Battery L, 1st Artillery Regiment (Light) - George Breck Columns: Chapter 19: A Willingness To Tarry” A Break In The Action May, 15, 1863 – June 10, 1863
For the next month, the members of Battery L enjoyed a respite in a delightful camp site, eliciting from Breck a desire “to tarry in this pleasant spot all summer.” Come the following May into June, they would not be nearly so fortunate…
Camp of Reynolds’ Battery, Va.
Friday night, May 15, 1863
(Appeared Thursday, May 21, 1863)
Dear Union: -- Since the date of my last we have changed camp twice. Our present encampment is still near White Oak Church, but a decided improvement on the first near the same place. That was old and worn out, having been occupied by troops for months, treeless and grassless, its hard, well trodden sandy and clayey grounds reflecting the sun’s rays like a mirror. This is new, in a grove of fine maple and poplar trees, mostly the former kind, under which are pitched tents and paulins, and in whose shade the horses are picketed. In front of the grove, just beyond a little knoll the battery is parked. Everything is fresh and clean, there is a nice spring of pure drinking water not many yards distant, a good creek to water horses, and surrounding us are hills, fields and woods, green with grass and leaves, dotted with tents and presenting a picture worthy of an artist’s pencil. Indeed, what artist could justly portray the scene?
Were it not the business of a soldier to fight, especially now, when vigorous work with sword, musket and cannon is imperatively demanded, we might confess a wish, certainly a willingness, to tarry in this pleasant spot all summer. What soldier loves to fight for the mere sake of fighting? What soldier delights to encounter the whistling, zipping minie ball, the whizzing, screeching, crushing cannon shot or shell, or the bayonet’s sharp thrust? Where’s the soldier who is really “eager for the fray,” unhappy, restless, vexed, because he is not allowed to smell the smoke of a battle field, and to meet, hand to hand it may be, in fierce and deadly conflict, the enemy? It may be music and poetry to the ears and minds of some soldiers, the din and carnage of the field of strife. And there may be those who are actually “spoiling for a fight.” Our acquaintance, however, with such brave-like, audacious, and sanguinary spirits in the field, who have fully tasted the glories of war at the “front,” is limited in the extreme.
When Shakespeare spoke or wrote of “glorious war,” he must have referred to it as illustrated in the “tented field” and not on the battle field. We do not dispute that it is sweet and glorious to suffer or die by the hand of warfare for the sake of country; still, what soldier is there who would not, if he could do so consistent with duty, dispense with such sweetness and gloriousness, preferring to remain gloriously situated in camp, as just at present Battery L is?
But my pen is wandering. The vicissitudes of war may oblige us to vacate our pleasant quarters to-morrow, possibly before the break of day, for we know not how soon orders to move may come. Present appearances indicate a spell of inactivity, albeit the troops have been ordered to keep their haversacks and knapsacks supplied with eight days rations. The enemy may attack us before we do him, for it was no longer ago than last night, about the hour of 12, that the whole first corps, excepting the batteries, was suddenly ordered to be under arms in anticipation of an attack by the rebels, who, it was reported, were moving in large force down the river with pontoon bridges, with the intention, apparently, of crossing. Tents were struck, baggage and wagons were sent to the rear and there was every token of a visit from Gen. Lee and his army, or a part of it. But they failed to come, and to-day nothing of a warlike character has manifested itself. The quiet on the Rappahannock is again resumed. Near the banks of each side of the river, in fields of grass or clover, Federal and Confederate army horses are grazing, grateful, no doubt, after their late severe toils, for such luxurious bounty and repose.
