9 Oc I dismissed the
old guard & I then visited the sick in hospitals till noon evening I was on
dress perade we have the pleasure of the arivel of our Chaplain MH Hare
SOURCE: Edgar R.
Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2,
October 1925, p. 94
Forenoon was down to
see the 25th Reg on their way to St Louis they are a fine looking set of men. 3
Oc our chaplain MH Hare preached for us in our Barracks the first sermon he has
preached for the Reg since his appointment text Seek first the kingdom of God
&c night we was to preaching by the pastor at Chattam Square Church Keokuk
I was on dress perade
SOURCE: Edgar R.
Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2,
October 1925, p. 94
We ware on batallion
drill afternoon Company drill & Dress perade Our sick are all mending
evening Our Chaplain preached in the Barracks of Co I Capt Gedney, text Come
unto me all ye that labour &c
SOURCE: Edgar R.
Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2,
October 1925, p. 95
The past few days have been attended with some excitement in various ways. In the first place, there has been a "revival" among the division, the different regimental chaplains being interested in it, particularly an Indiana chaplain, who is a regular camp-meeting Methodist and understands his business. Quite number have participated and I sincerely trust with good results. The men had quite a hunt for a large eagle that flew over our camp, but it was soon lost to sight. We embarked on board the transport "Empire City," Captain Hazlitt. The boat is terribly crowded, our own regiment and part of the 11th Ohio Battery on board. There was a disturbance on board by the latter attempting to take possession of the boat, but it was soon quieted. Last night one of the battery was drowned by falling off the boat as he was carrying a bag of grain on board. Poor fellow, he could not be saved; the current of the river was too swift. We are now on our way for the Yazoo Pass and now as far as Moon Lake.
SOURCE: Joseph Stockton, War Diary (1862-5) of Brevet Brigadier General Joseph Stockton, p. 9-10
The day has been cold and blustery. We have spent it in reading tracts the chaplain gave out, writing letters and swapping yarns. I am new to it all, and the boys have shown me all over the Arago where they are allowed to go. Our sleeping quarters are between decks, and are very similar to those on Hudson camp ground. That is, long tiers of bunks, one above the other from the floor to the ceiling above, just high enough for a man to sit up in and not hit his head. They are wide enough for four, but a board through the middle separates each into berths for two men each. They are the whole length of the room, with just enough space to walk between them. Along the sides is a row through which are small round windows which can be opened, and which give the only light the room has. For ventilation, a huge bag hangs down from above deck which ends up in a big tin or iron funnel which is kept away from the wind and so is supposed to draw up the air from our bedroom when it becomes heated. Where fresh air comes from I have not yet found out, but suppose it drops down through several openings in the deck above. A swap was made with one who bunked with Walter Loucks so my crony and I could again be together. It is on the side, and has a window in it. Walt has kindly given me the light side so I can keep up my scribbling. What we are here for, or where we go from here, is not yet told us. In fact I don't know as it is yet determined.
SOURCE: Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 62
Inspection as usual. Services at 11 O'clock by our Chaplain, weather very pleasant has the appearance of Indian summer No news of importance today Dress Parade as usual this evening.
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 229
Regimental
inspection this morning.—Religious services by our Chaplain. Grand Review
commenced this evening at 2½ O'clock continued till 5, before Gen. McClernand
and Staff. The forces which passed Camp Cairo, Illinois. Under review were
Five Regts. of Infantry One of cavalry and one Battery of flying Artillery. The
review has been pronounced a splendid affair Every thing passed off in fine
style
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 230
1 William P. Shipley, age 25, residence
Eddyville, nativity Tennessee. Enlisted August 13, 1862, Company D.
Thirty-sixth Iowa Infantry. Died of disease October 20, 1862, at Keokuk,—"Roster
Iowa Soldiers," Vol. V, p. 716.
SOURCE: Edgar R.
Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2,
October 1925, p. 92-3
To-day we felt our way up the valley eight miles, but did not reach the rebels.
To-night our pickets were sure they heard firing off in the direction of Kanawha. If so, Cox and Wise must be having a pleasant little interchange of lead.
