Showing posts with label Charles R Lowell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charles R Lowell. Show all posts

Thursday, September 12, 2019

John L. Motley to the Duchess of Argyll, February 7, 1864

Vienna,
February 7, 1864.

Dear Duchess Of Argyll: We get on very well in Vienna. We have an extremely pleasant house with a large garden. Many of our colleagues are very kind and agreeable; your ambassador most especially so — high-minded, honorable, sympathetic, good-tempered, amiable. Everybody respects and loves him for his fine qualities of mind and character. Lady Bloomfield is very charming and accomplished, and has but one fault in the world: she has been away from us three or four months, and we all miss her very much.

I have purposely avoided speaking of the one topic of which my mind is always full, because when I once begin I can never stop, and I become an intolerable bore.

I am glad you spoke of Colonel Shaw. His father and mother are intimate friends of ours, and I have had a touching letter from Mr. Shaw since his son's death. I knew the son, too, a beautiful, fair-haired youth, with everything surrounding him to make life easy and gay. When I was at home in 1861 I saw him in camp. He was in the same tent with one of my own nephews, both being lieutenants in what has since become a very famous regiment — the Massachusetts Second. I had the honor of presenting their colors to that regiment, and saw them march out of Boston 1040 strong. Since that day they have been in countless actions, some of the bloodiest of the war. A large proportion of its officers, all of them young men of well-known Boston families, have been killed or severely wounded; and in the last papers received I read that the regiment, reduced to about two hundred, has returned on a few weeks' furlough and to recruit its numbers, having reenlisted — like most of the other regiments whose term expires this year — for three years longer, or for the duration of the war. I believe that they would serve for twenty years rather than that our glorious Republic should be destroyed. But be assured that the government of the United States is firm as the mountains.

Young Robert Shaw is a noble type of the young American. Did you see the poem to his memory in the January number of the "Atlantic"? It is called "Memorise Positum," and is, I think, very beautiful. The last verse is especially touching. It is by Russell Lowell, one of our first poets, as you know. The allusion is to his two nephews who were killed in Virginia. A third nephew (he has no sons), Colonel Lowell of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, is in active service in Meade's army. He lately married a sister of Colonel Shaw, and she is with him now. Shaw fought all through the campaigns of Virginia, in the Massachusetts Second, until he took the command of the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth (colored). His was a beautiful life and a beautiful death.

I shall say no more. My wife and daughters join me in sincerest remembrances and best wishes for the duke and yourself and all your household. I beg to remain, dear Duchess of Argyll,

Most truly yours,
J. L. M.

I wish you would whisper to the duke that he owes me a letter, and that if he should ever find time to write I will write a short letter in return.

SOURCE: George William Curtis, editor, The Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley, Volume III, p. 4-6

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Josiah G. Abbott to Brigadier-General Benjamin F. Butler, April 30, 1861

42 Court St., BosTON, 30th of April, 1861
Gen. B. F. BUTLER

MY DEAR GEN: God bless you for what you have done; let what has been done only be kept up. I want to say to you everybody here are overflowing in their praises of you & your troops. We think old Massachusetts is yet the head of the column, and your name had the enviable fortune of leading that column. You should understand the feeling here you can get it if you have time from the papers. The blood is up as it never was before, and you tell those people who rule at Washington that the people are up to the occasion. We only hope they will be. We are here trying to organize a scheme by which our troops now forming may be sent into camp for sixty days & made soldiers of. I wish you would help it along if you can find time in the intervals of building railroads & repairing engines. The country is bristling all over with military companies, but they ought to have the discipline of the camp. Lowell has four more companies organized, full. That son of mine, who I was in hopes would be with you, has recruited one. I have another boy in Fort Independence with the N. E. Guards, & another in the company of the eldest. The people at Lowell are taking every means to take care of the families of those with you, and also provide for the wants of your soldiers while away. I want you to understand we will take care of your interests while you are absent. Your family are well. Mrs. Abbott & Mrs. Butler meet quite frequently in the committee rooms for supplies, so that I hear from the latter lady almost every day.

If you can find a place for that boy of mine about your staff I would like it. He is spoiling to be where there is action, & I’ll go bail you wouldn’t be ashamed of him where hard work & dare-devil qualities were required. Excuse my writing this. I thought even as you are you might like to hear a little gossip from home.

Most truly & sincerely,
J. G. ABBOTT

SOURCE: Jessie Ames Marshall, Editor, Private and Official Correspondence of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler During the Period of the Civil War, Volume 1: April 1860 – June 1862, p. 58-9

Friday, September 25, 2015

Captain Charles Fessenden Morse, October 20, 1862

Maryland Heights, October 20, 1862.

To-night I am all alone and naturally feel a little blue, so my letter may not be very cheerful. Bob Shaw is on picket; so is Captain Robeson; Tom Fox is sick with a light fever down in Sandy Hook, and his brother has gone down to see him; my tent, therefore, is deserted. To-day I have been out again with one hundred axe-men; it is an interestsing sight to see so many men at work at once felling trees; we began our labor at the bottom of a ravine and worked up a steep hill. Sometimes there would be as many as twenty or thirty fine trees falling at once; they reminded me of men falling in battle, that same dead, helpless fall. The effect was still stronger from the fact that the choppers were almost always concealed by underbrush. I very nearly lost one of my men in an accident to-day. He had just given the coup de grace to a large, heavy ash tree, and had cleared himself from the fall of it, when another tree falling from above, struck it, changing the direction of the fall of the first and bringing it down with tremendous force where the man was standing. He attempted to dodge, but had not time and was thrown to the ground. I was near by, and ran up to him. I found him perfectly senseless, and I thought, at the time, dying. He proved to be a man of my company named Conlan, one of my very best soldiers, the only one that I mentioned as having distinguished himself by bravery at the battle of Antietam. I had him moved to a comfortable place and sent for our surgeon and a stretcher. After lying insensible for about half an hour, he came to himself for a little and was moved to our hospital. I was much relieved by Dr. Stone's telling me that there were no bones broken; his shoulders and back were terribly bruised, though, and it will be a long time before he gets about again.

