Aug. 5th, 1861.
My dear Mother:
Living now quietly without excitement, the events of two weeks
ago have become like a dream. Our camp is beautifully situated on Meridian Hill
in the suburbs of Washington, and overlooks an enchanting prospect of the city,
and the green banks of the Potomac. The air is fresh and healthy, and sickness
which has been very prevalent among the men, is now breaking up, and a better
appearance is beginning to be seen in the camp. Still the shock we received in
the last battle was very great. I have written how great our loss was, and that
the same was most heavy among our officers. Fifteen of them, six Captains and
nine Lieutenants, nearly half of the entire number, were lost to us that day.
On our return to Fort Corcoran after the battle, having walked over thirty
miles from the battlefield, having been thirty-six hours without food or sleep,
consequently exhausted from fatigue, hunger, and want of rest, we hoped to be
allowed to throw ourselves anywhere, and to get a mouthful of anything to eat.
The rain poured in torrents and we were soaked to our skins. There was not a
cracker to be had at the quarters; there was not a tent to shelter us. We
crawled into an old barn. Sherman, the commander of our brigade, ordered us to
come out and stand in the rain. Many of the men were desperate. They became
clamorous for food. Sherman sneered at them for such unsoldierly conduct. They
begged for some place to rest. He bade them sleep on the ground. They had no
blankets, many not even a jacket, and all were shivering in the wet. The soil
was oozy with water, and deep puddles lay everywhere. The men became querulous.
Sherman grew angry, called them a pack of NewYork loafers and thieves.
Oh ye Patriots, was not this a spectacle! Afterward Sherman
visited the camp with President Lincoln. The men had grown sullen. As he drove
by, they besieged his carriage, hooted him, and reminded him who it was that
first basely deserted us on the battlefield, turning his horse's head from us,
and leaving us to our fate.
President Lincoln ordered his coachman to drive away.
Affairs were now interesting. Lieut.-Col. Elliott visited
the Secretary of War — denounced the conduct of Sherman in the plainest
language. Everything served to corroborate his testimony. The Secretary of War
then removed us to our present encampment, and placed us in the Brigade of Gen'l
Mansfield. We are now doing well, but the past is not forgotten. The men feel
that they were wronged, and are discontented; officers feel that they were
insulted, and have resigned. Those of us who remain by the Regiment are a mere
handful. Under these circumstances, and because the men fought well at
Manassas, the Government has concluded to send us to some one of the forts near
New-York for a short time, there to recruit, and restore the organization of
the Regiment. As it is now, whole companies are without officers. It is thought
in a short time we may again be upon a war footing, and ready to win fresh
laurels, only laurels that are worn after victory, not the mournful ones that
even the defeated may wear after a manful struggle.
I am very much entertained and amused to hear of your
accounts of my heroic deeds. You don't know the half of them. I won't pretend
to say how many I killed in the fight. About five hundred, I suppose — most of
them Colonels, only a few ranking less than a Major. You say you read in the Tribune
the statement of the bearing away the body of our good Colonel, made by
Lieut. S. R. Elliott, a reliable witness. Yes, my dear Mother, I was one of the
little band mentioned in the paragraph, but regarding that dreadful bomb-shell which,
exploding, killed five of us, I can only say that I didn't see it. The story
originated with the correspondent of the Tribune, who called one night
in a beastly state of intoxication, upon Colonel Elliott to inquire the
particulars of the fight. We were all somewhat astonished at the particulars as
they appeared the next day in the papers. You may have read too, how a certain
Captain ––– repeatedly rallied us, and led us back to the fight. Captain ––– was
not near the field of battle the whole day, but being a small politician, he
stayed at home and composed an account of his gallantry, in which perhaps there
was much wisdom. You see, Mother, what reports are worth, and I positively deny
all stories regarding myself, with the exception, of course, of such authentic
anecdotes as my having killed several hundred Colonels, Lieut.-Colonels and
Majors with a ram-rod, which served me as the jaw-bone did Sampson when he went
out against the Philistines.
Your letters reach me now with the utmost regularity. Thank
Lilly for her kind letter too. I have been looking for Hunt all day to-day. I
suppose I shall see you when we are transferred, perhaps to Fort Schuyler.
I was sorry not to see Mrs. Tyler when here.
Very Affec'y.,
William T. Lusk,
Lieutenant Co. K. 79th
Regiment.
SOURCE: William Chittenden Lusk, Editor, War Letters
of William Thompson Lusk, p. 67-9
