The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-11-05
RAID ON A REBEL ROAD
The Destruction of the Weldon
Railroad in December, 1864.
March of One Hundred Miles in Six Days
One of Many Stories of PrivatiOn
and Suffering of the Late War.


1864, sent to tear up the Weldon railroad, in
the Official Reports OF the Union and Con-
federate Armies" recalls one of those
many seasons of extreme privation and
hardship which sowed the seeds of disease
in the systems of thousands of stalwart
men, and which developed in chronic In
validism and premature old age.
The object of General Grant at that
time was to pen up the army of Lee in
Richmond and Petersburg and compel sur
render to escape starvation. In December,
1864, the Weldon railroad, connecting Will
mington, n. c., one of the few Atlantic
ports open to British blockade runners, was
one of the main channels of supply, not
only for foreign goods, but for food from
the confederate States to the South. AT
one time or another that road had been de-
stroyed for thirty miles below I petersburg,
but that was not enough to cripple it as a
feeder. 1t was, therefore, an essential
feature of General Grants plan to destroy
twenty-five or thirty miles more OF that
road SO thoroughly that, with the limited
resources of the Confederacy, it could not
be re-equipped for three months. Accord
ingly the whole of the Fifth Corps, the
Third Division of the Second Corps and a
division of cavalry were designated for this
important work of destruction, under Gen.
Warren.
At that time the Fifth Corps was lying
in the rear of the Army of the Potomac
south Of the Appomattox. During Dec. 6
the Third Division of the Second Corps was
drawn out of the front lines and massed
In rear of the left Of the Union army. Be-
fore day Dec. this army was on its way
down the Jerusalem plank road and by
noon, by rapid marching, was beyond
striking distance of any force Of the rebel
army so large as to be feared.
A man who took part in the movement
saws the first day was an ideal December
day-sharply cool before sunrise, but most
enjoyable for marching at a rapid rate. A
half mile distant toward the enemy's coun-
try the cavalry fiankers could now and then
be seen the line came out of the woods
into cleared field-the watch dogs Of the
army and at that time a most effective arm
of the service. By noon all danger of pur-
suit was over. The force got away unob-
served while the enemy closely
and his troops so occupied that it would not
be safe for him to detach a force adequate
to cope with the 10. 900 or $4,000 men in Gen.
Warren's command. Before noon the COM
mand reached a region which had not been
overrun by either army-a country full of
corn fields and corn houses, raZor-backed
hogs, chickens. turkeys. sweet potatoes and
apple jack-a tipple so potent that 1t might
be stigmatiZed as malignant. 1t could be
adulterated with proof alcohol. 1t was a
fatal day for pigs and poultry, and for men
pie jack. Late in the afternoon the rear
of the expedition crossed the Nottoway
encamped in the field beyond. The night
was mild that no tent was pitched, but
at midnight cloud passed which contained
enough rain to moisten the blankets
WORK OF THE REAR GUARD
Before sunrise the rear guard. with the
wagon train in front. was either on its way
or waiting for those in front to clear the
road. All stragglers, no matter how foot
sore. were pushed along for by this time a
small force of rebel cavalry were hanging
upon the rear and TANKS, keeping at a re-
spectful distance but on the alert to swoop
down and gather in a delayed wagon or
to strip the clothes from stragglers whom
they could not carry off prisoners. 1t
was a warm day, and thinking only Of the
present, the recruits in the regiments at
the front threw away their new blankets
The veterans coolly exchanged their we'll
worn blankets for the new, while the rear
guard, as far as it was able, scraped those
left into piles and set them on fire to keep
them out of the hands of the enemy. An
abundance of apple jack was found and
destroyed by the officers of the rear guard,
but not until many canteens of 1t got into
the hands and finally into the stomachs
of those whose natural thirst had been
wonderfully developed during three months
men succumbed to it, but enough to give
the rear guard full occupation Quite a
number eluded the guard and gave them
selves up to debauch. All such fell into the
hands of the enemy, or, worse became vic
tins of the vengeance of the few old men
who were seen about the houses, evidently
At any rate when the force returned sew
eral squads of three or four soldiers were
found dead in out-of-the-way places, evil
IDENTIFY killed when in drunken sleep by
bushwhackers, who stripped them of their
clothing. This discovery made General
Warren very angry, and the houses and
corn-cribs which he had spared as he went
forward were given to the torch by his or
! der, it is said, after the murdered soldiers
| were discovered.
In our regiment we had a new chaplain
who had served in the ranks He knew
| the value of new blankets and when he
saw them thrown away he picked I'M one
after another and put them upon his horse
| until he could hardly sit astride them. He
| was not much of a horseman at best and
did not make any effort to avoid the mud
holes which were deep: Into one of these
| his horse plunged and the chaplain perched
| upon his insecure pile of blankets, went
| over the animals head and sprawled into a
| Quagmre. To say that he was muddy when
| he was helped to terra firma would made
| quately describe his condition. He had
| plastered with the free soil Of Virginia from
head to foot. Toward night we marched
through a division of the Fifth Corps, and
many of the men looked at us as we passed
| The mud on the chaplain had partially
| dried, and he was a sight The PLENTIFUL
| ness of applejack suggested the cause and
| for half a mile the poor chaplain who had
| never tasted whisky, was saluted with
| How are you, Applejack?' eli, hi, ole
| man, you must have had whole canteer
of jack!' who pulled We out of the mud
| old Applejack?' 1t was fun for the bows
| but ii was dreadful for the scandalized
| chaplain
| 1t was after dark that night when we
| halted and ate a better supper than the
commissary furnished. Before. we turned
| in a headquarters hostler rode up on q
| mule with a sheep. AS he threw il off he
| remarked that mo rebel sheep could bite
| him and live" We went to sleep witt
| visions of fried mutton and sweet potatoe:
| In the morning.
| DESTROYING THE TRACK
Before the morning came a northeas
| wind had sprung up, which went to the
| marrow of ones bones. We had the fried
| the gravy became tallow in our tin plates
| 1t fearfully cold. and the men wer,
| glad to be on the road marching at rapiC
| gait. We soon came to the railroad traci
| and the remains of a burning depot After
| a rapid march of an hour we came to tn,
| track-that is, were al the head of IN,
| column. MuSketS were stacked and the
| regiment was deployed on one side Of tn,
| rail of some sort. The detached end of tbs
| track was lifted to a perpendicular anC
| then pushed over, turning like a vast fur
| row of sod before a pillow. AS soon as oul
| section upside down, another regimen
| was in line to turn over its section. Tn,
| men then fell upon the sleepers with fence
| rails and prled off the ties. These Were
| olicklv pilpd the iron rails MI