The National tribune., 1902-08-21

Art.-when the civil &artbegan. Having
nothing else to do n;ther early Summer
of '62 he thought it''dn opportune time
to make Regulars" Of his brigade. So
he issued an order directing that each and
every soldier should bei Supplied with an
extra uniform, to be worn on parade, and
also that each soldier should have two
pairs of canvas leggitis. In making his
requisition for these sdpplies for his regi-
ment, Col. Sol Meredith, Of the 10Th Ind,
made also a reauisitiOnif FOR four extra mule
| teams to transport the extra luggage. as
a gentle reminder to Siibbon that infan-
try marched on foot afid carried their be-
longings; but Meredith did not get his
mule teams, though We all got our leg
gin and extra uniforms
For the next few days Gibbons Bri-
gade was the flower OF the First Corps
when we appeared on parade, all dressed
in bran-new uniforms and neat and clean
canvas leggins, and Gen. Gibbon was
greatly pleased with the success Of his
undertaking. Then came marching orders,
and the corps moved up the Valley. Of
course, no volunteer soldier would pack an
extra pound in June weather. much less an
extra uniform and lot of useless
| canvas leggins, SO each soldier dOnned
his best and abandoned all supertluous
| luggage. The next time we appeared on
parade, Gibbons Brigade was only trifle
| better dressed than the balance of the
corps, and there was not a leggin i'll sight.
| Cen GibbOn made no further attempt to
enforce Regular Army methods, and ac-
knowledged that his brigade made a vol
unteer of him. However, Gibbon was a
| splendid brigade commander, quick to
| learn the needs Of the men under his
| command, and careful to accord to them
| the rights of soldiers.
With regard to the part taken by the
First Corps i'll the campaign of the early
Summer of 1862 history is wrong-Or at
| least some histories are. quote from Scud-
ders School History of the United States,
page 395: while Johnston was hold
ing Mcclellan in check a brilliant Con-
federate commander, Gen. T. j. Jack
| son, was making a series of rapid move
ments against divisions of the Union
army which were in the Valley of the
Shenandoah. In quick success
sion Jackson met and repulsed Gems. Fire.
mont. Banks and Mcdowell, and then
joined Lee"
McDowelrs Corps was not in the Val
ley of the Shenandoah, and Jackson did
not meet it or any part Of it until after
Mcclellan had been driven from in front
of Richmond to the James River.
Early in July, and after Mcclellan had
been defeated in his purpose to capture
Richmond, Gen. Pope was assigned to all
the forces along the RappahannOck and
Rapidan Rivers in the immediate front
OF w NNSHlHStOIl, CuuSlstiuk VI tHe
Corps, under Mcdowell, and other Union
forces commanded by Banks and Fire.
mont. which army thus improvised was
called the Army of Northern Virginia.
Gen. Pope Immediately issued his famous
order, known in history rs the Head
quarters in the Saddle Order" which was
read to each regiment Mt dress parade
and thereafter freely commented upon and
discussed by the soldiers.
Gen. Pope was Il fighter, and began at
once to put his army in shape to meet the
certain advance of Lee against Washing
ton. and the campaign which followed
was hot number. Lee. having driven
Mcclellan from in front Oh Richmond and
cooped his army up At Turkey Bend, on
his attention to POpeS army as the only
remaining obstacle blocking his way to
the National Capital and complete vic
tory. Here we had a practical illustra
tion of McClelIan's lack Of generalship in
uncovering Washington i'm the outset Of
tion of the army, and also of the wisdom
Of President Lincoln Order retaining the
First Corps for the defense of the Capt.
tai III,
The best that Pope, could be expected
to do was to hold Lee, in check until Nc
Clcllan could return from the field of his
failnre and reunite ,the army. but Nc
note of time" not even from its loss and
the loss of campaign. The only rea-
son that the writer OF these sketches did
not remain with Pope during that cam
paign in the saddle was that Providence
would not permit it. Probably the world
lost much from the fact that 1 was not
there to chronicle the events as they Oc-
Cured, but / have always found some
personal consolation in believing that
what was the worlds loss was my gain.
A short time before headquarters were
fully established in the saddle. l was sent
to the regimental hospital with malarial
fever. Then when the tramp of war
sounded and my comrades marched away
to glory and many of them to death, l
was sent, with others in like condition,
to try again the peaceful rest of an Alex
andria hospital. II l had been consulted
in the matter l would have preferred TAX
ing my chances with my regiment; but,
sick or well. soldier must obey orders,
and the orders were to send the sick to
Alexandria.
This providential interference brought
me again in contact with the general hos
pital system of the United States of
America as it was practiced in those days.
From Fredericksburg we crossed the
peninsula to Belle Plain Landing on the
Potomac, from which point we took
boat up the river. On our arrival at
carrying the helplesss on stretchers from
the boat to the ambulanees Il was able
to walk without assistance), l was ac-
cOsted by a young officer who wore n
Lieutenant's shoulder straps and the uni
form of an Assistant Surgeon, who in
quired as to the number Of sick on board,
where we were from, etc, and presuming
that his young heart was full of the milk
of human kindness, / gave him such in
formation as / was able, answering all
his questions courteOusly and not once al
luding to myself to attract his sympa-
thetic ear. Then the young dude sur
prised me exceedingly by venturing
this outspoken and very plain state
ment directed to me personally:
"Well, sir. l don't think you are
very sick, and men who are able for serv-
ice should be in the field and not in the
hospital" / never asked the dear little
doctor if he intended that as medical ad
vice for which he expected a fee, for l
felt perfectly willing to pay him what
ever his intentions were, and said: "My
dear pink-and-white friend, what's it to
you? If choose to play off and come
to Alexandria on lark. is it any of your
businessT And then, in connection with
full payment for his kindly suggestion,
L made some remarks and used some eX-
pressive English terms not necessary to
repeat, but which the Doctor could not
fail to understand perfectly. The trans
action of payment was all by word of
mouth, and l did not occupy more than
a minute of time, but ] felt assured that
the young Doctor was perfectly salts