Four Years With the Iron Brigade
Page 48
We have supper & start out to go 2 miles which brings us right to the RR where the track is turned upside down & looking away to the right & toward the River we see different parties burning the ties & bending the rail by heating them with the ties. We stack arms & the right flank of the Regt goes to destroying the road & the left is on guard. & now as far as we can see, we see the work of Destruction goes on. & it is now verry dark & tis verry cold. As soon as we get away from the fires which are verry warm, we shiver with cold. The wind blows a hurricane. At last orders comes for us to make ourselves as comfortable as we can. All is quiet with the pickets & so we make bed & lay down but cant sleep for cold. The wind pierces right through our clothing. Lucky for me that I brought my old coat along to wear over the other. It makes considerable difference in the warmth. We now see with our own eyes what is our buisness here & wonder what will be done tomorrow.226
December 9, 1864
And fine day. We march at daylight. Here the Boys killed a fine cow they captured & some got & some didnt. We march on down the road for 5 or 6 miles & find it destroyed or troops at work destroying it. Some have been at work all night. At last we get a share assigned our Regt & we soon turn it upside down, which we do as fast as a man can walk & get it about half burning. We stop and get dinner & then finish it & then set around the fires & smoke & chat & speculate on what next to be done & things to numerous to mention. There being a big pile of corn near by, the boys are appropriating it & parching & roasting it & the officers are feeding their horses out of it & soon the Butchers bring along the beef cattle & they are herded on the pile. We lay here till 4 P.M. & for some 2 hours, troops have been passing & now again we hear some skirmishing, the first today. We start out & our Brigade streatches out on the road again & tear up about a mile more. This being left next to us. This we soon do & then come back to where we lay in the afternoon & went into camp for the night. & as soon as camped a detail is made to go out & forage & [after] about 3 hours, the four that went out from our Co came in with a lot of as nice beef as I ever tasted. We had all we all wanted. I having carried my big stew kettle so I said if some one would get the water I would set up and cook it full. The water was soon brought & I got about 10 pounds to cooking. & about this time the rain begins to fall pretty fast. And rained all the time I was cooking which was till about 11 P.M. & while cooking, I roasted and ate near 1 pound so hungry for beef was I.
The camp is pretty noisy, most of the boys that went out got liquors of one kind & another, viz. Peach Brandy & apple brandy & applejack &c. All the best of liquors & some have used them rather too freely. Well I got into the tent & go to bed.
December 10, 1864
And we are up early & get ready to march at daylight. But don’t march till after 10 A.M. All the time since 5 A.M. this morning, troops, wagons &c have been passing back so we are pretty sure that our raid is at an end and a number of the boys are so drunk they can scarcely walk & some dead drunk & the Doctor gives them a Potion that would sober them. At last we fall in & start, get on to the road & our Regt is taken as flankers. So we strung out & marched outside of the road, keeping in sight of the column. We marched on till dark without stopping much, when we camped in a large field with plenty of water & rail fences near by. Soon have large fires which we need for the rain of last night & it all freezing, making a heavy sheet which kept dropping from the trees all day keeping us wet & many of them had wet blankets. We got supper & enjoyed ourselves well as we could for we are verry sore & sleepy.
Just as we were camping, the enemy came upon our rear guard which they had Pressed hard all day. But didnt gain anything & now our Boys thought they would pay them for their termerity so the rear infantry laid down to each side of the road in the fence corners & the cavelry was ordered to fall back in disorder & let the rebs come on. & when they got well in between our fellows, our Boys fired, killed 4, wounded 5 & captured several. So this made them mad & saucy & watchful so our Gen thought we had better take a better position. So our Regt was thrown around to protect the right flank & a Picket of 20 men & proper number of non commissioned officers were put out. I was the Sergt of the Picket & this took considerable time. So now twas after 10 P.M. We made 3 Posts of the 20 men. I run one Post till 2 A.M. then woke the corporal & I went to sleep. It has rained most all the time and now is raining. I take rails & lay them in the fire, dry & warm them & lay them down, put my rubber over me & have short naps till daylight.227
December 11, 1864
When I got breakfast & we have orders to be ready to march at 7 A.M. All quiet. We are about 4 miles from the courthouse. We join the Regt & start after evrything else is gone by. We have to be rear guard today. So we march on slow on account of the teams being stuck in the mud but we get along. At last strike the Plank road which makes us feel better for we know that we go back. The Pioneers & cavelry obstructed the road behind us with falling trees. At last coming to a large field, we formed line of battle & drew rations & get dinner. From now on we would march a ways & then form line of Battle & so on till we struck the river about sundown.