This morning I visited the hospital where three of our wounded boys – Sergeant Clare and privates Husted and Turley – are lying, they not having been removed to Washington yet. They are doing well and are favored with excellent quarters for a field hospital. There are about thirty or forty patients here, most of them occupying a large, double, two-story brick house, and the rest are in tents. This residence is or was the property of Major Henry Fitzhugh, an officer in the rebel service reported to have been killed when the 24th Michigan and 6th Wisconsin regiments crossed the Rappahannock and seized the Heights on the opposite side on the 29th of April. If this report be true, the owner of this stately mansion and magnificent estate was killed in plain view of his house, for it is situated about a quarter or half a mile directly in rear of where the crossing of the river was effected, the house being located on a high rise of ground, which descends in a gentle slope to an extensive plain of hundreds of acres, reaching as far as the Rappahannock. An oval fence surrounds the eminence just where it begins, and the grounds about the house are adorned with trees and are exceedingly beautiful. A number of white frame huts and a small brick building are in close proximity to the old Virginia mansion; the former once the habitations of slaves, and the latter now occupied by the wife and family of the rebel Major. The slaves are all missing, the large barns are nearly torn down, the house with its once costly and rich furniture is greatly despoiled; its rooms are tenanted by our sick and wounded, and the place, though not a total wreck, is one of the many thousand illustrations of the devastating effects of this civil war. What know the people of the North, materially considered, about the terrible waste and havoc caused in Southern fields and homes by this cruel war? Literally nothing, for their own pleasant and beautiful homes have not been visited by war’s ravages in the destruction of property, the cessation of business, etc., as evidenced in the striking contrast presented between the two sections of the country. The ground is strongly taken by some persons, especially among soldiers and officers, that the North will not become fully aroused as to the necessity of sending every available man into the army and using every possible means for crushing the rebellion, until some of its homes have been invaded and desolated by the Southern forces, until its people have tasted the bitter fruits of the war in the waste and ruin of their real estates, of their lands, farms, gardens and residences. Then there will be such a rising of the people, that the rebellion must speedily and inevitably be crushed. Then the war will be prosecuted with unsparing and unceasing vigor.
We confess we are not at all desirous for the invasion of Northern homes by rebel hordes, and bless Heaven that they have been permitted to remain unmolested in this respect. The numberless hearts and firesides that have been made desolate by the war are enough, or surely ought to be, to convince the North how necessary it is to put forth every effort for the immediate suppression of the rebellion, and to stimulate it to the most energetic action. If wholesale destruction of a mortal character, if the immolation of thousands and tens of thousands of human beings from Northern villages, towns and cities, is not sufficient to impart a realizing sense of the absolute necessity of employing every means for giving a speedy death blow to this monster rebellion, will material ruin and destruction help the matter any? It might, when we consider how much more sensibly some, if not many persons, are affected by touching their material interests, than those relating directly to the loss of human life in their own community, a loss occasioned by the carnage of war.
Since the late battles, there has been a change effected in the organization of the artillery attached to the Army Corps, owing to the reduction of the strength of the infantry divisions. – There is now quite an excess of artillery in proportion to infantry, and a large artillery reserve has been constituted as a consequence, under command of Brig. Gen. B.O. Tyler. The artillery assigned to each corps is constituted (as) a brigade or battalion under command of the Chief of Artillery of the corps, who is responsible to the Commander of the Corps, and to the Chief of Artillery of the army for his command and administration. The batteries in the 1st corps now number five, whereas there were ten, and constitute a battalion under command of Col. Wainwright. Battery L is one of these five batteries. They are all camped near each other. (1)
The 33d and 27th N.Y. Regiments started for home to-day and nearly all the two years’ troops must be home or homeward bound ere this. (2) The nine months men will follow shortly, and when they are gone, the Army of the Potomac, taken in connection with the loss of the services of 15,000 soldiers as the result of the recent “brilliant achievements,” will be greatly shorn of its strength. A Conscription Bill was passed two or three months ago, if we are not very much mistaken, but like some other acts we have read about, it appears to be as “inoperative as the Pope’s bull against the comet.” What’s the difficulty? Is there nobody to draft, or can’t the draft be enforced? (3) We don’t believe the former and as to the latter, we humbly and respectfully suggest to our worthy President, that he appoint the two-years’ troops who are now at home or going home, to put into operation the aforesaid Conscription bill, and our word for it, there will be such a speedy and vigorous enforcement of the bill as to create a terrible rattling among the “dry bones,” and to confound with amazement Jeff Davis and his satellites at the immediate and mighty increase in strength and numbers of the Federal army. We venture to say that the “Old Thirteenth” or the 33d Regiments would offer to enforce the Conscription Act free gratis, if intimated their assistance or agency was wanted in the matter. The “old veterans” of those noble, tried and war-scarred organizations would make excellent “Provost Marshals.” “Little Mac,” when on the Peninsula, kept crying for “more reinforcements.” The President had none to send. A year, or nearly a year has elapsed since then, and the cry is again repeated by the entire army.
