Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1870-04-01

On the 9th Of August the following
general orders were issued from tn
Headquarters Of the Army of Virginia
near Sperryville, and read to the regi
ments on parade:
Hereafter, in all marches of the army, n,
struggling or tagging behind will be allow
ed. Commanders Of regiments will be hell
responsible that this order Is obeyed. =
Regimentsl trains viii march in rear of tn,
divisions TO which the regiments belong il
the order Of precedence Of the regiments il
that division. Brigade and division supply
trains Will follow IN the rear OF the respec
tive army corps to which they belong. Am.
low in rear Of their respective regiments
and under no consideration whatever, vii
any wagon or other vehicle be placed In the
column Of march, other than as herein be-
fore specified"
'iOf7cers and soldiers of this army will
hab1tuaIly carry two days cooked ratiOnS
upon their prisons when ordered to perform
march. It Is recommended to eOmman-
ders OF corps d GTElss that in all cases when
&c Is practicable the shelter tents and KNAPP
sacks of the men be carried in the wagons
At least one hundred rounds Of amnnuni-
ton per man viii be carried habiiuaIIy in
the cartridge-boxes and on the persons OF
the meu, and any Captain OF q company
whose men at any time are defcient IN this
amount of ammunition viii be arrested
and reported to the War Department for
der of corps win prescribe the number OF
ROUNDS OF artillery ammunition to be car
any battery be LEFT with less tnan two hun
dred rounds for each gum"
This evidently meant business. The
soldiers of Sigel might as well get ready
for work. They knew that very well,
for they had Just been employed in get
ting their camps in trim, and that pro-
verbally meant movement. The rest
ing period was about over. If there had
been any doubt about II, this order would
have removed it.
On the 18th General Pope arrived, ac-
companied by his staff, and made a has
ty review of the troops while on drill
The day previous, the turnpike had been
crowded with the soldiers of General
Banks moving southwark. Mcclellan
had commenced his withdrawal from
Hauison's Landing on the Ist, and,
though our soldiers did not know it,
their General did, that Lees army had
commenced its northward movement,
and that its vanguard was already cross
ing the Rappahannock at several points
west of the railroad. General Pope
therefore rode on to Culpepper Court
House, where Crawford's brigade already
was. arriving there next morning.
The enemy's demonstrations on our
cavalry pickets rendered it uncertain yet
whether he intended to move toward
Culpepper or Madison Court House,
twenty miles farther west, and in this un-
certainty our General determined to con-
centrate his army at Culpepper SO as to
keep it on the interior line. Bayard's
cavalry was now falling back toward
this point, and Crawford was hastened
forward to support him, as well as to de-
velop, if possible, the enemy intentions.
August 8th. Camp Dewberry" is
the name given by the soldiers to their
encampment near WoodYille. It is so
called on account of the great abundance
of the RH6AkS CtzHadeNSis or trailing
blackberry, growing in the deserted
fields-and there are few not deserted
IN the neighborhood. The locality IS a
beautiful one, in the midst of gently
rolling country, with the grandest noun
tain scenery in the distance. The bold
SUBMITS of the Blue Ridge, very models
of symmetry and graceful outline, trend
away to the northward, enveloped in
vapory shroud of everything and deep
yet delicate blue, making one of the
loveliest pictures the human mind could
conceive. One never wearies of it.
Through the long midsummer day
while
''White deecy clouds
Are wandering in thick fiOcks along the
shep6erded By the slow unwilling wind"
how softly their shadows creep up and
down those blue battlements, how their
dazzling forms linger as if engaged in
some cloud-coquetry or whispering some
love-confdence to those grand old cliffs
And when the sun drops behind those
tall SUBMITS how graciously their long
shadows come to refresh the heated
camps; and after nights curtain has
fallen, with what quiet majesty their dark
| forms tower against the star-besprent
heavens!
Life here, with no rebels near to mo-
lest or make afraid, has grown into a
sort of daily enchantment for those who
are touched by the beautiful and roman
| tic in nature. But the spell must be
broken the time has come for some
| thing more practical than sentimental
dreaming. To-day Pope has forwarded
an order to Sigel to bring his Corps i'm
mediately to Culpepper, whittier the en-
| tire army is now rapidly converging.
Sigel, with the slow formality of Smell
fungus, sends back to Pope inquiring by
zyjEat road he shall come Now as there
was but one direct highway to Culpep-
| per, and that plain, well-macadamized
turnpike, it is very singular that Sigel
] should inquire by what road. Never
| theless an orderly gallops back to Gull
pepper with this inquiry, and Smelfungus
smokes his pipe with undisturbed seren-
| ity until the orderly gallOps back again
in doubly hot haste with this:
CULPEPPER COURT HOUSE,
GENERAL: The General commanding d.
date $50 D. m. inquiring what road you
shall take, to say that you are to march di-
i pike. He Is surprised that you make this
1 INQUIRY after his definite Instructions OF
this morning. He directs that you reach
this point by II m. tomorrow.
And then Smelfungus bestirred him
self and there was a twinkling disap-
pearance of tents, a hasty singing OF
knapsacks, and quick marshaling OF
regiments and brigades under the night
shadows. now suddenly glaring here and
there with the burning of camp debris.
Daylight having been wasted in unnec-
|
necessary marching, and so the batteries
roll out into the road, the regiments with
general good nature but few muttered
"swear words" file into their places
Smelfungus rides forward and the col.
umn goes jogging on.
Reader, can you realize the solemn
grotesqueness, the sort of diabolic weird.
ness of these night-marches =? Would
that could paint it to you as that be
. lated column pressed its way along the
Culpepper turnpike in that sultry Angus
night seven years ago. During the frs
two hours the hum Of conversation grad
+ ually subsidies and at the conclusion O.
the third the drollest fellow in the com
pany has not the courage or spirit tC
crack a joke. Badinage and jest
though never wholly subdued, give way
at length to serious moods and there j:
no sound but the dull roll of the ambu
lances and caissons, the grinding tramp
over the fiinty turnpike, the clack-ity