The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1895-10-03
OLD STALWART.
"reminiscences of Gibbon and the Iron Bl
gatly.

John Gibbon, West einter, was stationed
at Salt Lake at the beginning of the war il
command of Battery B, 4th q. S. L. Art
After reaching Washington in the Spring o.
1862 he was promoted Brigadier-General Of
Volunteers, and placed in command of the
Iron Brigade at Fredericksburg.
Gibbons first care was that the boys were
furnished with everything needful for the
soldier, and good many things the boys
| then thought was not needful-such as a
blouse suit, extra clothing, white gloves, and
n vast amount of drilling. He also required
that everything should be bright, from but
| ton to gun barrel, shoes blacked, and clothes
clean.
The boys thought the General was rather
| hard on them. but soon learned that it was
this discipline that gave them mobility, adj
hesiveness and staying qualities. Truly,
they had an iron fiber, and yet we owe much
to Gen. Gibbon for utilizing it. In fact, it
may be said that he inserted the carbon that
gave snch wonderful spring to this iron fiber,
not only to strike, but to Withstand the force
of overwhelming power without breaking,
| displayed under so many severe tests.
| While at Fredericksburg an incident oc-
Cured characteristic of both General and
men. The boys had become little sore
over what they called 81 fuss and feathers"
and when the General wanted them to take a
| lot of leggins, refused downright to do so.
| This fretted the General, who, with numer-
ous dress-parades and orders and lectures TO
the officers on parade, sought to carry his
point The officers exhorted, plead, threat
ened, swore, but the boys would not take
| the leggns. At last the order came on dress
| parade that the General would give them
| till o'clock the next morning to take the
| leggins, and if they did not do so by that
time he would turn his old battery on them.
All went to quarters out of sorts. The
General not knowing what would be the
outcome of his order, the men wondering if
he would attempt to carry out his threat.
About 9 o'clock the camp was startled by
the sudden firing of battery. Headquar-
tiers was more surprised and pleased than the
camp, not by the firing of. the battery, but
by the cry OF the boys all through the camp:
"Lay down, boys, lay down! Well take
the lergins; we'll take the leggins!"
A new battery had gone out to drill, and
had fired some blank rounds. Thus by an
| insignificant incident both parties were re-
lieved from most unpleasant position. The
General saw his mistake and the character
of the men he had to deal with. The men
saw the man in the General. This took
place about the last of June, while the boys
were planning for Fourth of July celebra-
ton. The incident gave them splendid
opportunity for fun on q large scale and fun
was what many of them would sit up nights
to hatch.
After due deliberations they determined to
celebrate the leggins by holding dress
4 n
am glad to say nearly all did-gave up their
coats, hats, and swords to some selt-appoint-
ed officer from the ranks, who gave his coat,
hat gun, and cartridge-box to some self
reduced officer, and thus exchanged places
wonder if this exchange of coats had any
thing to do with that vigorous strain of
gray backs that developed such an enormous
capacity for human gore SO soon after?
On the Fourth, promptly at the time for
dress-parade, the companies fell in under the
self-appointed officers, and marched into line
on the parade-ground. Colonel, Adjutant,
officers and men all bedecked with leggins,
but not a logging on leg or foot that
would have been taking the leggins. But TO
show profound ignorance as to what they
were made for, and to show contempt for
their use, by fastening them on every other
part of the body, was the spirit of the hour,
and right well was it displayed.
Then came the orders, as unique as the
parade, and expressing its spirit in the most
mirth- provoking orders. All the dire things
that leggins could do or was supposed was
to do was to be imposed on the officers from
the General down, and had the orders been
carried out there would have been no Iron
Brigade or Gen. Gibbon.
The brigade, in command of Gen. Gibbon,
took part in Pope's retreat. After passing
Warrenton they acted as rear-guard for the
retreating army. On the evening of the
28th of August, 1862, while marching on
the Warrenton pike, they were fired upon by
rebel battery. AS the shot and shell went
screaming along the lines, the boys began
to cry, Lay down, boys, lay down we'll
take the leggins; We'll take the leggins"
This was the battle of Gainesville, and was
one of the most severe of the war.
i was at Gen. McDowelPs Headquarters
on the Bull Run hills at the time, and could
hear the fighting very plainly. After the
fighting had been going on for little while
a volley was fired by a regiment that would
have done credit to any troops ON parade.
We did not know what troops were fighting,
or what regiment fred that volley, but it
was praised by everyone at Headquarters,
and quite little talk about it. 1t proved
to be the 7th Wis, that had marched:in the
rear of the brigade and just swung into line,
delivering that volley as it did so.
At Antietam the brigade occupied the ex-
IRENE right. Battery Il (the old brass
thrashng- machines that the boys thought
more of than anything else, except our flag
and country was on the road leading from
the church in the woods, with the brigade
support. The rebels made a charge on the
battery, killing and wounding most of the
gunners.
The General called for volunteers to help
man the battery, and soon had all the men
he wanted. Some of the rebs say that they
fired rails at them. / think l can explain
how that was The men who went to help
the battery knew nothing about artillery,
and as most of the gunners were killed or
wounded, the hammers were out of place or
disabled. But these men would not stand
back for such a small thing as that. They
were there to work the guns, and were
bound to do it, hammers or no hammers. As
there was a rail fence close by, they took the
next best thing in place of the missing RAM
mers, fence-stake, and drove home the
charges, leaving the stakes in the guns,
either by design or hurry.
One gun was spoiled in this action by a
shot rieOcheting in the gun, scOoping out n
place, first in the top of the bore and then
the bottom, it bounced up and down on
its way out. / put my arm into the bore
and felt the holes scoOped out by the shot
IL L.