The National tribune., 1901-07-18
HAMPTON BATTERY.
"reminiscences of Service in a Famous ArtiI-
lery Command


great battles of the war-Gettysburg
Charlottesville, Antietam. Second Bull
Run, White Sulphur Springs and other
engagements. Going back over the list,
the first engagement | WAS in. and which
took place two weeks after l left home,
Aug. %, 1862, was at White Sulphur
Springs, near Warrenton, Va. 1t was more
of. an artillery duel than battle. While
it lasted it was IL hot one. / was only a
boy then, not II. l never in my life felt
such desire to be at home as l did the
day we had the artillery fight at White
| Sulphur Springs. 1t was all new to me
then, and it was taking the rough edges
off me pretty fast. l was standing by my
horses, holding them in line, and near me
was a member of the battery, rushing to
the front with ammunition from the lin
Der for the guns, and returning as fast
as he could. The shells from Stonewall
JacksOn's batteries on the other side of
the river were coming into us very fast.
Just then this member of our battery,
Joseph Hastings, on his way to the guns
was hit by a shell, which took off both
legs at the knees, and he sank to the
ground near me. He died a few days later,
after we had left that part of the field
I II
I Bakewell, remained with him until he died
and had him buried at the place where
! he was wounded. Bakewell was taken
! prisoner and had three or four months
to serve in Libby Prison for his kind act
About six or seven years ago l visited
this part of the country, and drove to the
spot where our battery was in action that
day. The people in the house nearby
took me into the garden and pointed out
the little grave where they had helped
Bakewell bury Hastings.
After the battle of Gettysburg, with
other wounded and disabled men, | was
taken to Baltimore, Md. We were placed
in the West Building General Hospital.
In a few weeks all who were able to be
removed to other hospitals farther north,
or to their homes, were sent away. I'm
fortunately, in my case, as also with Il
| few others, we could not be moved, so
we were al! consigned to one of the wards
in the hospital, and the sick and wounded
| Confederates from the battlefield of Get
tysburg were moved to our hospital
When cOnyalescent we who were left
in this Yankee ward when our comrades
had been removed to their homes North
were assigned to duty there to help take
charge of the rebs, see to their wants,
etc. We did all we could to make them
as comfortable as possible, and | remem-
ber quite a number of them now, and can
recall the names of many of the sick and
wounded who were in the West Building
Hospital at that time. Surg. Rex, of the
U. S. Army, was in charge. He was from
Philadelphia, and /, now as then firmly
believe that he drew the line almost equal
| ly sharp upon Fed and "Confed" but, il
at all partial, twas in favor of the Con
fed" l well remember George Booker,
of Virginia, now of the Sherwood Hotel
at Old Point, and a DR.. Goldsboro. of
hn =,
wounded. If the latter is alive he will
remember me, and recall my taking sew
eral letters TO his family in Baltimore and
carrying him answers fromhi family.
During my convalescencd l was telling
comrade of letter that / had received
from my messmate, William Alexander,
of our Hampton Battery" then stationed
near Warrentcn Junction, in the Fall of
| 1863. A wounded reb overheard our CON
versation, and eagerly asked me if l
would not try to have letter sent to his
family at Warrenton, Junction. He had
been dangerously wounded at Gettysburg
and his family knew not whether he were
alive or dead. ] told him to write his
letter, and if his wife was in or anywhere
near Warrenton Junction the letter would
reach her. The letter was soon ready,
and inclosed it in one to my comrade,
with instructions that it was to be de-
liyered to Mrs. Jeffries, the wife of the
rebel soldier. This was done, and the wife
thus received the first tidings from her
husband for many weary months. Her
gratitude was shown to my comrade,
Alexander, in the shape of most excel
lent supper.
The happy wife wrote her reply, which
she gave to my comrade, who forwarded
IL TO me, and in three days the husband
was enjoying his home letter. An ex-
tract from my comrades letter will show
how eager he was to be again u messen-
ger; lie wrote: Say, George, be sure
and have Jefries write soon again, for
there are about 10 of us want to deliver
her letter. She treated me so finely and
gave me such good supper, that all want
TO go tins time; so hurry up another let
ter"
Being at Warrenton some years ago,
made inquiry about my cid friend JEFF
fries; called at his home, saw his wife and
family, but learned he had died some few
years before.
Some of the rebs who were in the hos
pital at baltimore may remember the
time the citizens OF Baltimore sent a lot
OF clothing down to the hospital to keen
them warm and comfortable, and the very
ludlcrous appearance they presented when
the tall man was handed short coat.
and the short man n long coat; high hats
Tor tail men, low hats for short men, stove
pipe hats for fat men, big shoes for short
feet, short shoes for big feet etc. were
distributed, and the scraps that they all
got into for fits" and "msfts;" but |
am sure that all of them will say that DIR.
lex took care Of them; fed them well.
and made them well as fast as he could.
and then sent them over to Fort McHen,
ry, at baltimore, as prisoners of war.
A member OF our battery, Jacob Rosen-
steal, purchased since the war, and still
owns, farm on the north side of the
Rappahannock River, a few miles above
fredericksburg, at United States Ford.
On this same farm our battery was plant
ed after the battle of Chancellorsvile to
protect the pontOon builders, and we had
quite little artillery fight there.
There was wounded reb in the house
near where we were at that time. He
was wounded in the arm, and | shall never
forget him. He belonged to some Texas
regiment, and his name was Hugh Will
iams, from Brownsville, Tex He took
the oath of allegiance and | met him in
Baltimore just before the close of the
war.-GEo. V. MARSHALL, Hampton Bat
terry, Pittsburg, Pa.
Breckenridge at Baton Rcu-e.
EDITOR NATIONAL TpIprrNF. II +ba ::