by Bruce Catton
One after another, flags cased under a gray sky, the regiments moved out of the camp grounds and took to the road for Fredericksburg. The 24th New Jersey kept the cadence a little while after it got on the road, instead of lapsing at once into route step, and struck up a little ditty which it had composed to the tune of the John Brown song:
"We'll soon light our fires on the Rappahannock shore; We'll soon light our fires on the Rappahannock shore; And tell Father Abraham he needn't call for more-While we go marching on."
Down the road they went, and the song died away, and the army trudged off to the east.
Bibliography
The principal source regarding troop movements, battle orders, etc., is of course that voluminous and invaluable set of volumes, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902). In addition, the following works were consulted:
BOOKSDEALING WITH THE WAR AS A WHOLE, AND WITH ITS POLITICAL AND MILITARY BACKGROUND
Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, by Carl Sandburg. 4 vols. New York, 1939.
Abraham Lincoln and Men of War Times, by Alexander K. McClure.
Philadelphia, 1892. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Grant-Lee edition, 4 vols. New
York, 1884-87.
Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, by William Swinton. New York, 1866.
The Diary of Gideon Welles. 3 vols. Boston & New York, 1911. The Diary of a Public Man, with Prefatory Notes by F. Lauriston Bullard. Rutgers, 1946.
The Hidden Civil War: The Story of the Copperheads, by Wood Gray. New York, 1942.
History of the Civil War, by James Ford Rhodes. 1-vol. edition. New York, 1917.
Lincoln's War Cabinet, by Burton J. Hendrick. Boston, 1946.
The Movement for Peace without Victory during the Civil War, by Elbert J. Benton. Publication No. 99 of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, 1918.
Pictorial History of the Civil War, by Benton J. Lossing. 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1886.
Photographic History of the Civil War, edited by Francis Trevelyan Miller. 10 vols. New York, 1911.
The Rebellion Record, edited by Frank Moore. 12 vols. New York, 1862-71.
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES,BIOGRAPHICAL STUDIES, ETC.
Advance and Retreat, by John B. Hood. New Orleans, 1880. Autobiography of Oliver Otis Howard. 2 vols. New York, 1907. Correspondence of John Sedgwick, Major General. 2 vols. Privately
printed, DeVinne Press, 1902. Days and Events: 1860-1866, by Colonel Thomas L. Livermore. Boston,
1920.
Four Years with the Army of the Potomac, by Brevet Major General Regis de Trobriand. Translated by George K. Dauchy. Boston, 1889.
From Bull Run to Chancellorsville, by Brevet Major General Newton
Martin Curtis. New York, 1906. General Hancock, by Brevet Brigadier General Francis A. Walker. New
York, 1894.
General Philip Kearny, Battle Soldier of Five Wars, by Thomas Kearny. New York, 1937.
Grant and Lee: A Study in Personality and Generalship, by Major General J. F. C. Fuller. New York, 1933.
Jeb Stuart, by John W. Thomason, Jr. New York, 1930.
The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, by Colonel George Meade. 2 vols. New York, 1913.
Life and Letters of Wilder Dwight, Lieutenant Colonel, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry. Boston, 1868.
Life of General George Gordon Meade, by Richard Meade Bache. Philadelphia, 1897.
Lee's Lieutenants, by Douglas Southall Freeman. 3 vols. New York, 1942. Major General Hiram G. Berry, by Edward K. Gould. Portland, Me., 1899.
McClellan's Own Story, by Major General George B. McClellan. New York, 1887.
Meade's Headquarters, 1863-65, by Colonel Theodore Lyman. Boston, 1922.
Military Reminiscences of the Civil War, by Jacob Dolson Cox. 2 vols. New York, 1900.
Personal Recollections of the Civil War, by Brigadier General John Gibbon. New York, 1928.
The Pinkertons: A Detective Dynasty, by Richard Wilmer Rowan. Boston, 1931.
Reminiscences of General Herman Haupt. Milwaukee, 1901. Reminiscences of the Civil War, by General John B. Gordon. New York, 1905.
R. E. Lee: A Biography, by Douglas Southall Freeman. 4 vols. New York, 1934.
Robert E. Lee, the Soldier, by Major General Sir Frederick Maurice. Boston, 1925.
Selections from the Letters and Diaries of Brevet Brigadier General Wil-loughby Babcock, by WLUoughby Babcock, Jr. New York, 1922.
