Received two months'
pay. Left camp at seven o'clock at night, in an awful rain-storm; marched
through the mud, and arrived at Hartwood Church at eleven o'clock. Went into
camp for the night. Marched six miles.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History of the Twenty-second
Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters and the Third Light
Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 275
About six inches of
snow fell last night and it has snowed all day. The citizens say it is the
heaviest storm they have seen in a number of years. By night it was about ten
inches deep. The paymaster paid off all but our company today.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p. 27
The Regiment
received two months' pay to-day, and to-night are all busy as bees making up
express packages, to be sent to fathers, mothers, sisters, sweethearts and
wives. To-morrow, all who can get passes to go, will be in Washington buying
presents and sitting before a camera to "stain the glass" with
reflections from their faces, all to be sent to friends at home. As man, in the
mass, can be, in no condition, however bright, which will exempt him from
cares, fears and apprehensions, so there is none so dark as to exclude hopes
and anticipations of better things. Even here we have our joys and our
aspirations, and these are of them. We preach that man should study to be
contented. What! man in his imperfect condition, contented, that he, as an individual,
or as a part of a great whole, should remain forever, as he is! It is opposed
to all God's plans. Discontent is the only stairway to progress. Through the
discontent of Israel, Egyptian bondage was broken. The discontent of Russia
brought war, which more than compensated for its ravages and its horrors, by
the introduction of her people to a knowledge of liberal ideas. Czarism was
shaken, and already the Goddess of Liberty waves her cap over the downfall of
serfdom. The seceder's discontent in England was the Genesis of a mighty
nation. Elijah cast off the cloak, too small for his growing aspirations,
whilst his followers eagerly grasped its folds to aid their progression. The
discontent of an Almighty God substituted Noah for Adam—Christ for Diana—Eternity
for Time. And is the discontent which occasioned this great war, with all its
horrors, its butcheries, its temporary demoralization, to have no great result?
Is it a bare interlude of the parties engaged, taking advantage of the time
when "God sleepeth;" or is it a spark emitted from the great restless
spirit of Jehovah, destined to ignite into a "pillar of fire," and to
light us on in the journey of universal progress?"
"Hope springs eternal—"
I have to-day seen a
"speck of war," with another touch of Vandalism. I have, for the
first time, seen an army in drill. Fifteen to twenty
thousand men, a thousand horses, and one hundred artillery wagons, on parade.
To me, who had never seen anything of the kind, it was grand, and looked like
war. I note here an extract of a letter written to a friend to-day, attempting
a description of part of it: "It was, indeed, a magnificent sight, to see
six hundred horses harnessed to a hundred wagons, in full run, in line, like a
regiment of infantry, and at a word of command, to become so instantly and
inconcievably mixed that you would think a universal smash inevitable, appear
in another instant dashing across the vast plain without a wagon attached. Turn
your eyes to see the wrecks, and you will be surprised to see the carriages in
four straight lines, forming a hollow square, with the mouth
of every gun pointing outwardly, and a laughing expression of "Surround me
if you dare!" An other look will show you that the carriages are so close
together that the horses can not pass between them, yet the wagon poles to
which the horses had been hitched are all inside of the square.
How did the six hundred horses get out? The cannon at once
open their hundred mouths and are enveloped in smoke. The horses return,
disappear for a moment in the dense smoke, and seemingly without their stopping
long enough to be hitched to, the four lines straighten out into column, and
the cavalcade is again dashing across the plain. In less than forty rods, the
jumble is repeated, the square formed, the horses gone, and the hundred cannons
again open. When did they reload?" The vandalism: The
finest orchard I have seen in Virginia, was cut down today, and in one hour
converted into a brush-heap; and for no other purpose than to give the infantry
a chance to "show off" in an hour's parade. The fruit trees were in
the way, and were cut down! It will take forty years to replace that orchard.
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, pp. 51-3
Camp near Hickman's
Bridge, Ky. I did not join the regiment as soon as I expected, owing to the
negligence of the Medical Director, whose duty it was to furnish me
transportation. As I had no money, I was forced to await his pleasure. The
regiment took cars for this place the day they crossed over, so I was left in
Cincinnati until Friday evening to live as best I might. I crossed the river on
Friday, and next morning took cars for Nicholasville, fourteen miles beyond
Lexington, and one hundred fifteen miles from Cincinnati. I was just in time to
get two months' pay. I should have drawn for two months more, but there was a
mistake in the pay rolls, which cannot be corrected until next muster. The
Paymaster says he is going to pay us again next month, and the next time muster
us out of the service.
