Battalion Drill as usual this afternoon. Lt. William taken sick with the measles to day nothing of importance transpiring to day.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 228
Battalion Drill as usual this afternoon. Lt. William taken sick with the measles to day nothing of importance transpiring to day.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 228
SHERWOOD FOREST, CHARLES CITY CO., April 25, 1861.
In these times you
must write often, if only a few words. I have no letters to-day from you, but
if I continue to be disappointed, I will consider it owing to the mail
obstructions, and not torture myself with doubts of your health and safety. I
want you to write me what the people of Staten Island are doing, and whether
they think themselves in danger of the mob, which I should think might well be
feared in New York.
The President came
down on Saturday and remained until yesterday (Tuesday). He brought Julia with
him, and also carried her back. Matters are rapidly coming to the point;
whether they will reach it or stop short of so unnatural a battle as that waged
between the two sections will be depends upon the action of the President in
Washington. I see no prospect of a change in his course, and so fighting will
be the order of the day. This whole country is now under arms, and the whole
South will soon be one vast camp of brave men, whose rallying cry will be, “Fight
for your homes and your firesides." The South is invaded, and all effort
for peace must now come from the North.
It is a real
disappointment to me to see New York city so ready to engage in this wicked
war. We hear the famous seventh regiment has been destroyed ere it reached
Washington. And so it will be. I do not think Providence will suffer the
unoffending to fall. Rumors, however, that want confirmation do not occupy much
our thoughts. I suppose that rumor will prove a false one. "Fuss and
Feathers" has distinguished himself. You ought to hear how he is spoken of
by his family and State.1
Col. Lee, a splendid
man every inch of him, is in command of the Virginia forces. He married, you
remember, the daughter of G. W. Parke Custis. He can only lead to victory, if
this shocking war continues.
The President writes
me to-day Mrs. Clopton and daughter, from Old Point, were on board the boat
yesterday, fleeing from their home. Their furniture will be sent after them in
a few days. They said that the Massachusetts company that landed at Old Point
for the Fort were the scum of the earth. We have not decided what we shall do
about the Villa. The measles has now gone through my family. Aleck, the last to
have it, is now rapidly recovering. He was a very sick child for two or three
days, but the disease has now left him, and he will leave his bed to-morrow. I
have recovered entirely from my cold, and the family are all well. The
President is in firmer health than for many past years. He is full of business
now.
I would like to
write you more freely, but I suppose it would not be prudent. I do not wish to
write anything that would excuse a delay of my letters. We are very much
concerned as to Robert Tyler; have had threatening letters in regard to him
anonymously, and we see in the papers that Southerners are sought for by the
mob at Philadelphia. He wrote to his father every few days; the letters have
ceased, and I hear to-day that none are found on returning to Richmond.
Strange! if there is no foul play, he has found it necessary to be silent and
secret. We hear he is in Baltimore, from one of our neighbors, to which place
he fled, literally chased by the mob away from his home. What next we shall
hear, who can tell? . . .
1 "The general-in-chief of the army, in
1860, stood by the Union and made war on his State; and so did other officers,
both of the land and sea service; for the soldier's and sailor's household gods
commonly are found with his regiment or in his ship."—Fears for Democracy,
p. 239.
SOURCE: Lyon
Gardiner Tyler, The Letters and Times of the Tylers, Volume 2, p.
647-8
It is now between
two and three months since our regiment went into camp. We have had nearly
three hundred cases of measles, with about as many of diarrhoea, dysentery and
fever. Not one quarter of the regiment but has been sick in some way, and yet
last night every man who left home with the regiment slept in camp-not one
death by sickness or accident, none left behind, not one lost by desertion! May
we not challenge the armies of the world for a parallel? We are sleeping on our
arms every night, in anticipation of an attack on Washington, and it seems to
be the general belief that we shall be attacked here. I am no military man, and
my opinion here is of no account to the world, but to me, for whose especial
benefit it is written, it is worth as much as would be the opinion of a
Napoleon. That opinion is, that we shall have no fight here—that the enemy is
out-generaling us by feints to induce us to concentrate our forces here, whilst
he makes a strike and overpowers us elsewhere.
SOURCE: Alfred L.
Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of
Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B.
McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day
January, 1863, p. 19-20
RICHMOND, April 17,1
1861.