Major Higginson of the First Massachusetts Cavalry made us a passing call the other day, on his way to Washington, arriving last Friday night about ten o'clock and taking breakfast with us and spending the forenoon Saturday; he gave us all the latest news of our friends in his regiment. They are having considerable work to do now, scouting about over the country. I had one of the pleasantest times, Sunday, that I've had for some time; after inspection, Shaw and I mounted our steeds and rode off into Pleasant Valley. The road was very pleasant and the day beautiful, a genuine October one, with a hot sun but a bracing air. The country is looking its best now, though the trees don't change here as they do around home. Yet there was some bright color on the sides of the mountains. We made our first call on Captain Charles Lowell at General McClellan's headquarters. We found Major Higginson there, and a Mr. Bancroft of Boston, who is visiting his friends in the army. After spending an hour very pleasantly there, we proceeded to accept an invitation we had received a few days before, to take dinner with a friend of ours, Johnny Hayden, of Captain Edwards' battery, Third United States Artillery. We met some pleasant, jolly officers there, who had been all through the Peninsular campaign. Of course, there were plenty of yarns told on both sides, and experiences compared. We had a nice dinner and rode back to camp at sunset satisfied that we had had a thoroughly good time.

Days like these are like oases in our ordinary dull routine, and they come rarely enough to be enjoyed.

So many of our officers are sick, absent or on some extra duty, that there are only about seven of us in the line left to do all picket and fatigue duty, bringing each one of us on once in three or four days. There are at least two hundred men detailed from our regiment every day now for guards, or other purposes.

SOURCE: Charles Fessenden Morse, Letters Written During the Civil War, 1861-1865, p. 99-101

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to John M. Forbes, October 17, 1864

Cedar Creek, Oct. 17, '64.

There's really nothing to tell here; I never have anything to tell even to E. We are in a glorious country, with fine air to breathe and fine views to enjoy; we are kept very active, and have done a good deal of good work; I have done my share, I think, — but there's nothing to make a letter of.

We hear to-day that Pennsylvania and Indiana are all right. Poor Grant seems to have a hard task at Richmond: he hasn't the same army now that he started with in May, and I shall not be surprised if he is obliged to go into winter-quarters soon and re-organize, or at least drill. If so, people must be patient; we are going quite fast enough. I only write this to make you write to me. Isn't it lucky that I keep always well and hearty? My friends never feel any anxiety on that account and I never have to write letters to tell them how I am.1
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1 General Sheridan had travelled by night, reached Washington on the morning of the 17th, had his interview with the powers there, and left at noon, reaching Martinsburg at night by rail. On the 18th, he rode twenty-eight miles to Winchester, where, hearing by courier from General Wright that all was quiet at his camp, he spent the night. Next morning, he planned to make some examinations with regard to repairing the Manassas Gap Railroad, with two engineer officers sent with him from Washington.

Meantime, let us see what was going on at Cedar Creek. From the abrupt mountain Three Top, close by Early's army, the camp of Sheridan's army, the division of the forces and guns, the river and creek, the fords and roads, could be plainly seen in bird's-eye view. Early saw that the Union left flank was less strongly guarded, as the country was more difficult than on their right, and yet was accessible to his infantry. He determined to flank it, and take the camp there in reverse by surprise before daylight, and sent Gordon on that errand, while his cavalry was to demonstrate on the left, and he, with Kershaw and Wharton and his artillery, attack simultaneously in front. He even hoped the master-stroke of capturing Sheridan (of whose absence he did not know), by the rush of his flanking party around his headquarters. I am permitted to quote the striking description of the scene before the battle, from Mr. George E. Pond's book, The Shenandoah Valley in 1864, in Scribner's "Campaigns of the Civil War."

“Stealthily, an hour after midnight, the Confederate columns moved forward. Since silence was essential to success, swords and canteens were left in camp, lest their clinking should betray the march; while the artillery was massed on the pike at Fisher's Hill, there to wait until the hour set for the infantry attack, when it was to move at a gallop through the town [Strasburg] to Hupp's Hill; for an earlier advance might betray the secret by the rumbling of the heavy wheels, in the dead of night, over the macadamized road. Early accompanied Kershaw, his centre column, and ‘came in sight of the Union fires at 3.30 o'clock; the moon,’ he adds, ‘was now shining, and we could see the camps.’ Kershaw was halted under cover, and while his men shivered in the chill night air, Early, during the hour that followed, pointed out precisely how and when this part of the attack should be made. Kershaw was to ‘cross his division over the creek as quietly as possible, and to form it into column of brigades as he did so, and advance in that manner against the enemy's left breastwork.’ The scene was memorable. The Union camps, on the hills beyond the creek, wrapped in slumber; a corps of infantry, Jackson's old corps, and a brigade of cavalry, stealing along the base of Massanutten [Mountain], to gain the rear of its unsuspecting foes; in the background, forty guns and more awaiting the signal to rush down the pike; an infantry division creeping over Hupps, and another crouching yonder nearer the creek. Before five o'clock Early ordered Kershaw forward again, and after a time came the welcome sound of a light crackle of musketry on the Confederate right, where Union picket-stations had been set, near the fords at which Gordon was crossing. This petty sound did not disturb the dreaming camps, but to the attent ears of Kershaw and Wharton it was the signal of attack. Kershaw quickly moved down to the creek; and meanwhile, as if Nature had enlisted to aid this enterprise, the moon had vanished and a thick fog, clouding the landscape, now hid from sight the Confederate march.”

