Diary of Brigadier-General William F. Bartlett: Friday, September 2, 1864

I have learned to play cribbage, it helps to pass the time. I was not allowed even to send messages by those other officers who went yesterday. If I do not go by the next boat I shall give up.

Try to communicate with Arthur; failed. He will feel awfully about it. He was so glad to think I was going home.

SOURCE: Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, p. 134

Diary of Brigadier-General William F. Bartlett: Thursday, September 1, 1864

Off at last. I gave Arthur all that I had, money, etc., gave him a good breakfast with me, took note for J. D., borrowed $20 of Captain Fox, Thirty-fourth Massachusetts, gave Arthur $10, Sedgwick $10, Arthur my watch-chain. He is very well. Twenty other officers go. Go down to boat in ambulances of boards. An order comes from Colonel Ould. I cannot go. It is a bitter, bitter blow after getting so far. I must go back to prison. Ould says General Walker was not sent up. There is some other reason, I think. This is a sad disappointment. My heart sinks at coming back here. I must wait patiently and believe He doeth all things for the best. Poor mother, if she only knew!

SOURCE: Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, p. 133-4

Diary of Brigadier-General William F. Bartlett: Wednesday, August 31, 1864

The boat is here. We shall go tomorrow I expect. To-day the steward brought me a note from Arthur, who is up stairs. I sent to Major Turner, asking to let him come down. I had no idea he was here. Everybody is anxious to-night, hoping it may be his turn to-morrow. I shall leave Arthur everything that I can. I trust this is my last night in this horrible place. I want to be in Baltimore by Sunday. Home and Saratoga by week after. A week at Saratoga would do me more good than all the medicine in the world.

SOURCE: Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, p. 133

Diary of Brigadier-General William F. Bartlett: Tuesday, August 30, 1864

This morning a letter was put in my hands, directed in father's well-known hand, from mother, dated August 3d. It was a comfort to get it, although of so old a date. She says F. W. P. had written; that I have not received. My horses I trust are sent home ere this. Dr. White promised to send them. George should have known enough to have started for home with all my other things.

SOURCE: Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, p. 133

Diary of Brigadier-General William F. Bartlett: Monday, August 29, 1864

Pleasant, comfortable day. Nothing new. Read “Heart of Mid-Lothian.” Played chess, Captain Adams, Fifty-sixth. Sedgwick, Twentieth, is here; not well, looks badly. Very homesick I expect. I hope the flag of truce boat will be here by Wednesday. Still improving in health. I shall be quite well by the time I get home if I keep on, and the boat doesn't come for a month or two!

SOURCE: Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, p. 132-3

Brigadier-General William F. Bartlett to Harriet Plummer Bartlett, Sunday, August 28, 1864

Libby Prison (hospital),

Richmond, August 28, 1864.

Dear Mother, — I was sent here from Danville on Friday night. Traveled all night. I arrived here yesterday morning; went to see Colonel Ould. I am “to be sent North by first flag of truce boat,” so I hope I may reach home before this letter does. I am still very feeble and shall not be fit for duty for several months. Nor then for active field duty. I am very well treated here;¹ as Colonel Ould said to me, “Libby is not half so bad as it has been represented.”

Hoping to see you soon,

I am ever your affectionate son,

W. F. Bartlett,

Brigadier General U. S. A.

_______________

¹ He told his mother afterwards that the statement as to good treatment was inserted to meet the contingency of the opening of his letter.

SOURCE: Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, p. 132

Diary of Brigadier-General William F. Bartlett: Sunday, August 28, 1864

Quiet, pleasant day. I live comparatively well here, and am quite comfortable. More prisoners come in to-day. Lieutenant-colonel Walker, Hancock's Assistant Adjutant-general, brought in recaptured, taken first at Reams Station; got within thirty yards of our pickets on James, which he swam. Tells me Macy is badly hurt. I dreamt it a week ago. Patten lost a leg. Walker was dressed in rags and filth, but how undisguisable the gentleman is. I was very much taken with him. He knew me, but I had never seen him. Roast mutton for dinner. I am treated with marked consideration just now for some reason or other. The surgeon marked for me good diet.

SOURCE: Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, p. 131-2

Diary of Brigadier-General William F. Bartlett: Saturday, August 27, 1864

Of course awake at daylight. Reached Burkesville Junction shortly after, where we lay in the sun all one day, en route to Danville. Reach Richmond at nine. In Richmond at last. Saw Ould. To go North by first flag truce boat!! I wish they knew it at home this night. Meantime I go to “Libby,” and here I am in Libby Prison Hospital, rather comfortably off. Sedgwick, Twentieth, here. I shall sleep to-night after last night's experience. How can I be grateful enough to God for his great mercy.

