Union soldier

“ A Union soldier, by persistent kindness to a fiery daughter of the South wins her, and makes her see that though her home lies devastated in the wake of Sherman’s army, and her childhood’s lover lies dead upon the battle field, a great right has grown out of these many wrongs. ”

“ Every soldier in the Union ranks, whether in the regular army or not, was in the fullest sense a member of the great, the imperishable, the immortal army of American volunteers. These gallant spirits now lie in untimely sepulcher. No more will they respond to the fierce blast of the bugle or the call to arms. But let us believe that they are not dead, but sleeping! Look at the patient caterpillar as he crawls on the ground, liable to be crushed by every careless foot that passes. ”

“ But if every private soldier of the Union could have been advanced according to his deserts, we should have had an army composed almost entirely of major generals. There were thousands upon thousands of men in the ranks, as brave, as true, as skillful, and as devoted, as many who commanded divisions and corps; and if these could not all be promoted it was only because, as I once heard a schoolboy captain demonstrate to his discontented company, “All cannot be corporals.” ”

“ Such brave, heroic fighting as the Union Soldiers performed on that bloody Saturday, has never been surpassed, and will ever redound to the glory of our arms. For nine long hours they stood upon an open plain, exposed to the cross fire of hundreds of hostile cannon, unprotected by shelter of any kind, and fought an enemy concealed in forests, behind breastworks and in rifle-pits. ”

“ Common humanity would have dictated 154that a fresh line should have been established on that field, and maintained there until the last wounded union soldier had been tenderly borne back to the field hospital. The only reason the rebels charged over that battlefield that night was because they knew no line of union skirmishers was there to oppose them, and they could plunder the brave dead and wounded without danger of molestation. ”

“ In those days the British soldier gloried in the number of his regiment, and doubtless the French soldier did so also. Under such circumstances one can easily understand that the number should have become a bond of union, even between men who when on duty were ready to bayonet one another. ”

“ The Union soldiery toiled incessantly in the trenches, while covering parties, with efficient batteries, stood guard in their defence, and daily sacrificed some of their brave numbers while protecting their toiling comrades.
The labors of the Federal army soon became apparent. Formidable earthworks began to show their heads, and artillery of the largest calibre was put in position. The rebel generals were struck with astonishment and dismay when the evidences of engineering skill hitherto unsuspected, stood revealed before them. ”

“ Formerly this unit was the regiment; it is now not the regiment, not even the troop or company; it is the individual soldier. Every effort must be made to develop every workmanlike and soldierly quality in both the officer and the enlisted man. ”

“ The Union attack has been repulsed, it is true; but the Union soldiers, though disorganized, discouraged, and disappointed, are not dismayed. Their officers not yet having learned how to fight, and themselves lacking the cohesion of discipline, the men have lost their regimental organizations, and owing to the causes mentioned, slowly retire across Sudley Ford of Bull Run, in a condition of disintegration, their retreat being bravely covered by the 27th and 69th New York, (which have rallied and formed there) , Sykes's Infantry battalion, Arnold's Battery, and Palmer's Cavalry. ”

“ The writer saw much of Union soldiers during four years of service—regulars, volunteers and militia—and hopes he may be permitted to say, without invidious comparison, that this regiment was marked for the high intellectual and moral character of its enlisted men. Those accustomed to the management and handling of troops know what this means on the battle field and in active campaign. It was largely officered with men who had already seen a year of active service, and who subjected it at once to a rigid discipline. ”

“ It was a vast army of citizens peaceably going home after the most bloody and terrible of modern wars. Of the more than a million Union soldiers under arms in the spring of 1865, before the next winter all but about fifty thousand had been quietly mustered out and become, in the main, orderly and industrious citizens. ”

