Delavan S. Miller

“ In the morning the woods had almost entirely disappeared, and in our front a splendid line of breastworks had sprung up as if by magic. Those who have never been in the business can have no correct conception of how quickly and how quietly an order is executed at the front. Our new railroad runs but a few rods in front of our camp, and it seems like old times to see the trains moving, and to hear the whistle and bell. This forenoon all the bands and drum corps of the division were ordered to report to division headquarters, which we did. ”

“ Washington in the sixties was not the beautiful city that it is today. The nation’s capital was one vast camp of armed men and the city was circled with a cordon of forts and earthworks. Early in the war the Confederate flag could be seen from the dome of the capitol, flying on Munson’s hill, while the exchange of shots by the pickets was heard at the White House more than once. ”

“ You stand in the shade of a tree which screens you from any reb who may be crawling about for a shot at some careless Yank.
The moon sends a beam through the leaves right into your eye, and you recall that it is the same old moon way down in Virginia that used to shine up in York State. You think how you and some one else who is far away used to lean across the gate, look at the moon and then at each other and sigh.
Then you wonder if some one is thinking of you. [Pg 230] You wish you might get a slight wound so you could go home where all would be talking of your bravery. ”

“ The next move in the great game of war between Grant and Lee was Cold Harbor—a name indelibly impressed upon every survivor of the campaign. It recalls two weeks of hunger, thirst, hardships that language is inadequate to describe; unsuccessful assaults and losses, that tell the story of most desperate fighting. ”

“ The shades of evening were coming on when the bugles sounded the “assembly” and we marched away with light hearts and heavy knapsacks, for all green soldiers are bound to overload on their first march.
That night we lay out on the ground alongside of the Orange & Alexandria railroad. When morning dawned we found that there were other troops bound for somewhere, too. Every man made his own coffee and we ate our first meal of “hardtack,” and were not long in finding out that the safest way was to break them in small pieces and sort the worms out. ”

“ WAR IS HELL.
To fully appreciate Gen. Sherman’s definition of war, one needs to be at a field hospital on the outskirts of some great battlefield where the ghastly surroundings of death and suffering are more terrible than on the battlefield itself.
The day after our retreat from Bull Run our regiment was ordered to proceed by train to Fairfax station, where all the wounded were sent for transportation to Washington. We rode on the top of freight cars, every man with a loaded musket ready to shoot any of Mosby’s men who might try to wreck the train. ”

“ The most aggravating thing to the soldiers on a march is the unevenness of the marching. First you are rushed along so that the short legged ones are compelled to double-quick to keep up, and then there will be a halt of perhaps fifteen to thirty minutes when you are kept standing in the broiling sun ”

“ Earthworks that had swarmed with soldiers were now deserted. Everywhere there were bleaching bones of horses and men; grinning skulls, disabled artillery caissons, rusty sabres, bayonets, gun-barrels, canteens, haversacks, weather-stained clothing and mounds of earth that marked the resting places of many whose army record was closed with the single word “missing.” ”

“ There is no greater blessing vouchsafed to man than memory, which enables one to live over again the past, and so I recall with pleasure the many happy days in my early army life, when we were doing duty in the forts around Washington, and before the gold plating of a soldier’s life had been worn off by the stern realities of active service. ”

“ On every hand there were evidences of the terrific fighting that had been going on for several days. The fields were strewn with clothing, knapsacks, canteens, muskets, dead horses and broken artillery caissons, and the trees were riddled with bullets, shot and shell. The dead had been buried but with such haste that in many places the bodies were scarcely covered. One time as we came to a halt I was horrified to see a human hand protruding from the earth near my foot. ”

“ Ewell had broken through the Union lines in a desperate effort to turn the right flank of Grant’s army.
THE PAGEANTRY OF WAR.
War certainly has its fascinations as well as its horrors, and there is an enchantment that thrills in the movements of large bodies of soldiery with their bayonets glistening in the sun, the flags and guidons flying, the trumpets of the cavalry ringing [Pg 88] piercingly and thrillingly, the field batteries rattling and rumbling along the road, with a score or more of bands playing. Nothing can make so striking or enchanting a picture. ”