Well, my dearest
one, Virginia
has severed her connection with the Northern hive of abolitionists, and
takes her stand as a sovereign and independent State. By a large vote she
decided on yesterday, at about three o'clock, to resume the powers she had
granted to the Federal government, and to stand before the world clothed in the
full vestments of sovereignty. The die is thus cast, and her future is in the
hands of the god of battle. The contest into which we enter is one full of
peril, but there is a spirit abroad in Virginia which cannot be crushed until
the life of the last man is trampled out. The numbers opposed to us are
immense; but twelve thousand Grecians conquered the whole power of Xerxes at
Marathon, and our fathers, a mere handful, overcame the enormous power of Great
Britain.
The North seems to
be thoroughly united against us. The Herald and the Express both give way and
rally the hosts against us. Things have gone to that point in Philadelphia that
no one is safe in the expression of a Southern sentiment. Poor Robert is
threatened with mob violence. I wish most sincerely he was away from there. I
attempted to telegraph him to-day, but no dispatch is permitted northward, so
that no one knows there, except by secret agent, what has transpired here. At
Washington a system of martial law must have been established. The report is
that persons are not permitted to pass through the city to the South. I learn
that Mrs. Orrick and her children, on her way here to join her husband, who is
on the convention, has been arrested and detained. There is another report that
General Scott resigned yesterday and was put under arrest. I hope it may be so,
but I do not believe it. I have some fear that he will not resign. Reports are
too conflicting about it.
Two expeditions are
on foot,—the one directed against the Navy Yard at Gosport, the other Harper's
Ferry. Several ships are up the river at the Navy Yard, and immense supplies of
guns and powder; but there is no competent leader, and they have delayed it so
long that the government has now a very strong force there. The hope is that
Pickens will send two thousand men to aid in capturing it. From Harper's Ferry
nothing is heard. The city is full of all sorts of rumors. To-morrow night is
now fixed for the great procession; flags are raised all about town.
If possible I shall
visit home on Saturday. Tell Gill that I shall send or bring down the sturgeon
twine and six bushels of potatoes, which should be planted as soon as they
reach home. I wish much to see you after so long an absence, and the dear
children, since they have had the measles. Do, dearest, live as frugally as
possible in the household,—trying times are before us.
1 As the ordinance was passed on the 17th,
this date ought to be 18th.
SOURCE: Lyon
Gardiner Tyler, The Letters and Times of the Tylers, Volume 2, p.
641-2
On the 19th of June,
1861, the 5th Regiment of Wisconsin Vols., being partially organized, went into
camp at Madison, Wis. Here it remained for a time, perfecting its organization,
drilling and preparing itself for the hardships, the dangers, and the
responsibilities to be encountered in the battle-field, against a people
warlike and chivalric; a people who are taught to regard physical courage, and
recklessness of physical danger, as the noblest qualities of the human race,
and a people whose chief pride was to win in fight, whether with individuals or
in masses; but a people, who, having entrusted their politics to professed
politicians, were misled to believe that, by their brothers of the Northern
States of this Union, their rights of property were invaded, and their homes
were coveted as a prize for distribution amongst the overgrown population of
the North. But to enter into a discussion of the merits of this rebellion, now
devastating the most beautiful country known to man, carrying in its march a
passover of beggary, of destitution, and of death, is not in accordance with
the object of this little book. It is therefore passed over, that the reader
may at once be permitted to enter into a detail of the subjects indicated in
our preface.
From the time of the
commencement of the rebellion, by actual war on Fort Sumter, in April of this
year, its settlement by rapid and decisive victories over the rebels was
subject of merriment, and looked on as matter of course. We were going to war
with a people of not half our numbers, without money, without munitions of war,
without navy, without anything in fine of those elements which go to make up
the ensemble of a people powerful in war, and we were entering into the strife
as a short interlude to the hum-drum vocations of life. "How could a
people thus situated hope to compete with the parent Government, rich in every
element which makes a great people?" This was the reasoning. In vain were
our people told of the character of the Southerners. In vain were they referred
to the results of our own rebellion and successful revolutionary war with
England. "Oh!" was the reply, "Steamships were not known in
those days, and England had to cross the ocean to fight us." "But Hungary,
with its population of only 3,000,000, and without revenue, withstood the whole
power of Austria, till the hordes of Russia had to be called in to aid in their
subjugation." "But Austria had become a superannuated and feeble
people." No reasoning would answer. The subjugation of the revolted States
was to be a pastime, and could be nothing but a pastime. Thus went on matters,
drilling as an amusement, preparatory to the enjoyment of a war, all the
results of which were to be on our side, and obtained without sacrifice or suffering.