The chaplain of the Thirteenth Indiana is the counterpart of Scott's Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst, or the fighting friar of the times of Robin Hood. In answer to some request he has just said that he will "go to thunder before doing it." The first time I saw this fighting parson was at the burnt bridge near Huttonville. He had two revolvers and a hatchet in his belt, and appeared more like a firebrand of war than a minister of peace. I now hear the rough voice of a braggadocio captain in the adjoining tent, who, if we may believe his own story, is the most formidable man alive. His hair-breadth escapes are innumerable, and his anxiety to get at the enemy is intense. Is it not ancient Pistol come again to astonish the world by deeds of reckless daring?
We have sent out a scouting party, and hope to learn something more of the rebels during the night. Wagner, Major Wood, Captain Abbott, and others are having a game of whist.
SOURCE: John Beatty, The Citizen-soldier: Or, Memoirs of a Volunteer, p. 44-5
John Van has been
over again and says his regiment is going into winter quarters in the city
outskirts. I hear the 128th has sailed for Fortress Monroe. The papers are all
headed, "Removal of McClellan," and everyone is giving his opinion of
the change. I say nothing because I know too little about it to venture an
opinion. I went out and treated myself to a good square meal to-day and begin
to think I was more hungry than sick, for I feel fit and ready for anything.
Chaplain Parker has been here to see his boys, as he calls them. Says he left
the regiment off Fortress Monroe on board the Arago. He reports them well and
in fine spirits.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 59
WE are nearly out of
sight of land. Wild ducks and geese cover the water. The sun is just coming up,
and seems to me I never saw such a lovely morning. Besides the ducks and geese
on the water, the air is full of them, some alighting on the water and others
rising from it. They are so tame they only get out of the way of the boat, and
if shooting was allowed, hundreds could be shot from where I stand. I am sore
and stiff from my run to catch the boat, but I am thankful to be here and take
in these new sights on this glorious morning. Chaplain Parker is on board and
is pointing out places and vessels, and helping us to enjoy it all.
11 a. m. We are
sailing over the spot where the Monitor and Merrimac fought. An eye-witness who
is on board has been giving a vivid description of it, to which I listened with
the deepest interest.
Noon. We have landed
at Newport News; so they call it, but there are only a few shanties in sight,
and beside each one is a huge pile of oyster shells. The boys are here, having
been brought off from the Arago, which lies off shore. Oysters are plenty and
cheap, and I am full of them, the best I ever tasted, fresh from the water, and
so large many of them make two good mouthfuls. The Monitor, which saved the day
when the Merrimac came out of the James River, lies near by, and the wrecks of
the Cumberland and Congress which were sunk, show above the water. The Arago
lies just outside and at 2 P. M. we go on board. The only white men I have seen
are soldiers. The negroes and their shanties are all I can see of Newport News.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 61-2
Inspection of arms
as usual by the Field Officers L. F. Williams Officer of the Guard to day.
Preaching in the camp to day by Chaplain of our Regt. at 11 o'clock Our
Chaplain is a Catholic.
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 227
Camp McClernand,
Cairo, Ills. Clear & cool Roll call as usual,—Inspection of the arms &
quarters—a portion of the Comp. went to town to church Services as usual by the
Chaplain, tis reported this morning that Capt. Ritters Comp. at Birds Point
while guarding a bridge on the R. R. 10 miles from camp were surrounded and
taken prisoners.
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 227
1See Eddy, The Patriotism of Illinois,
II., pp. 53-54. The 27th Illinois was raised for the most part in the
counties of Adams, Scott, Pike, Madison, Jersey, Mason, Macoupin,
Mercer, Jackson, Henry and Morgan. Eddy states that it was mustered into
service at Camp Butler on the 10th of August, 1861. Some of the officers
who will be mentioned in this diary are: Colonel, N. B. Buford;
Lieutenant-Colonel, F. A. Harrington; Adjutant, Henry A. Rust; Quartermaster,
David B. Sears; Chaplain, S. Young McMasters; Captain W. A. Schmitt of Company
A; Captain Jonathan R. Miles of Company F, who later becomes Colonel of the
regiment. The officers of Company C, of which our diarist was a member, at this
time were: Captain, Lemuel Parke; 1st Lieutenant, Lyman G. Allen; 2nd
Lieutenant, Laommi F. Williams.