SOURCE: Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, p. 131

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: June 11, 1864

Just heard from W. and S. H. Both places in ruins, except the dwelling-houses. Large portions of the Federal army were on them for eight days. S. H. was used as a hospital for the wounded brought from the battle-fields; this protected the house. At W. several generals had their head-quarters in the grounds near the house, which, of course, protected it. General Warren had his tent in the “shrubbery'”, for two days, General Burnside for a day or two, and those of lesser rank were there from time to time. General Grant was encamped at S. H. for a time. Dr. B. was at home, with several Confederate wounded from the battle of “Haw's Shop” in the house. Being absent a mile or two from home when they arrived, they so quickly threw out pickets, spread their tents over the surrounding fields and hills, that he could not return to his house, where his wife and only child were alone, until he had obtained a pass from a Yankee officer. As he approached the house, thousands and tens of thousands of horses and cattle were roaming over the fine wheat fields on his and the adjoining estate, (that of his niece, Mrs. N.,) which were now ripe for the sickle. The clover fields and fields of young corn were sharing the same fate. He found his front porch filled with officers. They asked him of his sentiments with regard to the war. He told them frankly that he was an original Secessionist, and ardently hoped to see the North and South separate and distinct nations now and forever. One of them replied that he “honoured his candour,” and from that moment he was treated with great courtesy. After some difficulty he was allowed to keep his wounded Confederates, and in one or two instances the Federal surgeons assisted him in dressing their wounds. At S. H. the parlour was used for an amputating room, and Yankee blood streamed through that beautiful apartment and the adjoining passage. Poor M. had her stricken heart sorely lacerated in every way, particularly when her little son came running in and nestled up to her in alarm. A soldier had asked him, “Are you the son of Captain Newton, who was killed in Culpeper?” “Yes,” replied the child. “Well, I belong to the Eighth Illinois, and was one of the soldiers that fired at him when he fell,” was the barbarous reply.

On these highly cultivated plantations not a fence is left, except mutilated garden enclosures. The fields were as free from vegetation after a few days as the Arabian desert; the very roots seemed eradicated from the earth. A fortification stretched across W., in which were embedded the fence rails of that and the adjoining farms. Ten thousand cavalry were drawn up in line of battle for two days on the two plantations, expecting the approach of the Confederates; bands of music were constantly playing martial airs in all parts of the premises; and whiskey flowed freely. The poor servants could not resist these intoxicating influences, particularly as Abolition preachers were constantly collecting immense crowds, preaching to them the cruelty of the servitude which had been so long imposed upon them, and that Abraham Lincoln was the Moses sent by God to deliver them from the “land of Egypt and the house of bondage,” and to lead them to the promised land. After the eight days were accomplished, the army moved off, leaving not a quadruped, except two pigs, which had ensconced themselves under the ruins of a servant's house, and perhaps a dog to one plantation; to the other, by some miraculous oversight, two cows and a few pigs were left. Not a wheeled vehicle of any kind was to be found; all the grain, flour, meat, and other supplies were swept off, except the few things hid in those wonderful places which could not be fathomed even by the “Grand Army.” Scarcely a representative of the sons and daughters of Africa remained in that whole section of country; they had all gone to Canaan, by way of York River, Chesapeake Bay, and the Potomac — not dry-shod, for the waters were not rolled back at the presence of these modern Israelites, but in vessels crowded to suffocation in this excessively warm weather. They have gone to homeless poverty, an unfriendly climate, and hard work; many of them to die without sympathy, for the invalid, the decrepit, and the infant of days have left their houses, beds, and many comforts, the homes of their birth, the masters and mistresses who regarded them not so much as property as humble friends and members of their families. Poor, deluded creatures! I am grieved not so much on account of the loss of their services, though that it excessively inconvenient and annoying, but for their grievous disappointment. Those who have trades, or who are brought up as lady's maids or house servants, may do well, but woe to the masses who have gone with the blissful hope of idleness and free supplies! We have lost several who were great comforts to us, and others who were sources of care, responsibility, and great expense. These particulars from W. and S. H. I have from our nephew, J. P., who is now a scout for General W. H. F. Lee. He called by to rest a few hours at his uncle's house, and says he would scarcely have known the barren wilderness. – The Northern officers seemed disposed to be courteous to the ladies, in the little intercourse which they had with them. General Ferrara, who commanded the negro troops, was humane, in having a coffin made for a young Confederate officer who died in Dr B's house, and was kind in other respects. The surgeons, too, assisted in attending to the Confederate wounded. An officer one morning sent for Mrs. N. to ask her where he should place a box of French china for safety; he said that some soldiers had discovered it buried in her garden, dug it up and opened it, but he had come up at this crisis an l had placed a guard over it, and desired to know where she wished it put. A place of safety of course was not on the premises, but she had it taken to her chamber. She thanked him for his kindness. He seemed moved, and said, “Mrs. N., I will do what I can for you, for I cannot be too thankful that my wife is not in an invaded country.” She then asked him how he could, with his feelings, come to the South. He replied that he was in the regular army, and was obliged to come. Many little acts of kindness were done at both houses, which were received in the spirit in which they were extended. Per contra: On one occasion Miss D., a young relative of Mrs. N's, was in one of the tents set aside for the Confederate wounded, writing a letter from a dying soldier to his friends at home. She was interrupted by a young Yankee surgeon, to whom she was a perfect stranger, putting his head in and remarking pertly, “Ah, Miss Maria Dabney, are you writing? Have you friends in Richmond! I shall be there in a few days, and will with pleasure take your communications.” She looked up calmly into his face, and replied, “Thank you; I have no friends in the Libby!” It was heard by his comrades on the outside of the tent, and Shouts and peals of laughter resounded at the expense of the discomfited surgeon. The ladies frequently afterwards heard him bored with the question “Doctor, when do you go to the Libby?”

