Introduction
Interesting experiences and minute
details of the Civil War career of
William A. Mcllhenny, Gettysburg
veteran, as taken from day to day
ledger published for the first time.
The Author. William A.McIlhenny, who
now resides on Lincoln Ave.,Gettysburg,
was born August 31,l83p in Straban
township. He is the great grandson of
Robert Mcllhenny, one of the pioneers
of the county and a veteran of the
Revolutionary War: a grandson of
Robert McIlhenny, likewise a
Revolutionary War veteran, and the son
of Hugh Mcllhenny.
Mr.Mcllhenny enlisted as a private
at Frederick, Maryland, in Company C
of Cole's Battalion, Maryland Cavalry.
This company was made up largely of
Pennsylvanians* He was subsequently
advanced to corporal and-later made
sergeant of the company while serving
in the Shenandoah Valley.
At the expiration of his original
enlistment and at the time of the
re-organization of Cole's Battalion he
was appointed a second lieutenant of
Company C of the regiment, generally
known as the First Potomac Home
Brigade; of Maryland Cavalry.
(Original) Editor's note.
Diary of a Soldier William A.
McIlhenny
During the scene of the great
Political Campaign of l859 and 1860
when Abraham Lincoln was first elected
President of the United States, I had
first gained my majority and cast my
vote for that grand old man.
I well remember how we young men
went wild about the " Great
Rail-splitter" of the West. We held
political meetings in every town in
the county and the usual scene was the
carrying of a huge rail on the
shoulders of several men. After Mr.
Lincoln’s election the country was
thrown into a wonderful turmoil, the
Southern States threatening to secede
if Lincoln was inaugurated and the
Northern States rejoicing over his
election and the excitement becoming
more intense when it drew near the
time of Inauguration. A movement was
set on foot to mob him when he passed
through Baltimore on his way to
Washington,' but that was frustrated
by the Governor of Pennsylvania and
the Pennsylvania Railroad officials by
running a special train through ahead
of the scheduled time and when the mob
was looking for him to pass through
Baltimore he was already at the
Capitol at Washington.
A very ridiculous incident occurred
in the county bordering on Maryland.
Steps were taken to organize home
guards and there was a meeting being
held in the Court House for that
purpose. The fact that they tried to
mob Mr. Lincoln at Baltimore started a
rumor that the mob had started on the
invasion of the border town of
Pennsylvania and they were taking up
the railroad and moving on to Hanover
and then to New Oxford and then to
Gettysburg.
Two railroad men procured a handcar
at Hanover and proceeded to alarm the
town along the route. They first
stopped at New Oxford and all the
stations between New Oxford and
Gettysburg. When they got to
Gettysburg the perspiration was
rolling off them like rain. They
reported the terrible news at the
meeting in the Court House and a
company was formed and pickets were
placed on every road that entered
Gettysburg. The inhabitants of the
town remained up all night expecting
the mob to enter the town at any
moment.
New Oxford organized a company
armed with old shot guns, pitchforks,
shovels and spades and sent word along
the line for ammunition. An engine was
sent from Gettysburg to New Oxford. It
stopped at Granite Station where
Robert Bell and several others took
passage on the fender with a keg of
powder for a seat and went as far as
New Oxford. At New Oxford they pound
old Dr. Pfeiffer drilling the company
he had organized for the protection of
the town. But the mob never appeared,
this affair only showed how ridiculous
people will make themselves under
excitement.
Robert Bell later became Major of
the 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry. Then
came in rapid succession the firing on
Fort Sumter by the Southern troops and
the calling out of 75,000 volunteers
by Mr. Lincoln. We had a fine
company of infantry called the
"Independent Blues of Gettysburg
"under the command of Captain Henry
Buehler with Dr.Fahnestoek as First
Lieutenant; John Culp as Second
Lieutenant and John T. McIlhenny (my
brother) as Orderly Sergeant. They
immediately offered their services to
the government and were accepted and
were sworn into the United States
service and went into camp at York. We
were living near Hunterstown. My
father and I drove down to York to see
the camp and drove back ,the same day.
That was the farthest I ever was away
from home in my life, up to that time.