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 226
I am alone to-night,
and tired enough to lie and sleep for twenty-four hours, did not the scenes
around call up associations which banish repose, and yet invite it. In the
deep, deep woods, in a deep, deeper valley, with a mountain rising high on
either side of me, and the semi-roaring babble of a large mountain brook,
leaping over stones and precipices just in front of my lonely tent; the night
speaks of the wildness of nature, and carries back my imagination to the times
when the red man revelled here in the luxury of his mountain hunt. The song of
the catydid talks to me of the rural home of my childhood, while the scream of
the screech-owl right over my head awakens mingled feelings of aboriginal
wildness, and of the ruins of civilization. The night is still, and over the
mountain comes the strain of vocal music, with the accompaniment of a martial
band, from more than a mile away, where with a regiment of Vermonters our
chaplain is holding religious exercises, and "Dundee's sacred
strain," mellowed by the distance, is in harmony with all around me. These
are my nearest settled neighbors to-night, and so far away that I am outside of
all their guards, yet near enough to hear the "Halt! who comes
there?" of the picket, as he hails the rock, loosened from above, as it
comes rushing down the mountain side. The tattoo of the night drums, too, as it
comes rumbling over the mountains, and calls the soldier to his hard, but
welcomed bed, awakens in the reflecting mind sad stories of the passions of
men; of happy homes, deserted; of families, once united, now separated, perhaps
forever; of the once freeman, to whom the dungeon now denies all hope of
liberty again; of a country, once a unit, which held the world at bay, now an
object of the ridicule or pity of nations which but a few short months before
trembled at her power; of reflections which, I fear, must convince that
"war is the normal condition of man." There were threats of an attack
on us yesterday and to-day. My hospital was in an exposed position, and my sick
must be moved. At dark I commenced moving to a more secure place; selected this
beautiful ravine; got my tents here, but not deeming it best to disturb the
sick by moving them in the night, am here alone to take care of my tents and
stores. And how beautifully the moon sheds its reflections over this quiet
little valley, and brightens, as with myriads of diamonds, the ripplings of the
little mountain streams! How deliciously sweet the fresh odor of the clean
grass, untainted by the stench of the camp. But hark! I hear at this moment,
from Fort Corcoran, "the three guns," a signal of approaching danger,
and in another moment the "long roll" may summon us to scenes of
trouble. I am still stubborn in the belief that the enemy is only making a
feint, and that we shall have no fight here. The long roll does not call me.
The “three guns” must have made a false alarm, and so I will retire and
"bid the world good-night."
SOURCE: Alfred L.
Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of
Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B.
McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day
January, 1863, p. 30-1
Afternoon we met in convention the committy from the Belair Co & ours & selected men from the ranks of the various Companies to recommend to the Governor as our field officers Chaplain &c & without my consent they recommended me for Qr Master
SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 88
Mr. Parker came last
night, and is to be our chaplain. He is the one who preached for us at Hudson
Camp Ground, and the one we asked to have for chaplain of the 128th. He can
sing like a lark, and we are glad he is here. There are many good singers in
the regiment. There is talk of organizing a choir or club, and no doubt the
dominie will join it. We have more good news from the front. McClellan seems to
fit the place he is in. It is reported that George Flint and Elihu Bryan have
been taken prisoners. I know them well, but don't remember the regiment they
went out in.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 31
Reports are that a
great battle has been fought at Antietam, and a great victory won. Do they tell
us this to keep up our courage, or has the beginning of the end really come?
To-morrow we have the promise of going on picket duty. Good! anything for a
change. It will give me something to write about in my diary, if nothing more.
Things are getting rather monotonous, and any change will be good for us,
provided it is not for the worse. Prayer meeting every night now. Chaplain
Parker seems in dead earnest. He wants us all to be ready to die. Then, he
says, if death don't come, we will be in better shape to live. Very few of the
officers attend prayer meeting, though they encourage the men to do so.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 31
Meeting to-day.