Sheridan, at Winchester, was considering the questions of the Manassas Gap Railroad with the engineers, when, at seven o'clock, it was reported that some artillery firing could be heard in the direction of Cedar Creek. This was supposed to be from a reconnoissance, but later the sound grew nearer, and the General, mounting with his staff and escort, rode rapidly towards his camp. The heavy cannonade of a battle became unmistakable, and before long he met wagons and stragglers in great numbers. Mr. Pond continues: Hastily giving orders to park the retreating trains, and to use the spare brigade at Winchester to form a cordon across the pike and fields, so as to stop the stragglers, Sheridan dashed up the pike with an escort of twenty men. He called to the fugitives to turn about and face the enemy, and, as he well phrases it, ‘hundreds of men, who, on reflection, found they had not done themselves justice, came back with cheers.’ On reaching the army, then eleven and a half miles from Winchester, he was received with a tempest of joy.”

In the text of Colonel Lowell's Life, some account of the part played by his brigade in the action has been given. Below, I give extracts from General Sheridan's official report of the battle to General Grant, and also from the reports, to their respective superiors, of Generals Torbert, Merritt, and Devin, in which they pay tribute to the memory of Colonel Lowell.

General Sheridan, at ten o'clock on the night of the battle, wrote: —

“I have the honour to report that my army at Cedar Creek was attacked this morning before daylight, and my left was turned and driven in confusion: in fact, most of the line was driven in confusion, with the loss of twenty pieces of artillery. I hastened from Winchester, where I was, on my return from Washington, and joined the army between Middletown and Newtown, [it] having been driven back about four miles. Here I took the affair in hand, and quickly united the corps; formed a compact line of battle just in time to repulse an attack of the enemy's, which was handsomely done, about I P. M. At 3 P. M., after some changes of the cavalry from the left to the right flank, I attacked with great vigour, driving and routing the enemy, capturing, according to last reports, forty-three pieces of artillery and very many prisoners. Wagon trains, ambulances, and caissons in large numbers are in our possession.

"Affairs at times looked badly, but by the gallantry of our brave officers and men, disaster has been converted into a splendid victory. Darkness again intervened, to shut off greater results.”

And in his second report from the battlefield, written the next day, he speaks of “a great victory — a victory won from disaster.  . . . The attack on the enemy was made about 3 P. M. by a left half-wheel of the whole line, with a division of cavalry turning each flank of the enemy, the whole line advancing. The enemy, after a stubborn resistance, broke and fled, and were pushed with vigour.  . . . At least 1600 prisoners have been brought in, also wagons and ambulances in large numbers.  . . . I have to regret the loss of many valuable officers killed and wounded, among them  . . . Colonel C. R. Lowell, commanding Reserve Cavalry Brigade, killed.”

General Torbert, Chief of Cavalry, reports :—

“As soon as the cavalry was in position on the left, they attacked the enemy. Colonel Lowell, commanding the Reserve Brigade, First Division, dismounted a part of his little band, and they advanced to a strong position behind a stone wall, from which the enemy's infantry failed to drive them after repeated attempts. About 12 M. the cavalry was moved to the left about 300 yards, thus bringing it to the left of the pike. Thus matters stood with the cavalry until 3 P. M., holding on to this ground with more than their usual dogged persistence, displaying gallantry which has never been surpassed, while most of the infantry was reforming several miles to their right and rear.  . . . About 2 P. M. Major-General Sheridan arrived on the ground. . . . On the left, the battle was going well for us; in fact, it could not be otherwise, with the cool and invincible Merritt on the ground, supported by such soldiers as Devin and Lowell."

[Sheridan had come on the field, and communicated with Lowell and the Sixth Corps commanders before noon, but probably General Torbert had not seen him personally. In his report he also makes a mistake as to the circumstances of Colonel Lowell's first wounding, so I omit that part.] He goes on : —

“About 4.15 o'clock a general advance of the army was made, and it was truly grand to see the manner in which the cavalry did their part. In this general advance Colonel Lowell,  . . . while charging at the head of his brigade, received a second wound, which proved to be mortal. Thus the service lost one of its most gallant and accomplished officers. He was the beau ideal of a cavalry commander, and his memory will never die in the command. . . . The cavalry advanced on both flanks, side by side with the infantry, charging the enemy's lines with an impetuosity which they could not stand. The rebel army was soon routed, and driven across Cedar Creek in confusion; the cavalry, sweeping on both flanks, crossed Cedar Creek about the same time, charged, and broke the last line the enemy attempted to form (it was now after dark), and put out at full speed for their artillery and trains.”

General Wesley Merritt, Lowell's immediate commander, said in his report: —

No one in the field appreciated his worth more than his division commander. He was wounded painfully in the early part of the day, soon after which I met him; he was suffering acutely from his wound, but to ask him to leave the field was to insult him almost. A more gallant soldier never buckled sabre. His coolness and judgment in the field were unequalled. An educated and accomplished gentleman, his modest, amiable yet independent demeanour endeared him to all his superiors in rank. His inflexible justice, temperate yet unflinching conduct of discipline, made him respected and loved by his subordinates. He was upright as a man, pure as a patriot, and eminently free from the finesse of the politician. Young in years, he died too early for his country.”

Lastly, Brigadier-General Thomas C. Devin, who commanded the Second Brigade of Merritt's Division, ends his report thus: —

“During the early part of the engagement at Cedar Creek, when all seemed lost, I did not see a single cavalry straggler, and the men stood up nobly under a most withering fire. When obliged to retire, the movement was effected in perfect order and new lines formed, as if on parade.