Both North and South were busy
drilling and equipping their armies,
preparing for the clash which was soon
to come. We had a splendid army at
Washington under Generals Scott and
McDowell. The troops lying at York and
Harrisburg were placed under the
command of General Patterson. Our
leaders finally decided to move on the
enemy. McDowell crossed the Potomac
and moved on the enemy stationed at
Bull Run.
When the advance of our army was
passing through Alexandria, Colonel
Ellsworth went Into a Rebel's house to
take down a rebel flag and was shot
through the heart, dying instantly and
the man who shot him was immediately
shot in return. These were the first
men killed in the war on either side,
General Patterson moved with his army
by way of Chambersburg and Hagerstown
and crossed the Potomac at Will I am
sport and moved on to Martinsburg,
West Virginia. General McDowell
attacked the rebels at Bull Run and
was holding his own all right, but
General Patterson failing to attack
the rebels under Jackson in the
Shenendoah Valley, let them slip
across the mountain and join General
Lee which enabled him to defeat our
army under General McDowell and drove
them back to Washington. Demoralized
and disorganized and with the three
months volunteers enlistment almost
expired, our government only began to
comprehend what a task they had
/before them. Mr. Lincoln immediately
called out three hundred thousand
Volunteers for three years or during
the war. The North took up the refrain
"we are coming Father Abraham three
hundred thousand mere." Then came, the
best blood of the young men all over
the North, the humble youth of the
farm who was never (some of them) more
than five miles away from home; from
the shops; from the schools and
colleges and soon we had the finest
army that ever trod on American soil.
General McClellan was placed in
command of the Army of the Potomac.
I will not attempt to give an
account of all the battles and
skirmishes that took place in the four
years of this bloody war (history had
Recorded all that), but I will try to
give a short sketch of my enlistment
and experience and what part I took in
preserving this our glorious Nation.
In the summer of l86l the raising of
regiments and companies was going on
and we were watching and looking for
the best organization to join. About
August 1st. the Ex-Governor of
Maryland procured permission from the
government to recruit a Brigade of
three regiments of infantry and a
Battalion of Cavalry for service along
the Potomac for the protection along
the borders of Maryland and
Pennsylvania. Consequently Old Captain
John Horner recruited a company of
Cavalry from Adams County and from the
vicinity of Emmitsburg in Maryland.
Thinking this would be a nice and easy
organization te belong to and we would
never get very far from home, Captain
Horner soon had his company ready to
be mustered in. The scene of parting
from parents and sisters comes vividly
before my eyes today. It was a trying
moment. Everybody had
some little gift for us that we
might possibly need for comfort. I
remember one article called a
"Housewife" filled with pins, needles,
buttons, etc. With many kisses and
"God Bless You" we left Gettysburg in
several large farm wagons for
Emmitsburg. The last lady I remember
kissing was Mrs. Soleme Welty, mother
of Mrs. Dr. McKnight.
We stayed at Emmitsburg a while and
with the additional recruits from that
town we started for Frederick where,
the next day, we were examined by
doctor to see if we were all right
physically and after that we were
sworn I to the United States Military
Service and we were full fledged
soldiers.
We went into camp in the old fair
grounds which enclosed the old
Military Barracks which are still
standing, but used now as a hospital.
We did not have our uniforms yet or
tents, but we slept very comfortably
in the horse stalls around the fair
grounds. All we had to do for a long
time was drill and do some guard duty.
We had not drawn our horses yet but
were very anxious to get them. Finally
there was a detail made out of a
certain number of men from each
company to go to Washington for our
horses. We were to that we would go to
Washington fey rail and draw our
horses, saddles and bridles and ride
on our horses back, but instead of
going on the train we had to walk more
than fifty miles from Frederick to
Washington. That was an experience I
will never forget. We were so worn out
when we got to Washington that many of
us could not stand on our feet. After
resting a day or so and going through
the great Capitol building, which was
a Wonderful sight to boys who were
never more than ten miles away from
home, we were finally marched out to
the corral where there were thousands
of horses and mules, some running
loose and some tied with rope halters.
As our officers picked the horses
out for us, each man was given from
four to six horses apiece, tied
together with rope halter, and with no
bridles or saddles, and we were
expected to take the horses to
Frederick City, over fifty miles
without rations or horses feed and
with only a rope halter to guide them.
The horses and men were completely
exhausted when we reached Frederick.
