The National tribune., 1908-12-24
TIE B.ttIs Of A,tiet.z..

Inc udy DclVtc = kuoW tAht q bnAaao
was near by tho movements Of the |
troops. The night before the battle |
the regiment lay in q corn field between |
the rows Of corn, and all during the |
night we heard picket firing. Our reg
iment was in Banks's Division, COM |
manded by Gen. Mansfield. 1t was re-
ported that we were to be held as
reserve. The boys were busy getting
an early breakfast when the orders
came to fall In, and we were soon In
the thickest of the fight.
Gen. Mansfield was In frort OF our
regiment, trying to stop our nfihe,
thinking that we were firing on our
own men. The Captain Of Co. c went
I'D to him and said, General, we are
firing on the rebels" and just then the
General was shot and mortally wound-
ed.
It was a hard-fought battle, and I
have thought many times since IL Phii
Sheridan had been in command OF the
army that Lee would not have escaped
across the Potomac. Phil. as we called
him, always had certain dash about
him with Stonewall Jackson. We lost
heavy In that fight. I know I was Sit
ting on q rail fence near my company,
when the Captain of Co. II said to me:
| Get off that rail, Captain: you are
too good q mark for the rebels"
got down, as matter Of course, for
the bullets were spattering on the rail
near where I sat. The Captain Of Co.
u was killed near me Just as he was
drawing his pistol to shoot, the bullet
hitting him in the head. One of his
Lieutenants was also killed near where
/ stood. After the battle said to some
of the officers;
"To-morrow We will drive Lee into
the Potomac"
a. a. ~
ders came, BURY the dead" Then
had to write many letters to the par
ents and wives Of my boys who fell
In the fight. Some years ago, at one
Of our regimental Reunions, a lady
came to me and said her brother was
In my company. I said, What name? 2"
She replied, John Lee" I said, Yes,
she replied, land have the letter you
sent me at that time." and I read it
about 40 years after it was written.
Lee retreated across the Potomac,
we moving toward Harper's Ferry. We
remained there the next two days,
when rsy company was ordered to Ber-
lin, as Provost-Marshal. After being
there a few weeks we were ordered to
Point of Rocks. Here I supposed we
: were to spend the Winter. The boys
made themselves comfortable in their
, tents with flreplaces. I thought We
, were going to have a rest for the Win
ter, so I sent to Lewiston for my wife
and two children. They came cut, and
in about two weeks I received orders
: to break camp and leave for Harper's
Ferry, where all the regiments CONSOLE
dated. From there we went to L0udoun
: County, toward Fredericksburg, where
1t was rumored that Gen. Burnside was
to have a fight with the rebel forces.
: We might have been in the fight, but
/, 4I,4 a1n ante oo Inc q n
and a good deal of 1t, makes much mud
in Virginia, and 1t was bad for the men
and bad for the mules, and at times
caused a great deal of profanity.
remember talking with my Chaplain,
Knox, about swearing. looked at MIN
and said, What are you going TO do
: with Sheridan?" He looked up and
quietly said, "WeIl, he always swears
, in a good cause" So the band moved
. on.
The travelling was bad. The roads
. after the rain were In such condition
that one day We only made two miles
The next day we heard the firing. II
, was impossible to get to Frederlcks
y burg to take part In the fight. Thai
Winter we camped at Stafford Court
House. We passed a quiet Winter. The
regiment was well provided with ra
, tons and the companies had good
: quarters.
M08tefe0 OuIs
E We were looking forward to May g.
; when our regiments two years. time
I was to expire. As the time drew nea.
9 that Gen. Hooker was going to hold
e the regiment. But orders came for III
t to move to Aqua Creek to take seameI
G | to washington and proceed to Maine
On our march to the rear we met the
rest Of the army moving in the opposite
TIL d.. ~,
: battle of Gettysburg. We were mus
r tered out In May (8d), in Portland
d The regiment disbanded. and we al
p proceeded to our homes. I immediate
: ly returned to the Porter Mill, but i
k was then decided that we raise another
6 regiment. I commenced recruiting Co
: K on the 29th Of July, of which I wa.
8 commissioned Captain. The recruiting
9 was slow. Big bounties were paid fo
d men. The men who enlisted were most
d ly old soldiers, and we had very goo(
= discipline in camp. Co. KS barrack
= caught fire one night, and two Of tn,
: company were burned to death. I re
s ported with my company (K) at bar
e backs, Augusta, Me-, Sept. II, ,63. Mos
u of my company had served with me II
CO. K of the 1st and 10th and many o
It the new mon had seen some servic
n during the war. Our regiment was wei
filled by January, 1864; the 10th Me
battalion, formerly OF the 10th Me
n regiment, was at the front, and went t
8 join us when we took the field.
r, About the 1st of February we re
d ceived orders to break camp. We too
II the cars for Portland and after parad
e ing thru the principal streets we en-
Is barked on the steamer De Molay 70
% New Orleans. It was a pretty roug
g passage, and many of the officers an
men were sick. We reached New Or
II leans about the 5th of February, an
l. went into camp in Algiers, across tn
e river from New Orleans. where we re
d mained about q month. From ther
h we were moved to Franklin, La. w
n remained there until we started on tn
l. Red River campaign.
We left Franklin March 15. 1t was
l. new country to US, but it was part G
10 the United States, and owing to som
If slight misunderstanding our regimen
ID any many other recruits had to com
n. down and see If we could not straight
e, en- up matters, but we did not like tn
country. We lost more by disease tina
n we did by bullet. We put three battle
is On our battle nag in Louisiana, an
m three more after our return to Virgins
ii Battles Of the 10th Me.-Winchestel
r Va, May 90. 1862; Cedar Mountain
3t Virginia, Aug. 8, 1869; Rappahannoel
l. Va, Aug. 20, 1863; Sulphur Spring!
va, Aug. "a. 1862; South Mountain
Virginia, Sept II, 1862; Antietam, Va