I respectfully trust that it may not be considered out of place here to mention the hearty and brave cooperation that was at all times extended to me by the brave and lamented Colonel Lowell, commanding the Reserve Brigade. In him the service lost an estimable gentleman and gallant soldier, whose future was bright with promise.”

It has been remarked of Lowell that, in each new place or kind of work to which his path of life led him, his new acquaintances believed that in him they had discovered a remarkable man, made for just that place. Yet all soon saw the performance of the work in hand was but a low power of a force dimly seen behind.

Many years after the war, General Sheridan wrote the following letter to his friend, Mr. John M. Forbes : —

Chicago, Ill., Dec. 31, 1881.

My Dear Mr. Forbes, — Your letter in reference to the late General Lowell is received. Among those who fell in my Shenandoah Valley Campaign there was no better soldier or brighter man than young Charles Lowell. Youthful in appearance and only twenty-three [sic] years of age,2 he united the rare judgment and good eye of a leader to the unflinching courage which marked so many others. Commanding one of the best brigades of the army, comprised of three regiments of Regulars and his own, — the 2d Mass. Cavalry, raised by himself, — he was always found at the front in the advance. He had three horses killed under him in the first battle of Winchester (Opequan, Sept. 19, 1864), and in the morning of Oct. 19th, Cedar Creek, same year, he was mortally wounded while holding an advance position with his brigade on the left of the retreating army in the village of Middletown. On my arrival on the field, my first order was sent to Gen. Lowell through an aide-decamp to hold the position he then occupied, if it was possible. His reply was that he would. And when the final charge was made by the whole line in the evening, he was lifted on his horse, but could only whisper his last order for his men to mount and advance against the enemy. I watched him closely during the campaign and, had he survived that day at Cedar Creek, it was my intention to have more fully recognized his gallantry and genius by obtaining for him promotion in rank, and a command which would have enlarged his usefulness and have given more scope to his remarkable abilities as a leader of men. I am, my dear Mr. Forbes,

Sincerely and truly your friend,
P. H. Sheridan,
Lt. -General.

Perhaps a fitting close is this extract from a letter written by Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Forbes, returning to his regiment after imprisonment in the South: —

“Oh, you don't know how I missed Colonel Lowell as soon as I rejoined the regiment! Every time the bugles sounded in the morning, I half looked to see his light figure in the saddle leading the column; and each night when, the day's hard marching done, we gathered round the camp fires, whose charm used to be doubled by his presence and conversation, and listened to the band playing the tunes we used to listen to with him, the choking feeling would come, and it always will with me, whenever I think of him. Every one else is a dead weight in comparison."

2 His age was twenty-nine.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 364-5, 475-83

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Charles E. Perkins, October 17, 1864

Cedar Creek, Oct. 17, 1864.

I hope and trust and believe that you are doing all you can for Lincoln, — and I believe that McClellan's election would send this country to where Mexico and South America are. Do what you can to prevent it.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 362

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to John M. Forbes, October 17, 1864

Cedar Creek, Oct. 17, 1864.

In spite of Will's anxiety to be back with us, and of our desire to have him back, I cannot but hope for your sake that he may somehow be delayed till we are safely in winter-quarters. Mails are very irregular up and down the Valley, and during active operations I am sure you and Mrs. Forbes would be constantly anxious about him, — more even than you can be now. Let him come back in time to open the Spring with us; that will be early enough to “retrieve all disasters” that you speak of. It was very kind of you to write me as you did about Billy; I know how you feel about him. I will tell you, what I believe I did not tell Alice, that I got off and walked some time before finally deciding to take him into the charge where he was hit, and that I had three orderlies' horses killed or disabled under me that day. I tried to use him as I knew you and Will would wish him used. He was a dear little horse, — did not always have a sore back, had got over that weakness bravely, — you see he was improving to the last day of his life.

I get the Chaplain's “Army and Navy Journal” for the present, — shall subscribe myself when he returns, — I have generally liked its articles about operations before Richmond, as they told me all I ever learned about that campaign. Its notices about this Shenandoah campaign have not been very good: it has been wrong in some most important facts and in some of its criticisms. It has been entirely wrong too in praising ——— so constantly; ——— from the beginning has been the laughing-stock here, — his absurd newspaper reporter may have caused this, — but worse than that, his false despatches to the General and his constant habit of having “infantry” in front of him, and of falling back “pressed,” have on two occasions come very near causing great disasters.

I am very glad, my dear Mr. Forbes, that we have not a handy writer among us. The reputation of regiments is made and is known in the Army, — the comparative merits are well known there. Such a notice as I saw of the —th ——— Cavalry makes a regiment ridiculous, besides giving the public false history, — yet I have no doubt the writer meant to be honest.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 362-4

Friday, July 24, 2015

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 13, 1864

Cedar Creek, Oct. 13, 1864.

I went into winter-quarters yesterday, that is, I abandoned thin boots for morning wear, and substituted the Guvveys1 with leather ears, which you may recollect, — you can fancy me now in all, the magnificence of them. In proposing to come home in Government clothing, I did not think of parading New York in those ears; don’t be alarmed.
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1Guvveys” means the common cavalry boots, which the Government furnishes to enlisted men.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 359, 472

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 14, 1864 – 4 a.m.

CEDAR CREEK, Oct. 14, 1864.
Firelight, 4 A. M.

I sent such a fat-looking envelope yesterday morning, with only one sheet after all, that I meant to have written again in the afternoon, but at dinner the Rebs began shelling the infantry camp on our right, and then the “general” sounded, and then we waited a while in the cold, and then we moved, – so I had no time at all.1
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1 The meaning of this attack was that the Confederates supposed that a great part of Sheridan's force had been now withdrawn to help Grant before Richmond, and Sheridan's troops, returning from the pursuit of Early, found themselves, on October 13, followed up to Fisher's Hill. Sheridan, who had been summoned to Washington to consult with Stanton on future movements, before the latter should visit Grant, was just setting out, when this movement made him pause and put his army in battle array along Cedar Creek. As he was getting ready to attack, he found that Early, having discovered that he was still in full force, had again withdrawn. Sheridan then went to Washington, leaving General Wright in charge of the army.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 359,473

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 14, 1864

CEDAR CREEK, Oct. 14, 1864.