That was the first hard experience I
encountered, but it was to b followed
by many more. General Bank's division
of the Army of the Potomac was
encamped around Frederick during the
winter of l86l. With several others I
was detailed as an orderly for General
William's Headquarters. General
Williams commanded a brigade and later
"became Major General, (A statue of
General Williams now stands at the
entrance to Gulp's Hill at
Gettysburg.)
During the winter we got orders to
march. We left Frederick one evening
about dark and about break of day next
morning we reached Hagerstown,
Maryland. That was our first march and
we were tired and cold. From
Hagerstown we went to Hancock,
Maryland. My next duty was to guard
the telegraph line between Hancock and
Hagerstown and then we were ordered to
Williamsport, Maryland where we camped
for a while. Captain John A. Horner
was our Captain. John M, Annan had
been elected as our first Lieutenant
but was accidentally shot through the
head and died immediately. He was a
fine young man and was attending the
Seminary, fitting himself for a
Presbyterian Minister, Washington
Morrison was our Second Lieutenant and
after Lieutenant Annan’s death
Morrison was promoted to First
Lieutenant and A.M. Hunter was elected
Second Lieutenant.
A great many things occurred in
camp that helped to keep us from
getting homesick. For instance we had
what we called the "Fool's Den", In
this tent were quartered three men who
were always up to some deviltry or
mischief. Jim Grimes, a dirty unkempt
old man, who was the old fool, and
Henry Hughs, a tall large man, we
named the big fool and Tom Sherfy we
named the young fool. All visitors who
came into camp had to see the "Fool's
Den", While we were lying at Hancock,
Maryland, there was considerable
sickness in camp, and our Captain
concluded to get a quart of whiskey to
take occasional to keep off chills and
fever. One of the "boys happened to
know of the fact and knew that the
Captain would surely hand out the
bottle for him to sample it if he
would call in, but imparted the
information to about six of the other
comrades who were to drop into the
Captain's Headquarters, of course
accidental about the time he would
have the "bottle out and he could not
help handing it all around and when it
came around to the Captain, he, of
course, would have to drink to the
health of the "boys, but upon raising
it to his mouth behold it was all gone
and the Captain did net get any of the
whiskey.
Early in the spring of 1862 we left
Williamsport, crossed the Potomac and
marched to Martinsburg, West Virginia.
The next day we marched to Winchester,
Virginia, under General Banks. We had
no tents and were Quartered in a large
brick house on Main Street. The rebels
had fallen back up the Valley. We left
Winchester for several weeks. General
Banks took part of his army and
crossed the mountain toward Washington
leaving General Shields in command at
Winchester. After General Banks had
gone the rebel General Jackson thought
that he would come down the Valley
again and capture General Shields'
little army or drive us back down the
Valley but General Shields was not
sleeping. He met General Jackson's
forces at Kernstown, two miles south
of Winchester, and after fighting all
day we defeated Jackson and drove him
back up the Valley. Our company made a
charge on a rebel Battery across Cedar
Creek but did not take it. (I was not
in the charge.) We again fell back to
Winchester and remained there for
sometime. General Banks fell back en
the Potomac and our company halted at
Harper's Ferry. The next evening we
were ordered across the Potomac River
and were ordered to ford it as it was
not considered safe to take horses
across on the railroad "bridge which
consisted of only one railroad track
and planks between the rails. Where we
had to ford the river, the ford was
crooked and hard to find. It was then
getting dark and about six or seven of
the advance soldiers started into the
river, which was somewhat swollen from
heavy rains.
The Comrade that went Just ahead of
me missed the ford and got a little
too far down the stream and went down
into a deep hole, and horse and rider
went under the water, but finally the
horse came to the surface with the
rider holding onto the horse's tail
and came safe to shore again. The
Comrade was Oscar D. McMillan of
Gettysburg. The rest of us concluded
that we would rather risk the railroad
bridge, I presume the bridge is fifty
feet above the water, so we dismounted
and led our horses between the tracks
with no side rails and nothing but the
one track. It was cloudy and intensely
dark and it was thundering and
lightening. Our Batteries were
shelling the rebels from the top of
Maryland Heights, but we all got
safely over without any loss.
The rebels under General Jackson,
again retreated up the Valley. We
re-crossed the Potomac and camped at
Bolivar where we had our headquarters
for quite a while. We were almost
continuously on the scout through
Louden County East of the Mountains
and through West Virginia.