We now had formed line of battle 10 times & never fired a shot. The Rebs were scarce & afraid to show themselves. We crossed the river & after going about ½ mile through the worst kind of mud, we halted & once for today could say we felt a little safe. & now a division of the 2nd Corps takes the rear. Well we start & march 3 miles or so, having to go clear past all the other troops to get a camp. We halted and camped for the night & verry glad were we too. We got supper & pitch tent & go to bed. I being on Picket last night, I feel like sleeping tonight. We feel quite at home here. We had a hard time of being rear guard & now all the army is in rear, we feel good. We calculate to go home tomorrow or back to where we started from.
December 12, 1864
And fine day & we were awoke at daylight to get ready to march. Which we done without hurry & waited till about 9 A.M. & the 3 Division came along. We start in & march slow. The road is hard frooze. Twas verry cold last night. We march on till noon when we turn into the timber & make coffee & after staying here near 2 hours, we start. Now we see that there is no troops in rear of us today. Again we march on steady & reach the camp outside of the works (the one we left when we started out) about 4 P.M. and happy as could be to be where we can get rest. We have to camp out as the 6th Corps occupies our quarters yet. We pitch tents & get supper & mail comes. I get 2 letters from Mother & one from Lu & the State Journal & 2 papers Mother sent.
December 13, 1864
Cold & windy. We lay in camp & most evry tent has a fire in front which makes it verry smoky & causes us to have sore eyes. There is many rumors as to what we are going to do & will do and where our new camp will be. & some say we are going to make another raid. But time will tell what we will do. The weather is verry cold.
December 14, 1864
And showery, cold & cloudy, verry disagreeable. We lay in camp today with the usual rumors. The news is good from all the armies, Sherman is all right.
December 15, 1864
The usual rumor about what we are to do. Officers say that Gen Bragg has been out & picked out a good camp for the Brigade & that we are going to it tomorrow.
December 16, 1864
Warm day. We pack up & in due time we start & come to our new camp about 2 miles east of where we lay & it is a fine camp, right in the woods & fine chance for building. After considerable truble, we get in the right shape & camped till we get our Shanties built to spread them on. The Major got 5 axes to the Co. & we had to put handles in them. But we having an ax of our own, I & George & Richard went to cutting logs & let Thomas do the cooking &c. Richard Turnbull228 is the man I took in to bunk with & make the four in number. & he is a fine man, good morals & quiet.
December 17, 1864
And fine day. We work hard today & get up the body of our shanty & we are getting along fine. The Boys are getting along fine. We let Thomas do the work of cooking &c & we work on shanty.
December 18, 1864
December 19, 1864
And a little stormy but not so much so as to stop us from work. We got moved into ours today. I built the chimney. We had to build it of mud. By building a framework & packing in mud around them and build a fire in & burn the wood out & that will bake it similar to a brick. Making a good chimney & it draws well. I believe I have just hit it.
December 20, 1864
And fine day. & we keep finishing our shanty which is near completion. We rested well last night on our new bunks. All are at work & getting moved into their shanties &c. The news from all quarters is good. Sherman has reached the defences of Savannah & has invested the city. & Thomas has whipped Hood & captured many thousand Prisnors & guns &c. And still capturing.229
Evrything goes well now. The rumor is that Jeff Davis is seriously ill & evrything in hubbub about Richmond.
December 21, 1864
And the same as yesterday. We are short on for rations caused by us eating so hearty while working hard on our shanties & we have to buy some. There has been an order issued to the effect that no more whiskey shall be issued except on an order from Corps Headquarters. This I am happy to see & the time will come I hope & believe when there will none be allowed at all. Then we will soon have peace.
December 22, 1864
And fine day. About the same routine of duty. There was a Picket detail from our Regt today & Thomas & George was on it leaving me & Richard alone for the next 48 hours. I got a letter from Mother today. Also a pair of socks & the Journal. All is well, they are having verry cold weather up there now. The thermometer has been down to 30 Deg below zero.
December 23, 1864
And rather cold & cloudy. Things the same as yesterday. I worked some for the Chaplain today fixing up his big tent comfortable. There was 20 recruits came for the Regt & we had to take them in amongst us, so Richard & I took two. They sleep in Georges & Thomas Bunk & they will be assigned to companies in the morning.
December 24, 1864
And fine day & all is well. We did not get any recruits in our company. George & Thomas come in, the Pickets being relieved. The Boys are talking, wondering & wishing about tomorrow & what they will do. There is going to be nothing done here that I can hear of to make it noticeable as Christmas Day. But we, for all that, will enjoy it the best we know how.
December 25, 1864, Christmas Day
And a fine Christmas day. & nothing unusual transpires. We have the army rations for dinner &c. I put in most of the day writing letters, one to Henry & one to Mother in answer to some I received not long since. I wrote Henry to send me a box of stuff such as Butter & honey &c and what they thought best. Some of the boys had boxes come in good order too, so this encouraged me to send for one. We had church services today at the usual hour & prayer meeting at night.