*
* * * * *
On the afternoon of
the 21st July, 1861, the electric wires brought us the intelligence from Bull
Run that our army was whipped, was routed, was scattered in flight. The heart
of the whole North received a shock of sadness and of disappointment. Soldiers
in camp began to realize that war meant work and danger, and the Regiment of
which I was a member at once received orders to be in readiness to march at the
earliest possible moment, to hurry to the aid of its companions
in arms. It was in
sad plight for the exposures of camp life. ’Twas in the heat of summer, when
fevers and diarrhoea prevail in their worst forms. The measles had broken out
in camp, and one-third of the soldiers were suffering from disease of some
kind. Nevertheless, active preparation went on, and on the fourth day after the
receipt of the sad news the Regiment was on its way to battle.
On the 27th of July
we reached Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and went into Camp Curtin. For months this
had been a rendezvous for regiment after regiment. The grounds had not been
cleaned—the weather was intensely hot, without a leaf to intercept the
scorching rays of the sun. The stench of the camp was intolerable, and the sickness
of the troops rapidly increased.1
On the 29th of July,
at night, we received orders to be ready to march at 3 o'clock next morning.
Our destination was supposed to be Harper's Ferry, where we were at once to
engage the enemy and to "wind up the war." So great was the
excitement (these things were all new then) that very few laid down for rest
during the night. At 3 A. M., of the 30th, all tents were struck and rolled up;
mess chests were packed, and everyone ready for the order to move. But sunrise came
and found us sitting on our packages. The day wore on, I think the hottest I
ever experienced. The troops remained exposed to the broiling sun till 2
o'clock P. M., when we embarked on open platform cars, without seats, and
without covering. We ran down through the city, crossed the Susquehannah
Bridge, halted, and remained sitting or standing in the sun till evening. The
heat of the day, determining the circulation to the skin, had brought out the
eruption in many cases of measles, and the poor fellows had to sit and suffer,
without a place to lie down, or even a back to lean against. At dusk we found
ourselves again under way; ran down to York, Pa., about forty miles. It had now
commenced raining, and the cars were run out from the depot, and the suffering
men who had been all day washed with their own perspiration, were compelled to
sit all night in the rain. Sick or well, 'twas all the same. None were permitted
to leave the open cars and go back into the depot. Towards morning the rain
stopped; the wind shifted suddenly to the Northwest, and it was cold as
November. After the long tedious night of suffering, the morning came, and we
ran down to Baltimore, arriving there at 8 o'clock on the morning of July 31st.
We had anticipated
trouble here. We disembarked, marched with muskets loaded, and bayonets fixed,
from north to south through the entire length of the city, without molestation,
except from the scowls of secessionists, and the welcoming hurrahs of friends.2
At the Camden Street depot we remained in the most uncomfortable condition which
it is possible to conceive till sunset, when we were ordered for the twentieth
time during the day to "fall in." We disembarked, marched about two
and a half miles, and camped on an elevated ground to the north of, and
overlooking a large part of the city and bay. The regiment did not get settled
till midnight, and many were so exhausted that they threw themselves on the
ground, with their clothes still wet from the previous night's rain. The
medical department, however, succeeded by 10 o'clock in getting up tents to
protect the sick, and they were made as comfortable as the circumstances would
permit.
Here the regiment
remained till the 8th of August, without any occurrences worthy of note, except
that sickness continued to increase, and the knowledge I gained as to how
little some military commanders cared for the comfort of their sick men. After
we had been here five or six days, the Colonel was positively ignorant of the
fact that we had a hospital on the ground, though there were three within fifty
feet of his quarters, filled to their utmost capacity with the sick and
suffering. I was now receiving but little support in my efforts for their
health and comfort.
1 I made it my business to visit every tent
twice a day, to see that they were thoroughly cleaned, and that the sides of
the tent were raised so as freely to admit a current of air. But here the air
without was so foul as to improve the condition inside but little. I will here
say, however, that the Surgeon of a Regiment who does not visit every tent in
his encampment at least once a day, to satisfy himself by personal inspection
that it is thoroughly cleaned and ventilated, and that at least once a week the
tents are all struck, and the sun admitted for several hours to the ground on
which they stand, is not deserving of the position which he holds.