The Peninsular Campaign under
General McClellan was a stupendous
failure and General Pope was brought
from the Western Army to take command
of the Army of the Potomac. We camped
at Bolivar. I remember Pope and his
staff rode through our camp on their
way across the country to Washington
to take command of his army promising
to turn the tide against the rebels,
but through the policy of McClellan
and Pitz John Porter by not hurrying
up reinforcements to Pope's aid, Pope
was defeated at the second battle of
Bull Run. Colonel Miles who had
command of the forces at Harper's
Ferry heard that Lee's army was
defeated and that it was scattered
throughout Louden County so he sent
Cole's Battalion with one company of
Independent Cavalry under Captain
Means to proceed through Louden
County, go as far as Leesburg and pick
up stragglers from Lee's army. The
facts were just the reverse. Lee
whipped Pope and was advancing by way
of Leesburg into Maryland. We crossed
the Shenandoah River at Harper' s
Ferry and scouted around through
Louden county, the first day picking
one rebel prisoner. Went into camp and
next day proceeded very leisurely to
Leesburg; passed on through the town;
turned back and were moving slowly on
our way to Harper's Ferry.
We had not gone more than half a
mile when the rebel cavalry charged on
our team. There was a strong post and
rail fence on both sides of the road
and we could not form into line until
we moved farther out the road where we
came to a gate and moved into a large
field. We formed into line and charged
the force that attacked us in the
rear, but when we had done that we
looked around and found that a rebel
force had gotten around us and was
coming at us from the other side. We
suddenly found that we were surrounded
by a largely superior force so Major
Cole gave the command "every man for
himself" and we made a dash to get
through the rebels. When I discovered
the situation most of our boys had
gone. One side of the field was
covered with bushes and second growth
timber. I struck for the bushes with
Sam Bostick close behind me; two rebel
on horseback were trying to cut us off
from getting into the bushes; one of
them, only a few rods away, raised his
carbine and fired at me, but the
bullet missed me and Sam Bostick said
he shot the rebel who shot me. We soon
came to the road where a lot of our
boys were trying to get across the
fence, some of the horses fell down
trying to jump the fence; others being
shot; some men on foot running to get
away. Fortunately for me I was riding
a good mare and, when she came to the
fence, she cleared it without falling
and with O.A. Horner, Andrew Annan,
and several others I made my way to
Waterford and riding all night came
into Harper's Ferry sometime next day
almost tired to death. Our boys kept
coming into camp for two or three
quite a number were killed and wounded
and a large number captured. The
captured were paroled and allowed to
go home until they were regularly
exchanged. James A. Scott was severely
wounded by saber cuts; Samuel McNair
was shot through the lungs; George
Scice was killed and about fifteen of
our company were taken prisoners.
General Lee's army crossed the Potomac
and moved on to Frederick City.
Colonel Miles at Harper's Ferry, with
about 15000 infantry and about three
regiments of cavalry and quite a lot
of "but surely artillery, was being
slowly, surrounded. He could have
gotten out if he had started in time,
but every day made it more difficult
and finally he was completely
surrounded.
General Jackson's rebel force moved
on west of Harper's Ferry; re-crossed
the Potomac and advanced from the West
and attacked us on Bolivar Heights, a
part of Lee's main army attacked us on
Maryland Heights and from the East
another rebel force attacked us, from
the Southeast or Louden Heights,
General Miles, who had command of our
force, was very anxious to know where
General McClellan was with the Army of
the Potomac, but supposed that he was
following up the rebel army and must
be now in the neighborhood of
Frederick City and that the rebel army
had passed through that City, so he
sent Major Cole with about twenty-five
men (I was the only one out of Company
C that was along). The road from
Harper’s Ferry to Frederick City was
open and had not been occupied by the
rebels. The distance to Frederick was
about twenty-five miles. We started
and did not meet with any opposition
whatever and halted at Colonel
Mausby's house, about a mile from
Frederick City. We knew there were
some rebels occupying the City, but
did not think there was any large
force and Major Cole proposed to
charge through the City and make our
way to General McClellan' s army. We
were preparing for the charge keeping
behind the buildings, when we saw a
man riding put from the City on an old
horse. We let him come up to us and
then halted him to get all the
information about conditions in the
city. This man happened to a member of
our own regiment, who had been
captured at Leesburg and was at his
home in Frederick. He informed us that
the last army corps of the rebel army
had just entered the City and it was
impossible for us to get through and
advised us to get away from where we
were as soon as possible or we would
certainly be Captured so we concluded
to get back to Harper's Ferry if we
could. We got back as far as
Jefferson, about half of the way,
where we were informed that the rebels
had possession of the road and were
encamped at Knoxville, about two miles
from Harper's Ferry. Knoxville lies
close to the river, only the canal
being between the town and the river,
so we got a guide to guide us across
the country to Point of Rocks on the
Potomac River. We crossed the Canal
and took the tow path and, riding
single file, turned toward Harper's
Ferry. It was the about midnight and
we had about twelve miles to our camp.
