The National tribune., 1891-10-08
A Suffers CLERK.
Experiences OF New Hampshire boy in Dat
Gap.

On Aug. -, 1854. / received a telegram from
my brother dated at Baltimore, directing me
TO come on at once. as lie had a situation for
me ut $40 a month aud TatiOms | arrived in
Baltimore the next day. and found that | was
10 act rs clerk to a Lieut. Everett, of the 36th
! L. ;. {. i. pass WAS furnished inc from Balti-
more 10 Fortress Monroe
An amusing incident occurred on the trip
| mp the James. Upon the boat were a number
| OF soldiers returning from hospitals and yari-
! Gus places, aud on the deck was a collection OF
| boxes. barrels. etc. / occupied a position upon
| the upper deck overlook ing all this. A soldier
! was sitting upon one Of the barrels and he
seemed 10 he very restless; so much so that
/ noticed him. lie worked around upon the
\ barrel until the head was well loosened Then
/ his comrades were notified, and they gathered
/ about him, when suddenly of he came aud
! over went the barrel with the head out. and
/ out came the contents. which were the sO-called
ginger cakes that / aftorward sold thou
slnds Of. Those cakes disappeared like a hat
| lull OF corn before flock Of hungry hens, and
IN less time than am telling il there WIS an
empty barrel, clean deck, aud not a man
there. The guard promptly put in all ap-
! peaTance, but never knew the finale
The City Point & Petersburg Railroad was
then ia running order from City Point TO Pit
kins, some three or four miles from Peters
! burg. lt was from this station that the army
railroad proper aitcTward started. Upon q Hat
car, IN the woods, short way from the station,
was an immense 13-inch mortar. which they
said would deliver its shells into Petersburg
inspected IL with wondering eyes but il was
not my fortune 10 he there when il was fired
10 was about two miles from Pitkins. out 10 the
very front, 10 the locality where the brigade
commissary had been that | was looking for
lew days before my arrival they had moved
aud OF course no one knew where The 10th
\. H. was la the trenches there and | greeted
with pleasure numerous friends ia their ranks
who were surprised 10 see me there i'm citizens
clothes | spent the day with them az tho
very front, where picket-firing and Smelling was
going on at intervals all day
think it was about four days after that
found Lieut.. Everett / started from Pitkins
IN the morning, went down 10 Point of Rocks
and crossed the AppOmattOx upon the pOntOon
bridge, and then followed the line Of breast
works TO tho James; thence down the bank Of
the river and across TO Deep Bottom. Il was
now about , ?. M. and | was nearly used up
with my long walk in the hot sun. went out
over the brcastwOTks, between the AppOmattox
and James, TO a spring Of good water / have
no doubt many Old soldiers who were camped
IN that vicinity remember that spring, which
was IN the woods upon the side of n ravine
and only few rods from the works. At Deep
Bottom found the brigade ! was looking for
and also Lieut.. Everett. He informed mo that
ilN aitiA btNA nlth tbulA get 10 clerk. HAD gwen
up my coming, and had resigned the commits
sary. Another had been appointed and he had
clerk. / left him with my heart inn boots
and wendcd my way back across the James
not knowing where 10 90 When about half
way across the long. level stretch of plain. at
the south of the bridge, II began TO rain A
"agon-train was IN camp near by, aud had
small tent that got under for shelter. After
few minutes rest / hardly felt able 10 move. and
i told thg Transfers ms
me some supper and tile use OF a blanket and
The tent for the night. They slept ia their
wagons. Ia the morning / had break fast with
them. ! remember il consisted Of fried pork
aud fried hardtack that had been soaked in
water, and coffee without milk. / couldn't
eat much OF il, but / thanked them for their
kIndDess and went away. / have never seen
them since.
a mile or less from their camp came to a
Suffers tent, and ] stopped 70 get something to
cat more cOnEcnial TO my taste than fried pork
and bareback. bought some cakes and cheese
OF a colorcd fellow who seemed TO DO looking
after things, when a white man, who was living
down IN the tent got up, asked me some ques-
tons, invited me In. cut q watermelon aud il
ended hy nv going to work for him across the
river a. Dutch Gap Caual where his regiment
the eth u. :. G. r. WAS campcd, and where he
had shop IN charge Of a clerk named Frank
jacobs. from Mt. Vernon, o. lie was known
As Mister Frank aud ] was there but a week
or two when / was universally known as
Mister Charley We occupied a bomb proof
in the river bank. near the end Of the fort
The fort WAS parallel with the canal, not far
from il, aud went from the river bank on the
upper river end nearly TO the other bank. Il
was manned, think. by 4 Connecticut artil-
lery company. There vas 100 pound Parrot
gun mounted in the fort, aud some few brass
pieces Of light artillery. On the other side o.
the canal there were some mortar batteries
manned by white troops 4 large portion Of
the 2zd L. ;. &. T. was also there at that
time, and as We had the only Suffers shop i'm the
vicinity we did quite little business. although
10 had been sometime since the PaymastcF had
been around, and money was getting scarce
As remember, our prices there were about
the same as in other localities. All our goods
were brought TO the river bank in a wagon.
feTried across in a ToWbUat and then brought
up the steep bank TO the bomb-prOof by human
muscle. We were under fire almost continu.
ally. The JUhnuies had some 6iuch mortars
that they kept going every few minutes day
and night, but ! never saw or heard Of many
getting wounded; ia fact, only two during the
six weeks was there
Nearly every morning there would be 4 ces-
sation Of firing for an hour or more. aud /
would improve tue opportunity to 20 out, sec
how the canal was getting along, and take the
hlH. DHc HlhinlhR 4 hlUOl lOOklHg down IA the
canal, some 80 feet deep, at the men and teams
working there, when heard the mortar. then
the shell with its "whsh," "whish." I
stepped back a few feet, the shell striking near
tho edge of the canal, knocking off some dirt,
and exploding ia the canal. / went to the edge
and looked down, expecting TO see One-half OF
the men laid out and the rest getting out; but
nothing of the kind. Everything was going
on just the same as before. l saw DO one hurt,
and everyone was at work As though nothing
had happened. Before another one came over /
was IN the bomb proof, dealing out mOldy TO.
bacco al $50 per pound.
Sept. -, l-Gl, the regiment was sent on the
move that resulted in the battle Of Chapin's
Farm aud the capture Of Fort Harrison. CoOper,
the Sutler, took Jacobs, bis team and tent aud
went with the regiment, leaving me az Dutch
Gap alone. At noon the next day an officer
came 10 me and said: "Your regiment is not
here, aud you have no business here. You are
10 be out of here in 81 hours, or take the con
sequences"
As luck would have il, Cooper came over
that afternoon, prepared TO move away, and so
the sad consequences were aycrtei. Our regi-
ment was camped in the woods mile or moro
TO the left Of Fort Harrison, and perhaps as
much 10 tho right Of Fort Brady. About this
time the PaymastCr arrived, and gave tho
troops about six months pay. IL was now
that began 10 learn what the Sutler business
was. IL seemed 10 me that they bought the
most OF their TItiOns of the Sutler. Business
was booming. and another clerk was hired.
HIS name was Hardenherg, and he was from
Philadelphia. baker was engaged. and a
bake-tent run, where dried-apple pies. biscuit,