Old Court House Civil War Museum 20 N. Loudoun Street Winchester, VA 22601 (540) 542-1145 courthousemuseum@verizon.net

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13th Massachusetts Info:

The following is transcribed from Three Years in the Army; The Story of the Thirteenth Massachusetts Volunteers from July 16, 1861, to August 1, 1864; by Charles E. Davis, Jr.,  Boston, Estes & Lauriat; 1894.

Transcription by Brad Forbush

www.13thmass.org

Tuesday, March 11, 1862.

Marched to Stephenson’s depot, six miles, and bivouacked in the woods about four miles from Winchester. As we marched out of Bunker Hill the usual crowds gathered to see the troops pass along. Among the number was a young man who gave utterance to his rebellious thoughts by irritating remarks as to what we were likely to do on meeting Ashby’s cavalry. When the price of salt is $30.00 per bag, it is not strange that the language of the people should smack of an unusual freshness.

Our march was frequently obstructed by rebel cavalry under Ashby; but no one was hurt, though it looked rather shaky at times.

The great caution that was observed on our march to-day made it late in the afternoon before we went into camp.  Details were made of camp and picket-guard, camp-fires were lit, coffee cooked, and the proper degree of thankfulness expressed by those who escaped guard duty.

After supper the men gathered round the fires for a smoke and to listen to the gossip of the regiment.  It frequently happens that some one will invent a story, requesting the strictest secrecy, in order that it may travel the faster.  In the course of twenty-four hours or so it will return, not exactly as it went fourth, but so enlarged and exaggerated that you could scarcely recognize the original. Frequent repetitions of this amusement very soon created such disbelief in all camp stories, that it was difficult to get one well started except by the exercise of considerable ingenuity.

Wednesday, March 12.

The rattle of drums and sweet singing of birds announced that morn was here. The army was to move on Winchester at once, so we hastily cooked our coffee, and as quickly as possible ate our breakfast.  There was no time to spare, as orders to “fall in” were heard in every direction. Orders were received for the Thirteenth to take the advance of the column as skirmishers.  Winchester was four miles away, occupied by 25,000 troops under Stonewall Jackson, and well-fortified by earthworks.  As soon as we were out of the woods the regiment was deployed as skirmishers, and marched in that order in quick time across fields, over fences and stone walls, fording brooks or creeks, preserving distances and line as well as we could under such disadvantages.  The sensations we experienced on this bright, beautiful morning are not likely to be forgotten.  It was very warm, and the march a hard one, because the line was irregularly obstructed. That is to say, while one part would be marching on the smooth surface of the ground, another part might be climbing a fence or wading a brook. To keep the line tolerably straight under such exasperating circumstances was very trying and perspiring work.  In addition to this we were, for the first time, inline of battle, and in plain sight of the rest of the division, who were watching our movements as they followed in close column.  Situated as we were, there was no opportunity of obeying, without disgrace, those instincts of discretion which are said to be the better part of valor, and which prompt human nature to seek safety in flight. Those of us who omitted to sneak away before the line was formed, but who afterward showed such ingenuity and skill in escaping the dangers of battle, found no chance open for skulking on this occasion. Yes ! like other regiments, we had our percentage of men who dared to run away, that they might live to fight some other, far distant day.  We saw those dreaded earthworks a long time before we reached them, and wondered at the enemy’s silence, but concluded they were reserving their fire until we should be close enough for the greatest execution. Whatever the boys felt, there was no faltering or wavering. Within a short distance of the earthworks we formed in close order, and with a yell and a rush we bounded over them to find, after all our fears and anticipations, they were empty.  We were soon formed in line, and marched in column of companies into town, being the first Union regiment that entered Winchester.  We felt proud enough at our bloodless victory.

We had hardly entered the main street of the town when General Jackson and Colonel Ashby were discovered on horseback in front of the Taylor House, waving an adieu with their hats. An order was immediately given to fire, but we were not quick enough to do them harm or retard their flight. This was a daring thing to do, though common enough with such men as Jackson and Ashby.

We marched down the main street, the band playing patriotic airs, while the people scanned our appearance to see what a Yankee looked like. Some who were prepared to scoff could get no farther than “How fat they are !”

After the companies were assigned to quarters the officers met at the Taylor House, and dined on the meal provided for Jackson and his staff.

The regiment was detailed as provost guard of the town, and proceeded at once to secure quarters in the unoccupied buildings.

Winchester is a town of four or five thousand inhabitants, blessed with a water-supply, is the county seat, has a medical college and a hotel. In addition to all these advantages, it was one of the hotbeds of secession.

Our duties as provost guard made the stay in Winchester very attractive. The regiment was always allowed great liberty by the colonel, who found by experience that the men could be trusted with it; so we roamed about town, when not on duty, as pleased us best.  The men who were on duty, not wishing to be outdone by the colonel, also granted liberties to those of their comrades whom they knew they could trust. One of the places we were called upon to guard was the dining-room of the Taylor House, where many of the officers were quartered, to prevent any one not a commissioned officer entering without a pass.  It so happened that a few of us dined there each day at the landlord’s expense, the guard finding it difficult to detect the difference between a man who was a commissioned officer, and one who wanted to be.

Two of the companies were quartered in the hall in the court-house.  As the hall was provided with a platform, an opportunity was afforded of having some singing and dancing by Southern darkies whom we corralled each day, for the purpose, and to which the whole regiment was invited. The dancing was vigorous, and the singing, - well, it was not what we hoped it would be.  It began with a grand anthem of one hundred and thirty-nine stanzas, all just alike, which was ground out by the yard. A hat was placed on the front of the platform, to receive donations from time to time, as encouragement. When we got as many yards of the anthem as we could stand, we shut them off and made them dance – as a rest.