We proceeded cautiously until we came
to Knoxville where the rebel army was
camped and only the Canal between us
and the rebels. It was an exceedingly
dark night and we quietly slipped past
their camp and got safely into
Harper's Ferry without losing a man or
firing a shot.
Harper's Ferry was then completely
surrounded. There had been heavy
fighting on top of Maryland Heights
and Miles had withdrawn our troops
into the town. There had been heavy
fighting on Bolivar Heights and they
were shelling us from Louden Heights.
General Miles after calling a counsel
of war, concluded to surrender the
next morning, but Major Cole and the
Colonels of the 12th. Illinois Cavalry
and of the 8th New York Cavalry made a
request of General Miles to let them
try and cut their way out before the
surrender; he reluctantly consented
and gave orders for every man who had
a good horse to make preparations for
the ordeal. We were ordered to throw
our blankets and overcoats away so
that our I horses would have as little
weight to carry as possible and report
at his headquarters after dark. He put
our Battalion in the advance; 12th
Illinois Cavalry next 8th New York
next and a part of Rhode Island
Cavalry and a company of 1st Maryland
Cavalry in the rear. About nine
o'clock of September 11th, 1862, we
started across the Pontoon Bridge over
the Potomac to the Maryland side; took
the Sharpsburg road; proceeding very
slowly up through the mountain; came
to the Rebel picket post, but the
pickets must have run away or been
withdrawn as their fire was still
burning. We went on to Sharpsburg
where our advance ran into a rebel
cavalry patrol; a few shots only were
exchanged as the rebels evidently
supposed we were some of their own
forces, and did not think of there
being any Union forces in that
vicinity which was about the middle of
their army. At Sharpsburg we left the
public road; we had a good guide and
it was a dark night so we kept to the
fields and woods, not striking a road
until we struck the Pike running from
Hagerstown to Williamsport, then
daylight was just beginning to break.
As our advance struck the Pike we
ran against the advance of a large
wagon train moving from Hagerstown
belonging to General Longstreet's
Corps of the Confederate Army. It was
loaded with ammunition; we captured
about 65 wagons all loaded with
ammunition and it is said the capture
of this wagon train had largely to do
with the defeat of General Lee at
Antietam Battle, which was fought the
next day.
Our Company C took the captured
wagon train to Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania, that same day and were
treated royally by the citizens of
that town. After remaining a short
time we were ordered to Frederick
City, Maryland. The next day after we
left Harper's Ferry General Miles
surrendered to General Jackson all the
forces at Harper's Ferry. The Battle
of Antietam had been fought and the
rebels were driven out of Maryland and
on our way to Frederick we passed over
the battlefield and beheld the
devastation, the dead and wounded that
follow a great battle, and this was
one of the great battles of the war.
We then marched to Frederick City and
remained there for some time. Major
Cole was made Provost-Marshal of the
city.
Sometime after we marched to
Harper's Ferry. While we had been at
Frederick City, General McClellan with
his army was encamped at Middletown
and around Harper's Ferry inactive and
resting. It was in October of 1862
that the rebel General Stuart with his
cavalry force crossed the River at
Williamsport and made his famous raid
around McClellan's Army, passing
through Emmitsburg, Md., East of
Frederick, on to the Potomac River
crossing the River into Virginia,
having stolen a great many horses from
the farmers and losing only A few men
and they were captured by Cole's
Cavalry. Our Battalion was after them
and charged their rear guard at
Hyattstown, capturing about twelve
men.
