The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-05-11
Life i'm Camp and on the Field, as
Seen by a Private and Nom
Commissioned Officer.
BRAVE DEEDS OF FARMERS SONS.
= Our First Camp on the Dismal
Swamp Removal to Suffolk.
First Severe Engagement-Sub-
lime Heroism The Siege of
SuffoIk-Longstreet's Retreat.
Written for THE SUNDAY CALL

@SEVERAL sketches of army life
S which have already appeared in
Sz@SS THE MORNING CALL have related
to incidents in the cavalry service. 1t was
my lot, however, TO serve one year as a
private soldier or non-commissloned officer
in the infantry, and | propose at this time
to recall some personal experiences in that
arm of the service. My regiment, the One
Hundred and Thirtieth New York Volun-
teers, recruited in the autumn of 1862 in
the counties of Allegheny. Livingston and
Wyoming, was composed principally of
sons of well-to-dO farmers, who responded
to the call for volunteers from sense of
duty, and for whom the scanty pittance of
SIS per month would have been no tempta-
tion to exchange a comfortable home for
the hardships and privations of the tented
field. We were fortunate in field officers,
our Colonel, Alfred Gibbs, having
graduated from West Point in the same
class with Mcclellan, and having served
with distinction as Captain of Dragons
in the war with Mexico. in which he was
severely wounded, and was likewise bre-
vetted for gallantry in the field. Lieutenant
Colonel I. j. Thorp and Major Rufus Scott
had served year under Mcclellan, and
DObE DOlO oCdio hum lllC CAlNSuldI Cdll-
paign. Scott stopped rebel bullet couple
of times atterward, while with us, but had
too much pluck to leave the field. Thorp
gave the Confederacy good deal of trouble,
and had to languish for months in a rebel
prison. OF the thousand men who broke
camp at the State rendezvous in Portage on
bright autumn day in 90 to go to the front
less than three hundred disembarked from
the train that brought US home again three
years later. The rest were left behind on
nearly every battlefield i'll Virginia or are
sleeping in nameless graves in Anderson
vile.
We halted long enough at Elmira to
enable us to receive our complement of
Enfield muskets, and then sped on our way
to Washington, where we awaited orders
from the Secretary of War. Our temporary
bivouac was on plain east Of the capital,
TO reach which we had to march two or
three miles under broiling MONDAY sun,
loaded down. in addition to our necessary
equipments, with heavy oyercOat and an
immense bureau (knapsack) strapped to our
shoulders. When we reached camp and
lay down to rest, we liberated ourselves
from he bureau" with R jack-knife and
neve carried one afterward. In few
hours we received orders to proceed via
Fortress Monroe to Suffolk to join the army
forming there for offensive operations in
Southeastern Virgin ia. From Norfolk we
were forwarded to GU destination by train.
THE FIRST CAMP.
Our first camp was situated on the north
ern border OF the Dismal Swamp, a locality
rendered famous by Tom Moore's exquisite
poem entitled 1.-THE Lake Of the Dismal
SWAMP" his description Of the place being
perfect:
Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds
His path was rugged and sore,
Through tangled juniper, beds OF reeds,
Through many fen where the serpent feeds,
And man never trod before.
The location proved a most unhe althy
one. and in a few weeks we lost nearly a
score of men from malarial fever when, at
the urgent request of Surgeon Kneeland,
1t was decided to remove the camp to a
healthier location on ground a couple of
miles north of the town.
Suffolk at the period Of our occupation
was the sleepiest of all sleepy Virginia
towns. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the
outside world would ever have heard of the
place had it not been for the celebrity it
gained from Porte Crayon's illustrated
sketches published in Harpers' Magazine
In ante-bellum days. Its only industry dur
ing our sojourn was the manufacture of
dried-apple pies, which found ready sale
among the soldiers despite their indi-
gestibility.
As soon as the new camp had been staked
out the men set about building log nuts for
winter quarters. TIE only perplexing cues
ton was in respect to the correct location of
the fireplace. If the chimney were situated
on the wrong side of the hut the draught
would be downward, the clouds OF smoke
rendering life burden to the occupants
Colonel Thorp built chimney with barrels
as high as Trinity Church, and still il
would not draw
Do not think US yandals when I state that
relics of the Revolutionary War.
While the forces of Lord CORVALLIS In
revolutionary times were devastating the
fairest portion Of Virginia they found
large quantity of tar collected in barrels
at Suffolk. The British soldiers knocked
IN the heads OF the barrels and allowed the
contents to flow over the ground. The tar,
owing TO its Yiscid state, sank into the
ground only short distance and eighty
two years later we chopped up the blocks
OF earth containing the tar with an ak and
used them for fuel. The asphaltum served
the double purpose of heat and illumina-
ton.
The muster-roll for pay was made out
under the direction Of the First Sergeant of
each company regularly every two months,
marginal notes being added respecting each
member of the company, stating whether
present for duty. on detached service or in
hospital. Ludicrous mistakes often oc-
CURED. as when Sergeant de Wolf reported
member of Company who had been
dead six months as absent without leave"
HARD TO BALANCE ACCOUNTS.
One Of the most difficult things for an
of1lcer IN command of a company was to
keep correct account of the quartermaster
and ordnance stores furnished his men,
Clothing would sometimes have TO be is
sued to them In great haste just before
setting out on long march, and he would
nd Golf chrrf nf
pair OF trousers, or some other articles of
wearing apparel. The officers balanced
their account with the Government by
charging up the missing articles to de-
serters-the only useful purpose deserter
ever served.
a person got no thanks for trying to save
Government property. Once when in the
cavalry service, while riding over battle
field, had my men dismount and gather up
some new canteens left upon the field. 1t
cost me dollar afterward to make an affi-
davlt explaining how came in possession
OF those canteens, and this reminds me of
an old story about a soldier who, when on
the point OF picking up an abandoned mus
ket, was interrupted by his commanding
oficer, who yelled out in peremptory tones:
GU man there, drop that, quick, or you'll
play - with my ordnance report"
Our commanding officer was great martI-
net In discipline. IL a man in the ranks
raised his hand to brush fly off his face at
oiooo pdlduo ne WOULD order him sent to the
guard-house. Yet he took such a kindly
interest in the welfare of the men that they
formed strong attachment for the Jack
OF Clubs" as they playfully dubbed him
He stimulated their pride in every way Dos
sible regarding their regmental organiza-
ton, and particularly their personal ap-
pearance. and had the company tailor re-
cut and revamp the shapejess Govern
ment trousers, so as to neatly fit the wearer.
The unsightly cheyrons of the non-commis-
stoned officers were made to undergo like
transformation. At guard-mount, the clean
est man was always selected for duty at
headquarters. where he received special
marks OF his commanders appreciation, in
ciualng stomach-warmer at bedtime.
On one occasion Lieutenant-Co Colonel
Thorp for disciplinary purposes deter
mined to try the effect Of a false alarm
upon the regiment, and so at midnight
when officers and men were wrapped in
profound repose he ordered the long roll to
be sounded. The result was ludicrous in
the extreme. The men awakened out of a
sound sleep tumbled out of their huts in
great haste in various conditions Of des-
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