2 Only two companies were armed. They were
placed one in front, the other in the rear of the Regiment, and so marched
through the city.
SOURCE: Alfred L. Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B. McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day January, 1863, p. 5-9
Sixteen of my sick
have so far recovered that I sent them to-day to join their regiment at Kalorama
Heights, near Washington. I have quite recovered from my attack, which was
rubeolous fever. I had been so much mixed up with measles that, notwithstanding
I had passed through the disease in childhood, the system in some degree
yielded to its contagious influence, and I have had all the symptoms of
measles, except the eruption. I have termed this rubeoloid, or rubeolous fever.
It is common in camp.
SOURCE: Alfred L.
Castleman, The Army of the Potomac.
Behind the Scenes. A Diary of Unwritten History; From the Organization of the
Army, by General George B. McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia
about the First Day January, 1863, p. 13
Our faces were considerably elongated this morning by the report that John Bland, of our company, was taking the small-pox. As John circulates a good deal among the boys, we all expected to take it from him; but, after a thorough examination by Drs. McNelly and Smith, they pronounced it measles, whereupon we all regained our usual composure, except Joel Neece, who slept with Bland last night, and was too badly frightened to get over it in a moment.
SOURCE: Edwin L.
Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol.
1, p. 22
We have had no
excitement since we left Vicksburg. Nothing has transpired here to cause a
"yell" even. We have lived out the allotted time in quarantine, but
have received no orders as yet to go back into the world again. There has been
no small-pox for over twenty days, and the boys are suffering more from the
confinement than from the pestilence. Last night was the coldest of the season.
Ice formed to the thickness of a quarter of an inch. Arch Sloan, of our
company, died night before last of measles.
SOURCE: Edwin L.
Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History,
Vol. 1, p. 22
Yesterday we moved
back into civilization, and took up quarters in a swamp near the broad
Mississippi. Have a good camping-ground for this country, and if we can get
good rations, I think we will have a healthy regiment once more. We have been
through the flint-mills since we went into quarantine.
The men have
suffered a great deal from bowel complaints, colds, and measles: some have died
of small-pox, and but for the promptness of Surgeon McNelly in having us well
vaccinated, and the infected sent to the pest-house, we might have had a
serious time of it. We are now in better spirits, as we can see what is going
on and hear the news, besides having the advantage of the sunshine and facilities
for purchasing provisions, etc. While writing, I have been detailed as ship's
carpenter on board of a steamboat now fitting out to capture the Federal
gunboat Indianola, which passed our batteries at Vicksburg sometime since, and
has been annoying our transports between this point and Red River. The attempt
will be dangerous, and nothing but the exigency of the case would warrant the
undertaking.
SOURCE: Edwin L.
Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History,
Vol. 1, p. 22-3
It was now very
cold, and the ground was frozen hard all day, in consequence of which our wagon
train did not get as far as Jamestown. In place of moving with his train, or at
least going no further than it could go over the frozen roads, McNairy pressed
on through Jamestown, down Cumberland Mountain to Camp McGinnison Wolf River—a
march of about a thirty-one miles. The result was his men were without tents
and rations one very cold night, and until late in the afternoon the next day.*
The following explains itself:
HEADQUARTERS,
KNOXVILLE, November 26, 1861.
Hon. J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of Ilar:
Sir-I
have the honor to report that I arrived here on Saturday last, by order of
General Zollicoffer, and assumed command of this post on Sunday. I found
stationed here Colonel Wood's Battalion and several companies of infantry and
cavalry.
.
. . There are now in custody here about seventy persons, many of whom, it is
believed, were either directly or indirectly connected with the burning of the
railroad bridges. Colonel Wood (Sixteenth Alabama), who was in command here
before my arrival, had in contemplation a court-martial for the trial of those
upon whom proof of guilt seemed to be strong. I concurred with him, and ordered
the meeting on the 28th. . . .
It
is important that steam power should be secured for the purpose of driving the
machinery necessary in the alterations of arms. I therefore took possession of
the printing establishment of Brownlow. The steam engine and building are
suitable for our purposes, and it was the only one that could be procured here.
Brownlow
has left, and no certain information of his whereabouts can be obtained. It is,
however, certain that he is aiding and abetting our enemies. . . .