The men "belonging to Company C who
lived in Pennsylvania had gotten a
pass to come home to vote in the
October election. After being in our
saddles all day and part of the night,
after the rebels, we started to our
homes in Adams County to attend the
General Election. After riding all
night I arrived home about nine
o'clock next morning very tired but
glad to see the home folks and they
were glad and surprised to see me; I
after remaining a few days we returned
to our camp at Frederick and moved
from Frederick to Harper's Ferry and
camped there during the winter of
1862. General Geary's Division of the
Army of the Potomac was camped there
also. General Geary's Division made a
reconnaissance to Winchester Virginia;
and we were out two days and two
nights and the weather was extremely
Cold; our Cavalry was put in the
advance; we had a slight skirmish at
Charlestown and several times during
the day. We went in to camp beyond
Berryville; our Cavalry was in the
advance and was skirmishing with the
rebels when the rebel cavalry made a
charge on us and drove us back to our
Infantry. When our artillery shelled
them they retreated toward Winchester.
Next day we took up our march to
Winchester and arrived there about ten
o'clock; I was detailed as one of
General Geary's orderlies. He formed
his command in line of Battle and with
his Staff and orderlies in front
advanced on the City, but found no
rebel force of any account there, only
a few Cavalrymen who retreated as we
approached We then took up our march
back to Harper's Ferry by the
Martinsburg Pike and turning off at
Falling Waters passed through
Smithfield. About three o'clock it
commenced snowing and by night the
snow was four inches deep. Went into
camp without any tents to keep us from
the storm. We gathered up rails and
brush and built big fires and stood
around in the snow all night. Next
morning we marched to Harper's Ferry
to our old camping ground. We remained
at Harper's Ferry all winter doing
scouting duty. I was detailed as one
of the orderlies at General Sullivan's
Headquarters for a long time. While I
was at Headquarters our Battalion had
quite a hard skirmish with Captain
Baylor's rebel cavalry capturing
Captain Baylor and a good part of his
command.
In the spring of 1863 we moved to
Kearneysville where we lay for quite
awhile scouting and patrolling the
country around. Kearneysville was a
station on the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad and freight trains usually
stopped there to take water. One day
there were several large open cars
loaded with whiskey in a large freight
train and the boys had a very great
desire to get hold of some of that
whiskey so they sent a couple of their
comrades down the track about a mile
from the station where the train
passed through a woods and where the
embankment was convenient to dump a
barrel off the train; two more of the
comrades jumped on the train when it
left the station and, when the train
drew near to the place designated in
the woods, they rolled a barrel off
and the two comrades that had been
sent ahead on foot rolled the barrel
of whiskey back into the woods and
soon had it buried under the ground.
The two comrades who rolled it off the
train went on to Harper's Ferry and at
the next stop they got off the train
and went back to camp. For several
weeks our officers had a great time
wondering where the boys got the
whiskey as a great number were in the
habit of indulging quite freely.
General Milroy had quite a
considerable force at Winchester,
Virginia, and everything was quiet in
the Shenendoah Valley; no sign of any
movement of the rebel army, so Comrade
Theodore McCallister, who now resides
in Gettysburg, and I concluded that we
would like to make a visit to our
homes and our sweethearts whom we had
not seen for quite a while. We asked
our Commander for a furlough for a
couple of days and he was kind enough
to grant it. We started for home and
made the trip in one day and night; we
were delighted to get home but about
the time we got home General Lee
decided to make another invasion of
the North and moving down the
Shenandoah Valley, striking General
Milroy at Winchester and crushing him
back down in the Valley and capturing
a great many of his men and artillery
and driving all our troops across the
Potomac River. Our Battalion crossed
the river at Shepardstown and fell
back to Maryland Heights opposite
Harper's Ferry. General Lee crossed
the river at Williamsport and marched
on to Chambersburg, Pa. and there
halted. Comrade McCallister and I were
at Gettysburg and, of course were
anxious to get back to our Regiment
but did not know where to find it.