Are there none to send now? G.B.
In my letter descriptive of the engagement of our Battery May 2d, I was made to say in your columns that we had “ten men killed and several slightly wounded.” It ought to have read one man killed and nine men seriously and slightly wounded.
In Camp , near White Oak Church, Va.
May 20th, 1863
(Appeared Monday, May 25, 1863)
Dear Union, -- It is with pleasure that we record several promotions which have taken place, very recently, in our company and regiment. John A. Reynolds, the chief organizer of, and for (more) than a year and a half the Captain of Battery L, or as it is more familiarly known, Reynolds’ Battery, has been promoted to a Majorship in the 1st New York Light Artillery Regiment, his commission dating back to March 6th. 1st Lieut. Gilbert H. Reynolds has received the appointment of Captain, and now commands the Battery. Charles H. Anderson of Palmyra has been promoted from 2nd to 1st Lieutenant, and William H. Bower, formerly First Sergeant in the company, has been appointed 2nd Lieutenant.
Need we assure our readers how eminently deserving of these promotions the above named officers are? Their connection with the Battery and services in the cause of their country have been of a character which, your correspondent feels peculiarly qualified to say, entitle them in a marked sense to the honors of their new positions.
This afternoon Major Reynolds had the company drawn up in line, and announced to the men the promotions that had been made, and then addressed a few remarks expressive of the very pleasant and friendly relations which had always existed between him and the company, the prompt obedience and hearty co-operation they had always given him, the bravery and fortitude they had always evinced in time of action with the enemy, and of his great indebtedness to them for the good name the Battery sustained, for their good conduct in camp and in the field. He hoped and believed that they would display the same manly and soldierly qualities under the command of his successor, as they had exhibited under him. Though parting from them as their Captain, his interest in them and the Battery would not abate, and he should continue to share with them the experiences of a soldier’s life. Major R. alluded to the fact, well known to most of the company, that the rank of Majorship was offered him soon after the organization of the company was effected, but he refused it, and had always been glad that he did so. Now, however, he felt that he could not in justice to others meriting positions or higher positions, act as a barrier to their obtaining them, and grateful for the honor that had been conferred upon him, he should try and prove worthy of it. He had been assigned to no command as yet, and it might be he should have a command in the Artillery Brigade of the 1st corps, in which case Battery L would doubtless constitute a part of his command.
At the conclusion of Maj. Reynolds’ remarks, three hearty and vociferous cheers were given for him by the company, and these were followed with three more for our new Captain, three for Lieut. Anderson, and the same for Lieut. Bower. The company then marched to a long table, which had been constructed for the occasion and spread with paulins, in our beautiful camp, on which there was piled up something more relishable than “hard tack,” and on each side of the table, on the ground, were rows of twelve quart buckets, filled with “nice cool lemonade.” It was not a very sumptuous affair in point of a great variety of dishes, such as would characterize a city entertainment of a festive character; but considering we are in the field, far away from large markets, large grocery establishments and the like, with no or few facilities for obtaining anything outside of army rations, the repast was no mean affair. At any rate, the company enjoyed it, and the occasion was one of much pleasure and jollification. The collation was gotten up by Major Reynolds as expressing in a slight manner his affection for and gratitude to the company, and in consideration of his leaving them as their commanding officer. We venture to say that every member of Major Reynolds’ late command would like, individually, to testify to the brave, faithful and energetic manner in which he has discharged his official duties, with what gallantry he has led them in every engagement, how he has shared with them their toils and privations, and has been with them almost constantly through nearly two years’ vicissitudes, marked not altogether by trials but by many happy features. One prominent characteristic of Major Reynolds is a thoroughness and correctness in the performance not only of the outlines of duty but of all the details, and he requires the same from those under his command. A superficial discharge of duties is not enough for him. The best wishes of his late command for his future success and welfare will ever attend him.