“ BETSY'S PIES AGAIN
ANYHOW, another squad of Unions come around.
"Well," I says, "you're a funny lot. Now you're all dressed up in Union uniforms. What are you, anyhow? Unions or Johnnies?"
"Do you think you have seen us before?" laughs the lieutenant in command.
"I do," says I.
"We are here for the last time, to find out from the people, like yourself, whom we know to be loyal, what is going on at the Underground station, and in the Copperhead lodge of the Knights of the Golden Circle. Are you willing to help your country?" ”

“ However, the gallantry displayed by the attacking force, and the stubborn defensive battle maintained by the Union Army, have seldom, if ever, been excelled or equalled by veteran troops in any war by any race or in any age.
Union officers of high rank may perhaps be justly criticised for not having been better prepared for the battle by intrenchments, concentration, etc., but certainly both officers and soldiers deserve high commendation for their heroic, bloody, and successful resistance after the conflict began. ”

“ The surprise had been well-nigh complete and the first rush of the gray infantry carried everything before it, leaving the foremost Union camp in their hands. Indeed, for a time the Federal army was not much more than a disorganized mob, completely bewildered by the shock of battle, and thousands of men blindly sought refuge in the rear, heedless of their officers who, with a few exceptions, strove valiantly to organize an effective defense. ”

“ So it seemed to me that I might interest you, for a few brief moments, by telling this simple story of a few of the martyred dead whose lives and services, although not written in any history, are worthy of record on the brightest pages of fame’s deathless memoirs. The Union army contained a vast host of men such as these I have described. Never in any other land beneath the sun, nor in any other age since the morning stars first sang together, did such an array of brilliant youth and splendid manhood rally around any standard to do battle for any cause. ”

“ Those who ask these questions simply fail to comprehend either the magnitude of the civil war, the vast number of men enlisted in the ranks of the Union Army, the hardships or privations to which they were exposed, the frightful legacy of wounds and disease their service entailed, or the time that has elapsed since their final muster-out. When these things are considered, the wonder will be, not that so many, but that so few of the soldiers of the Union need the helpful sympathy and assistance of their more fortunate comrades, and of all generous and grateful people. ”

“ As the war was a sectional one in its origin, many of our best officers believed that the volunteer regiments should be formed into brigades and divisions, without reference to the States from which they came. They held that an army organized in this way would more rapidly develop the national spirit and become a more efficient military machine than one formed on state or sectional lines, and the general practice to the end of the war, in the Union army, was in accordance with this idea. ”

“ The enemy’s loss in killed was one thousand four hundred and twenty-three officers and men; their loss in wounded amounted to five thousand six hundred and ninety-two. The Unionists took two thousand two hundred and forty-eight prisoners, among whom were one hundred and thirty-seven field-officers, captains, and subalterns, representing fifty-three regiments of infantry, sixteen regiments of cavalry, thirteen batteries of artillery, and seven battalions, making sixty-nine regiments, six battalions, and thirteen batteries, beside separate companies. ”

“ After dinner we have battalion drill, brigade drill, or something else to keep us busy, and out of mischief.
Dress parade comes at sunset, tattoo at 9 o’clock, taps at 9.30; all lights must then be out, and the army is at rest.
[52] Chapter XIII.
RE-ENLISTED.
Two years have passed; those gallant men
Have kept the oath that they made then.
On many a field their valor’s shone,
On many a field their bones are strewn;
They’ve bravely fought and still shall fight,
For Union, and the cause of right!
Till rebel hosts shall yield the way,
To Union arms, and Union sway.
J. B. C.
The die is cast! ”

“ With a wild, triumphant cry, they sprang forward, sabre in hand, and drove the enemy like chaff before them. The sharp ring of carbines, the clang of sabres, and the ringing shouts of the triumphant pursuers, filled the air with the enthusiasm of the scene. At the edge of the town, the Union cavalry overtook the flying rebels, and dashing into their midst, a hand-to-hand struggle took place, in which the rebels were compelled to fight for their lives. ”

“ The result of this day’s battle was not favorable to the National troops; the fighting of each and every division engaged was superb, but the number of the enemy so far exceeded that of the Union army that when the engagement for the day was closed by the approach of night, the whole National force was driven back, and had lost a great many men. ”