With
high respect, your obedient servant,
WM.
H. CARROLL,
Brigadier-General Commanding.
_______________
* As I was just out
of a spell of fever, I did not wish to take the frozen ground that night
without even a tent for shelter, so I rode over to my friend Lathan's, with
whom I staid while sick of the measles in September (about one mile from Camp
McGinnis), to see if I could get to lodge with him another night. As I neared
his house, and before I saw him, he called out, “Yes, you may get down.” I yet
feel grateful to Mr. Lathan for the comforts of that night.
1 Rebellion
Records, Vol. VII., pp. 704 and 705.
In the saddle early that morning, our battalion arrived at Jacksborough late in the afternoon (about twenty-two miles). Zollicoffer had left orders here for McNairy to follow the brigade by a forced march in the direction of Clinton. After allowing his men to halt long enough to feed their horses and take supper, McNairy pressed on thirteen miles further and bivouacked for the rest of the night.1 Here he was met by a messenger, with orders for him to halt.
Nelson and Bob Smith were sick of the measles at Jacksborough and discharged at Clinton.
The rest of the brigade had also halted, and I shall now endeavor to explain why.
The First Kentucky Infantry, under Colonel Bramlette, and the Fourth, under Colonel Haskins, and Wolford's Cavalry were at that time encamped at or near “Camp Goggin," on the north bank of the Cumberland, some nine miles above Mill Springs and twenty from Monticello, Kentucky.2 On the 3d, Colonel Wolford set out from the above named camp with four hundred of his regiment and one piece of artillery on a reconnoitering expedition in the direction of Monticello, and, if necessary, he was to send a messenger back and Colonels Bramlette and Haskins were to follow with all their available force—1,200. Colonel Wolford went as far as Monticello, and, finding no “Rebs” there, he returned to Camp Goggin.
1 I had been on the sick list ever since our battalion left Flat Lick, but had still followed the command until the above night. Not being able to go any further, I put up with one Mr. Bowling, who lived on the Clinton road, six miles south of Jacksborough, the county seat of Campbell County, where I remained for about ten days, and was quite sick with a fever during the time. J. W. Kennedy first stopped with me, but as I continued to grow worse for some days, my brother, B. A. Hancock, resigned as assistant commissary of our battalion and came to see that I was properly cared for. Ben and I rejoined the battalion at Clinton, on the 18th. B. J. Mullinax, P.
2 Rebellion Records, Vol. IV., p. 328.
3 Rebellion Records, Vol. IV., p. 530.
SIR: I lose not a
moment in communicating through you to the general commanding the Western
Division the condition of affairs at this post. I had hoped that the picture
sketched to me of matters here might not have been realized, but I am compelled
to think it not too highly colored. Under all the circumstances, I doubt not
General Alcorn has made the best of things, his camp being merely one large
hospital, with scarce men enough on duty to care for the sick and maintain a
feeble guard around them, with insufficient pickets at prominent points. Over
one-half the entire command are on the sick list, with very grave types of
different diseases. Those remaining and reported for duty have not enough
really well men to do more than first stated. The Kentucky Battalion of
Infantry, numbering 547, have only 45 cases reported sick. The measles have
made their appearance, and the battalion will average 20 new cases per day,
judging from to-day's report. The morning brigade report, herewith inclosed,
shows only 716 for duty out of a total of 2,237. Of this number, you will see
that the Kentucky Battalion furnishes 376, one-third of whom only are armed,
with no equipments.
Of cavalry we
have nothing to count on, save Captain Meriwether's company of untutored
recruits. Captain Huey's company of cavalry is entirely unarmed. Captain
Wilcox's company not yet recovered from the Eddyville affair.
On the score of
artillery I have merely to say, that there is not an organized squad for a
single gun that could be taken into action. There are five pieces of artillery—two
6-pounders, two 9, one 12—none of which I think fit for service on account of
the wretched manner in which they are mounted; a total ignorance of all
mechanical principles evidenced in the construction of the carriages. The guns
seem to be pretty fair. On the subject of clothing and equipments, equipage,
&c., I can only say that I find nothing more encouraging. The commissary
department is pretty well supplied; the quartermaster's department entirely deficient.
