Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1900-05-09
THE BATTLE-FIELDS.
OLD SOLDIERS TALK OVER
ARMY EXPERIENCES.
The Blue and the Gray Review Incl
dents OF the Late War, aud in
Graphic and Interesting Manuer
Tell of Camp. March and Battle.

! road leading from Long Bridge. Wash
/ ington. 70 Fairfax Court House and
| Centeryille. writes j a. Watrous. in
the Chicago Times Herald. In that
quiet sunday sitting. memory was
eager TO aid in review of scenes and
incidents o.. thirty-eiglit years ago the
10th Of last March
1t was on this, the old Fairfax road
that most Of McClellan's great army,
10000 strong. passed that day Be
fore il was fairly light long lines of
cavalry moved along this road. and for
hours and hours infantry and artillery
filed the space from side to eiae, and
following these came twenty miles of
wagon trains, bearing extra arms. am
munltion food for man and beast and
! the baggage of officers. The march
had been going on for hours, when
/ those i'm advance heard a succession of
shouts miles and miles to the rear.
| The steady roll of cheers came closer
! and closer until IL reached the head of
| the infantry column. What was the
| cause of it? A popular general. follow
ed by Il large staff and strong cavalry
| escort
What a handsome and happy face
that young general had on this mellow,
sunshlny morning. How his color
heightened and eyes flashed as the men
! cheered and threw their caps in the air.
I A smile and salute in response brought
more cheers, and then the soldier cap
was lifted and double smile given.
J So he rode saluted, siailed and barred
his head FOL many miles while passing
| along the army thai had learned TO love
| him; so rode Little Mack the idol of
| the Army Of the Potomac before he or
1t had been tested in the fiery furnace
| of mighty battle.
| Ii was the great armys first advance
| since the Bull Run disaster. in which
| 2 few of its members participated. 1t
was McClellan's first great military I'M
! dertakng
My! What a pageant IT WAS! Mem
DRY helped me to see those long lines of
| young men, to hear their cheers, TO see
| Little Mack" as he was at 36, at the
| head of vast army, clothed with great
| power, laden with stupendous respon-
| sibilities.
| | renem Der the confidence and hope
| of the army on that occasion. 1t
laughed at the thought of failure under
! such a leader 1t was ready to fight.
1t expected to fight. 1t hadn't even the
shadow of misgiving as to the out
come Little Mack knew how to dis
cipline an army, inspire it with hope
| and stock it with confidence. There
Were plenty of men in that army on
| that March advance who really pitied
| the Southern Confederacy. so confident
were they that it's days We're soon to
| be numbered after Little Mack and his
| invincibles fairly got at them. Don't
ask me how they felt six days later
when. in prolonged and heavy rain,
| they trudged back to their old camps
! In sight of Washington and about
! Alexandria how they talked after they
/ had seen the stronghold of Centerville,
with its many wooden cannon, shot
/ less and unshootable; after they had
! learned of the comparatively small
force that for months had held the
place, with Mcclellan and 100000 men
| less than thirty miles away. Some of
| their thoughts and a great deal of their
talk would not look well In print They
nad expected to pretty much end the
war that week. What a blasting of
hopes and SCATTERING of confidence
| there was. my countrymen. But they
| foregathcred, frightened their cartridge
boxes and sword belts and braced up
10 do their share of the work of the
next three yCqrs A score of great
battles and several scores of lesser ones
| tell how wen the Army of the Potomac
did its part. Pat never again. not for
| a minute, did they give all of their con
fidence TO orbase all Of their hopes upon
! q single general That march on the
| Fairfax road to the wooden guns of
| Centerville. TO learn that third of
| their number had held them at bay.
with such guns, for six months. and
the move bs.ck upon Washington, in
that drcnchng rain, opened their ,ves
and enlarged tEeir understanding
| There were no cheers on the way back
| from Cpntergille- not a cheer
How readily | called up some of the
men who became distinguished after
they marched on this famous old Fair
fax road in McClellap's first advance
Hancock. sitting his horse as naturally
and gracefully as if be had grown
there had brigade. 4 year and a
quarter after that he had won lasting
fame at Gettysburg In command of an
even dozen brigades George g.
| Meade, modest regular captain and a
| volunteer brigadier. had only brigade
on, that march to view wooden guns
/ Sixteen months later he had carved his
name in very high place as com
mander of the army. John +. Reynolds,
| the peerless corps ycmmander. who
opened the infantry fighting at Gettys-
| burg and lost his life doing it. had a
brigade. summer and Franklin-~and
what stately appearing soldiers they
were had divisions, and 50 did Fight
ing Joe Hooker Less than ten months
| from that time they commanded the
/ three grand divisions Of the army at
Fredericksburg's greatest battle John
/ Sedgwick, John Newton, Frank Wheat
on. Alfred pleasOnton. J. T. Hatch,
! Ricketts,. George w Getty. John G.
Robinson H. T. Howe, G. G. Griffin, X
/ 6. Ayers. Dan BHi rrfield George
! Sykes. c. G. Augur Abner Doubleday.
Wilcox. Dan Slcklcs. Phil Kearncy. II
u. Slgcum r. g. Wright. e S Ham