Four Years With the Iron Brigade

by Lance Herdegen

  Sunday, October 13, 1861

  And I am well this morning and packed up to start for the Battlefield for what we know it is as follows. Yesterday after we had been on dress parade we marched to our street and were dismissed as usual. In about three minutes we were called into ranks in great excitement and it started from the officers. Then they said we must get ready to march in ten minutes and didnt tell us what to pack up. So some packed one thing and some another. And commands were given and then countermanded which made great confusion. We got our suppers in a hurry. I rolled up my blanket in a small roll as I could to put around my neck and under my arm and to tie the ends togather with a string and put on my overcoat. Then we fooled around an hour or so and were called into ranks again and were ordered to put our blank catridges in the lower chamber of our boxes and put our nine rounds or old catridges in the upper chambers and we received ten rounds more which made nineteen rounds. I couldnt believe we would go until this happened then I begun to think some little about it.

  We were dismissed again and called into ranks again to form battallion. Our guns were examined by our officers and asked us if we had got our catridges, if we had blowed through the tube of our gun. We went in our place in the battalion and then were doubled up before the Lieutanant Colonel [William W. Robinson of Sparta] and he spoke verry good to us. Told us we had orders to march or hold ourselves in readiness to march at ten minutes notice and we were to have one days provision in our haversacks, our canteens filled with water, coffee or tea. Take evrything out of our knapsacks and put our blankets and oilcloths in it and nothing else. And we were to be up and have our breakfast before light in the morning &c. He told how to act and not do anything without we had command. He talked to us quite cheeringly.

  O how the wind does blow this morning and we have not marched yet. We are likely to any minute. It is near nine Oclock now. We followed the orders as I have stated before precisely. We were also ordered to fix things and at the tap of the drum to put out lights and keep still and go to sleep which we did but I had rather a poor bed but slept tolerable well. I will wait a little while before writing any more.

  October 14, 1861

  And I am well but didnt get enough to eat for dinner. But this company cooking is done for after supper tonight and then we go to messing, that is two tents togather which is twelve men. We had a great fuss today at dinner time for we only got about half a ration of meat and meat and bread was all we had. And we had it so much that it wouldnt do any longer. So Jesse Shipton took his piece of meat and went to the Colonel [Joseph Vandor of Milwaukee] and the Lieutanant Colonel [Robinson] and they talked quite a while, ask questions about it and was wonderstruck about it so they told him to go to the Captain [John R. Callis of Lancaster].11 They asked him if there had been complaint made to the officers and he said there had been. Then he asked what Company he belonged to. He said Co F. What Captain said, said the Colonel. He said Capt Callis. The Colonel said it was bad and he didnt know the reason of it and no more was said.

  I and Frank Boyantan and Whitney, [Francis A. Boynton and Warren W. Whitney]12 one of the Corporals was talking about me and Frank having to go to other Companys on battallion drill to fill them up and Frank said that was played out and captain heard him and called him into his tent and said to him—I believe you want to go into Co H and Frank said—I beg your pardon, Capt, it is not so, then the Capt jumped up and said—don’t call me a liar and shook his fist in franks face. But Frank didnt flinch and says I know what I am about. They had a little talk. Then the Capt come out to us and says boys do you get enough to eat. There was several spoke up, I with them, said we didnt get enough to eat so the [captain] said William Ray, you may go to Co H and I said I was going as I had calculated to ever since he had promised me I might. So that took him down and he said no more and just then Jesse Shipton came up and the Capt wanted to know if that was all he got. He said it was. He looked at him and said you have ate some off that have you not. No said Shipton. At any rate it was not to exceed one inch & half square. He said that he had been to the Colonels, thats to bad. But I mentioned it before. So Frank Boyantan, James Garner & I are going into Co H.

  October 15, 1861

  And we had a little larger piece of meat but is verry fat pork boiled. Hurrah, it is noised about the Camp that the South wants to come to a settlement. And appears to free all the negros and pay two thirds of the expenses but I do not credit it. We have a police, it is for cleaning up the streets that is Co police. Then there is General police to clean off the parade ground. They is four out of each Company for each buisness. Well I must clean my gun.

  October 17, 1861

  I am on guard today. I was on the second relief and came on at ten oclock and off at twelve and go on at four Oclock again and it is two Oclock now and I can write a little now. I am well and get plenty to eat now. I had plenty of rice, molasses & bread. It is said there is one case of the smallpox in the Regiment and they are Vaccinnating on double quick time today but as I am on guard I cant get it today.