“ Resolved, That the comrades of Camp No. 135, Confederate Veterans, have heard with sorrow and regret of the death of this brave general and fearless commander.
Resolved, Educated in the profession of arms, he gave the best years of his life to the service of his country. For twenty-five years prior to the action which necessitated his State severing her connection with the Union, he most valiantly drew his sword in her defence. ”

“ We were without intrenchments or defensive advantages of any sort, and more than half the army engaged the first day was without experience or even drill as soldiers. The officers with them, except the division commanders and possibly two or three of the brigade commanders, were equally inexperienced in war. The result was a Union victory that gave the men who achieved it great confidence in themselves ever after. ”

“ Nevertheless, I must for the present leave to others the work of persuading colored men to join the Union army. I owe it to my long-abused people, and especially to those already in the army, to expose their wrongs and plead their cause. ”

“ Except one brigade of Tyler’s division, the entire force of eighteen thousand men was in fierce action. As the Union forces pressed upon the enemy, approaching each moment to the completion of their plan of battle, the rebels grew desperate. The batteries on the western hills poured forth their iron tempest with accumulated fury. The Union guns answered them with fiercer thunder. ”

“ There were troops enough in one body to establish a drill and discipline sufficient to fit men and officers for all they were capable of in case of battle. The rank and file were composed of men who had enlisted in time of peace, to serve for seven dollars a month, and were necessarily inferior as material to the average volunteers enlisted later in the war expressly to fight, and also to the volunteers in the war for the preservation of the Union. ”

“ It is especially to be observed that notwithstanding the union of so considerable a force, no act was committed that even the jealousy of an irritated power could construe as an act of aggression, and that the commander of the squadron and his officers, in strict conformity with their instructions, holding themselves ever ready for the most active duty, have achieved the still purer glory of contributing to the preservation of peace. ”

“ One thousand men from the ranks would bear that test triumphantly to-day. It is a wonder that our Union men stiffened in yesterday's fight, whose blue jackets we can see from yonder summit in the rear of our sharpshooters, do not rise from the dead, and curse the halting imbecility that is making their heroic struggles, and glorious deaths, seemingly vain sacrifices. ”

“ Were they Union or Confederate? Was freedom or renewed captivity before them? They looked quickly to right and left. No opportunity for concealment appeared. Nor was there a moment's time for flight, for the sound of hoof-beats was immediately followed by the appearance of mounted and uniformed men, a cavalry squad, still some hundreds of yards away, but riding towards them at full gallop.
The eyes of the fugitives looked wistfully and anxiously towards them. Thank Heaven! they wore the Union blue! Those guidons which rose high in the air bore the Union colors! They were United States cavalry! ”

“ The surviving Veterans of the Union army were neither drones in the busy hive of national development, nor a burden on the benevolence of their fellow-citizens. Ninety-five per cent. of them made a success in the civil battles of life—doing men's part honorably, industriously, heroically in the work of the world. ”

“ They fell back again; and the Unionists not wishing to follow up the advantage they had gained, continued to retreat till they had neared the town, and there they were charged upon by the whole force of the enemy’s cavalry. The Unionists kept up a continuous firing upon the advancing rebels, but the enemy’s column came steadily onward. The National troops now executed a brilliant, and very skillful movement—each front company delivered its fire, and then retreated to the rear, leaving the next one behind in front, and so succeeding until the one in rear was again in front. ”

“ Five thousand men in an almost open field could do but little to repel the advance of two divisions of the enemy, each numbering 16,000 men. Onward the rebels marched, till within a few yards of Stuart’s battery, when the brave artillerists delivered their last fire, before, at their commander’s order, they retired. The Federals now retreated about a quarter of a mile, toward their second line; and the rebels having paused to secure the captured cannon, again advanced, still pouring in, upon the retreating Union troops, volley after volley of bullets and shells. ”