We have a very
pleasant camp, in a shady grove, and an abundance of pure, sparkling water,
which I appreciate now as I never did before.
SOURCE: David Lane,
A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 77
Received four
months' pay, which was of the greatest service to the officers and men and put
all in a good humor. Sutlers shops were patronized extensively and the express
office crowded with soldiers sending money to the loved ones at home. On the
other side, gambling is carried on extensively till the sharpers have fleeced
the green ones out of their last cent. Officers try their best to prevent it, but
the men will steal away whenever they can get a chance. It is about as hard to
keep them from gambling as getting whisky, and where an officer could not get a
drop men can get all they want.
SOURCE: Joseph
Stockton, War Diary (1862-5) of Brevet Brigadier General Joseph
Stockton, p. 12
Mustered for two
months' pay. Started from Potomac Creek at half-past one P.M., with eight days'
rations. Each off-horse had a bag of grain on his back. We marched to Hartwood
Church, and went into camp at six P.M., having marched eight miles.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History of the Twenty-second
Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters and the Third Light
Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 274
We were paid off, $57.75. Guard reduced to three posts. N. F. Randolph paid me $40, making us square. I wrote some in Q. M. department. Commenced to pallisade. Received $25 bounty and $2 premium.
SOURCE: Lewis C. Paxson, Diary of Lewis C. Paxson: Stockton, N.J., 1862-1865, p. 8
1 Napoleon B. Buford was a graduate of
West Point, law student, assistant professor at West Point, 1833 to 1835, civil
engineer, Illinois merchant, banker and railroad builder. At the
outbreak of the Civil War, his banking business was ruined due to large
investments in Southern State bonds. He gave up all his property to
satisfy his obligations and was commissioned Colonel of the 27th Illinois Volunteers
by Governor Yates. For his gallant conduct at the battles of Belmont, Island
No. 10, and Union City he was commissioned Brigadier-General by the President.
When he left the service, he held the commission of Major-General. Eddy, Patriotism of Illinois, II., pp.
56-57.
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 230
Battery mustered for four months' pay. Sergt. Brown returned from furlough. Capt. Martin went to Washington.
SOURCE: John Lord Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 272
To-day we were mustered for two months' pay, and of course we were happy till our ardor was cooled by our captain, who told us it might be three months before we received our money. All the consolation to us is, our names are on the list. Our barracks are up in arms, as we are getting ready for the entertainment this evening. Those who are not practising or ordering round are working like beavers putting things to rights.
SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 31
Drew flour this morning for the first time in eight months. We are to stay here to-day and draw ten months' pay. Our pay-rolls are in the hands of Sergeant English, who is, probably, a prisoner, and, consequently, we will make no draw.
SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 280-1
morning clear air and bracing. Drilling from 6 to 7 O'clock. to day is Pay Day Comps. A. & E. are paid first—as they are going off on a scouting expidition—To-morrow we get paid, the boys are over joyed at getting their pay, have been disappointed so often that they had no confidence any more as to the promised pay day. Have no Battalion Drill to day. A stern wheel Boat came up the River this afternoon with a flag of Truce flying The purport of her visit is no known This Brigade was ordered down town on Double Quick this evening and paraded about an hour on the levy
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 228
Started at six A.M.,
and arrived in camp at Potomac Creek at eleven o'clock. Time occupied in once
more fixing up our old quarters, that being the second time we had returned to
them. We were paid off for four months.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History of the Twenty-second
Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters and the Third Light
Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 272
The paymaster looked
in on us. He is the first we have had any dealings with, and we are glad he
came, for most of "E" have been "hard up." We received pay
from August 29th to November 1st,—$27.30 each. We expected to get the whole,
and were disappointed; for when many of us squared up, it took about all that
we received to settle our debts. We are drilled now as a brigade nearly every
day, firing blank cartridges; consequently our guns need extra cleaning, and we
get more marching. Evidently they mean our brigade to be number one.
SOURCE: John Jasper
Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass.
Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 31
We went to bed late last night, but had to get up at the regular time this morning. It was hard work after having had a holiday to strike into the old routine at once. There is nothing ahead now but Christmas, pay-day, Washington's Birthday, or another march to enliven us. We have had a few boxes from home, but hope for more, as yesterday a vessel arrived. Our letters say they are coming. We hope to get them about Christmas time, but will use them if they arrive sooner.
At dress-parade to-night Col. Lee complimented us on our behavior yesterday, and upon the way we celebrated.
SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 22-3
McNairy's Battalion drew five months' pay, from the 1st of August to December 31st, 1861. Each private drew twenty-four dollars per month. There were quite a number of troops camped near Decatur, but they were being rapidly conveyed by rail to Corinth, Mississippi.
SOURCE: Richard R. Hancock, Hancock's Diary: Or, A History of the Second Tennessee Confederate Cavalry, p. 137
In camp in Pleasant
Valley all day. Mustered for two months' pay.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History of the Twenty-second
Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters and the Third Light
Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 268
Our regiment has
received two months pay to-day, and to-night all are boisterously happy. We had
been notified to have our muster-rolls ready, and we should be paid off on the
first day of this month. The rolls were ready but the pay was not. We had
received no pay since we entered Uncle Sam's service. We had had to use all our
little private means to buy uniforms and outfit for the war, and there was not
money enough in the whole regiment to pay for washing one shirt. We were all in
debt, and momentarily expecting orders to march into the deserted parts of
Virginia. What were we to do? We could not think of leaving so. Day before
yesterday we had intimations from our commanding officers that we should remain
a day or two longer where we are, and our troops who heretofore had been
constantly impatient to advance, were now overjoyed at the delay, not doubting
but that it was to receive our pay, and oh how many dreams of little presents
to be sent home before we should be plunged into the wilderness. Perhaps some
thought of photographs for sweethearts and wives. But scarcely had the joyous
echoes from the rocky hills around us died away, when we were officially
informed that there was no money in the treasury. It was a damper. I at once
made business to the city; saw the paymaster; through him and my friends, got
audience of the Secretary of the Treasury; told a story of our penury (and such
a story). I got the money which the paymaster had failed to procure. To-day we
have been paid off, and to-night I ride a high horse in the affections of the
regiment. If they do not dismount me before their money is all expended, their
constancy will be greater than my knowledge of human nature generally warrants
me in expecting. We are all joyous to-night.
SOURCE: Alfred L.
Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of
Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B.
McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day
January, 1863, p. 26-7
April 27.
Two or three months ago I wrote you of a fearful monomania among our line officers, called "Muster and Pay Rolls." The fighting in Florida cured them of the disease, but recently the old enemy has shown himself in another form. One can scarcely stir without seeing anxious faces and hearing the anxious inquiry in stifled notes; "Has he come? When will he come?" "Oh he will come and he will be loaded with greenbacks, we shall again be fed and clothed." I regret to say that this form of the disease extends to the field and staff, and while I fancy myself beyond the reach of the epidemic, I do sometimes see floating ghosts of greenbacks which promise much in the future. This evening it had been thundering a long time, before I discovered it was not cannonading, so completely have the elements become demoralized by the war.
Dr. Minor found an enormous alligator in a cypress swamp, this morning, and I joined him for a skirmish through the woods to find the old fellow. We penetrated to the centre of a low cypress growth and then found ourselves in the most impressive sanctuary I ever saw. A circular, open space of about 300 feet in diameter, in the centre of which were two stagnant pools of about twenty feet in diameter. There was not a stump nor a knee in this open space, but all around were the tall, solemn cypresses, completely draped in the long, gray moss. The ground was made dry and soft, like wool, by a kind of moss. The great reptile had gone into one of the pools and roiled the water so we could not see him, but with a pole, I succeeded in making him strike with his tail. We had no opportunity to use our Ballards [rifles], and galloped home through the woods with resolves to try again another day. Within a couple of months that swamp will hold enough malarious poison in it to protect the occupants from human intrusion.
After Mr. Bennett and his assistants had finished paying the men today we took a ride over to Barnwell's. The "Barnwell oak" measures 126 feet in the broadest diameter in the spread of its branches, at least such was my pacing. This is not only the largest live oak but the broadest spread of branches I have ever seen. They start from the body very near the ground.
Rumor has it that the regiment will be paid off to-day, and for once rumor proves correct. Captain Johnson receives orders to report with his detachment to regimental headquarters.
In the afternoon the regiment is paid.
SOURCE: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 201
