILPATRICK.

To-day several details were made from the regiment for brigade headquarters, where Kilpatrick, the senior colonel in the brigade, now commands. In the afternoon we raised the "stars and stripes" in front of his tent, after which three cheers were given for the flag and three for the Union. Kilpatrick was then called upon for a speech, and responded in his usually felicitous style. He is certainly an orator as well as a warrior. He speaks, too, as he fights, with dash and daring. What he has to say he says with such perspicuity that no one doubts his meaning.

Frequently there are flashes of eloquence worthy of a Demosthenes. His voice and diction seem to be well-nigh faultless. His speech to-day elicited frequent outbursts of applause, and the men cheered him enthusiastically at the close, and left his quarters with a deeper affection for him than before. Strict as he is to enforce discipline, and thorough, yet he is not severe; and the men love him for his personal attention to their wants, and for his appreciation of their labors. If he gives us hard work to do in march or battle, he endures or shares with us the hardship. If by the losses of men he has sustained he is truly ent.i.tled to the nickname of "Kill Cavalry," which has been quite generally accorded to him, his men know that these casualties have fallen out in the line of duty, in bold enterprises that cost the enemy dearly, the wisdom of which will ever exculpate our loved commander from the imputation of rashness with which, by uninformed parties, he is sometimes charged.

In preparation for, and during, a battle, none can excel him. His plans are quickly made and executed, while all possible contingencies seem to have been foreseen. His selection of positions and disposition of forces always exhibits great sagacity and military genius. He generally holds his men under perfect control. His clarion voice rings like magic through the ranks, while his busy form, always in the thickest of the fight, elicits the warmest enthusiasm. His equanimity of mind seems never to be overcome by his celerity of motion, but are equally balanced. Rarely is so great prudence found blended with so undaunted courage. He has an indomitable will that cannot brook defeat. The word _impossible_ he never knows, whatever difficulties intervene between him and duty. He feels like Napoleon, "that _impossible_ is the adjective of fools."

Added to all these mental qualifications, is that perfect _physique_, which makes Kilpatrick the model soldier. As an equestrian we have never seen his superior. He rides as though he had been made for a saddle.

Rocks, stumps, fallen trees, brooks, and fences are nothing before him.

His well-trained steeds understand him perfectly, and are never at a loss to know what is meant by the sharp spurs on their sides, whatever obstacles stand in their path. We have seen him leap over barriers where only few could follow him. To accomplish such feats the horse must have confidence in the rider as well as the rider in the horse. While in a charge, Kilpatrick has more the appearance of an eagle pouncing upon his prey, than that of a man pouncing upon a man. Then, too, he has a wonderful power of endurance. Though somewhat slender in form and delicate in mould, with complexion and eyes as light as a maiden's, yet it would seem as though his bones were iron and his sinews steel, while the whole is overlaid with gold. He is certainly compactly built. He has undoubtedly his faults, but his men fail to see them, so that to them he is as good as perfect.

What so young a champion of the right may yet achieve for his country, is a matter of much hopeful conjecture among us. He is now only twenty-five years of age, having had his birth in the beautiful valley of the Clove, in Northern New Jersey, in 1838. He entered the Military Academy at West Point on the twentieth of June, 1856, and graduated with honors in 1860, just in time to be ready for the great conflict then impending. He was present at Baltimore when the mob endeavored to stop the trains for Washington, and the blood of Ma.s.sachusetts men was spilt upon the streets. He there exhibited that bold intrepidity which has ever characterized his actions. He was wounded at the battle of Big Bethel, one of the first engagements of the war, where as a lieutenant he commanded Duryea's Zouaves, June eleventh, 1861. He had just recovered from his wound when he entered upon the organization of the Harris Light, and became its lieutenant-colonel.

_March 5._--We had regimental drill at the usual time this morning. I rode my black pony recently drawn in place of my little black mare, deceased. This was his first experience in cavalry discipline; and I infer that the men in the front rank of the platoon, which I commanded, hoped it might be his last entry; for it must have been most emphatically evident to those who followed him that he was determined to introduce a new system of tactics, in which heels were to go up in no gentle manner at every change of movement. He is certainly the most ungovernable horse on drill I ever mounted; and nothing but long marches and raids can effectually subdue his kicking propensities. I am encouraged, however, with the consideration that such fiery metal, when properly controlled and moulded, is usually very valuable.

The rain fell so fast on the sixth, that we were prevented from drill, and recall was sounded immediately after drill-call.

_Sunday, March 8._--Details from the regiment were ordered out on picket. The night had been stormy, but the day has been lovely. At such times, were it not for the mud, we would feel that we are very comfortably circ.u.mstanced.

On the eleventh, in the morning, the ground was covered with snow which had fallen in the night. A brilliant sun soon dissolved the pure mantle and left us in much mire. But our attention was diverted from the going by a novel scene which we were called to witness in camp. The regiment was instructed in the best method of packing a mule, by one who has had experience in the business. The most mulish mule in the whole braying family was selected for the operation, and if we did not have some tall fun I will admit that I am no judge. A hog on ice or a bristling porcupine are bad enough, but an ugly mule outstrips them all. It seems as if the irascible animal tried to do his prettiest, flouncing around in a most laughable manner, pawing and kicking at times furiously. But the desperate Yankee teacher was not to be outwitted, and conquered him at last, when the pack was satisfactorily poised, and the ornamented mule was promenaded about camp as in triumph.

