The National tribune., 1902-11-13

Really, the battle sounded as il not more |
than mile away. and. the people. no
doubt, expected Lees a}fhy was right at
our heels but the Army-o the Potomac
had crossed the Rappahannock for the
last time. Lees army nwas fighting with
the same invincible spirit that had al
ways characterized it; pbut Grant. the
leader. had crossed the riter to stay.
From Fredericksburg TO Belle Plaine
Landing was u horrible and never-to-be
forgotten trip. As We ,neared the Poto'
mac the roads became worse, for the
country is more hilly.' The, roads had
been cOrduroyed in many places during
the Winter of 1S62-S, where Hooker's
army occupied this position, but the
heavy rains of the prtvious Winter had
washed out these corduroys and quilted
the roads in incOnceivable' shape; but over
them we were obliged to go, with our long
trains of wounded men. 1t was awful,
not for us who We're on foot, but for the
helpless, who were compelled to ride over
those horrible roads.
At Belle Plaine Landing which was
| for time our base of supplies, we loaded
our trains with provisions and ammun-
ton and returned as rapidly as possible
| to Grants army. The day of our return
we met and repulsed the first cavalry at
tack made Oh our train III our vicinity.
The Confederate cavalry came on in
some bride path, through the woods,
| that was guarded only by Il small detach
ment of Union cavalry, which the Con
feierates drove before them, and they
were within 300 yards of our train when
the 23d arrived OH the ground, after dou-
BILE -quicking half mile in order to reach
it. and we hustled those Johnnies out of
there in good shape, only losing a few
men wounded.
From that date until its arrival in
front of Petersburg the duty of guard
II.
ments of Confederate cavalry was as
signed to Ferrero's Fourth Division, and
have yet TO learn of Il single instance
where the COnfedcrates caught us nap
ping.
While with the boys Of the Black Di-
vision. as it was called, l always lett
safe, just as safe as il is possible fUr Il
soldier to feel in the midst OF dangers,
and a soldier feels safe when he is with
reliable men who possess the courage and
the ability to meet any danser Oh the
shortest possible notice and stand together
like soldiers till the last man falls, if
necessary. When i'll the field with the
old Iron Brigade / never felt one whit
safer than | did with the regiments Of
the Black Division.
From the Rapidan TO the Pamunkey
River the black boys marched and sang,
but were not called upon 10 do any Sc
we're fighting. The last point held b.. the
I'D previous to Grants movement to the
James River was OIL the Pamunkey not
far from White House Landing For
several days | had been very much under
the weather, and when we left the Pa
munkey and We're Oh the march south
ward, not far from White House, the Ma
jor and the Surgeon insisted that |
should take Il iay-oif for Il few days, by
going to White lIOuse and resting mp,
| which did.
THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING AN OFFICER.
In the American army an officer pos
sesses many advantages Ove; an enlisted
man, and the higher his official rank the
greater and mole numerous are his ad-
| yantages. or course, no enlisted man
would have been allowed to go to White
| House, or any OtherJ,h0use, for :: lew
days rest, as l was. ri am not register
| ing kick against the Treatment of the
officer, but only stating my reason for
preferring the commissioned officers priv-
Ieges to the enlisted mans honors.
At White House / succeeded in get
| ting some clean underclOthing, and pro-
| ceeded to make myself as comfortable
as possible. | found there some old
friends from Wisconsin,, belonging to the
3Gth Inf, with whom ! had delightful
visit. Now, it so happened that Gen.
| Grant had already commenced his move
ment toward the james River in his last
change of base during the campaign and
| the day after my ARRIVAL orders were re-
ceived to send all the sick np the Poto-
mac, which order included Inc, although
/ was only comfortably sick, and beiev-
| ing that a trip to Washington would do
no harm, / made no objection to the az
| rangement.
| On the boat that carried MS up the Po-
tomac were great many officers, most of
| whom were finely dressed, looking more
like band-bOx soldiers than men who had
seen service. | wondered what so many
officers were doing in holiday attire, and
| even to this day / wonder, for | never
| learned the mystery of it. Or course, /
did not inquire into their business, but
could not help noticing the fact that my
| personal appearance was very much
| against me-" in such crowd of gentle
men, but being n commissioned officer, not
even Colonel would think of telling me
| so.
Among these officers there was one gen
uine Brigadier-General. ! speak of this fact
to show in the connection the advantage
of being q General instead of common
| Lieutenant. When the dinner hour az
rived waiter took his station at the din
ing room door with the bell in his hand,
while an official of the boat politely wait
ed upon the General and conducted him
| to seat at the head of the table; then
the waiter rang the bell for dinner, when
/ I'LL tne IlillOT OlHceTS walked Ill ana 1Ounu
seats at the table. myself among the num-
| Der. AS l wore common fatigue
blouse without shoulder straps, and had
just come from a 4O-days' campaign, |
certainly appeared q little out of place,
and one of the walters, concluding that
such was the case, said to me in Il low
and polite tone of voice, ''My dear sir, it
| is strictly against orders on this boat
| for enlisted men to sit ut the table with
officers, but the table will be reset for
| them when the officers have dined. Of
course, l felt deeply humilated at being
mistaken for an enlisted man, but the hui
initiation was nothing to what it would
have been to have lost my dinner; so, in
| the language Of one of the large states
men of America, told the truth to the
waiter just as politely, and he seemed to
believe me without further question.
On our arrival in Washington, the sick,
| with whom / was numbered, were sent to
Annapolis, Md, and there quartered in the
Naval School Building, which was then
being used for an officers hospital Here
| had the opportunity of comparing my
| former hospital fare and treatment while
an enlisted man with the fare and treat
ment of commissioned officers in an Off
GERS hospital, and am free to say that l
! greatly prefer the latter. My recollection
| is that We were charged 81 per day for
| board, and the table was well furnished
| We had plenty to eat and the service was
sufficient to satisfy any man of reasonable
| judgment. OF course, this was the con-
vaiescent table, as 1 ate at no other while
I IL 4. f q