September 5, 1863
Our train consisted in a large number of freight cars, all
marked “U. S. Military Railroads,” and of one passenger car containing its precious
freight of officers, not to speak of the female doctor who knocked Zacksnifska
out of all sight and knowledge. She was going down to get the son of an old
lady, who (the said son) had had a sunstroke, and this female doctor had great
confidence she could cure him. She was attired in a small straw hat with a
cockade in front, a pair of blue pantaloons and a long frock coat, or sack.
Over all she had a linen “duster”; and this, coupled with the fact that she had
rips in her boots, gave her a trig appearance. She was liberal in her advice to
all comers and especially exhorted two newspaper boys to immediately wash their
faces, in which remark she was clearly correct.1 . . .
. . . At Warrenton Junction there was luckily an ambulance
from headquarters; and as its owner was only a diminutive captain, I had no
hesitation in asking him to carry me up, with my traps. . . . So off we set, on a road which went
sometimes over stumps and sometimes through “runs” two or three feet deep. We
passed any quantity of pickets and negroes and dragoons in twos and threes;
till at last, looking off to the left (or rather right), I beheld what seemed a
preparation for a gigantic picnic: a great number of side-tents, pitched along
regular lines, or streets, and over them all a continuous bower of pine boughs.
These were “Headquarters.” I put my best foot forward and advanced to the tent
of the Commander-in-Chief, in front of which waved a big flag on a high staff.
In my advance I was waylaid by a lieutenant, the officer of the day, who with
much politeness said General Meade was out for a ride, but would I not walk
into a tent and take some whiskey; which I accepted, all but the whiskey. He
turned out to be a Swede, one Rosencrantz, and I rejoiced his soul by speaking
of Stockholm. Presently there arrived the General himself, who cried out, “Hulloo,
Lyman! how are you?” just as he used to. He was as kind as possible, and
presently informed me I was to mess with him. As the Chief-of-Staff is the only
other man who is allowed to do this, you may concede that my lines have fallen
in pleasant places! The said Chief-of-Staff is General Humphreys, a very
eminent engineer. He is an extremely neat man, and is continually washing
himself and putting on paper dickeys. He has a great deal of knowledge, beyond
his profession, and is an extremely gentlemanly man. As to the Assistant
Adjutant-General, S. Barstow, he was most hospitable, and looked out for
getting me a tent, etc. He really has a laborious and difficult position, the
duties of which he seems to discharge with the offhand way of an old workman.
Now I will pull up. As to my riding forth yesterday and
to-day, in martial array, beside the General, and with dragoons clattering
behind, shall not the glories thereof be told in a future letter? Meanwhile, if
you want to feel as if nobody ever was or could be killed, just come here! This
is the effect, strange as it may seem. For your assurance I will state, that we
yesterday rode seven miles directly towards the enemy, before we got to a spot
whence their pickets may sometimes be seen! . . .
_______________
1 Dr. Mary E. Walker (1832-1919).
SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Meade’s Headquarters,
1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox,
p. 5-7
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