You’re an innocent. Go on with the shoulder-straps, you needn’t be expecting any change, — those eagles will flourish a good while yet. I'm perfectly satisfied too, now that I have this Brigade; it has only been commanded before by Buford and Merritt, Colonel Gibbs had it for a few weeks at a time temporarily.1

Our movements here are so entirely dependent on Grant's success before Richmond, that I can't form the faintest idea of the prospect of a speedy rest here.
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1 Perhaps Mrs. Lowell thought that before her shoulder-straps — the silver eagles on yellow ground of a cavalry colonel — were finished, her husband would be entitled to the single star of a brigadier-general. For more than a year he had borne the responsibility and done the work of one.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 359-60, 473

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 15, 1864

Cedar Creek, Oct. 15, 1864.

I've only ten minutes to write to you; I was out all this morning visiting, junketing at the various headquarters, and only came home to dinner at two o'clock. Since that, has come an order to get in light marching order, and be in readiness to move. I conjecture a raid is on foot for our Division, — perhaps to Charlottesville, — if so, you will not hear from me again for a week or even ten days.

I think Sheridan will have to fight one more battle here, probably while we are gone, — I am sorry to miss it, but perhaps we shall be of more use where we are going. You will know that I am safe, at any rate, — so safe do I feel to-night that I shall be riding Berold; I rode him this morning, too, in making my calls. I heard for the first time that poor Colonel Wells of the Thirty-Fourth Massachusetts was killed in the attack the Rebs made on our camps day before yesterday, —  he was considered an excellent officer.1

What a letter this for the last one for ten days, but you know how I am when I have anything on foot, I'm all distracted.
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1 George Duncan Wells, a faithful and gallant Massachusetts soldier. He graduated at Williams College, 1846, and at the Harvard Law School, 1848, and practised law until the outbreak of the war. As Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Massachusetts Infantry, he served at Bull Run and in the Peninsular Campaign. In July, 1862, he was commissioned Colonel of the Thirty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment, and served in Western Virginia. In July, 1863, he commanded a brigade with General Naglee, with credit. Next year, in the Shenandoah Campaign, he commanded the First Brigade, in General Crook's First Division, and did good service in many fights in the Valley. He received the personal congratulations of General Sheridan, on the field of battle at Winchester (Opequan). On October 12, 1864, he was mortally wounded, and died next day, in the hands of the enemy. His commission as Brevet Brigadier-General dated from the day of his last fight.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 360-1, 473-4

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 16, 1864

Cedar Creek, Oct. 16, 1864.

We started all right last evening and marched till 1 A. M., camped at Front Royal till 5.30 A. M. and were then ready for a fresh start, — waited till nearly 7 A. M. and then started back on our winding way to near our old camp, — some new information received, or some wise second thought, having changed plans. I am not very sorry, and suppose you will not be, for I cannot see any great military benefit to result from it. The destruction of a few stores or of a few miles of railroad would not have been worth the injury to horseflesh. I am glad to be back here, and I hope to get letters to-night or tomorrow, — better to-morrow, for I'm too sleepy this afternoon to enjoy them.1
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1 The explanation of the sudden march to Front Royal and the recall was this. Sheridan had reached that point on his way to Washington, when General Wright sent in haste to tell him that he had read the enemy's signal-flag on their mountain station, thus: —

To Lieut.-gen. Early: — Be ready to move as soon as my forces join you, and we will crush Sheridan.

 Longstreet, Lieut. - General.

Sheridan hesitated whether to return; but his presence in Washington was urgently desired by Secretary Stanton, and there had been many false rumours about Longstreet's coming [this proved to be one, probably a trick to keep Sheridan from detaching forces to help Grant], so he wrote back to Wright: —

general, — The cavalry is all ordered back to you. Make your position strong. If Longstreet's despatch is true, he is under the impression that we have largely detached. I will go over to Augur, and may get additional news.  . . . If the enemy make an advance, I know you will defeat him. Look well to your ground, and be well prepared. Get up everything that can be spared. I will bring up all I can, and will be up on Tuesday, if not sooner.

This message was sent Sunday, October 16.

It may seem strange that Early should advance so soon after utter defeat; but Lee had sent five thousand good troops to him and all the local reserves, and called on him for great efforts. Early was a brave man, and matters were getting desperate. Also the forage of the country had been destroyed, so he must either leave it or supply himself from the enemy.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 361, 474-5

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 17, 1864

Oct. 17th, Same Camp.

Good-morning. Such a night's sleep as I had — ten hours strong — only interrupted a few minutes at reveille, waking up and reflecting cosily that it was not yet time to turn out!

I am very glad that George is nominated for Congress, and hope that, in the great revolution which has been going on, his chance of election may be better than you describe it.1
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1 Excepting the few words of farewell to his wife, written in the last hours of his life, the three following letters, written on the same day, with which this volume closes, were the last which Colonel Lowell ever wrote. Two days later, the bullets, among which for three months he had ridden unheeding, doing his duty to the uttermost, cut short his life. Had Lowell lived through that day, it seems probable that he would have survived the war. The victory of October 19 at Cedar Creek virtually ended the Valley Campaign, and put an end to the dangerous service for the cavalry, except for the short period in spring, ending in Lee's surrender. Moreover, Lowell's commission as Brigadier-General, signed the day of his death, Sheridan intended to follow by making him his Chief of Cavalry, a position in which he would have been less exposed.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 361-2, 475

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 12, 1864

Cedar Creek, Oct. 12, 1864.