The news is good, it is from Rebel sources that Sherman has captured Savannah with 17,000 prisnors & all its stores &c pertaining to it. And Thomas has captured 13,000 of Hoods men & 61 pieces of artillery & still following him. All is well all around & the goose hangs high. The last Herald N. Y. has a full & graphic account of the operations of both armies which verry interesting. I & my tentmates have read it. It is many columns long.
December 26, 1864
And fine day. & the whole Regt. is on Police duty cleaning up the parade ground & all grounds bordering on the camp. All have their shanties & some are putting up shelves &c for convenience sake. The camp presents a fine appearance. The ground is excellent & the camp is so admirably laid out & the buildings so well planned & as well done, that with the few scattering trees of evergreen makes upon the whole a verry pretty & pleasant camp. I hope we will be permitted to enjoy it till we go home which some of the Boys think will not be long. But I must say I can not think so, I think the people are not punished enough. I got a letter from Cornelia today. Also a pair of gloves from Mother. All of which I glad to get. She & Mother was well.
December 27, 1864
And fine day. I am on guard today as Sergt of the Guard & also commandant, there being a corporal also to help me. The Privates are recruits, evry one, & are as green as can be concerning guard duty. So I have to teach them. There was another detail for picket from our regt. The picket duty is light & we have only a little way to go, something like half mile.
December 29, 1864
And fine day but chilly. I help in making out 2 more of the rolls today. We got along fine. I wrote most of the day & find it considerable of a job to write out one roll. There has to be four made out, so there will be one to make out tomorrow.
December 30, 1864
And fine day, but cold. I help the Lieut finish the rolls which proved to be an all day [job], almost. They will be ready & in good order by tomorrow when we will be mustered for 2 months more pay.
I promised the Chaplain some time since that I would fix up his Bunk when he was ready & so he called on me today, but I couldnt go for I had to help finish the rolls & when we got the rolls done, I had to take the company out on general Police to sweep up & carry off rubbish that lay about the camp & with this finished, my work was finished so I cleaned up my gun & accoutriments ready for the Inspection & muster tomorrow. Lieut F.A. Boynton came up yesterday so as to muster out & muster in again as Captain & also to muster for pay. He look better than when he went away but he says he is no better. The sore under his arm is worse, it has turned to a regular abcess and a bad one too. He expects to go back to the Hospital soon, he says he has good treatment there.
December 31, 1864
And stormy & cold, verry unpleasant. We were mustered. We fell in in the street without arms & marched up to the Colonels door & there he call the roll off the muster roll & those present answered & then returned to our quarters. Soon there was a detail for Picket taking 2 of my tentmates, viz Tom & George leaving Dick & my self all alone. So we will have a fine time writing &c. I finished writing a letter to Lu which I commenced several days since.
There has been great many promotions of late & among the rest our old Sergt major has risen to Adjutant & William Booth, a Private of our Co has been promoted to fill his place. Well this as evrybody knows is the last day of the year & the last day of the week & last day of the Month &c as also being New years eve. There is nothing transpiring to note but I expect if I were home there would be. How are they that are in civil life tonight. Well I cant say as I am unhappy. I enjoy myself verry well, sitting & chatting with my good tentmates.
1865
The Seventh Wisconsin spent the winter of 1864-1865 near Yellow House on the Weldon Railroad near Petersburg, where the Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia remained locked in a deadly embrace. Lieutenant Colonel Hollon Richardson became the fourth man to command the Seventh (the others were Joseph Vandor, William Robinson, and Mark Finnicum), but he was not mustered as colonel.
With the coming of warmer weather, the armies began to move. The Seventh Wisconsin saw more fighting on February 6-7, 1865, again at Hatcher’s Run. A few days later the Sixth and Seventh Wisconsin were ordered to garrison duty at Baltimore, but the order was countermanded at the last minute and the two regiments were assigned instead to the First Provisional Brigade along with the Ninety-first New York Infantry.
On the first of April 1865, Lieutenant Colonel Richardson’s Seventh Wisconsin participated in the fighting at Five Forks, Virginia, on the extreme right of Lee’s stretched line. The attack, launched against an entrenched enemy, drove them through an open woods and an open field beyond before occupying the captured Confederate trenches. The next morning, Grant’s hammer stroke south of Petersburg along the Sixth Corps’ front collapsed Lee’s lines and triggered the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. It wa
s the beginning of the end. On April 9, after a long forced march, the Iron Brigade enjoyed what one historian described as “the proud satisfaction of assisting in the capture of the famous army of General Lee, at Appomattox Court House.” The long war was finally over.