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 276-80

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: Tuesday Morning, May 17, 1864

For some days the cannon has been resounding in our ears, from the south side of James River. Colonel Garnett has come in to tell us that for the first two days there was only heavy skirmishing, but that on yesterday there was a terrific fight all along the lines. Yesterday evening a brigadier, his staff, and 840 men, were lodged in the Libby Prison. Nothing definite has been heard since that time. The impression is, that we have been generally successful. Very brilliant reports are afloat on the streets, but whether they are reliable is the question. My nephew, Major B., has just called to tell me that his brother W. is reported “missing.” His battery suffered dreadfully, and he has not been seen. God grant that he may be only a prisoner! We suppose that it would have been known to the fragment, of his battery which is left, if he had fallen.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 268

Diary of Mary Brockenbrough Newton: July 4, 1862

A beautiful, glorious day, and one which the Yankees expected confidently to spend triumphantly in Richmond. Last Fourth of July old General Scott expected to be there, to tread in triumph the fallen fortunes of his quondam friends, and to-day McClellan has been obliged to yield his visions of glory. “Man proposes, but God disposes.” Many of their companions in arms are there, in the Libby and other prisons, wounded in the hospitals, and dead in the swamps and marshes, or buried on the battle-fields while the “Grand Army” and the “Young Napoleon” are struggling desperately to get out of the bogs of the Chickahominy to his gunboats on James River. I sent the carriage to Richmond a day or two ago for Mr. N., but he writes that he is sending it backwards and forwards to the battlefields for the wounded. It is a season of wide-spread distress; parties are going by constantly to seek their husbands, brothers, sons, about whose fate they are uncertain. Some old gentlemen passed yesterday, walking all the way from Lancaster County. All the boats and bridges have been destroyed on the rivers, and conveyances can't be put across. Ladies are sent from river to river by those persons who have conveyances and horses left to them. Oh, I trust that blood enough has been spilled now!. Dr. S. has just arrived; he has been twenty miles below Richmond. He says the Yankee dead still lie unburied in many places — our men are too much worn out to undertake to bury them. The Yankee hospitals, as well as our own, are all along the roads; their hospital flag is red; ours is orange. They have their own surgeons, and, of course, many delicacies that our men can't have. The Northern papers speak of this retreat of McClellan's as a “strategic movement.” The bloody fights of eight days, the retreat of thirty miles, attended by immense loss of life, thousands of prisoners, many guns, stores of all kinds, etc., a “strategic movement !” But our loss is heavy — so many valuable lives, and such suffering among the wounded. O God! interpose and stop this cruel war!

[Returning to her diary, Mrs. Judith W. McGuire writes:]

I quote no further from Mrs. N[ewton]'s diary, as the next page was devoted to the visits of those dear ones whom God had preserved amid strife and carnage. She mentions the return of our dear W. B. N. from Fort Delaware on the 5th of August, where he had been for several months. He asked but five days' furlough to be with his family, and then returned to his regiment, (Fourth Cavalry.) His reception by his company was most gratifying. As soon as he got to camp, it drew up in line, and requested him to come to the front, when the “Orderly” came up, leading a very handsome bay horse, elegantly equipped, which he presented to his “Captain,” in the name of the company.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 148-9

Diary of Judith W. McGuire: July 15, 1862

Mecklenburg County. — Mr. —— and myself summoned here a short time ago to see our daughter, who was very ill. Found her better — she is still improving.

Richmond is disenthralled — the only Yankees there are in the “Libby” and other prisons. McClellan and his "Grand Army," on James River, near Westover, enjoying mosquitoes and bilious fevers. The weather is excessively hot. I dare say the Yankees find the “Sunny South” all that their most fervid imaginations ever depicted it, particularly on the marshes. So may it be, until the whole army melts with fervent heat. The gun-boats are rushing up and down the river, shelling the trees on the banks, afraid to approach Drury's Bluff. The Northern papers and Congress are making every effort to find out to whom the fault of their late reverses is to be traced. Our people think that their whole army might have been captured but for the dilatoriness of some of our generals. General Magruder is relieved, and sent to take command in the West.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 126-7