I have thus
fairly sketched the condition of things. Major Hewett will be able to give you
some particulars that I have not time now to do, but will write by the next
mail. I have commenced at the root of things, and mean to work out the best
result I can. I write not thus discouragingly in any spirit of complaint, but
to lay before the commanding general the plain facts of the case. They are
plainly these: I have no force here available for any purpose save protecting
the sick and depot. I have reason to think that the enemy are in full
possession of this fact, and are calculating on it. I have no force with which
to operate in any direction, and our people are suffering terribly within the
lines assigned me for my operations. In front and on my left they need a check.
The defenses of the Cumberland cannot I believe be perfected, unmolested,
unless my position is strengthened for this purpose.
A movement has
taken place at Henderson. A courier reached me to-night with the inclosed paper*
from a committee at Henderson. The Union men have been very busy here to-day.
They are too open-mouthed, and must be checked. The stage is waiting, and I
have not time to say more than this. I deem it absolutely necessary that I
should as soon as possible be re-enforced. A cavalry force is indispensably
necessary to cover my front and prevent the removal of a large amount of wheat,
flour, corn, and hogs, now drafted daily on heavily by scouting parties. Of the
latter item, there are not less than 50,000 hogs. This service would require
the whole time of not less than 500 cavalry. For practical purposes I am
without infantry and artillery, and desire that a due proportion of both be at
once sent. I beg you to say to General Johnston that I need the assistance of
some graduates, for artillery especially. Could I not have the services of the
two young men mentioned by General Buckner? (See him.) I will prepare full
estimates for all my wants and forward them.
I beg you to
pardon this hurried communication. I have not had time to read it over. Major
Hewett will give you facts as to a landing at Eddyville by our people.
Several of Allison's
Company who had been home returned to camp, brother Will (W. C. Hancock) and J.
C. McAdoo, who were sick of the measles at Camp Schuyler, last August, and went
home from there, were among the number.
Companies B and C
(they had been at Barboursville since the 29th ultimo) rejoined the battalion
at Camp Buckner.
Seventy-five of our
battalions set out from Camp Schuyler to go to Knoxville, about forty miles
east, with some prisoners. They returned the 17th.
* J. C. McAdoo and
brother Will (Company E) had the measles, and went home from this camp. Brother
Ben went with them.
Passing down Cumberland Mountain, the three companies bivouacked at Camp McGinnis, on Wolf River, some ten miles north of Jamestown.
As I was sick of the
measles, I remained for a week with one Mr. Lathan, who lived one mile
from Camp McGinnis. One of my comrades, J. L. Thomas, remained with me.
DEAR GENERAL: I
would most respectfully suggest that you use your personal influence with
President Lincoln to accomplish a result on which it may be the ultimate peace
and security of our country depends. I mean to his use of the draft to fill up
our old regiments.
I see by the public
journals that a draft is to be made, and that 100,000 men are to be assigned to
fill up the old regiments, and 200,000 to be organized as new troops. I do not
believe that Mr. Lincoln, or any man, would at this critical period of our
history repeat the fatal mistakes of last year. Taking this army as a fair
sample of the whole, what is the case? The regiments do not average 300 men,
nor did they exceed that strength last fall when the new regiments joined us in
November and December. Their rolls contained about 900 names, whereas now their
ranks are even thinner than the older organizations. All who deal with troops
in fact instead of theory know that the knowledge of the little details of camp
life is absolutely necessary to keep men alive. New regiments for want of this
knowledge have measles, mumps, diarrhea, and the whole catalogue of infantile
diseases, whereas the same number of men distributed among the older regiments
would learn from the sergeants and corporals and privates the art of taking
care of themselves, which would actually save their lives and preserve their
health against the host of diseases that invariably attack the new regiments.
Also, recruits distributed among older companies catch up, from close and
intimate contact, a knowledge of drill, the care and use of arms, and all the
instruction which otherwise it would take months to impart. The economy, too,
should recommend the course of distributing all the recruits as privates to the
old regiments, but these reasons appear to me so plain that it is ridiculous
for me to point them out to you, or even to suggest them to an intelligent
civilian.
I am assured by many
that the President does actually desire to support and sustain the Army, and
that he desires to know the wishes and opinions of the officers who serve in
the wood instead of the "salon." If so, you would be listened to.