We are informed that it is the intention of the authorities to have pack-mules used in the cavalry corps henceforward in place of army wagons. The reason of this change seems to be to facilitate rapid movements or forced marches. It is the prevailing opinion, however, that the experiment will prove a failure. Too many mules would be required for this purpose, and our forage and rations would be very insecure, especially from the storms. But we will see how the thing works. At times it may be expedient.

_March 12._--I had the misfortune to have my quarters burned this morning while getting out a detail for picket. All my extra clothing, equipments, and some little mementoes or valuables were speedily converted into ashes. But I immediately went to work, and with some kind a.s.sistance, which every brother-soldier is so ready to bestow, I put up a new establishment which in every respect is superior to the old. Our homes, it is true, are easily destroyed, but they are as easily replaced.

_March 13._--Details from the regiment, with pack-mules, were sent out to the Rappahannock, to carry rations and forage to our pickets. The mule-train looks oddly enough, and yet through these muddy roads it seems to be a necessity.

_March 14._--To-day I am doing regimental guard duty. The guard has been not a little amused by the arrest of Kilpatrick's colored servants. It was their misfortune to be discovered by Captain Southard, the officer of the day, while engaged in a fierce contest, in which their heads were used as the chief weapons of attack and defence. The blows they dealt upon each other were most terrible, reminding one of the battering-rams of old, used for demolishing the walls of forts or cities. Such ancient modes of warfare, of course, could not be tolerated here, especially as no order for battle had been promulgated from headquarters, and the captain arrested the offenders and brought them to the guard-house, where they were placed in my charge. I immediately ordered them out under guard to police camp as a punishment for their bad conduct.

While thus engaged, Kilpatrick happened to see them, and, not wishing to have his faithful servants subjected to such humiliating labor, issued an order for their immediate release from durance vile, a.s.serting that he would be responsible for their fighting in the future, if at least they did not put their heads together more than half a dozen times a day.

The day following this laughable farce, in the afternoon, we experienced one of the most terrific storms ever known in this part of the country.

The day had been quite pleasant until about two o'clock, when dark clouds began to obscure the sky, and the wind shifted from the south to the north-west. At four o'clock the elements were ready for battle, and a fierce engagement commenced. Gleaming and forked lightnings cleft the canopy, while booming thunder shook the trembling earth. The artillery of Heaven had not long been opened before the musketry commenced, and down poured a shower of hail, which came near demolishing our tents, and brought suffering and sorrow upon all unsheltered heads. Mules brayed horribly, vying with the hoa.r.s.e, muttering thunder, making the camp most hideous and lonely. The wind and cold increased with every pa.s.sing hour, the hail fell faster and more heavily, and night came suddenly down to hide, though not to prevent, the storm. The night was one of great suffering, especially on the lines of picket--it was bad enough anywhere.

_March 23._--A beautiful sabre was presented to Major E. F. Cooke this afternoon, by the members of his old company, for his gallantry and soldierly character, which have earned his promotion. Captain O. J.

Downing, of company B, made the presentation speech, in which he beautifully alluded to the happy relation which always exists between a faithful commander and his men. As a token that such relation existed between the major and those whom he had often led through perilous scenes and conflicts, their gift was presented. An appropriate response was made by the major, in which he very humbly attributed his military success thus far to the bravery of the n.o.ble men who had always stood by him, and whose gift he accepted not only as a mark of their appreciation of himself as a man, but of their devotion to the cause which he hoped, by the edge of the sabre and trust in Providence, we may yet win.

_March 24._--Kilpatrick's brigade was reviewed this morning by General Gregg, who commands the Second division of the cavalry corps. Kilpatrick commands the First brigade, which is composed of the First Maine, the Tenth New York, and Harris Light. On the twenty-fifth General Gregg again reviewed us. We were ordered to turn out in "heavy marching orders," that is, with all our clothing, rations, forage or grain, and fully equipped. For some reason inspections and reviews are frequent of late. The Harris Light maintains its established reputation, as being second to none in the corps, for its efficiency in drill and discipline, and in its general appearance. The men take pride in keeping up the _morale_ of the regiment.

_March 28._--Colonel Clarence Buel is paying us a visit to-day. This gallant and n.o.ble officer, who organized and formerly commanded the Troy company of the Harris Light, has recently been promoted to the colonelcy of the Hundred and Sixty-ninth New York Infantry. The colonel has taken a temporary leave of absence from his new command for the purpose of making us a friendly call; and he is again surrounded by his old tried friends and comrades. Company E hails with pleasure its former loved captain, and though sad at his loss, still rejoices in his well-earned and merited promotion. All the men of the company showed their respect and admiration for him by falling into line upon the announcement of his arrival in camp, and thus greeted the Christian soldier. It was a very delightful and enjoyable occasion.