  October 19, 1861

  And it is verry cloudy this morning and foggy. I have just returned from police duty for I being on guard day before yesterday and rested yesterday forenoon and drilled in the afternoon and had to be on police today. And it is said drill also but I don’t think so. At any rate they have gone on Battalion drill and I am not. And some tell me that I will have to go on guard tomorrow to pay for it but I guess not. At any rate, we were released in time to go on drill but some of us didnt go and some said we didnt have to go but I will see the Orderly sergeant when they come back and know for certain. Stating this occurance puts me in mind of giving our officers names, the Captain name is J.B. Callis, first Lieutenant S Woodhouse [Samuel Woodhouse], second Lieutenant H F Young [Henry F. Young], the next in rank in office is the Sergeants. Orderly Sergeant or first Sergeant is J. W. Mackinzie [John W. McKenzie], second A. R. Macartney [Alexander R. McCartney], third L. Parsons [Loren G. Parsons], Fourth G. W. Cowin [George W. Cowan], fifth Ugene Sloat [William E. Sloat]. The next and last officers is Corporals, G. Henderson [George H. Henderson], P. Runnion [John Runion], F. Kidd [Fletcher S. Kidd], F.A. Kidd [Alphonzo A. Kidd], Simon Woodhouse, J. Bradley [John C. Bradley], W. Whitney [Warren W. Whitney], G. Holbert [George G. Halbert]. This is all the officers.13

  J. Clark [James A. Clark]14 has just fetched a pack of cards and evry man in the tent at Camp Randall took a vow that they wouldnt have a game of cards played in it if it could be helped so they have broke their vow. But there has one come in since then and he is one of that kind. We are the worst tent in the Company. There is seaven in it and about the largest that is average the largest and it the most Blackguard tent.

  October 20, 1861

  It is a verry pretty day and it is Sabbath day. Our parson [Samuel L. Brown of Beaver Dam] has moved his tent up by our street where most all the notable things are because it is the right wing of the Regiment or some call it the head but the latter is not proper. We didnt go to be vaccinated.

  October 22, 1861

  And it raining this morning and verry disagreeable. And are on marching orders. We received new marching orders last night to go and reinforce our troops at Leesburg which it is said was having a hard battle yesterday. So the Orderly came around last night after we went to bed and told us to be ready to march with five minutes notice so there was a great excitement but not so great as on twelfth. For we fixed our things and got eighteen rounds of catriges and went to bed. But the cooks were up all night cooking three days rations and we eat our breakfast as usual. And we will have nothing but fat pork to eat. But I take my meat and fry my bread with it and that makes a verry good meal. It appears like hard living but I am fleshier now than ever I was so I am not doing verry bad. We are just waiting for the order to march to fight.

  But to march for anything else we do not like to because we have got such a good Camp ground and have done a great deal of work on it and it is nice as any dooryard. This ground here ho
lds water as good as mamas washtub. It is a yellow clay verry sticky and on the road where there is a mudhole, it stinks verry in places. The cause I suppose is on account of the young timber which is verry thick, the prettyiest young timber I ever saw. But there has been a great many thousand acres cut down in fact nearly all the timber twixt here and Bullsrun [Bull Run]. A great deal or probably all of it has been under cultivation once. And most of the timber is pine but considerable cedar intermixed therewith. There is a few trees standing and they are verry pretty which goes to show it was one of the prettyiest kind of groves once but it had to be cut down for the good of the country so that the rebels wouldnt have such as chance on our forts which are situated on the Arlington Heights all along for about fifteen miles. They are from a quarter to a mile apart. I have been in one that lays a few rods to the south of us which is Tillinghurst [Tillinghast] and there is one on the north a few rods which is Fort Cass. I will say more about the Forts when I get acquainted. They have just mounted the guard.

  I am glad I am not on guard for it is rainy and muddy but no worse than when I stood on guard last week. Hurrah, the news boys are hollowing out. Here is the latest news, morning paper. Another Battle. Battle at boker [?] Leesburg. Colonel killed.15 So we have news pretty quick but often when the boys hollows out such & such things happened in their papers and when the boys pays for it, then they cant find anything in worth notice. Then I laugh at them for letting the little boy fool them so but they don’t come it on me for I get papers from home which gives me more pleasure than anything else for they come from Mother, the Northwestern Christian Advocate. I like to read them for there is nothing going in our tent but rowdyism and card playing and ever since James Clark fetched a deck of cards into the tent, there is always some visiters and a tent full and this muddy weather, it is bad. I like visitors but not to play cards but when I get into the other Co I hope it will be better.

  Oh how it rains and the water is running through our tent. And I may do evrything. I have carried half of the water since we came to this Camp but I do it and hope it will not last long. The boys is drawing to a close. I have just been into the next tent to see a man that got his leg and ankle jamed verry bad but neither broke or unjointed. It happened last week. He is getting better fast. Well it is getting dark. The mail has just come but no letters for me but a great many for Co.

  October 24, 1861

  It has cleared of again and is a pretty morning. There has a great fight at Leesburg day [Dranesville skirmish] before yesterday and the news came this morning that we got badly whiped out. They are getting the better of us lately and I expect we will have to fight pretty soon. Well the drum beats for drill and it is knapsacks drill to. It be hard but we must do it so as to get used to carrying them. We will verry soon get our new uniform. It is pretty cold now for the last day or two but I do not suffer much. I have warmer clothes than I had at home. My shoes are good, stockings are whole yet, but some of them have worn out their shoes already.

  October 25, 1861

  A pretty morning. We are not out of the sound of the cars yet. We can hear them at Georgetown this morning. I was down oppisite Washington on this side of the Potomac yesterday on Brigade drill. That is twenty four out of evry Co in the Brigade and the Brigade is the four Regiments I mentioned. And Brigadier Gen King [Rufus King] drilled us and he did not get there until late and he gave us a hard drill.