The Spy of the Rebellion; Being a True History of the Spy System of the United States Army during the Late Rebellion, by Allan Pinkerton. New York, 1883.
Stonewall Jackson, by Colonel G. F. R. Henderson. London & New York, 1936.
Under the Old Flag, by Major General James Harrison Wilson. 2 vols. New York, 1912.
SOLDIERS'REMINISCENCES, REGIMENTAL HISTORIES, ETC.
Awhile with the Blue, by Benjamin Borton. Passaic, N.J., 1898.
The Bivouac and the Battlefield: or, Campaign Sketches in Virginia and
Maryland, by Captain George Freeman Noyes. New York, 1863. A Brief History of the 28th Regiment New York State Volunteers, by
C. W. Boyce. Buffalo, 1896. The Diary of an Enlisted Man, by Lawrence Van Alstyne. New Haven,
1910.
The Diary of a Line Officer, by Captain Augustus C. Brown. New York, 1906.
The Diary of a Young Officer, by Brevet Major Joseph Marshall Favill,
57th New York. Chicago, 1909. A Duryee Zouave, by Thomas P. Southwick. Privately printed. New
York, 1930.
Following the Greek Cross: or, Memories of the 6th Army Corps, by
Brevet Brigadier General Thomas W. Hyde. Boston, 1894. Four Years Campaigning in the Army of the Potomac, by Daniel G.
Crotty. Grand Rapids, 1874. Forty-six Months with the 4th Rhode Island Volunteers, by Corporal
George H. Allen. Providence, 1887. Hardtack and Coffee, by John D. Billings. Boston, 1887. A History of the "Bucktails," by O. R. Howard Thomson and William H.
Rauch. Philadelphia, 1906. History of Duryee's Brigade, by Franklin B. Hough. Albany, 1864. A History of the 11th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, compiled from
the Official Records by Horton and Teverbaugh, Members of the
Regiment. Dayton, 1866. A History of the 5th Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers, by William
Child. Bristol, N.H., 1893. History of the 51st Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, by Thomas H.
Parker. Philadelphia, 1869. History of the First Brigade New Jersey Volunteers, by Camille Baquet.
Trenton, 1910.
History of the First Regiment Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, by R. I.
Holcombe. Stillwater, Minn., 1916. History of the 40th (Mozart) Regiment, by Fred C. Floyd. Boston, 1909. History of the 45th Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry,
by Allen D. Albert. Williamsport, Pa., 1912. History of the 100th Regiment of New York State Volunteers, by George
H. Stowits. Buffalo, 1870. History of the Second Army Corps, by Brevet Brigadier General Francis
A. Walker. New York, 1886. History of the 16th Connecticut Volunteers, by B. F. Blakeslee. Hartford,
1875.
History of the 10th Massachusetts Battery, by John D. Billings. Boston, 1881.
History of the 3rd Indiana Cavalry, by W. N. Pickerell. Indianapolis, 1906.
History of the 3rd Regiment of Wisconsin Veteran Volunteer Infantry, by Edwin E. Bryant. Madison, Wis., 1891.
History of the 12th Massachusetts Volunteers, by Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin F. Cook. Boston, 1882.
The History of a Volunteer Regiment, by Gouverneur Morris. New York, 1891.
/ Rode with Stonewall, by Henry Kyd Douglas. Chapel Hill, 1940.
The Irish Brigade and Its Campaigns, by Captain D. P. Conyngham. New York, 1867.
Letters of a War Correspondent, by Charles A. Page. Boston, 1899.
A Military History of the 8th Ohio Volu
nteer Infantry, by Franklin Sawyer. Cleveland, 1881.
Music on the March, by Frank Rauscher. Philadelphia, 1892.
Musket and Sword, by Edwin C. Bennett. Boston, 1900.
Notes of a Staff Officer of Our First New Jersey Brigade on the Seven Days Battle on the Peninsula, 1862, by E. Burd Grubb. Moorestown, N.J., 1910.
Opdyke Tigers: 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, by Charles T. Clark. Columbus, 1895.
Personal Recollections of the Civil War, by James Madison Stone. Boston, 1918.
