The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1913-03-06
More Army "reminiscences.

To THE EDITOR OF THE JOURNAL: In
your paper of Feb. 18th noticed at the
head of one column "reminiscences of
the War" These words always attract
my attention; and when l saw the names
of Gardner L. Hatch and Silas Beck with,
then | was doubly interested, for used
to know those boys quite well. There is
a part of that story that is certainly
wrong. The 18th Maine Regt. did not
march from Charlottesville to Gettvs-
burg. We left our camp near Falmouth,
Va, the 18th of June, and sure it was
hot, and the boys thought they must
carry along all of their blankets, over
coats, frying pars, tin cans, yarn, writ
ing paper, etc, but the first halt we
made for rest, they SAID that overcoats
and tin cans were out of style, that
stockings did not need to be darned, and
from the army they could read the
papers; so that when orders came to
proceed that field was we'll clothed.
II do not know whether Gardner
means this first day s march, or one later,
but he says: con this march il was very
hot, and the officers and men fell out one
by one until when night came and Co. D.
stacked arms there were only five men. !"
Now this is part of the story that
must say is not correct; not on account
of myself; tout | was there every night
but where was our Captain and lots more
of them, good boys that never came
away from Gettysburg? While | am
aware that am poor writer cannot
let this go; for should be afraid if did
do it, that one of the best officers that
ever went from Maine, (Wm H. Fogler)
would rise from his grave and say to me,
as he did once, when | disobeyed his
orders: Don't you ever do that
again!' No, Co. D. never stacked arms
at night on that march without Capt.
Fogler's orders.
| have always thought that the day we
marched from Frederick, Nd, to Union,
Pa, was the hardest day we had, for
that day we covered 80 miles, and our
Corps Commander issued an order the
next day compimenting and thanking
US for the long march That was June
29th. The next day we laid in the pine
grove just out of Union, Pa, and the
morning of July LIST we were on the move
again.
Now the writer of the above named
article says the 18th Regt. acted as rear
guard. This surely is mistake. 1t does
not seem possible that any man that was
with the regiment that day could forget
that wagon train we guarded; how we
would have to run and then go slow. |
do not remember whether Gardner l..
used hard words in those days; don't
think he did, but along in the line where
Winkey B. and were the grass beside
the road at times looked blue, and the
mules would kick at US and look
ashamed.
There was time about year later
W hen Co. D. could not make a stack at
ALL At Cold Harbor, Va, June 3, "a,
Co. D. had in line Frederick Wyman.
jackson Mixer, Oliver Cromwell, John
A. White, Thomas Welch and myself.
The first shell that came our way killed.
instantly, Wyman and Mixer; that same
evening Cromwell sprained his ankle, so
that he had to leave us. The next morn
ing, June 4th, Welch was killed; that
left John A. White and myself alone
until the 9th or 10th, when John T. Frost
and Hiram Hoifses, who had been on de-
tached service at division headquarters,
came back to the regiment.
Capt. Fogler and Lieut.. Pierce had
both been wounded, and Capt. Fogler
never came back. He had bad wound
in the ankle. Lieut.. Pierce came back
to US the 18th of June, and was later pro-
noted to captain. L. M. P.
Augusta Feb. "a, 1913.
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