“ Much has been said and written about Virginia mud, but to appreciate its sticking qualities one needs to march and lie down and sleep in it.
The boys used to wish that the editors who were writing the “On to Richmond” editorials could be compelled to take a twenty-five mile march in the mud loaded with a thirty or forty pound knapsack, a musket, forty rounds of ammunition, canteen and haversack with five days’ rations.
At Alexandria we boarded an old transport and made ourselves as comfortable as possible, lying out on the open decks in our rain-soaked clothing. ”

“ Fife and drum have been heard in every camp and upon all of the battlefields of the world. And for a marching column there is nothing like martial music of the good old-fashioned kind, such as inspired the continental heroes at Lexington, Yorktown and Bunker Hill, and rallied the boys of ’61, and later led them in all the marches through the South. ”

“ When Hulser had gotten his regiment lined up to suit him he said to the officer, “In ten minutes the 2d New York will capture that rebel battery unless they limber up and get out of our way.” Drawing his sword he gave the command, “Forward, guide center, double-quick,” and away went the men with a rush, for everyone probably felt that they would like to show the officious staff officer that they were no cowards. But when the Johnnies saw that glistening line of bayonets moving down on them they pulled up and ran away. ”

“ A little older than I, of splendid physique and health, brave, jolly and unselfish, and one who would stand by you until the last. All through the long marches, hardships and battles incident to the campaigns from Spottsylvania to Appomattox we shared our rations, drank from the same canteen and slept under the same blanket. Words are inadequate to express what such comradeship means. No crucible ever tested metal more thoroughly than army life tested human character. ”

“ Probably few of the present generation are aware how much of the great civil war was fought within an easy day’s journey of the city. Two of the most celebrated battles of the war, in which 25,000 men were killed and wounded, were fought but twenty-five miles away, and at Arlington there is a monument that marks the resting place of the remains of over 2,100 unknown dead gathered along the route of the army from the Potomac to the Rappahannock. ”

“ The railroad was heavily guarded, and camps of soldiers were frequently seen. The boy who two days before had left a quiet country town had to pinch himself occasionally to see if he were really awake and that it was not all a dream.
Washington swarmed with soldiers. Troops were camped right in the heart of the city. Heavily laden wagons with the wheels in mud and ruts clear up to the hubs were pulled through Pennsylvania avenue by six and eight mule teams. The capitol and the Washington monument were then unfinished. ”

“ There were some grand men who served as chaplains and they not only ministered to the soldiers in spiritual matters, but looked after the welfare of the men in many ways. Particularly were they of service to the wounded on the battlefield. I never heard of a cowardly chaplain and instances are not few in number where they were wounded or taken prisoner. There were also several killed in battle.
Speaking of a regiment not having a chaplain, reminds me of an old camp fire story about two New York regiments between which existed great rivalry. ”

“ The regiment was in line of battle nearly two hours in the morning without firing a shot. The artillery on both sides were pounding away at each other, and the strain on the men’s nerves was something intense. A certain lieutenant who had incurred the dislike of his men by his pompousness in camp duties thought that before going into battle he would make peace with the boys, so he walked along in front of the company and said: “Now, my men, we are about to meet the enemy for the first time and it is more than likely that some of us will never see the sun rise again. ”

“ Powell wore the regulation artillery uniform of that period, which was quite stunning with the red facings and brass epaulets, and a hat of black felt caught up at the side and ornamented with a black plume. Powell got into conversation with the school boys and finally brought them over to where his party was seated and said: “I want to have you meet a little boy who, although he is not in uniform, is going to be a real soldier.” ”

“ The defenses of the City of Richmond appeared to have been impregnable, if the confederates could have kept a sufficient force there to man them. Every elevation about the city had a fort, and there were two lines of abatis and three separate lines of rifle pits and earthworks encircling the city. No attacking army can ever carry by direct assault a city so fortified, if the army within is anywhere equal in numbers to that on the outside and has supplies to subsist upon. ”

“ The writing of the memories of a drummer boy has been a source of pleasure and rest to the writer, who sincerely hopes that the reading of them may not weary those who, in their hours of rest, may scan these pages. ”