Recollections of a Boy Member of Co. I, 14th Maine Volunteers, by Ira
B. Gardner. Lewiston, Me., 1902. Recollections of the Civil War, by Mason Whiting Tyler. New York, 1912. Recollections of a Private, by Warren Lee Goss. New York, 1890. Reminiscences of the Civil War, by Theodore M. Nagle. Erie, Pa., 1903. Reminiscences of the 19th Massachusetts Regiment, by Captain John G. B. Adams. Boston, 1899. The Road to Richmond: Civil War Memoirs of Major Abner R. Small,
edited by Harold Adams Small. Berkeley, Calif., 1939. Service with the 6th Wisconsin Volunteers, by Brevet Brigadier General
Rufus R. Dawes. Marietta, O., 1890. The Seventh Regiment: A Record, by Major George L. Wood. New York,
1865.
A Sketch of the 8th New York Cavalry, by Henry Norton. Norwich, N.Y., 1888.
A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, by David Lane. Privately printed, 1905.
The Story of the 15th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, by Andrew E. Ford. Clinton, Mass., 1898.
Three Years in the Army of the Potomac, by Henry N. Blake. Boston, 1865.
The 20th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, by Lieutenant
Colonel George A. Bruce. Boston, 1906. The 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, by a
Member of Company C. Indianapolis, 1899. The "Ulster Guard" and the War of the Rebellion, by Theodore B. Gates.
New York, 1879. Under Five Commanders, by Jacob H. Cole. Paterson, N.J., 1907.
"War Music and War Psychology in the Civil War," by James Stone. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, Vol. 36, No. 4, October 1941.
War Years with Jeb Stuart, by Lieutenant Colonel W. W. Blackford. New York, 1945.
BOOKSRELATING TO SPECIFIC BATTLES AND CAMPAIGNS, MILITARY TACTICS AND WEAPONS, ETC.
The Antietam and Fredericksburg, by Brevet Brigadier General Francis Winthrop Palfrey. New York, 1882.
The Army of Northern Virginia in 1862, by Lieutenant Colonel William Allan. Boston, 1892.
The Army under Pope, by John C. Ropes. New York, 1881.
Atlas of the Battlefield of Antietam. Prepared by the Antietam Battlefield Board. Published by the War Department, 1904.
Camp and Outpost Duty for Infantry, by Brigadier General Daniel Butter-field. New York, 1862.
The Campaign in Maryland and Virginia, by Lieutenant E. W. Sheppard of the 10th Battalion, Manchester Regiment. New York & London, 1911.
Campaigns in Virginia. Vols. I and XIV, Papers of the Military Historical
Society of Massachusetts, edited by Theodore Dwight. Boston, 1895. General John Sedgwick: An Address, by Adjutant General Martin T.
McMahon, VI Army Corps, before the Vermont Officers Reunion
Society at Montpelier, Vt., Nov. 11, 1880. The Generalship of Ulysses S. Grant, by Colonel J. F. C. Fuller. New
York, 1929.
A History of the United States Navy, by Edgar Stanton Maclay. 3 vols. New York, 1898.
History of the Campaign of the Army of Virginia, by Brevet Brigadier General George H. Gordon. Boston, 1880.
In Memoriam: George Sears Greene. Published by authority of the State of New York under supervision of the New York Monuments Commission, 1909.
Indiana at Antietam. Report of the Indiana Antietam Monument Commission. Indianapolis, 1912.
Joseph K. F. Mansfield: A Narrative of Events Connected with His Mortal Wounding, by John Mead Gould. Portland, Me., 1895.
The Long Arm of Lee, by Jennings C. Wise. 2 vols. Lynchburg, Va., 1915.
Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the United States,
by Major William Gilham. Philadelphia, 1861. New York at Antietam. Published by the New York Monuments Commission. Albany, 1923. Papers of the Kansas Commandery, Military Order of the Loyal Legion
of the United States. 1894. Papers Read before the Missouri Commandery, Military Order of the
Loyal Legion of the United States. St. Louis, 1887. The Peninsula: McClellan's Campaigns of 1862, by Major General Alex
S. Webb. New York, 1885. Pennsylvania at Antietam. Report of the Antietam Battlefield Memorial
Commission of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, 1906. Record of Dedicatory Ceremonies held on the Battlefield of Manassas, or
Second Bull Run . . . under Auspices of the Veterans Association of
the 5th Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry. Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, by Lieutenant Colonel
William F. Fox. Albany, 1889. Report of Major General George B. McClellan, from July 26, 1861, to
Nov. 7, 1862. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1864. Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics, by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel William J.