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, December 10, 1864

December 10, 1864

Miles, with the troops which had been sent to reinforce him, maintained a threatening attitude near Hatcher's Run till afternoon, when he was ordered to withdraw again to our lines. The enemy undertook to follow up a little, but the rear guard faced about and drove them away. — There was I seized with a fearful sleepy fit last night and went to bed; thus missing a letter home to you. However, I have not before missed one in a very long time; and, if I followed Duane's advice, I should miss much oftener. “Lyman,” says this ancient campaigner, “you are foolish to write so much. Now I write only once a week, so my letters are valued. You write every day, and probably Mrs. Lyman puts them in her pocket and pays no attention to them.” Ah! I was speaking of Miles, and had got him with all his forces, and put him inside the works, all right. We had to pay farewell respects to Riddle, for his resignation has been accepted and he goes to-morrow. For a long time he has been in miserable health and, in warm weather, is seldom well enough for hard duty. He has been twice wounded, at Antietam and on the Peninsula, and was taken prisoner, but got away from Libby and arrived, after many hardships, within our lines. He is a very good officer and quite a superior person, whom we shall miss on our Staff. The kind-hearted Woolsey invited us all to take oysters in his honor (for you must know that there is a log house where one may have a “fancy roast,” “plain stew,” or “one fried,” just across the road). We gathered in the greatest force, for oysters attracted, even if Riddle didn't, and had a high festival. We had songs, whereof I sang several, with large applause. “You don't drink,” said Duane, “but it don't make any difference, because you look as if you had been drinking, and that's all that is necessary.”

Before I finish this day I must go back to tell of the beginning and progress of the Weldon road expedition. Last Wednesday, General Warren, with his own Corps, Mott's division of the 2d Corps, and nearly the whole of Gregg's division of cavalry, started in the morning and marched down the Jerusalem plank road, striking across to the Nottoway River, at Freeman's Bridge, a distance of from fifteen to seventeen miles. There a pontoon bridge was thrown and the whole command got over before daybreak the next morning, the advance getting that night to Sussex Court House. Meantime the enemy, getting [wind] of the move, sent off A. P. Hill's Corps, that evening, twelve hours after Warren. Hill went to Dinwiddie Court House, but what became of him thereafter, I have not yet learned. Their place in the lines was taken, I presume, by some of Early's men, who were nearly all come down from the valley and are helping Lee now. On Thursday Warren continued his march and struck the Weldon road, a little south of the Nottoway, in the afternoon, and immediately went to destroying the track and burning the river bridge. The work went on systematically: the line being halted on the road, the men stacked arms, and went at the track. Sleepers were torn up, and these, with fence-rails, made great bonfires, on which the rails were laid. Soon the iron would wax red-hot, when the weight of the ends would bend the rails. Some of the men, however, were so enthusiastic as to take rails and twist them round trees, which could be done while the ends were cool and the middle hot. As soon as a brigade had finished its work, it marched down to a new piece, passing the other men who were destroying; and so they kept on till midnight, when they had got to Jarrott's station and there halted. Next day, Friday, the column kept on, as before, the cavalry preceding them, who, when they arrived at Meherrin Bridge, found strong earthworks on the opposite side and some ten guns, which immediately opened on them. . . .

This night was a very severe one, with its high wind and snow, sleet and rain; but it was rendered tolerable by the big fires that the soldiers lighted to heat rails with. General Warren did not deem proper to cross the Meherrin, as it would take a day to flank the Rebels' works, and he started with but six days' provisions. Next day, Saturday to wit, he began his return march and the head of the column got as far as Sussex C.H. On this march the people of the country had the bad judgment to “bushwhack” our troops: that is, to kill any stragglers or small parties they could catch. This is against the rules of war. I will not say it is surprising, because the stragglers of an army always steal and plunder and exasperate the people. Colonel Sergeant told me he himself saw five of our men shot and stripped nearly naked. The troops were so enraged by such cases, that they fired every house on their march, and, what made them worse, they found a great amount of apple-brandy in the country, a liquor that readily intoxicates. The superior officers destroyed a great deal of it, but the men got some and many were drunk. The people make this brandy on account of its great price. It sells for $1500 a barrel. Colonel Wainwright told me he found two tithing-bills in one house, one a year old, the other recent; in the old one wheat was valued at $10 a bushel, in the recent, at $40, showing that it has quadrupled in price within a year. It was on this day that a cavalry reconnaissance that pushed out on the Vaughan road reported heavy artillery firing in the direction of Jarrott's station. This made Grant so uneasy that he directed aid to be sent Warren. Accordingly Potter, with 9000 men, marched that night, and arrived next morning at five A.M. at the Nottoway, at Freeman's Bridge. A wretched march indeed! in slush and mud and a damp cold; but his men followed on very well and arrived with little straggling, which surprised me. .