We 've gone into a pleasant camp to-day (last evening), directly upon the Shenandoah, and are likely to stay for a week, I think, — our horses needing rest sadly. I am glad it is not nearer Winchester, for then I should be tempted to wish you might come down for a few days, or I might go home, but now we are still in the front, and it is out of the question.

How shall you like to have me come home in Government clothing? — they 're so much cheaper, I hope you won't object. I like them better too, think them more respectable, when tailors charge $32 for trousers, and Government only $5; or $75 for coats, and Government only $4. This is a poetic letter, isn't it? You must keep your eyes open for opportunities for both of us after the war, — I mean, be thinking about the matter. You see I talk quite rationally now about “after the war,” — it may be ten years, in which case I shall probably never leave the army, but it may be only ten months, and then we don't want to be taken by surprise. I'm galloping over this and the officer is waiting at the tent door, so Good-bye.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 356-7

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October (?), 1864

October (?), 1864.

. . . I don't want to be shot till I've had a chance to come home. I have no idea that I shall be hit, but I want so much not to now, that it sometimes frightens me.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 357-8

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 12, 1864

Cedar Creek, Oct. 12, 1864.

It's raining again this afternoon, and I am interrupted in the midst of my airing and drying operations. I have a drill going on, however, about 100 yards in front of our tents, — the first drill since we left Vienna, I believe! — and I stop every now and then to look out and see the recruits. You wouldn't enjoy it much, for it's dismounted only. I like to have you write a little sometimes about the war and about politics, — they're the best views I get now, or ever get indeed, — and you need only make the letters a little longer, you know. A’n’t I exorbitant? I always was, — I believe the first word I learned to say was “more.” It was with reference to crackers, I think after eating several dozen.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 358

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, Sunday, October 10, 1864 – 12 p.m.

Near Strasburg, Monday, Oct. 10.

It's just noon, and we have gone into camp for the day in a lovely green field with plenty of forage, and lots of rails to burn, — and I've just had a bath, soaped from head to heel. It's still cold (frost and ice this A. M. and I had to lie out with nothing but my overcoat) and I have two or three slight colds in the head, — but it's splendid October and very exhilarating.

Enos found Sergeant Wakefield's horse yesterday and I rode him all day, and he didn't get hit, though his saddle did, and our Brigade chased two Rebel brigades more than ten miles, and took a battle-flag and four guns and caissons and wagons, &c., &c, so my disinclination for “fight” yesterday morning was a presentiment that came to naught.1

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

I've said (to the Doctor and others) again and again that, if I was taken, I didn't want any special exchange, and wanted that understood, and I guess that's the way you feel too, in spite of your “concluding” that you did approve of special exchanges. It would be very hard, but I don't believe that I should be ill there, or should suffer even my share, and you would know just what the risk was. There's not one chance in a great many, however, that I shall be taken, — that's consoling.
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1 Sheridan, who witnessed the spectacle from a hill, thus describes the Battle of Tom's Brook, nicknamed “Woodstock Races”: —

“Oct. 9th. About 7 in the morning, Custer's division encountered Rosser himself with three brigades, and while the stirring sounds of the resulting artillery duel were reverberating through the valley, Merritt moved briskly to the front, and fell upon Generals Lomax and Johnson on the Valley pike. . . . The two divisions moved forward together, under Torbert's direction. . . . The engagement soon became general across the Valley, both- sides fighting mainly mounted. For about two hours the contending lines struggled with each other along Tom's Brook, the charges and countercharges at many points being plainly visible from . . . Round Top, where I had my headquarters. The open country permitting a sabre fight, both sides seemed bent on using that arm. In the centre, the Confederates maintained their position with much stubbornness, . . . but at last they began to give way on both flanks, and, as these receded, Merritt and Custer went at the wavering ranks in a charge along their whole front. The result was a general smash-up of the entire Confederate line, the retreat quickly degenerating into a rout. . . . For twenty-six miles this wild stampede kept up, with our troopers close to the enemy's heels.”

In a report to General Grant next day, Sheridan wrote: —

“The number of prisoners captured will be about 330. The enemy, after being charged by our gallant cavalry, were broken, and ran. They were followed by our men on the jump twenty-six miles, through Mount Jackson and across the North Fork of the Shenandoah.”

And on the 11th of October he wrote again, from Cedar Creek: —

I have seen no signs of the enemy since the brilliant engagement of the 9th instant. It was a square cavalry fight, in which the enemy was routed beyond my power to describe. He lost everything carried on wheels, except one piece of artillery; and when last seen, it was passing over Rude's Hill, near New Market, on the keen run, twenty-six miles from the battlefield, to which point the pursuit was kept up.”

General Torbert, in his report, spoke of this cavalry fight and victory as “the most decisive the country has ever witnessed. Brigadier-Generals Merritt and Custer, and Colonels Lowell and Pennington, commanding brigades, particularly distinguished themselves; in fact, no men could have rendered more valuable services and deserve higher honour from the hands of 'the Government. My losses will not exceed 60 killed and wounded, which is astonishing, compared with the results.”

General Early, who had not failed in courage or persistency, reported to Lee his new defeat: —

“This is very distressing to me, and God knows I have done all in my power to avert the disasters which have befallen this command; but the fact is, that the enemy's cavalry is so much superior to ours, both in numbers and equipment, and the country is so favourable to the operations of cavalry, that it is impossible for ours to compete with his. Lomax's cavalry is armed entirely with rifles, and has no sabres; and the consequence is, that they cannot fight on horseback, and, in this open country, they cannot successfully fight on foot against large bodies of cavalry: besides, the command has been demoralized all the time. It would be better if they could be all put in the infantry; but, if that were tried, I am afraid they would all run off.”