  Well it is afternoon and we had a hard drill of it this forenoon. It was another knapsacker. Lieutanant Colonel [Robinson] has had command of us for about a week. Our old Colonel has no patience but he is a good military man but he cant do anything with us volunteers. He is a German. He cant talk right good English and that trubled some and he had been used to regulars in the old Country and when he talked us as he did there, it made us all a little Gruffy and we did not try to do so good. There is talk of him resigning. I like him verry well myself for I think he is in the right of some things concerning the Co officers. That is if they would study their book more and not run to the city so much and eat so many Oyster dinners, they could drill better. That is they could command their companys better. For volunteers has to be coaxed and not drove as the regulars are for that will not do. There was a verry hard frost last night here. It is the first frost I have seen this year.

  Well about that fight at Leesburg, there was four hundred of our men killed, wounded & missing.16 It was a hard fight but our men routed them it is said. But we didnt go up there as we expected that night when we were ordered to pack our knappsacks. That fellow that I spoke of getting hurt last week is getting better. He walks out on his crutches a little. There is the least sickness in Company of any Company in the Regiment. For the last two or three days they have drilled us hard and I still have to go into other companies to drill. But I shall not have to do it when I go into the other Co for good. I believe I have never told the names of my tentmates. Well there is Jesse Shipton, Olie Foot, Frank Boyanton, James Clark, James Garner [William J. Garner], Richard Pierce [Richmond B. Pierce], the one is a verry steady man.17 That is six besides myself. And the tents are about ten feet square so you may guess how much room there is left. There several that leaves their things laying abut the tent instead of putting them in their knappsack. But that happens in all crowds. Olie Foot had to stand on guard two hours extra yesterday for not saluting General McDowel [Irvin McDowell], The officers are particular about it. Mcdowel came along the road where Olie was on guard and he did not think of presenting arms so Mcdowel called the officer of the guard and gave him two hours extra to punish him.

  October 26, 1861

  I am just ready to go on Battalion Drill with knapsacks again and if they don’t quit drilling us so hard with our knapsacks on, there will be half of us on the sick list. We were never drilled so hard before as we have been for three or four days.

  October 27, 1861

  And I am sitting by a fire on the hillside near the Arlington house. I was chosen this morning as Brigade guard around Headquarters which is the Arlington House and I was on the first relief and have just come off. My number is the third and that number comes on the Porch (or Piazza I suppose) and it is a verry pretty place, as I have a view of the city of Washington & Georgetown both. It is and old house at least has that appearance but fireproof in evry respect. It is built of some stone material I suppose. It is plastered all over with cement so I cant tell what the material consists of. There is considerable iron about it. There is or has been a verry nice garden as there is a great many kinds of flowers in it amongst the weeds and some of most all kinds of trees and shrubs. It has all appearance of being an old garden. The house is built of rather old style. The Potomac is full view of us also tide water it is said for we are right opposite the long Bridge in sight of the capitol and white house (I was past both once). Well I must eat my dinner. We are about one mile from camp and are not allowed to go home so we have to bring rations for twenty four hours.

  The Potomac river is about half a mile from here and there is a gradual rise to within about forty rods of the house of about one foot in ten I should think. And from that to the top of the hill it is about double that I should think. At any rate I want to give you some idea and you may imagine the rest. And it is about as pretty as you can imagine. Betwixt the river and the house there is various kinds of trees such a cedars, verry pretty ones, prettier than the Wisconsin cedars. The limbs begin to put out from them at about three to six feet from the ground. And keep getting shorter to the top which is a verry small twig and on top of that twig there is a single leaf. You know the kind of leaves of cedars and that finishes the height of the tree. The foliage is verry thick on them. Upon the whole they put me in mind of the cedars of Lebanon that we read about in the Scriptures. Those cedars constitute about half of the forest twixt here and the river. Then there is the walnuts, oaks and quakenasps & maples and various trees such as there is in the Badger State. And there is some chestnuts. Then there is the Persimon. That I shall ever recollect at any rate
the fruit that grows on them. For some of the boys brought some into camp soon after we came to where we are now and I got hold of one and it looked ripe but I didnt take a second taste of it as evrybody may know that has ever tasted a green Persimon but I came down here afterwards and got some that was good for they are the nicest kind of fruit when ripe but they are all gone or I would have some for there is a tree right before me. And there is some pine such as the Badger pine. There is no underbrush and it is quite clean. All this is in front of the house that you can see, for back of the house it is a thick woods of small timber but no underbrush for all about here the trees are trimmed up the same as on orchards.

  October 28, 1861

  And all is right this morning. And I am waiting for the new Pickets guards to come. But it will be about one hour first. I can hear the Drums at camp. It is for guards. I want my breakfast although I went up to camp last night and got a good supper, all I could eat. We have plenty of beef now a days but I am afraid we wont have it verry long. Well it is evening or after dinner and I do not feel verry well but eat a little dinner. And I guess I will get along verry well if I kind of starve myself. And don’t eat verry well. Payday will soon come and then I will fix evrything aright.