The rebels had driven all troops
out of the Valley and we thought they
had kept in front of the rebel army
and might be somewhere about
Chambersburg so we struck out the
Chambersburg Pike, and went as far as
Fayetteville where we ran up against
the pickets of General Lee's army. Of
course we did not go any further in
that direction; we turned back toward
Gettysburg again, stopping at Renfewe
Mills and getting our dinner there,
they being relatives of Comrade
McCallister. We then returned to
Gettysburg giving the first authentic
information of where the rebels, under
General Lee were located. The next day
we took another direction, went South
toward Harper's Ferry and found our
Regiment on the Western side of
Maryland Heights. About that time
General Lee crossed the mountains
toward Gettysburg, Pa., one corps,
Early's, going on East as far as York,
Pa. , The troops on Maryland Heights
fell back to Frederick City. Before we
left Maryland Heights I was sent out
with a squad of men on picket duty and
when the rest of the troops 'left for
Frederick they forgot to call us in
and we were left out on picket, but
they finally sent a man back to tell
us to join our regiment then well on
the road to Frederick.
One little incident occurred while
we were on picket; one of the boys
came to me and asked permission to go
down the Valley and procure something
good to eat, but all the money we
could raise was a five dollar note on
a broken bank which was of course no
good. He said I should give it to him
and he started down the Valley and
soon returned with his arms full of
provisions and handed me $2.50 of good
money in change. The first thing we
did was to get up a good supper and
about the time we were enjoying our
feast a man appeared upon the scene
and asked for the Sergeant of the
squad. I asked him what he wanted and
he said: he sold one of my men some
provisions and all he asked was to
give him "back his change and we could
have the provisions. I promptly handed
him his change and we went on with our
feast.
We joined our Regiment at Frederick
City. The Union Army was moving
rapidly toward Gettysburg, Pa. The
Rebel army was moving East from
Chambersburg, Pa, A squad of Cavalry
from our Regiment was sent out under
Lieutenant Horner toward the mountain
and came across a body of rebel
cavalry collecting horses from the
farmers about two miles west of
Fairfield. Our regiment charged and
dispersed them and captured most of
them and returned to Frederick City.
Major Cole was made
Provost-Marshall of Frederick City and
our Regiment was kept with General
French's Division at Frederick City
until after the Battle of Gettysburg.
When the rebels retreated, we under
Captain Horner, were sent from
Frederick to Harper's Ferry to burn
the bridge over the Potomac River In
order to prevent the rebels
re-crossing into the Virginia side. We
then kept up a lively fight across the
River until our Engineers set fire to
the bridge and burned it down. We
returned to Frederick City and were up
all night, tired and hungry.
After the Battle of Gettysburg we
were again taken to Harper's Ferry and
resumed our old camp at Bollivar. We
were almost constantly on the go,
scouting an4raidlng after the rebels,
under Captain Mosby's command, among
which was a raid to Rectors Crossroads
and another up the Valley as far as
New Market, the particulars of which I
do not sufficiently remember to
attempt to describe them.
About the middle of October in 1863
we had been lying in camp at Bollivar
for sometime, when one afternoon the
bugle sounded "boots and saddles". We
mounted and were off for a scout not
knowing where we were bound for, only
the officers knowing. Our duty was to
merely obey orders. We crossed the
Shenandoah River in the midst of a
tremendously heavy rain; night came on
and it was still raining; got so dark
we did not know where we were going;
just stopped along the road and held
our horses by the bridles; some of the
boys found a spring house and got a
lot of milk; sat there all night; In
the morning we started again and it
was still raining. We went through
Snedekerville, some of the boys broke
into a distillery and got a lot of
whiskey. Some of them got drunk; had a
skirmish with some rebel cavalry; one
of Company D men got shot in the arm;
drove the rebels away; passed through
Snicker's Gap in South Mountain;
re-crossed the Shenandoah River; still
raining; the River was high; nearly
swam our horses; heard there was a
large force of rebels in Berryville, a
few miles ahead.
Colonel Cole sent Captain Gallagher
with a squad of men into Berrville to
see what was there. It was now night
and dark as pitch and still raining.
Captain Gallagher and his men went
into Berryville and it was so dark
that the rebels could not see whether
they were their own soldiers or Yankee
soldiers as they had gum blankets over
their uniforms. The rebels had no
picket out and the Yankees were not
challenged. Captain Gallagher got off
his horse and went Into a house where
he knew the lady of the house; got
something to eat and four out what
rebel force was there and under whose
command. It was a part of General
Imboden's command of about three
thousand infantry and artillery.