The Southerners, as a rule, did not believe in the sabre. Mosby ridicules it; and, indeed, for his kind of work, the revolver and carbine sufficed. But in the Valley, the furious combined rush of horses ridden by men, with three feet of bright steel, at close quarters, seems often to have been very effective.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 355-6, 470-2

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 7, 1864

Edinburg, Oct. 7, 1864.

About leaves; that is a thing I don't like to do, — come away from the field before winter-quarters, — especially with a new command, — even if we go into winter-quarters for a few weeks soon. I feel as if I ought to devote myself to my command, — I should certainly be missed then.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 354

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, Sunday, October 9, 1864 – 7 a.m.


Near Strasburg, Sunday, 7 A. M., Oct. 9.

Our boys haven't been able to find any water for us this morning and we haven't washed our faces, — the first time that I remember in the “history of the war.” It's jolly cold however, so we don't mind so much. We actually had snow flurries yesterday, and to-day promises worse.

We had a skirmish yesterday with their cavalry.1 Lieutenant Tucker wounded and Sergeant Wakefield; — the roan horse killed, and to-day I shall have to ride the gray unless I can find Sergeant Wakefield's horse. Enos has been looking for him for two hours. We are expecting another brush with their cavalry today, as we are ordered to advance again. I should like to have Sundays quiet.
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1 October 8. The Reserve Brigade was sent back to reconnoitre, and met a superior force of Rebel cavalry. The Second Brigade (Devin's) was sent to reenforce Lowell, who attacked. There was a hard fight till dark, with some loss.

This annoyance of his rear by General Rosser, who had been eagerly looked for to deliver the Valley from the Yankees, caused Sheridan, that night, to order his chief of cavalry, Torbert, to go in and whip Rosser next morning, or get whipped himself.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 355, 470

Monday, July 20, 2015

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 5, 1864

Near Mt. Crawford, Oct. 5, 1864.

I have reveillé about one hour before daybreak, — am always awake, but never get up now, unless there are Rebs round.

Did you see the new moon last night within a quarter of an inch of the evening star, and turning her back on him? They must have been close together an hour before I could see them; for an hour after, they were still less than an inch apart. They looked very strangely calm and peaceful and almost reproachful in the West last night, — with the whole North and East, far and near, lighted up by burning barns and houses. Lieutenant Meigs was shot by a guerrilla, and by order the village of Dayton and everything for several miles around was burned.1 I am very glad my Brigade had no hand in it. Though if it will help end bushwhacking, I approve it, and I would cheerfully assist in making this whole Valley a desert from Staunton northward, — for that would have, I am sure, an important effect on the campaign of the Spring,— but in partial burnings I see less justice and less propriety. I was sorry enough the other day that my Brigade should have had a part in the hanging and shooting of some of Mosby's men who were taken, — I believe that some punishment was deserved, — but I hardly think we were within the laws of war, and any violation of them opens the door for all sorts of barbarity, — it was all by order of the Division Commander, however. The war in this part of the country is becoming very unpleasant to an officer's feelings.

We have moved camp once every day since Saturday, but only for short distances; so the date is still the same.

I think [the mail-carrier] is miserably timid about guerrillas, — he won't come unless he has at least a brigade for escort, — perhaps he is right, however; important despatches from General Grant to Sheridan were taken, day before yesterday, by guerrillas, — provoking enough when we are hoping to hear that Petersburg is taken, or perhaps to get the orders which instruct us how to cooperate in taking it.2

I think that we shall move soon. As we are foraging our horses entirely upon the country, we have to move frequently, but lately we have done a little too much of it. This is a very scrubby letter and written before breakfast, too.

I do wish this war was over!  . . . Never mind. I'm doing all I can to end it. Good-bye.
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1 General Sheridan, in a despatch to General Grant, said, “Lieutenant John R. Meigs, my engineer officer, was murdered beyond Harrisburg.  . . . For this atrocious act, all the houses within an area of five miles were burned. Since I came into the Valley from Harper's Ferry, every train, every small party, and every straggler has been bushwhacked by people, many of whom have protection papers from commanders who have been hitherto in that Valley.” It was asserted at the time that the murderer was disguised in the United States uniform. Mr. George E. Pond, associate editor of the Army and Navy Journal, in his book on the Campaign in the Shenandoah Valley (1883), says, “It was ascertained, after the war, that this gallant youth [Lieutenant Meigs], a soldier of brilliant gifts and promise, the son of the Quartermaster-General, fell at the hands of an enlisted Confederate soldier of Wickham's brigade, engaged in scouting.”

2 In 1864, the evils of guerrilla warfare rose to high-water mark. The sure demoralization which such a system wrought in those engaged in it, reached such a pitch that even the Confederate authorities could not ignore it. Matters worked in a vicious circle. Murderous marauding drove the Union commanders to devastating the places known to harbour these men. The devastation naturally enraged the inhabitants, and led them even to private bushwhacking. In the late autumn of 1864, bitter retaliations began on both sides. As early as January, 1864, the Confederate General Rosser, who had had opportunity while serving in the Valley to judge the value of “irregular bodies of troops known as partisans,” etc., wrote to General Lee: “I am prompted by no other feeling than a desire to serve my country, to inform you that they are a nuisance and an evil to the service. Without discipline, order, or organization, they roam broadcast over the country, — a band of thieves, stealing, pillaging, plundering, and doing every manner of mischief and crime. They are a terror to the citizens and an injury to the cause.”

He gives the following reasons for his protest: that it keeps men on this service away “from the field of battle, when the life or death of our country is the issue;” that their latitude and many privileges cause dissatisfaction among the regular troops; this encourages desertion.