Chaplain Parker preached. He asked those who would stop swearing to hold up
their hands, and so far as I could see every hand went up. After inspection in
the morning we had nothing to do except to go to meeting and dress parade,
which I believe we are to have regularly. We march to the parade ground, which
is just back of our camp quarters, and form in line. The colonel, with the
major and adjutant on his right and left, station [themselves] in front, the
colonel opposite the colors, which are in the center, between Companies C and
H. The fifer and drummer pass along in front and back again when the colonel
puts us through the manual of arms. A great many civilians come out and it must
be a pretty sight, provided the orders are well executed. If we do well,
nothing is said, but if not, we are cautioned to do better next time.
How I wish I could
peep in on the old folks at home to-night! I imagine just how they are sitting
around, talking, perhaps of me, or better yet, writing me a letter.
There is no use
denying that I am homesick. I have been such a home-body, and my home life has
been so pleasant.
The comforts of my
home, though humble, have been many, and I have never missed them as I do
to-night. I have only been away a short time, but it seems longer to me than
all my life before. It has been crowded so full of strange and stirring events
that it seems as if I would go crazy unless I can see and talk with our folks
about it. Mr. Parker says confession is good for the soul, and I believe it,
for after confessing to my diary as I have I feel better already. I will crawl
in now and perhaps dream of home, which I often do, and which while it lasts,
is just as good as being there.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 40
My first day on duty as
corporal of the guard. Two hours on and four off duty gives me lots of time to
write, and as it may interest our folks to know what guard duty really is, I
will describe it as best I can. An officer of the guard, a sergeant of the
guard, four corporals, and four times as many privates as there are posts to
guard, are detailed the night before. In the morning at 8 A. M. the fife and
drum sounds the call for guard-mount, and the whole detail reports at guard-headquarters,
which is wherever the call is sounded from. Three quarters of the detail go on
duty and the other quarter, called supernumeraries, have nothing at all to do,
unless a man on duty is taken sick, when a supernumerary takes his place. The
corporal then on duty goes with the one just going on with the first relief,
and marches to post No. 1, where the guard calls out, "Who comes
there?" The corporal says, "Relief." "Advance Relief,"
says the guard on post, when he is replaced by a man from the new guard, and he
takes his place in the rear, marching on to the next post, where the same
ceremony is repeated until the last post is reached. The new guard is then on
duty and the corporal marches the old guard to headquarters, where they are
discharged and are free from all duty for the next twenty-four hours. The
corporal of the relief now on post remains at guard headquarters for two hours,
unless some trouble on the line happens, in which case the guard cries out
"Corporal of the guard!" giving the number of post. The corporal then
goes direct to that post, and if the trouble be such as he cannot cope with, he
calls "Sergeant of the guard!" In case it be too serious for the
sergeant, the officer of the guard is called in the same way, and he is
supposed to be able to settle the trouble, whatever it may be. At the end of
two hours, the second relief goes on, and then the third in its turn, after
which the first relief goes on again. This keeps on until 8 A. M. the next
morning, when a new guard is mounted and the old one goes off. This gives each
corporal and his relief four turns of duty of two hours each, and sixteen hours
to lie around headquarters and do pretty much as he pleases. The sergeant and
the officer of the guard rarely have anything to do but pass away the time in
any lawful manner. But they must be ready, on call, at all times.
Train-load after train-load
of troops keeps going past. The North must get empty and the South get full at
this rate. Mosquitoes and flies are very troublesome. We must cover up head and
hands at night, or if the blanket gets off we must scratch all the next day.
Some don't mind it, but the most of us do, and if the pests would go where they
are often told to go, they would get a taste of what they are giving us.
We have a sutler now. No
peddlers are allowed on the camp grounds. It is buy of him now or go without.
For change, he uses cards with his stamp on, good for from three to twenty-five
cents, at his tent, and good for nothing at any other place. Report says we are
to have a chaplain by next Sunday, and that it is the Rev. Mr. Parker, who
preached for us at Hudson. I hope he will bring along all his patience and
forbearance. He will need it. Bad as we are, I don't suppose we are worse than
the average, but I think we must average pretty well up. We will know if he
comes, and won't have to watch the almanac to tell when Sunday comes.
SOURCE: Lawrence Van
Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p.
26-7