It is expected and hoped that Lieut. Bower will be assigned to a position in the battery in which he served so faithfully, and while participating in its first engagement, was the first member of the company to be wounded. We can assure him that he will receive a welcome from his old comrades of the most cordial and enthusiastic description. A most just and meritorious appointment is his, bearing the evidence as he does of having done his country noble service. (4)
Lieut. Anderson is at present Acting Ordnance Officer for the Artillery Brigade of the 1st Corps.
On Monday afternoon our brigade was reviewed by Lord Abinger, a Lieutenant Colonel of the Scotch Fusileer Guards in the English army. A jolly, portly looking man, thoroughly Englishified in appearance. He wore a black fatigue coat, ornamented with a number of ribbons, a white sash apparently of a very delicate texture, and a Scotch plaid cap. What his impressions were of the five batteries we do not know, but if he has any doubts about their practical workings, we would respectfully suggest, in case the British Lion insists on hostilities with the American Eagle, that the noble lord pit five English batteries against them.
We have a large fine drill ground near our camp and we have begun to make use of it in the execution of artillery manoeuvres at an early hour every morning.
No signs of another campaign. We have heard it remarked that possibly we may remain here all summer. What do our readers say to that? We wrote some time since about “short, quick and decisive work” being done this spring. Well, it has been accomplished, but lo, how different the result from what was expected! Perhaps we foolishly built our hopes on a sandy foundation. Certain it is, we shall make no more predictions.
Heavy siege guns, one hundred pounder Parrots, are being mounted on the heights of Falmouth. That looks like taking Fredericksburg by siege.
The weather is very warm. G.B.
In camp near White Oak Church, Va.
May 29, 1863
(Appeared Wednesday, June 3, 1863)
Dear Union: -- Vague rumors are afloat in camp, to the effect that the Army of the Potomac is to fall back to Washington. They emanate from the “boys,” who not unfrequently gather and impart intelligence about army movements which proves perfectly correct, and which company, regimental, and even brigade and division officers first obtain from the rank and file. The private soldier is ever on the alert for news, and a contemplated movement or some important operation often reaches his ears before a knowledge of it is transmitted through special or general orders from army headquarters. How he procures this information is a matter known to himself. Such a one, perhaps, got it from General So and So’s orderly. Of course camp reports are very frequently foundationless, and should be credited as idle stories only, but as remarked, they are sometimes of a reliable character.
The above report about falling back to Washington may or not be true. Certainly such an event is not improbable, much less impossible. The Army of the Potomac has done it twice before, and it is not incapable of doing it again. – Indeed its acquaintance with the topography of the country, having traversed it extensively and repeatedly, must be perfect now, and no doubt if ordered to travel over its roads and fields again, the work would be accomplished more expeditiously than ever before. Neither guides nor guide boards would be required. The Federal Capital is the great haven of safety to the Army of the Potomac, as well as those who dwell under its mighty shadow; and why shouldn’t it be, especially to the latter class, who are protected on every side by surrounding forts, fortifications, and thousands of troops to man them, and then, between all this and the enemy, a large, well disciplined army to act as a kind of outer guard.