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 293-6

Charles Lawrence Peirson

Charles Lawrence Peirson. who died at Boston, Jan. 23, 1920, was born in Salem, Jan. 15, 1834, the son of Dr. Abel Lawrence Peirson and Harriet (Lawrence) Peirson. He studied engineering at the Lawrence Scientific School, and after receiving the degree of S.B. in 1853, practised in Minnesota the calling of a farmer and the profession of a civil engineer. At the outbreak of the Civil War, having returned to Boston, he volunteered for service and was commissioned first lieutenant and adjutant of the Twentieth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. In the first engagement of the regiment, Oct. 20,1861, at Ball's Bluff on the Potomac River, he was taken prisoner and sent to Libby Prison, Richmond, where he was confined until late in the following January. He shared in the distinguished record of his regiment, including the battles from Yorktown to Malvern Hill, and served on the staff of General Dana and that of General Sedgwick. In August, 1862, he became lieutenant colonel of the Thirty-Ninth Massachusetts Volunteers, and in July, 1864, colonel of that regiment, taking part in the operations of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Petersburg and the Weldon Railroad, where he was severely wounded. In March, 1865, he was commissioned brevet brigadier general United States Volunteers. After the close of the war he formed with General Robert H. Stevenson the firm of Stevenson & Peirson, iron merchants, and continued a member of this firm and of its successor, Charles L. Peirson & Co., until his retirement from business, more than ten years ago. He was also for a period of years treasurer of the Lowell Machine Shop. In 1898 he received the honorary degree of A.M. from Harvard University. He married, in 1873, Emily Russell, daughter of George R. Russell of Boston. Mrs. Peirson died in 1908. There are no children.

SOURCE: The Harvard Graduates' Magazine, Volume 28: 1919-1920, No. 111, March 1920, p. 492-3

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, October 28, 1863

October 28, 1863

. . . The guerillas are extremely saucy of late, and, in a small way, annoying. Night before last they dashed at a waggon train and cut loose upwards of a hundred mules and horses, which they made off with, teamsters and all, leaving the waggons untouched. These men are regularly enlisted, but have no pay, getting, in lieu thereof, all the booty they can take, except horses, which they must sell to the Rebels at a fixed rate. They have taken several officers who, from carelessness, or losing their way, have gone alone beyond the lines. Prisoners are treated with consideration, but I fancy that, from all accounts, Libby Prison is pretty dirty and crowded. When some of our officers were taken through Warrenton, on the retreat of Lee, the inhabitants gave them supper; for the 6th Corps were long quartered there and treated the people kindly. When you are here you see how foolish and blind is the clamor raised by some people, to have all property destroyed by the army in the Rebel states, as the troops passed. There was, you know, a great talk about putting guards over houses of Rebels; but, 1st, it is very wrong to punish a people en masse, without regard to their degree of guilt and without properly measuring the punishment; and, 2d, nothing so utterly and speedily demoralizes an army as permission to plunder. It is our custom to put guards over the houses that are inhabited; but, despite that, the cavalry and advanced guard take a good slice of the live-stock; forage, and vegetables. . . .

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 39-40

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Mead, February 29, 1864

Headquarters Army Of The Potomac, February 29, 1864.

Yesterday Mr. Dorr, from Christ Church, preached for us, and afterwards dined and spent the evening with me. During the evening one of the escaped prisoners from Libby prison, who had made his way from Richmond right through the main body of Lee's army and into our lines, came to see me, and Mr. Dorr seemed very much interested in the narrative of his adventures. He returned home this morning, delighted with his visit to the army and all he had seen. He has a son who is a captain in Chapman Biddle's regiment, the One Hundred and Twenty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers.

My cavalry expedition for Richmond got off last night, and at 2 A. M., the last I heard from them, they were getting on famously, not having met any one or being, as far as they could tell, discovered by the enemy. I trust they will be successful; it will be the greatest feat of the war, if they do succeed, and will immortalize them all. Young Dahlgren,¹ with his one leg, went along with them. The weather from having been most favorable, now that the expedition has gone, begins to look suspicious, and to-night we have a little rain.

I see Congress has passed the Lieutenant General bill. This will make Grant Commander-in-Chief; what will become of Halleck I can't tell, and possibly when Grant is responsible for all military operations, he may want some one else whom he knows better in command of this army.

_______________

¹ Ulric Dahlgren, killed March 4, 1864.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 2, p. 168

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, June 11, 1863

Camp, June 11,1863.

This army is weakened, and its morale not so good as at the last battle, and the enemy are undoubtedly stronger and in better morale. Still, I do not despair, but that if they assume the offensive and force us into a defensive attitude, that our morale will be raised, and with a moderate degree of good luck and good management, we will give them better than they can send. War is very uncertain in its results, and often when affairs look the most desperate they suddenly assume a more hopeful state. See the changes and transitions at Vicksburg, to say nothing of our own experience. This makes me hope that it will be our turn next time. The day before yesterday Pleasanton, with all the cavalry and two brigades of infantry, crossed just above us, and had a very brilliant affair with the enemy's cavalry, who it appears were just ready and about starting on a grand raid, some say into Pennsylvania.¹ They outnumbered us, but after handling them pretty severely, Pleasanton came back. The Lancers particularly distinguished themselves, though I am sorry to hear with considerable loss.²  It is said Major Morris³ is missing, supposed to have been thrown from his horse and fallen into the enemy's hands. Captain Davis⁴ was killed. Lennig⁵ is missing, believed to be wounded. Captain Leiper⁶ is missing. Lieutenant Ellis⁷ is wounded. Lieutenant Colladay,⁸ missing. Charley Cadwalader⁹ was with them, also Captain Dahlgren, of General Hooker's staff. This latter officer says he was with Morris, and had just jumped a ditch, when his horse was shot. On dismounting, and looking around, he saw Morris's horse without a rider, and he thinks Morris was thrown in jumping the ditch. Charles Coxe¹⁰ is all right, so also is Willie White,¹¹ who had two horses shot under him, and broke two sabres. Newhall¹² was on Pleasanton's staff, and was not with the regiment when it made a dashing and gallant charge on a battery, getting hi among the guns, which they would have captured had they been promptly supported. Harry Winsor¹³ is safe, also Welsh.¹⁴ I am glad the regiment has had a chance and so brilliantly availed themselves of it. George¹⁵ is quite disgusted with his luck, but I tell him a live dog is better than a dead lion.

