CHAPTER II.
Leave Belger—Visit of Baltimore Ladies—Camp Cram—Religious Services—Drills—Band—Marching Orders—Camp Emory—Return of Co. K to Regiment—Cold Weather—Departure from Emory—Take Transports—Fortress Monroe—Target-Shooting—Washing in Salt Creek.
Leave Belger—Visit of Baltimore Ladies—Camp Cram—Religious Services—Drills—Band—Marching Orders—Camp Emory—Return of Co. K to Regiment—Cold Weather—Departure from Emory—Take Transports—Fortress Monroe—Target-Shooting—Washing in Salt Creek.
letter O
ON the 8th of September, orders came for the regiment to pack up, and be ready to march on the following morning. Rations were cooked, ammunition dealt out, and the tents struck and packed, Co. F remaining behind to guard the camp. Owing to a mistake of the guide, the regiment marched a number of miles out of its way, causing unnecessary fatigue.
Co. F marched up the next day. Before leaving Camp Belger, this company was visited by some Union ladies from Baltimore, who regaled them with roast meat, peaches, tomatoes, and biscuits.
The new camp, called Camp Cram, was about seven miles from Baltimore, near the village of Powhattan, and in a position to guard the Liberty turnpike. The rebels were then threatening Maryland with a large force; and strict orders were issuedregarding vigilance on guard and picket, and the importance of keeping a sharp look-out for spies. One day, a vigilant sentinel seized a suspicious-looking personage, and brought him to the officer of the guard. He proved to be a Baltimore clergyman, and preached to the regiment the following Sunday.
The tents were pitched on a rising ground, shaded by large trees. In front of the camp, the ground sloped down to the Powhattan Creek; and the battalion drills up and down this declivity developed the muscles of the men, who were then little aware of the need they should have of good, stout limbs to carry them through the pine woods of Louisiana.
The regiment having no chaplain, religious services were performed on the Sabbath by Col. Ingraham, according to the Episcopal usage; and social religious meetings were conducted by Private Mudge, of Co. E. The Sabbath services were attended by citizens from the surrounding country, and they usually stopped to see the parade. Some of the companies had not been furnished with uniform pants in Massachusetts, and as it was a good while before any could be procured, it may be imagined that these necessary articles of apparelbegan to show signs of wear, and it required some manœuvring on the part of line officers to get presentable men in the front rank. Any other view of the regiment on one of these parades might not have added to its reputation. When the new pants arrived, they were received with a round of cheers.
A thorough system of drills began at Camp Cram,—squad, company, battalion, and skirmish; and, at the close of those warm October days, the arbitrary “taps” fell on willing ears. The skirmish drills were conducted by Lieut.-Col. Wardwell, and were a relief to the monotony of the battalion and company drill.
The subject of a band had been agitated in the regiment from the time of their first going into camp; and measures had been taken to procure instruments. They were received during the last week in September, and the band made their first appearance on parade, Saturday, Sept. 27. This attraction drew an increased number of visitors from the surrounding country, especially on the Sabbath; and the camp was enlivened by the presence of country dames, in their holiday attire, who, during the week, had done a thriving business in selling pies and apple-butter to the soldiers. Co.K, in the meantime, having performed the duty required of them very acceptably, had returned to the regiment, with an improvement in drill which caused increased emulation among the other companies, and raised the standard of military acquirements still higher in the command.
While the Thirty Eighth were thus acquiring proficiency in drill, and inuring themselves to life in the open air, stirring scenes were being enacted within cannon sound. The distant boom of the guns at Antietam were heard in camp; and orders were looked for every day, which would send the regiment to the front. One gallant Massachusetts regiment (the Thirty Fifth), that had left the State but a few days previous to the Thirty Eighth, had already been in the thick of the fight, and had lost heavily.
In a few weeks, the tide of war again rolled northwards, and the troops of Stonewall threatened Pennsylvania. On the 11th of October, the Thirty Eighth received orders to be ready to move the next day. Tired of the monotony of camp-life, the news was received joyously; and the camp rang with the shouts of those to whom the unknown perils of the battle-field had a strange fascination. Far into the night, busy hands wereat work packing knapsacks; and many an article which kind but inexperienced friends at home had considered indispensable to their soldier-boy’s comfort was left behind.
Early Sunday morning, Oct. 12, the regiment broke camp, and began the march toward Baltimore. No one would have recognized this body of drilled soldiers, with neatly packed knapsacks, marching with steady step and closed ranks, as the procession of awkward recruits who passed through the same streets less than six weeks previously; and in after times, when disease and battle had reduced them to a remnant, the survivors of the column looked sadly back in memory upon that October morning, when the long line followed its commander over the Maryland hills.
Marching through the city of Baltimore, the regiment took the cars for Chambersburg, but had not proceeded a mile, when the orders were countermanded, the train called back, and the troops disembarked. Quarters were procured in the machine-shops for the night; and the next morning, after breakfasting at the Union Relief Rooms, the regiment marched to Camp Emory, on the outskirts of the city, on property owned by the relatives of Charles Carroll, of Revolutionary fame.The One Hundred and Twenty Eighth New York had been encamped on a part of the ground, but had gone to Chambersburg, leaving a lofty flagstaff and a pile of boards for tent-floors, both of which were appropriated at once by the Thirty Eighth; but upon the return of the former regiment, the flagstaff was returned, and a loftier one procured, which was afterwards transferred to the One Hundred and Fiftieth New York.