Now, if Gen. Lee, who is reported, and very reliably, too, to have 150,000 troops, should very suddenly assume the offensive and move northwards, either to attack Washington or invade Pennsylvania, wouldn’t there be a sudden retrograde movement of Hooker’s army towards the Federal Capital? It is said by a Baltimore correspondent of the New York Herald, whose correspondence in months past has proven almost prophetical and who seems to have facilities for acquiring the most accurate and correct information concerning rebel movements and operations, that Gen. Lee will soon march north with his entire force, amounting to double the number he had when Maryland was invaded last September, and by rapidity of movement capture Washington or make a serious warfare in some of the northern states. His left wing, it is stated, already rests at a point on the Upper Rappahannock, opposite Sulphur Springs, seven miles southwest of Warrenton and only 50 miles from Washington.
This writer unfolds the probable plans and intentions of the rebel General in his aggressive campaign, and remarks that “Lee believes the moment he threatens Washington seriously, Hooker will hasten to defend that city, which, indeed, will be quite necessary for him to do; for unless he does, Lee will certainly capture Washington, while Hooker just as certainly will not capture Richmond.” The writer ridicules the idea about the defenceless condition of Richmond as the merest blinds and lures. In one of his letters he gives a detailed account of the forts around Richmond, which number 28, and the total armament of which is 293 guns. He says that the news or information he communicates is “perfectly authentic” and judging from his previous letters and the tone of the correspondence in question, we are inclined to give to his statements more than a passing notice. Baltimore is, of all places, the place to gather correct rebel news, and the correspondent referred to seems to make his business to collect reliable, authentic intelligence in this particular. Whether his views or statements will be regarded worthy of consideration by the authorities at Washington, we do not pretend to say.
Is it out of character for your correspondent to say that he does not believe Gen. Hooker’s army is at present in a proper condition to assume offensive operations again. The total effective strength of the army to-day is very much less than many suppose. Of course I am not permitted to make it known publicly. The strength of the army being such, and that of the rebel army being very much greater, is it at all improbable, considering too, how the rebel press is advising an aggressive movement, that we (will) soon be on the defensive, not only passively, as we are, but actively, and that before the 4th of July, we shall be in much closer proximity to Washington than the present hour finds us.
Is this looking on the dark side of the picture? We are not gloomily disposed, but if it be the true side of the picture presented, why not look at it and be prepared to act accordingly?
Day before yesterday, noon, an order came to be in readiness to move that day. It was unexpected, and for a little while there was quite a commotion in camp, but an hour or two after another order was received revoking so much of the former one as related to moving that day, but to be all ready to move at short notice. It was understood the whole army had received similar orders. Various rumors were immediately in circulation. One that Lee was moving down the Rappahannock, and another that he was coming across. The balloon was up nearly all day, reconnoitering, and so it was yesterday at times, to a very high altitude. Everything is quiet now. The different camps are being arranged as if for a long stay.
Major Reynolds has been assigned to duty, for the present, to our brigade. His headquarters are with the battery. Of course we are glad of this. G.B.
While the Army of the Potomac licked its wounds, a debate was raging in the Confederate cabinet. Should the two divisions that had been detached from Lee’s army during the battle at Chancellorsville be sent west, to confront Rosecrans in Tennessee, or to help relieve Vicksburg, where Grant’s army now besieged the city? Lee argued that more was to be gained by keeping the divisions with his army, and allowing him to once again invade the North. A Confederate victory on northern soil would further encourage the northern peace movement, might convince England to intervene on behalf of the South and would surely relieve pressure on Vicksburg and Tennessee by forcing the Federals to withdraw troops from those areas. Lee prevailed. He began withdrawing troops from Fredericksburg to begin the movement north on June 3, leaving only A. P. Hill’s corps at Fredericksburg to deceive Hooker as long as possible. (5)
Camp near White Oak Church, Virginia,
June 5, 1863
(Appeared Wednesday, June 10, 1863)
Dear Union: -- Almost another move yesterday, but not quite. Nearer a movement than the one of last week, for then we were ordered only to be in readiness to move at short notice. There was no harnessing or hitching of horses, and no striking of tents, but simply a packing up of knapsacks and holding one’s self ready for further orders.
