The National tribune., 1885-12-03
FIGHTING THEM OVER
What Our Veterans Have to Say About
Their Old Campaigns.
DURYEA'S ZOUAVES.
4 Recruits First Experience of Battle and Mill
itary Life.

lt2ry Lie
1.-THE following interesting paper was read by
Comrade Arthur Hendricks at recent meeting
of Burnside Post No. s, &C. II. Ingram, Com
nander,j of Washington, ID. C.l
The second battle of Bull Run took place
within week after my enlistment in the 5th
n. Y. commonly known as Duryea's Zouaves,
and those of us who had been SO fortunate, as
We thought TO find favor with the officers
recruiting for that already famous regiment at
euce clamored 10 be sent TO the front. An at
tempt was made to dampcn our zeal by repeat
ing rumors, growing out of the fight at Bull
Run, TO the effect that the Army of the Poto-
mac was practically dispersed; that it was
without food and clothing. and we were advis-
ed 10 wait for things TO s;'ttle. Notwithstand-
ing, sqaad 0f p receive .ermission to start,
and about the Sth of Sot.ember, 1862, took
passage for Wa, hington. The greater number
of the squad WAS armed with revolvers and
bowie knives Cor fighting at close quarters. and
afterwards found my knife very useful for
cutting b icoH and tent poles.
On arrival at Washington we experienced
considerable difficulty in ascertaining the
whereabouts Of the army, but soon discovered
that il marching towards Frederick, and,
by easy stages undertook to catch up. In ad-
dition to bowie knife placed conspicuously
in my belt, / had large-siZcd bundle of un-
derclothing, which i found attracted consider
able attention and excited great deal of jocu-
larity among some of the old soldiers, many of
whom we passed on the journey to find our
regiment. As we neared Frederick information
was given US that Porter's Corps was only a
short distance ahead, and we pushed on with
great eageTness to join the Zouaves, in whose
fame we already felt We had gathered some
glory and whose fortunes we were anxious to
share. In my innocence / had pictured the
Zouaves the Atlas upon whose shoulders the
Army of the Potomac rested. l had supposed
that when not annihilating the enemy they
passed their time in practice of the bayonet
exercise and battalion movements on the dou ble-
quick; that, in short, they were ever on the
alert, and never thought of taking that much
needed rest so much sought for by the veteran
soldier. We We're directed across field or two
and came suddenly upon the Zouaves reclining
upon the roadside; not only upon the roadside,
but in its middle-in fact, in any place they
could find to rest their weary and footsOre
bodies. l must confess that my mind under
went sudden reaction and / wanted to see my
mother. Instead Of the regiment as / had
pictured it, there lay its remnants, which only
two short weeks before had numbered about
600 sunburned and weatherbeaten, their uni
forms soilcd and ragged beyond description, and
IS soon found, with their hearts sad without
measure over the loss of half their number at
the second battle of Bull Run. We were, how
ever, warmly welcomed, and by the next day
our squad of 25 was broken up and its members
assigned to the severel companies of the regi-
ment ] was placed in Co. G, composed, to
considerable extent, of some of the fire lad
dies" from New York city, and soon found my
self with rifle in my hand and 40 rounds of
cartridges in my belt That night as we went
into camp was instructed how to load and fir'S
In the facings; but that was all, for by that
time we were practically in the face of the
enemy. Some time thereafter / inquired of
Serg't Davenport (now the historian of the
hat oil I 70 for I
was anxious to acquire some of the fine arts
of war. He simply remarked: "Wait; you'll
get enough of it after awhile" l waited, and
got enough of it, too. By this time we were
within days march of Turner's Gap and
could hear the distant boom of the cannon, and
our hearts quickened at the thought that the
next day, at least, would bring US face to face
with the enemy. In the meantime, though,
the battle of Turner's Gap had been fought,
and the gallant Reno, with many of his brave
boys,
HAD POURED OUT THEIR HEARTS BLOOD.
The next morning we passed the scene of the
fight and my impression as a man (or boy
new to the business, was not favorable to war
as a regular occupation. ! saw there for the
first time a dead rebel, the trenches for burial,
the burial party, the wounded the prisoners,
the dismounted cannon and broken caissOns.
i saw all except the actual fighting that makes
war terrible. By this time my highly priced
knife had lost its keen edge, my bundle of
clothing had grown considerably less, and /
had learned to deposit my body at the word
halt Ill the road, without hunting for soft places
either.
On the morning of the 18th September there
were indications of an approaching battle.
Batteries and regiments were hurried to the
front, and as we approached within mile of
the battlefield / bowed my first acknowledge
ment to a SHE'LL which, with its screech and
Ub cd a nHreH feet a,,d
ploded far in our rear. i want to remark that
i did not stand or fall alone, for / noticed some
of the old vets who knew what the danger was,
and knew what damage shell could do, fat
tened themselves out with the utmost dispatch.
We passed rapidly to the lett, and were soon
assigned a position in the rear of Burnside,
who was already attempting to dislodge the
enemy from the possession of the Stone Bridge
at Antietam. We were hardly placed in our po-
sition when men came through our lines from
the front, badly wounded, some of them walk
ing and some being carried by their comrades,
all telling the same story of the terrible fight
ing in our front, some of which We could see,
and all of which we could hear. Now and then
man would attempt TO pass through our lines
who would tell that =" he was the only man
left; that his regiment was either all killed or
wounded" all of which readily believed; hut
the old fellows would say you can't play that
on US" and the man would be compelled to fall
In with our regiment. As the fight progressed
We were deployed across a wheatfeld for the
purpose of preventing struggling, two compa-
nier armed with Sharp's rifles being tempo
rarily detached for skirmish duty. From my
position i saw the repeated visits to the front
made by Gen. Warren, then in command Of
the brigade. / saw and heard the urgent
appeals of Burnside made to Porter for help,
and, judging from the many and anxious con-
sultations, began to feel that all was not
going right at the front. In fact, it was not.
1t was only after the greatest effort that Burn
eide forced the passage of the bridge, and after
that made very little headway. While this
was going on wounded men continued coming
In from the front, many of whom were well
attended. With some there would be man TO
carry the gun, canteen and haversack one or
two men to support the wounded man, and one
10 show the way, and Of that class we soon had
NEARLY A REGIMENT
drawn up in line made from different organi-
sxtions, which was afterwards sent to the front
and did good service. / do not wish to convey
the impression that leaving the ranks during
an action for trivial excuses was the habitual
practice of soldiers; far from it. Now and
then men in a moment of weakness would
gladly avail themselves Of an excuse TO get to the
rear but as rule they stood up to their work
As an instance of strong devotion to duty an
incident which occurred in my company at the
first battle of Fredericksburg is worthy of a
place in this sketch. There were two brothers
In Co. G, both of whom were tall, and conse-
ouentlv near fine RIGHT of he eomuany Whi1a