The National tribune., 1902-03-13
CHAPTER NIX.
TWO SHORT CAMPAIGNS.

TWO SHORT CAMPAIGNS.
What boots the oft-repeated tale OF
strife.
The feast of vultures, and the waste of
life?
The varying fortunes of each separate
field.
The fierce that vanquish, and the faint
that yield:' Byron.
Longstreet's Corps had marched out by
the Valley, and now occupied a line east
of the Blue Ridge: Jackson remained yet
at Bunker Hill. We heard that Burnside
had superseded McClellan; speculation
was rife as to the character of the new
commander. 1t was easy to believe that
the Federal army would soon give us work
TO do; its change of leaders clearly
showed aggressive purpose. Mcclellan be-
ing distinguished more for caution than
for disposition to attack.
On Nov. 22 we moved southwark, up
the Shenandoah Valley. The march lasted
many days. We passed through Winches-
ter. StraSburg, Woodstock. and turned
eastward through Massanutten Gap, and
marched to Madison Court House. From
Madison we marched to Orange, and final
ly to Fredericksburg, where the army was
again united by our arrival on Dec 3. The
march had been painful. For part of the
time | had been barefoot. Many of the
men We're yet without shoes.
The weather was now cold. Snow fell.
I was thinly clad. On the morning Of
Dec. 4, after a first night in bivouac in
the lines. | awoke with a great pain in
my chest and gone" feeling. generally.
The Surgeon told me that / had typhoid
pneumonia. and ordered me to the camp
hospital. which consisted of two or three
Sibley tents in the woods. / was laid on
bed of straw and covered with blan-
kets.
lay in the camp hospital until the
morning of the 18th. How far off the
regiment was / do not know; however,
one or two men of Co. III came TO see me
every day and attended to my wants. On
the 18th two of them came and told me
gOUd-by: they were ordered to march: the
enemy was crossing the river and was eX-
pected to attack. These men told me af-
terward that when they said goOd-by they
felt they were saying the long farewell; ;
| was not expected to recover.
On the 18th, fiat on my back, / heard
the battle of Fredericksburg roaring at
the front, some two or three miles away.
I was too i'll to feel great interest. On
the 18th. early in the morning, / was
lifted into an open wagon and covered
with a single blanket. In this condition
| was jOlted to Il place called HamiltOns S
Crossing. There / was lifted out of the
wagon and laid upon the ground. There
were others near me, all lying upon the
ground. In many places the ground was
white with snow; the wind cut like n
blade of ice; | was freezing. AT about
. o'clock some men put me into car-
a common box freight-car. which had no
heat and the doors Of which were kept
open. After Il while the car started. At
u o'clock that night the train reached
Richmond. Some men put me ntO an am
bulance. | was taken TO Camp Winder
Hospital, several miles out, which place
was reached about = O'Clock in the morn
ing of the 10Th. That | survived that day
the 14th-has always been Il wonder
/ was put to bed. There were many
beds in the ward. In the middle of the
ward, which was about 60 feet long by
30 feet wide, was big stove. red-hOt,
and around the stove was Il circle of peo
ple-w0mcn-nurses and stewards, and per-
haps some convalescing notwithstanding
religious songs. There was a great open
space between the red-hot stove and the
people around it. / wanted to lie in that
open space.
| succeeded in getting out Of bed; then
| crawled on the floor until / was within
a few feet Of the stove. The singing
stopped. You'll burn to death said a
woman. | closed my eyes and soon fell
asleep.
For three or four weeks ] lay in bed
in Camp Winder. Not an incident 0c-
CURED. / received no letters. / had
hoped that some man in the company
would write to me. / heard nothing but
general affairs. The army had gained a
victory over burnside. l had known that
fact on the night of the 18th. | knew
also, that Gen. Gregg had been killed.
The papers that | saw gave me some Of
the details of the battle, but told me moth
ing of the position of the army, except
that it was yet near Fredericksburg.
did not know where Co. III was, and |
IoornnI aft rI haf IN "a II
knew what had become OF me.
The monotOny of hospital life became
intOlerahle. My recovery was slow and
my impatience great. When / felt my
strength begin to return | wrote to Capt.
Haskell. No answer came. Before the
end of February | had demanded my pa
pers and had started for the army yet
near Fredericksburg. Transportation by
rail was given me to n station called
Guiney's. from which place ! had to walk
some nine or ten miles. / found Co. III
below Fredericksburg and back from the
river. Capt. Haskell was not with the
company. He had been ordered on some
special duty to South Carolina, and re-
turned to us n week later than my ar
rival. Many of the men-though all of
26 men could hardly be said to be many
had thought that | was dead, as nothing
had been heard of me since the battle of
Fredericksburg.
w hen capt. Haskell returned, he
showed wonderful cheerfulness for so Sc
rious a man. He was greatly encouraged
because Gen. Lee had fought at Fredcr-
icksburg purely defensive battle-be-
hind breastworks-and had lost but few
men. The worst loss in the whole army
had been caused by mistake of our own
officers, who refused to allow their men to
fire upon n line of Yankees until almost
too late, believing them to be Confeder-
ates. 1t was through this error that Gen.
Gregg, for whom the camp of the army
was named, had lost his life.
Co. III was in small huts made of poles
and rooted variously-some with cloth or
canvas, others with slabs or boards rude
ly riven from the forest trees. We had
camp guard to mount and picket duty oc-
casionally.