At the early hour of half past two o’clock yesterday morning, however, the company were aroused from sleep by the blowing of a reveille, or the assembly call, for orders had come shortly before midnight to be ready to move half an hour after daybreak. This was explicit, for the time was specified when to move. In a little while the men had eaten their breakfast, tents and paulins were struck, the horses were harnessed and hitched, baggage and supply trains were loaded, and at the hour ordered the Battery was ready to move out. All that was needed were instructions about the manner of march, where to move, and these we expected to receive every moment. We waited patiently for them to come, hour after hour, when at ten o’clock an orderly made his appearance with instructions, not how or where to move, but not to move at all, to go back into camp just as we were, repitch our tents and paulins and resume our quiet, inactive life. In other words, the orders to move were countermanded. The whole of the 1st corps had received the same orders.
Of course speculation was rife as to where we were going, and then again, after the countermanding orders, what had caused and frustrated the movement. I have been authoritatively informed that the moving orders originated in some Federal and Rebel pickets going in swimming in the Rappahannock, getting into a quarrel, going to their respective banks and finishing their quarrel by firing at each other. This incurred a general firing along the lines, resulting in the issuing of orders to be ready to move at daybreak and to remain so half an hour after. The orders were misapprehended at first corps headquarters, or wrong orders were sent, and this accounted for our receiving the orders we did. The general picket firing which occurred Wednesday night caused them to think at Army Headquarters that the rebels were attempting to cross the river. So much for a few hostile pickets going in and indulging in a friendly swim together, and while splashing about in the water getting mad at each other for some unknown reason and deciding the matter by returning to their respective sides, taking up their guns and shooting at one another.
Hooker had known for at least a week that Lee was up to something, hence the orders for Battery L and the rest of the army to be in readiness to move. On June 5, he sent part of Sedgwick’s VI Corps across the river south of Fredericksburg on a reconnaissance mission to check out evidence that the Confederates were withdrawing. Stiff resistance from Hill’s soldiers convinced Sedgwick that Lee’s army was still in place. (6)
A part of the army is really in motion now as I write. The sixth corps is marching towards Falmouth, and already hostilities have begun, or at least I judge so, for heavy cannonading can be heard from the front, apparently up the river some distance. I have just been informed that the pontoon bridges are to be laid to-night, and if this be true, the army is to cross the river again, undoubtedly. The first corps is under orders to move at very short notice, and ten day’s supplies have been ordered to be kept on hand. Everything indicates another grand movement.
There are various reports in circulation. One is that the rebel army has all disappeared in our front; another, that it is divided, half of it being near Culpepper. Gen. Hooker is reported to have said yesterday that there were but 40,000 rebels in our front, and that he could take Fredericksburg Heights without any difficulty. It seems to be generally believed that Lee is moving northward towards Washington. Persons from Washington inform us that it is the common remark there, that another Bull Run battle will shortly be fought. But it is useless to indulge in speculation. A few days will develop the character of movements and operations in Virginia.
The company was paid last Sunday for the months of March and May. The Paymaster is more prompt in his visits than he has been. He is always warmly greeted of course.
Lieut. Bower made his appearance this afternoon, and a cordial welcome he received from us all. May he not again be scathed by the enemy’s missiles of destruction.
We are having a “long spell” of warm dry weather. The roads are very dusty.
My next may find us on the south side of the Rappahannock again. Information has just been received that our forces crossed the river about an hour ago, and drove the rebels from their rifle pits, shelling them severely and capturing a large number. Now for stirring news again from Hooker’s army. G.B.
Camp near White Oak Church, Va.