The old routine of drill was now resumed. Col. Emory commanded the division to which the Thirty Eighth was assigned; and the men here first saw the stout old soldier who afterwards became such a favorite leader.
On the 28th of October, an order came from Gen. Wool for one company to go to Baltimore on special service. Co. F went through the city on the double-quick, with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets; but their services were not required, and they came back to camp rather disgusted at having added nothing new to the fame of the regiment. It was rumored in the camp, that some one had insulted the hostler of a general, and a squadron of cavalry and a body of infantry were ordered out to avenge it.
While at Camp Emory, the regiment received avisit from the Rev. Mr. Ware, of Cambridge, a gentleman who always manifested great interest in its welfare, and whose kindness will long be remembered by its members.
In this camp, the companies drilled daily in “reversed arms,” for the purpose of attending the funeral of some officer who had died, or was expected to die. But their services were never called for; and it became one of the regimental legends that the officer had refused to die upon hearing that the Thirty Eighth were drilling for the purpose of burying him.
Toward the end of October, the weather began to get cool, and every one looked uneasily forward to a winter in tents in Maryland; but as a new well was almost completed, and a new guard-house begun, the men still had hopes of getting away. Col. Ingraham was now acting brigade-commander, and Lieut.-Col. Wardwell in command of the regiment; and brigade and division drills took place several times a week.
During the first week in November, marching orders were received, and preparations were made to embark on ocean transports; but the regiment did not break camp until Sunday, the 9th. A few days previous, there had been a severe snow-storm,which would have done honor to Massachusetts; and every one was eager to get into a warmer climate. Just before the cold weather, Mr. Wellington, of Cambridge, had visited the camp, and furnished each of the members of Co. F with a pair of gloves, a present from Mr. Stacy Read. The band of the One Hundred and Fiftieth New York escorted the regiment through the streets of Baltimore to the Union Relief Rooms, where a good meal was furnished them. Quarters for the night were found in unoccupied houses; and the next day the regiment was taken down Chesapeake Bay in small steamers, and transferred to the steamship Baltic, which had been selected by Gen. Emory as his flag-ship. The ship stopped a short time off Annapolis to take on board two companies of the One Hundred and Thirty First New York, and then proceeded to Fortress Monroe, arriving at Hampton Roads on the morning of the 8th.
The victories of Farragut had not yet added their brilliant record to the achievements of our navy; and the scene of the little “Monitor’s” victory, and of the “Cumberland’s” glorious death, was eagerly studied, while one of the officers, who had been an eye-witness to the engagement, related the story to a group of interested listeners.
For nearly a month, the regiment remained on shipboard at Hampton Roads, occasionally going on shore to practice target-shooting and to drill. An amusing incident occurred at this time, the memory of which will bring a smile to many a face. There had been no facilities for washing clothes since leaving Camp Emory, and the regiment had not yet roughed it long enough to become accustomed to dirt; so one day, when it was announced that the knapsacks were to be taken on shore, and an opportunity given to wash clothes in fresh water, soap became in demand, and all anticipated one more cleaning up before going into the field. A tiresome march through the streets of Old Point Comfort, by the “contraband” village rising around the chimneys of ruined Hampton, brought the regiment to the vicinity of a creek; and soon the bank was lined with busy washers. But the soap furnished by Uncle Samuel had no effect upon the dirt contracted on his transports. Suddenly some one discovered that the creek was a salt-water one. The washing fever subsided, and the regiment went back wiser, but very little cleaner.
Day after day slipped by, and still there was no movement. On the 18th of the month, the regimentreceived their first visit from the paymaster, being paid off on the deck of the ship. The companies changed quarters more than once on board the “Baltic,” and had the opportunity to test the comparative hardness of nearly all the beams in the ship. It required skill in gymnastics to go from the bunks to the deck without coming in contact with some animate or inanimate body.
Thanksgiving Day found the regiment still at anchor,waiting. The men went on shore in the morning, and had the liberty of the beach and of the sutlers’ stores until afternoon. Many had received “boxes” from home; and turkeys and puddings graced impromptu tables, spread on the beach, the fresh sea-breeze giving a flavor superior to any gravy. Those whose boxes did not arrive in time picked up a dinner in private houses, saloons, and at the counters of the sutlers, who were liberally patronized, and who long remembered the Thirty Eighth.
At length, the “horses came on board,” and the signs of departure seemed to multiply. Lieut.-Col. Wardwell resigned before the regiment left Fortress Monroe; and his resignation was accepted, to take effect from Dec. 3. Major Rodman succeeded to the vacant lieutenant-colonelcy, to datefrom Dec. 4; and Capt. Richardson, of Co. A, was promoted major. The two companies of the One Hundred and Thirty First had been transferred to another ship, and the Thirty Eighth had the Baltic to themselves.