Colonel Cole and the rest of the
Battalion took another road and
Captain Gallagher was to rejoin us at
Charlestown next morning. The rain was
now coming down in torrents and it was
so dark that we lost the road and
halted: got some dry kindling wood in
an old house and built a large rail
fire and tried to dry our clothes; we
were wet to the skin. The next morning
we started again and came to
Charlestown where the 9th Maryland
Regiment of our army was camped.
Captain Gallagher and his little
squad, trying to rejoin our command,
got tangled up in the woods and it
being very dark the Captain was kicked
by another's horse and had his leg
broken between the knee and ankle, but
they rejoined us at Charlestown, the
Captain suffering very much. Colonel
Cole told Colonel Simpson who
commanded the 9th Maryland Infantry
that he had better move his command
back out of the town on higher ground
so if he was attacked, he would have a
better chance of defending himself, to
which Colon Simpson replied that he
could take care of himself. Our
command came back to our camp on
Bollivar Heights; Charlestown was
eight miles farther south; we got into
camp about sundown, tired and hungry;
had a good nights rest. The next
morning before we had our breakfast
the bugle sounded "boots and saddles"
and in about ten minutes we were on
the road to Charlestown. We got word
that General Imboden's command, which
we had located at Berryville, had come
down the Valley and surrounded the
town of Charlestown and captured the
whole of the 9th Maryland Regiment.
General Sullivan who was in command at
Harper's Ferry sent orders to Colonel
Cole that we should push forward with
all haste and attack the rebels and
that we would be followed by a Battery
of Artillery and several regiments of
infantry.
We started on the lope and soon
covered the eight miles to
Charlestown. We drove in the rebel
pickets and charged into the town, the
rebels retiring into a woods a little
way out of town where they were drawn
up in line of battle. We had only
three companies of cavalry and it was
useless for us to attack a force of
three or four thousand so we waited
for our artillery to come. In the
meantime the rebels thought they had
better make use of the time to get
away so they moved on South with their
prisoners when our artillery got up
and shelled them and threw a few
shells after them. We took up the
march again and came up to their rear
guard, drawn up in a clump of woods,
Colonel Cole immediately ordered a
charge; we charged up into the woods
but were not strong enough, and we had
to fall back and just as we were
falling back a musket ball struck me
in the right shoulder and went
straight through which put me out of
active service for several months. The
rebels kept falling back and a Doctor
bandaged my shoulder and A.M. Walker,
who lately died at Gettysburg, took me
back to Charlestown. I was able to
ride horseback. We came to the Court
House where they had a hospital; we
dismounted and went in; I was anxious
to have my wound dressed; they were
busy cutting of a man's leg, but
finally a surgeon examined my wound a
little and remarked that he supposed
my arm would have to be amputated and
I told him I guessed it wouldn't be,
so Walker and I got on our horses and
rode eight miles farther to find our
own regimental hospital. It was then
about ten o'clock at night and I did
not get my wound dressed until next
morning and then the Doctor got at it.
He pulled a piece of my coat out that
was fast on my arm bone and he got
through and bandaged me up.
I felt pretty comfortable after
remaining in the hospital about a week
or ten days. Of course they were very
uneasy about me at home and thought I
was wounded much worse than I was, and
so Brother Jacob drove over from home
to Harper's Ferry in a buggy and I
procured a furlough to go home and
next morning I started for home and
stayed at Brother Robert's at
Emmitsburg all night and reached home
next day, glad to get home and they
were glad to see me. After remaining
at home until about the middle of
December, I returned to my company
which was then encamped in winter
quarters on Louden Heights across the
Shenandoah River, opposite Harper's
Ferry. The Battalion had been on
several big raids up the Valley while
I was at home. General Sullivan
ordered the battalion to locate our
camp on the East slope of Louden
Heights as an outpost and when I
returned from home I found them very
comfortably fixed for the cold
weather. Soon after I returned (my
wound was not yet healed fully and I
was excused from duty for awhile)
there was quite a large detail sent
out on a scout under the command of
Captain Hunter. They were to go a
distance into the enemy's country and
were to be gone several days. They ran
into quite a large body of rebel
cavalry and before they were aware of
it they were surrounded and most of
them captured. Captain Hunter himself
was captured but had made his escape
and found his way back to camp.
Read Part Two