Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-05-26
ON q POTOMAC.
THRILLING DESCRIPTION OF A
NIGHT OF HORROR.
The Cruelty of War-Touching Story
of the Devotion Of Com
rades.
Written for the susDAY-US1oS.


the news of the day. The storekeeper had
Just finished the reading of a Geographic
item concerning the death of "an aged
Virginian' who had boastingly confessed
the murder of twelve Union citizens DUR
ing the war of secession. The reader
doubted the truth Of the item and was
proceeding to state the grounds of his
doubling when he was interrupted by a
man known in the mountains as "Mary-
land"-who said, in a grave and senten-
tious n Gentlemen, l have reason
to believe that rebeldom contained Just
such chaps; and if pleasing to the com
pany l will relate the experience that con-
firms me in my belief and upon which 1
have pondered for many and many ayear."
Upon being urged to proceed, maryland
continued:
early in the fall of 1862 I was with
the Army of the Potomac, a member OF
- Regiment. Maryland Volunteers.
Mcclellan had been relieved and Pope was
in command. Your are all more or less
| conversant with the second battle of Bulls
| Run, a memorable and a disastrous fight
for us; for from the close of that fight dates
the first wholesale disintegration of the
army Ct Virginia.
"Popes' Forty Days in the Shenandoah
"a Quixotic squirt at best-had ended
sadly; his famous retreat, commenced at
midnight beyond Culpepper, became q
route, and broken in every joint, the mob
lest and best-appointed army hat ever
stood on the American continent hurried
pell-mell toward Maryland, My Maryland
1t was the final phase of an ill-starred
movement, and confusion, complete and
| c~onfounded, came abou. in the following
manner:
"In the dead of a densely lark night
the army came upon a stream of consider
able width; a turgid and shallow stream,
inclosed between abrupt and. muddy banks.
This barrier necessitated a halt all along
the line, which was more than twenty
miles in length, and resulted in a chaotic
scattering such as never again occurred,
and from which the Army of Virginia only
recovered when touched by the genius OF
General George B. Mcclellan.
"The advance of the hurrving army
plunged into the stream and soon the road
fordage was choked by a struggling mass
of humanity, interspersed with gun CARR
| ages, c~assions, baggage wagons, and ambu-
| lances-a fact not understood by those in
the rear, and which bred such a fever Of
Impotence that, eager to move Oh, CON-
pany after company deployed to the right
and left, each seeking fordage on its own
account; and, presently, the river swarmed
with men above and below the regular
ford.
GAS l have already said, the night was
densely dark, and as the depioying com
panies reached the river brink the Cap
tains crept cautiously over the Shiny bank.
and standing hip-deep in the water each
steadied his men down one by one, dis
missing them with the admonition: Move
on Move on!'
at required fully five minutes to land
each soldier in the water; hence, the
men reached the opposite bank each five
minutes in advance Of his comrade. This
placed the first man of the first file of fours
twenty minutes ahead of the first man of
the next following file.
$50 it came to pass hat when the sew
eral companies were wholly over the
stream, their members were scattered in
cimerian gloom and hopelessly lost to each
other.
GAS for me, once over, | found myself
stumbling among fallen logs and tangled
in vines and briars. Led by sense of hear
ing, however, | climbed and clawed and
drifted nearer and nearer to the suppressed
roar that marked for the ear that which
was invincible to the eye-the road and
| soon joined the swelling throng.
"When day illumined the scene l found
that-so far as the membership OF my COM
pany or regiment was concerned, | was
alone, | knew not a man about me. All
seemed In a like condition, vet all crowded
and doomed along in a spirit of reckless
ness that bred a sort of tacit fellowship.
Great numbers had thrown away their
muskets. many were hatless, some without
shoes, and nearly all had cast their KNAPP
sacks by the wayside.
"The following night was spent by me
in the woods to the right of the Warren
ton Junction road. | slept far into the
morning and, upon waking, found myself
confronted by an aged negro, who informed
me hat Stonewall Jackson had 'crost tn
kreek and that the Rebs was strung long
the Warrenton road. Hence | was within
the enemy's lines. A piece of information
that disturbed me more than a little and
that was anything but consoling to my
empty stomach.
The old man seemed to take a lively
interest in me. He was prolific Of advice
and wound up by giving me minute in
structions as to the best manner of avoid
ing the rebs and reaching the Potomac.
Following the instructions thus received
/ crossed the Fredericksburg turnpike not
far from Bealton station and struck into
the marshes, fields, hills and woods to the
east.
"While hurrying through a cornfield /
passed within easy sight of Stafford Court
House, a landmark which the old negro
had particularly instructed me to note and
from which | was to take new and final
bearings. Upon drawing to the end of the
field l saw, glinting through the corn
stalks, the outlines! of a cosy farmhouse
and paused to debate the propriety of ap-
plying for something to eat. Thirty
hours having passed since the disappear
ance Of my last hard tack stomach got
the best of strategy-hunger was stronger
sudu iCdt Nv A SlIuCh Tic ldIiu mouse.
"The place was known as the Callahan
plantation and | shall ever bear its pro-
prietor and good wife in grateful remem-
brance. They questioned me eagerly
concerning matters at the front, and /
could readily see that they were hugely
pleased at my tale of Federal disaster.
Planter Callahan was a rebel, but he was
a true man. He had FIVE sons in the Con-
federate army, and yet he fed me. Aye,
and noting that | was hatless and covered
only by a ragged shirt, he gave me a little
old linen coat and a straw hat and vol
unfairly outlined my way to the Potomac,
which l reached about shutdown of that
day.
Reaching what l supposed to be the
rivers margin, l found a man il the act of
tying up a skiff, and babe him good morn
ing. Ny salutation was received in silence,
but ceasing his work the man shot at me a
furtive glance OF speculative inquiry.
/ spoke, saying / wanted to be set across the
river, whereupon the fellow barked out:
"'Yank?'
81 nodded in assent.
"The boatman asked my name. age, reg
iment, and when informed that | was 20
years of age he muttered something behind
his teeth, of which l Z detected the words:
"sYoung-humph, youngp
Suddenly he snapped out: Where dye
.-ort GOV onT