Hardee. Philadelphia, 1855. The Second Admiral: A Life of David Dixon Porter, by Richard S. West.
New York, 1937.
The War of Secession, 1861-62, by Major G. W. Redway. London & New York, 1910.
Notes
The general bibliography lists all of the works which were consulted in the preparation of this text. No attempt has been made to cite the authority for every statement of fact. It has seemed advisable, however, to list the sources for direct quotations and to give at least a general indication of the works which have been principally drawn on for each chapter. This material is as follows:
CHAPTER ONE 1. There Was Talk of Treason
A full account of the railroad man's meeting with McClellan, his dealings with Hooker, Sturgis, and Stanton, and the problems which were visited on him in connection with the second battle of Bull Run is to be found in General Herman Haupt's Reminiscences. Use has also been made of material in the Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 3, and of McClellan's autobiography. In his Military Reminiscences, General Jacob Cox shows what the second defeat at Bull Run looked like from the fortified lines near Alexandria. Good sketches of Hancock appear in the works cited under Footnote 3.
Specific references are:
1. Reminiscences of General Herman Haupt.
2. Ibid.
3. History of the Second Army Corps, by Brevet Brigadier General Francis
A. Walker. See also the same author's General Hancock; Following the Greek
Cross, by Brevet Brigadier General Thomas W. Hyde; Meade's Headquarters,
by Colonel Theodore Lyman, and Brevet Major Joseph M. Favill's Diary of a
Young Officer.
4. Haupt's Reminiscences.
5. Military Reminiscences of the Civil War, by Jacob D. Cox.
2. We Were Never Again Eager
The innocent, romantic spirit in which young men went off to war in 1861
(and which they shed quite as rapidly as need be) is reflected in any number of the accounts written by participants. Sometimes the account expresses the writer's individual point of view, as in the case of The Bivouac and the Battlefield, by Captain George Freeman Noyes, who wrote his book while the war was still going on—and who, being a staff officer, seems to have retained his innocence a trifle longer than most. Sometimes it is revealed in the accounts of the things green officers and men did as they struggled to turn themselves into soldiers. Two appealing pictures of the formation of the famous Black Hat Brigade are available—one in the memoirs of its first commander, General John Gibbon, and one in the regimental history of one of its components, the 6th Wisconsin Infantry. Specific references are:
1. Three Years in the Army of the Potomac, by Henry N. Blake; Following
the Greek Cross, and The Diary of an E
nlisted Man, by Lawrence Van Alstyne.
2. The Bivouac and the Battlefield.
3. Personal Recollections of the Civil War, by Brigadier General John Gibbon. (A book well worth reading; a likable and admirable soldier unconsciously reveals himself in it.)
4. For the foregoing incidents, see Service with the 6th Wisconsin Volunteers, by Brevet Brigadier General Rufus R. Dawes.
5. War Years with Jeb Stuart, by Lieutenant Colonel W. W. Blackford.
This amazing fight which introduced the Black Hat Brigade to actual combat
is of course described briefly in all standard accounts of the second battle of Bull Run. Most of the details in the text are from General Gibbon and General Dawes.
3. You Must Never Be Frightened
Federal reports of the second battle of Bull Run are to be found in the Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 2. Running accounts of the battle from the Federal viewpoint are contained in General George H. Gordon's History of the Campaign of the Army of Virginia and in The Army under Pope, by John C. Ropes. For the Confederate side, see Douglas Southall Freeman's exhaustive accounts in his R. E. Lee and Lee's Lieutenants, and Colonel G. F. R. Henderson's Stonewall Jackson. General Pope's curious special pleading about the battle is in Volume II, Part 2, of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.
Specific references are:
1. The Bivouac and the Battlefield.
2. Under the Old Flag, by Major General James Harrison Wilson.
3. A good study of that extremely fascinating character, Kearny, is contained in General Philip Kearny: Battle Soldier of Five Wars, by Thomas Kearny, from which the quotations in this paragraph are taken.
4. Four Years Campaigning in the Army of the Potomac, by Daniel G. Crotty.
5. Service with the 6th Wisconsin Volunteers.
6. Ibid.
7. A Duryee Zouave, by Thomas P. Southwick.
8. History of the 12th Massachusetts Volunteers, by Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin F. Cook.