The backing out of Burnside's course towards the Chicago Times looks suspicious on the part of the President. If peace can be secured without loss of honor, no one would be more rejoiced than I; but I do not see how this can be brought about, with matters as they stand at present. If we could only thoroughly whip these fellows two or three times, regular out-and-out defeats; but I don't advocate peace until we have clearly shown them, as we ought to have done long since, our superiority in the field. I can hardly expect you to enter fully into these views, but if you had been humiliated as I have been by seeing your cause and party defeated when they should be victorious, you would be roiled, too, and would not be willing to give up till things assumed an aspect more consistent with your pride and honor.

We are now on the qui vive to know what the enemy are going to do. I am removed from Hooker's headquarters and know nothing of what is going on, either of plans or surmises. In some respects this is convenient, as I am spared much speculation. In other respects it is not so agreeable, because I like to form my own judgment on what is going on, and to make my preparations accordingly. If Lee is going to assume the offensive, I presume he will not long delay; but whether he will move to our right, trying to get between us and Washington, or whether he will move up the valley as he did last summer, or whether he will attack us here, are questions the future only can solve. All we can do is to be on the lookout and ready. Perhaps Hooker may find a chance to assume the offensive and reverse matters, as the enemy did at Chancellorsville. This I think would be good luck for us.

_______________

¹ Battle of Brandy Station, Va., June 9, 1863.

² "Rush's Lancers," 6th Pa. Cav.

³ Robert Morris, Jr., of Philadelphia, captured and died in Libby Prison.

⁴ Charles B. Davis, of Philadelphia.

⁵ Thompson Lennig, of Philadelphia.

⁶ Charles L. Leiper, of Philadelphia.

⁷ Rudolph Ellis, of Philadelphia.

⁸ Samuel R. Colladay.

⁹ Charles E. Cadwalader, of Philadelphia.

¹⁰ Charles B. Coxe, of Philadelphia.

¹¹ William White, of Philadelphia.

¹² Frederick C. Newhall, of Philadelphia.

¹³ Henry Winsor, Jr., of Boston.

¹⁴ Osgood Welsh, of Philadelphia.

¹⁵ Son of General Meade.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 383-5

Samuel H. M. Byers

SAMUEL H. M. BYERS was born in Pulaski, Pennsylvania, in 1838. Coming to Iowa in 1851 with his father he was educated in the schools of Oskaloosa, where his father located. He enlisted in the Fifth Iowa Infantry and served in the army until March, 1865, was promoted to adjutant in April, 1863. He was in many battles and in a charge at Missionary Ridge was taken prisoner and for fifteen months suffered the horrors of Libby and other Confederate prisons. He finally escaped and returned to the army, where for a time he was on General Sherman’s staff. At the close of the war he was brevetted major. While in prison at Columbia, South Carolina, he wrote the well-known song, “The March to the Sea,” which brought him into national notice. It gave the name to Sherman’s famous march and thousands of copies were sold immediately after the war. Major Byers was sent by General Sherman to General Grant and President Lincoln as bearer of dispatches announcing his great victories. He served fifteen years as American consul at Zürich in Switzerland and was under President Arthur, Consul General for Italy. Under President Harrison he served as Consul to St. Gall and later as Consul General for Switzerland. Major Byers has been a contributor to the leading magazines of the country. He is the author of “Iowa in War Times,” “Switzerland and the Swiss,” “Twenty Years in Europe” and several volumes of poetry.

Benjamin F. Gue, History of Iowa From The Earliest Times To The Beginning Of The Twentieth Century, Vol. 4, p. 36

From Washington

Herald’s Dispatch

WASHINGTON, May 4.

It is the intention of the President to issue a proclamation in a few days opening the ports of Newbern, Beaufort, Savannah, Fernandina, and New Orleans to the trade of the world.  This important measure will release the Administration for any international embarrassments, and largely tend to restore the entente cordial between the sections of the country.

The Senate finance committee has determined to report the tax bill to-morrow, or Tuesday at the farthest.  They have been unable to make many important changes contemplated, and will probably leave whisky and tobacco untouched.  It is a singular fact, worthy of note in Congress, that no remonstrance from any quarter has been made against a high tariff upon these articles, but the dealers and manufacturers are all in favor of placing it at the highest figure.  This will probably be done either by the Senate or a committee of conference.

Special to Tribune.

We have news from Richmond via Fredericksburg, of importance.  The people of the rebel capital are panic stricken.  The wealthy citizens are packing up their furniture and sending in into the country.