He says he finds it almost impossible to manage the companies of his brigade that come from the region occupied by Mosby. “They see these men living at their ease and enjoying the comforts of home, allowed to possess all that they capture, and their duties mere pastime pleasures compared with their own arduous ones; and it is a natural consequence in the nature of man that he should become dissatisfied under these circumstances.” He recommends abolishing this “partisan” service, with its privileges. “If it is necessary for troops to operate within the lines of the enemy, then require the commanding officer to keep them in an organized condition, to rendezvous within our lines, and move upon the enemy when opportunity is offered.

“Major Mosby is of inestimable service to the Yankee army, in keeping their men from straggling. He is a gallant officer, and is one that I have great respect for; yet the interest I feel in my own command and the good of the service coerces me to bring this matter before you, in order that this partisan system, which I think is a bad one, may be corrected.” General Rosser says that General Early and General Fitzhugh Lee can testify to these evils.

On General Rosser's communication, General J. E. B. Stuart, the friend and admirer of Mosby, indorses: Major Mosby's command is the only efficient band of rangers I know of, and he usually operates with only one fourth of his nominal strength. Such organizations, as a rule, are detrimental to the best interests of the army at large.”

The above communication was referred by General Lee to the government at Richmond, with this comment: “As far as my knowledge and experience extend, there is much truth in the statement of General Rosser. The evils resulting from their organization more than counterbalance the good they accomplish.'” Miles, the chairman of the Confederate Military Committee, on February 14, 1864, returns this document to the Secretary of War, saying the House of Representatives has passed a bill abolishing Partisan Rangers.

Yet, in spite of Lee's indorsement of Rosser's communication, he wrote to the Secretary of War, C. S. A., asking that Mosby be made a lieutenant-colonel, and wishing to show him that “his services have been appreciated, and to encourage him to still greater activity and zeal.” (Rebellion Record, vol. xxxiii.)

In April, Lee enumerated to his government the bands of “partisan rangers,” recommending bringing them under the rules and regulations of the regular cavalry, disbanding most of them as organizations, but keeping the men; and adds, with regard to Mosby's battalion, the recommendation that, if they cannot be mustered into the regular service, “they be retained as partisans at present,” expressing his belief that their discipline and conduct is better than that of the other bands.

Mosby's and McNeill's commands were retained as partisan rangers.

But the evil went on increasing through 1864. Two days after General Sheridan's report of the killing of his Lieutenant Meigs, he sends another: Lieutenant-Colonel Tolles, my Chief Quartermaster, and Assistant Surgeon Emil Oelenschlager, Medical Inspector on my Staff, were both mortally wounded by guerrillas to-day, on their way to join me from Winchester.  . . . The refugees from Early's army, cavalry and infantry, are organizing guerrilla parties, and are becoming very formidable.  . . . I know of no way to exterminate them except to burn out the whole country, and let the people go North or South.”

Yet, bushwhacking aside, Mosby had done great military service to the Confederacy — to quote his own words as to his kind of warfare — “by the heavy details it compels the enemy to make in order to guard his communications, and, to that extent, diminish his aggressive strength.” In August, when Sheridan with his army had gone up the Valley, Mosby with a small force made a dash upon one of his supply-trains proceeding to the front, dispersed a large force of “hundred-days men,” and ran off three hundred and fifty mules, and burned the wagons and what spoil they could not carry off. In October, Colonel Stevenson wrote to Secretary Stanton, that a supply-train of five hundred and sixty-one wagons, which he was despatching to Sheridan's army, would have a guard of two thousand men unless this should be too few.”

Throughout the campaign, Early was most anxious to keep the rail communications of the Union Army broken, and Mosby harassed the working parties that tried to keep them open. Major John Scott, in his Partisan Life with Mosby, gives the following edifying anecdote. It should be remembered that these trains were used by the local inhabitants: Knowing that the only way to prevent the progress of the work on the road was to keep the force stirred up from below, on the 9th of October he (Mosby) sent a detachment under a lieutenant to throw off the track a train of cars, as it passed between Salem and the Plains. This duty was successfully performed, and many on board were killed and many severely wounded. In retaliation, the Yankees resorted to the inhuman experiment of arresting prominent citizens of the Southern type residing in Fauquier and Alexandria, and making them ride on every train which ran on the Manassas Gap Railroad. In addition, some of the captured prisoners were sent along. But, with the spirit of an old Roman, Mosby declared, ‘If my wife and children were on board, I would still throw off the cars.’”

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 352-4, 465-70

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, September 27, 1864 – 7 a.m.

Staunton, 7 A. M., Sept. 27, 1864.

I didn't tell you what a magnificent spring-wagon I have now, — four stylish white horses and driver to manoeuvre them, — it beats Tyler's red turnout, I think: it's for you to ride out in next winter. In this army (and in the Army of the Potomac) some such affair is a recognized part of a brigade commander's equipment, — general orders always mention a spring-wagon for each headquarters, &c, — so you see we are likely to be very magnificent this winter, — as commanding the Regular Brigade I am expected to indulge in even more luxe than my neighbours, — we shall quite disappoint the world,— shan't we,— with our republican simplicity! I haven't told you either that, the day before yesterday at Luray, I organized a small black boy, bright enough and well brought up; his name is James, but as we have already two of that name about here, I call him Luray, which is quite aristocratic. You can teach him to read and to write this winter, if you have time. The Doctor thinks you would find more satisfaction in him than in your pupils of Vienna.

I wish you could see the splendid country we are in, — we are about one mile beyond Staunton, facing towards the Blue Ridge — we have found out pretty well where the Rebs are, and I have a notion that we shall be getting back pretty soon toward the infantry.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 350-1