It will take at
least 600 good recruits per regiment to fill up the present army to the proper
standard. Taking 1,000 as the number of regiments in actual existence, this
would require 600,000 recruits. It may be the industrial interests of the
country will not authorize such a call, but how much greater the economy to
make an army and fight out this war at once. See how your success is checked by
the want of prompt and adequate enforcement to guard against a new enemy
gathering to the rear. Could your regiments be filled up to even the standard
of 700 men for duty, you would be content to finish quick and well the work so
well begun. If a draft be made, and the men be organized into new regiments
instead of filling up the old, the President may satisfy a few aspiring men,
but will prolong the war for years and allow the old regiments to die of
natural exhaustion. I have several regiments which have lost honestly in battle
and by disease more than half their original men, and the wreck or remainder,
with colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, ten captains, lieutenants, &c.,
and a mere squad of men, remind us of the army of Mexico—all officers and no
men. It would be an outrage to consolidate these old, tried, and veteran
regiments and bring in the new and comparatively worthless bodies. But fill up
our present ranks, and there is not an officer or man of this army but would
feel renewed hope and courage to meet the struggles before us.
I regard this matter
as more important than any other that could possibly arrest the attention of
President Lincoln, and it is for this reason that I ask you to urge it upon him
at this auspicious time. If adopted, it would be more important than the
conquest of Vicksburg and Richmond together, as it would be a victory of common
sense over the popular fallacies that have ruled and almost ruined our country.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume 3 (Serial No.
124), p. 386-8
Hon. William H. Lamport went down to Virginia to see his son and found that he had just died in the hospital from measles and pneumonia. Their only son, only eighteen years old!
SOURCE: Caroline Cowles Richards, Village Life in America, 1852-1872, p. 147
Command.
|
Officers
|
Men
|
Aggregate
|
Total
|
FOURTEENTH ARMY
CORPS.
Col. J. G.
MITCHELL, commanding.
|
||||
First Battalion, Lieut. Col. F. W. Lister
|
8
|
526
|
534
|
|
Second Battalion, Lieut. Col. William O'Brien
|
4
|
256
|
260
|
794
|
TWENTIETH ARMY
CORPS.
Col. BENJAMIN
HARRISON, commanding.
|
||||
First Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel McManus
|
8
|
399
|
407
|
|
Second Battalion, Major Hoskins
|
6
|
304
|
310
|
717
|
TWENTIETH ARMY
CORPS.
Lieutenant-Colonel
BANNING, commanding.
|
||||
Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Captain Henderson.
|
9
|
316
|
325
|
|
Third Battalion, Fourteenth Army Corps, Major Roatch
|
8
|
311
|
319
|
644
|
SEVENTEENTH ARMY
CORPS.
Col. A. G. MALLOY,
commanding.
|
||||
Field and staff
|
3
|
3
|
||
Twentieth Illinois Battalion, Capt. C. C. Cox
|
1
|
126
|
127
|
|
Thirtieth Illinois Battalion, Capt. J. Kemnitzer
|
1
|
208
|
209
|
|
Thirteenth Iowa Infantry, Capt. C. H. Haskin
|
1
|
186
|
187
|
|
Third Battalion, Twentieth Army Corps, Captain Hulbert
|
6
|
290
|
296
|
822
|
Total
|
55
|
2,922
|
2,977
|
Command.
|
Officers.
|
Men.
|
Aggregate.
|
Division headquarters :
|
6
|
20
|
26
|
First Brigade, Colonel Harrison
|
26
|
1,033
|
1,059
|
Second Brigade, Colonel Mitchell
|
24
|
1,104
|
1,128
|
Third Brigade, Colonel Grosvenor
|
39
|
852
|
891
|
Second Brigade (Army of the Tennessee), Colonel Malloy
|
22
|
1,925
|
1,947
|
Miscellaneous Camp, Captain Eaton
|
4
|
304
|
308
|
Total
|
121
|
5,238
|
5,359
|
Command
|
Killed.
|
Wounded.
|
Missing.
|
Aggregate.
|
||||||
O
|
M
|
T
|
O
|
M
|
T
|
O
|
M
|
T
|
||
Colonel Malloy's brigade
|
4
|
4
|
7
|
7
|
6
|
6
|
17
|
|||
Colonel Grosvenor's brigade.
|
3
|
25
|
28
|
5
|
108
|
113
|
33
|
33
|
174
|
|
Colonel Mitchell's brigade
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
7
|
|||||
Total
|
3
|
29
|
32
|
5
|
119
|
124
|
42
|
42
|
198
|