An apparently intoxicated person the past week, passing by the tobacco works where our soldiers are confined, cried out to them, “Cheer up, boys, McClellan or McDowell will be here in a few days.”  Then a sentry shot him dead.

Our Commanding General galloping into Fredericksburg yesterday afternoon, with his staff, was received with closed doors.  Not a door open of house or store; not a face to be seen, except now and then that of a curious damsel peering through half closed blinds at the cavalcade of Yankees.

WASHINGTON, May 4.

The following important circulars have been addressed to the foreign ministers, announcing the reopening of communication with southern localities, reconquered from the insurgents.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON.

SIR – I have the honor to state, for  your information, that the mails are now allowed to pass to and from New Orleans and other places, which having been heretofore seized by insurgents, have since been recovered and are now reopened by the land and naval forces of the Unites States.  It is proper, however, to add that a military surveillance is maintained over such mails as far as the Government finds it necessary for the public safety.

I am sir, your ob’t serv’t,

(Signed,)

WM. H. SWEARD

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON,

May 5.

SIR – I have the honor to state, for the information of your Government, that a collector has been appointed by the President for New Orleans, and that the necessary preparations are being made to modify the blockade so far as to permit limited shipments to be made to and from that and one or more other ports, which are now closed, at times and upon considerations which will be made known by proclamation.

I am sir, your ob’t serv’t

(Signed,)

WM. H. SWEARD.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, May 6, 1862, p. 1

The War in Eastern Virginia

From the Advance of Gen. McClellan’s Army – A Balloon Reconnoissance and View of Richmond.

From the correspondence of the Philadelphia Inquirer, dated, Gaines Hill, on the Chickahominy, nine miles from Richmond, on May 20^th and 21^st we quote the following.

LOCALITIES.

“Gaines Hill” is the title we have given the elevation from which we are now writing.  Before us lies the Chickahominy river and the rebel army; half a mile further our pickets are watching the rebels from the edge of a piece of woods.  The road crosses here upon the “old bridge.”  Farther up, some seven miles, is the “new bridge,” on the road running from Henrico Court House to Richmond.

Six miles below is the railroad bridge, and below that some few miles is “Bottom Bridge.”  To our left is a swamp; to our front is another.  The rebels still hold this side of the river; no attempt having been made to drive them back. – Above them, and but a few hundred yards we can see five iron cannon planted, with which they can rake the field we would have to pass to drive in their pickets.  The Sixth Cavalry threw out some skirmishers, this morning, to learn their position, and found that they had riflemen concealed in the bushes.

CAPTURE OF COMMISSARY STORES AND MULES.

Lieut. S. M. Whitesides, with eight men of Company K, of the 6^th Cavalry, yesterday captured some commissary stores at Old Church consisting of ninety barrels of flour, fifty sacks of flour, and forty bags of beans, further on he heard of a train of mules, and dashing on the took eight contrabands and one hundred mules.  This was a gallant affair, and in our dispatch last night we erroneously attributed it to the Eighth Ohio.

The men stated that they belonged to General Whiting’s Brigade, and were en route for Richmond.  The mules were branded C. S.  The Quartermaster in charge ran, and was chased by two cavalry men two miles.

THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE.

The country is but partially cleared and the ground very poor, having been exhausted by farming; every white man is gone who can carry a musket.  All the slaves of any value, and all the horses and fat cattle have been carried off; some grain is left and a few sheep.  Many of the people profess hostility still, but nearly all the better class have gone to Richmond; many profess neutrality, but all are astonished at the appearance of our army – the rapid pursuit and the well dressed men are what they did not expect.  They all deplore the war and are sick of it.  The scarcity of provisions, except pork, corn, and flour, is the same as we have heretofore noted in other localities.  No money but rags; no coffee, no sugar, no salt, no clothes, no papers, no books, no medicine, nothing but niggers, cotton and tobacco.

COAL HARBOR.

There are two coal harbors, old and new. – the Old Coal Harbor is two miles back of New Coal Harbor; each consists of one building, and a well with a long chain to draw the water.  The old one is no longer open, but some poor white trash live in it, too worthless to be drafted into the army.

New coal harbor is kept by a lame man, who professes to be a Union man.  He has nothing but “whisky” to sell, and one bed-room he lets out.  His sign board had an eagle upon it and a South Carolina Regiment made him take it down and burn it last summer.  He says secession has ruined him.

SEVEN MILES FROM RICHMOND – THE REBELS SHOW SIGNS OF EVACUATION.

From a hill close to the river bank we secured a position upon the top of a house where we could see the rebels cross the river.  They have, in an open field, one brigade of infantry and two regiments of cavalry.  To the right of the bridge they have five guns,, and to the left three, no intrenchments.  No signs of making any.  A building close by the river is evidently used for a storehouse.

GEN. STONEMAN SEES RICHMOND AND THE REBEL ARMY.