Wednesday night, June 10, 1863
(Appeared Monday, June 15, 1863)
Dear Union: -- We still remain in camp, though under standing orders to be in readiness to move at a moment’s notice. At daybreak on the morning succeeding the date of my last, we were ordered to have everything packed up and the battery all ready for a forward movement. The second division of the sixth corps had crossed the river, and inasmuch as the whole army appeared to be in motion, we confidently expected there would be no failure about our moving at the specific hour this time, as there proved to be two mornings previous, when we were under similar orders. The sun rose, however, and found us not gone, but waiting to go. Higher and higher Old Sol kept rising, leaving daybreak far behind, but still we continued waiting, and wondering at the cause of the delay. The boom of cannon could occasionally be heard in the direction of Fredericksburg, and every report seemed to say, “There will be work for you, pretty soon, and hot work too. Don’t be impatient.” Noon came. The sun was at its meridian, “shining with mid-day splendor,” and obliging us to seek the grateful shade of trees as a protection from its scorching rays. No advance made yet. Another strategic movement, the boys remarked, when there appeared an orderly, with orders not to move out, but to unhitch but not unharness. Up went the picket rope, to which the horses were tied, and in the course of the afternoon up went the tents again in consequence of dark, lowering clouds overcasting the sky, which foretold a heavy rain storm, and which in a few minutes began to relieve themselves of a copious supply of water, attended with vivid flashes of lightning and loud peals of thunder. It was a refreshing shower, for the parched earth, dusty roads, crisped leaves needed the moistening, revivifying effects of a summer rain, and who that has watched the results of rain or a shower in the warm months of summer has not observed how very beautiful and beneficial they are to nature, imparting, as it were, a new, fresh, sparkling life to everything? Such a rain we had Saturday afternoon. We remained undisturbed that night, and the next noon orders came to unharness, and here, as before remarked, we still are.
The object of a division of the army crossing the Rappahannock appears to be to “feel” the enemy and divert as much as possible the attention of Lee. Whether this reconnoissance is to be followed by a general movement of the army or not I am not prepared to say. The enemy confronts us with a larger force, I believe, than Hooker imagined he did. No doubt Lee was somewhat surprised at the sudden crossing of the river by our troops, but, judging from the reported activity of the rebel General since our forces occupied the south side of the Rappahannock, and, from the appearance of large guns which have made their appearance behind formidable earthworks on the fatal heights of Fredericksburg, the rebels are fully prepared to receive us as in days gone bye. The troops that crossed the river on Friday last occupy about the same position they did at first. There was considerable picket firing a day or two after, attended with a number of casualties on our side, and I was told that Gen. Hooker sent a flag of truce to Lee, saying that if his pickets did not cease firing at the federal pickets he (Hooker) would shell the city of Fredericksburg. Lee replied that there would be no more such firing. This story has an air of coolness and incredulity about it, considering the position of our troops on the other side of the Rappahannock; but then, in corroboration of it, it is affirmed that Hooker wanted to find out if Lee was in command just at present.
Yesterday afternoon, about dusk, the rebel batteries opened fire on our troops on the other side, giving them the benefit of a centre and cross fire. About twelve shots were fired, eliciting no reply from our artillery, however. No particular damage was done, though a few shots came bounding across this side of the river into the midst of Gen. Sedgwick’s headquarters, causing a hasty removal of the same. The rebels, perhaps, thought they would try and get the range of their guns for future employment of a more active and telling character. One thing is noticeable in their artillery practice. They are very careful about wasting their ammunition. They seem to have a full appreciation of the worth of gunpowder, shot and shell, and so they make a wise and economical use of their ammunition, in that they do not squander it.
An order from Gen. Hooker was received the other day stating the summer allowance of clothing for men of mounted batteries. The drivers each to have an overcoat, and the cannoneers each a blanket. One jacket, one pair of pants, two pair drawers, three pair stockings, and one pair boots or shoes are allowed to every man. These articles, in connection with half a shelter tent, and a few toilet traps are all that any man will be permitted to carry under any circumstances. Knapsacks to be allowed if the men carry them, otherwise the clothes to be rolled up in their shelter tents, or put into sacks and strapped on the footboards of the guns and caissons. This is putting the artillery in light marching order and dispenses with a large amount of unnecessary baggage for summer use. G.B.
Transcribed And Donated By Bob MarcotteTranscribed And Donated By Bob Marcotte
Robert E. Marcotte
Rochester, N.Y.
February 2005