Prof. Lowe has just towed his balloon down here, and, Gen. Stoneman jumping into the car they both shot up.  When up a few hundred feet, Gen. Stoneman announced that Richmond and the rebel army lay before him in plain view.  The body of the rebel army lies off to our left, and between the roads running into Richmond from Old Bridge and the Bottom Bridge, and in the rear of the swamp that runs up to the river near the railroad.

Wagons of all kinds are running to and fro in the woods in the rear; everything is being moved, and it is their evident intention to evacuate their present position.  The bridge crosses in a dense thicket, and they still picket this side with their riflemen.  Lieut. Daniels, of the Signal Corps, occupied this perch all day, and when our cavalry made a dash on their pickets this morning, we saw them mow down the whole brigade towards the road.  What a commotion we could make if we could fire a few big shells into them!

CONTRABANDS COMING IN.

Contrabands are flocking from all around the country.  They have been in the swamps and woods, secreted, some of them, for ten days. – They mostly were at Yorktown, working on the forts, and were about to be sent off again, when they fled to await the coming of our army and secure their liberty.  A more greatful set were never seen.  They profess themselves willing to work, fight, or do anything for us, if, when we “whip out de southern army,” they will be allowed to work for themselves.  None want to go away if they can be allowed to stay and be paid for their labor.  They think they have “worked long enough for nuffin.”  They say but few believed the story about us going to sell them to Cuba, cut off their ears, and commit all kinds of atrocities upon women, children and negroes.

PROFESSOR LOWE’S REPORT – REBELS UPON BOTH SIDES OF JAMES RIVER – THE ROAD TO RICHMOND OPEN.

Prof. Lowe went up to a considerable elevation after Gen. Stoneman came down, and had a fine view of Richmond, Manchester, the Rocketts, James River, the rebel army, &c., &c.

The streets, churches, &c., in Richmond were distinctly seen.  The rebel army is retreating from the Chickahominy River now.  A baggage-train close to the river could easily have been taken by Stoneman, in a dash, had his orders allowed it.  The works around Richmond could be seen, but not minutely enough to see the guns – the distance through the air being about five miles.  Large camp fires upon the off bank of James River show that they have not got their whole army here now.  They are evacuating Richmond, beyond a doubt.

THE REBELS DRAW IN THEIR ARTILLERY, BUT KEEP THEIR PICKETS OUT.

We have just ridden a mile along the banks of the Chickahominy, and in conversation with our scouts and pickets, learned that no rebels have been seen to-day where they had so many yesterday.  Their pickets are along both sides of the river here, and the bridge is burned.  The river can be crossed anywhere here, by throwing pontoon bridges over it, in twenty minutes. – We can command the opposite shore with our artillery.  It is ridiculous to call the Chickahominy a river here.  It is not formidable, is not swampy all along it, and not an intrenchment has been found.  Contrabands, who have crossed at different places, report none, and a good ford has been found here, above the bridge a few rods.  No attempt is made here by the rebels to fire upon our pickets, and though the 6^th Cavalry have been in an exposed position all day, none of their artillery has been used. – All is quiet along the lines.

In Front of Bohlen’s house there can be seen the residence of Mrs. Price.  It is built upon a high hill, beyond the river, distance some two miles by the road, or one and a half through the air.  It is a rebel headquarters.  In front can be seen the orderlies, coming and going, while this morning a general and his staff rode across an open field to it.  The road to Richmond is in front of it.  In a field, to the left, their artillery was placed; now it is all gone.  When the balloon went up this morning all their horsemen and pickets took to the woods.  The balloon could be plainly seen in Richmond from the streets.  It is no doubt a cause of excitement, and the cry, “The Yankees are coming” was no doubt echoed all over the city.  What a welcome sound it must have been for the prisoners in the tobacco warehouse!  Wonder if their windows do look out this way, so the boys can see the balloon.  They can here the booming of the guns, anyhow.

This Bohlen, from whose house we write, is, no doubt a traitor.  He has five sons in the rebel army, owns several thousand acres of ground, and has sold all his grain and corn to the confederacy; he has no doubt but we will be driven back, and all our troops cut to pieces!  He hopes we will find graves in his meadow in front, and is terribly frightened for fear the rebels will open fire on us, and we will get behind his house, he says if we are gentlemen we will go out in the open field below his house.  We told him the hint was very liberal; a guard was now around his well, his house, his garden, his corn crib, and we would speak to some of the officers, and they would, no doubt go out in the field, right under the batteries, to fight.  He has a son prisoner in Indianapolis, taken at Fort Donelson.  He complained to the guard that a soldier broke open is corn crib yesterday, and filled his blanket with corn.  He would not sell us any chickens or poultry, but gave us a nice bowl of strawberries, and we culled a beautiful bouquet in his garden.  His house is finely furnished.  He had his family in a carriage, ready to leave, when our pickets came up.  He declined to give us any information, saying we would no doubt, be driven back, and he would be hung.  He says one man was hung near Williamsburg, for giving us information about the roads, and that his wife lived near here, in Harlem county.  He says he heard we had 210,000 men here, and that the Southern army had over 300,000, and that Beauregard was coming in with troops from the west.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 31, 1862, p. 2