When we thought they had sufficient rest we started them on again with the anthem until we got enough of both, when we divided the contents of the hat and fired them out. The anthem was as follows :

“And it’s Old John Brown don’t you see

It’ll never do for you to try to set the darkies free

For if you do the people will come from all around

And take you down and hang you up in old Charlestown.”

There was no punctuation about it, and the only way we distinguished the verses was the emphasis placed on the word “and,” on beginning each stanza.  There was a dispute as to whether the number of stanzas was one hundred and thirty-nine or one hundred and forty; but one of the boys says he counted one hundred and thirty-nine, and that ought to settle it.

It was while we were at Winchester that the government issued the new currency called “greenbacks,” facsimiles of which were published in the illustrated papers. The currency of the Confederacy was printed on various kinds of material, such as match-paper, cloth, etc.  The people of Winchester who believed that our government was as badly off as their own thought these facsimiles were good money, and received them as such until one was offered at a sutler’s store and refused, when a great ado was made at the “Yankee trick.”  As soon as it was known that these facsimiles would be taken by the people, the price of “Harper’s Weekly” or “Frank Leslies’ paper rose very high. An appeal was made to the colonel for restitution, notwithstanding that “all is fair in love or war.”  The perpetrators for this fraud were never found. Curious, isn’t it?

During our brief stay in Winchester the boys enjoyed a little fun at the expense of the fair sex of that distinguished, town. A sutler of one of the regiments having secured a store on the main street for the sale of his goods, hung out over the sidewalk a Union flag.  The sight of the “Stars and Stripes” produced about the same effect on the people as the sight of a red rag would upon an enraged bull.  Rather than dishonor themselves by walking beneath it, they turned into the middle of the street to escape the humiliation. On the following day some members of the “Ninth New York” hung a large flag across the middle of the street, which Company K of the Thirteenth stretched another one across the opposite sidewalk, thus completely blocking the street. A rebel flag was then laid flat on the sidewalk.  Supposing this to be like those above, they trampled upon it and tore it with their feet, to the great merriment of the boys, who loudly applauded the act.  The mortification they felt on discovering their error was too exasperating for concealment, and so found vent in expression of disgust which added still more to the fun.

The repugnance which the women of the South felt for a Yankee frequently found expression in contemptuous remarks.  At dress-parade, one night, as we were falling into line, on the double-quick, a woman shouted, “Ashby’ll make you run faster than that!”  Who knows but this unhappy creature may have inherited a copy of the “Vinegar Bible,” and that constant reading of it may have fermented the natural sweetness of her disposition?  One would think that nothing but an extermination of the whole race of Yankees would satisfy her anger, so bitter was her feeling.

It was at Winchester that some of the boys were called upon from Company D to show their mechanical ingenuity in reconstructing a dilapidated engine, one of three left by the enemy, and they succeeded so well that it was sent to Halltown, near Harper’s Ferry, for flour.  It was no light job the boys had, and they deserved all the fun they got out of it.  When the work was completed a train was attached, and about eighty men were taken aboard, armed with implements, including iron and spikes, to make such repairs as were needed in the progress of their journey.  The track was composed of heavy strap iron, spiked on to wooden stringers. Reaching Charlestown, the cars were dropped, while the locomotive proceeded to Halltown, accompanied by a small detail.  Later in the afternoon the party returned, having first secured a train of cars which were loaded with flour for the troops in Winchester.  The vacant space was taken up by men on leaves of absence returning to camp, who availed themselves of the opportunity thus afforded to escape a long tramp to Winchester.  This addition to the number made the journey back anything but pleasant, besides greatly lessening the speed. Pretty soon a curious sound from the internal organs of the engine caught the ear.  There was something the matter with the iron horse. He blew and snorted as though he had the belly-ache, when climbing an upgrade.  Very soon the monotony of his funereal pace became unbearable, and to his hissing and sputtering was added the grumbling of the tired passengers, who longed for a sight of Winchester.  Added to other troubles was the discovery that a bridge was on fire, the work of some Southerner who believed in a vigorous prosecution of the war, by his side, in order to shorten it. Fortunately for the party, the wood was sufficiently damp to prevent the bridge from being destroyed. It had the effect, however, of enlivening the drowsy faculties of the party, who kept a sharp lookout for further danger.  Near midnight, with Winchester two miles away the iron horse started on an up-grade, puffing and blowing with all his might, until, completely out of breath, he gave up the trial and rolled back to the level below.  The boys rested him a moment, then opened wide his old throttle, and up the grade he went once more; but when almost up, he “busted” one of his intestines, enveloping the whole train with steam. Matters were very lively for a few moments.  The party scattered like rats from a sinking ship. The “iron horse” was abandoned to his fate, and the party walked into Winchester. The freight was subsequently brought into town by army wagons.

Winchester was the home of Mason, of the firm of Mason and Slidell, that famous pair of rebels who came so near embroiling us in a war with England. They were appointed by the Confederate government as envoys to European courts, and were taken by the rebel gunboat “Theodora” to Havana, escaping the watchfulness of our cruisers.  Upon their arrival at that port they became inflated with a lofty admiration of their consequence, forgetting how illusive is the vainglory of the world.  Assuming an importance out of keeping in men representing a rebellious government, they attracted the attention of the world to their mission and its purport, thereby laying the foundation of their subsequent failure as diplomats.  From Havana they embarked on board the English steamship “Trent,” bound for “Merrie England,”

It so happened that the noise of their doings reached the ears of Commodore Wilkes, who was on his way home from Africa in the “San Jacinto.”  Impressed with the idea that they were fair game to capture, wherever they might be found, he overhauled the “Trent” and demanded their surrender.  After removing them to the “San Jacinto,” which, by the way, was not accomplished without some friction, Commodore Wilkes set sail for Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, where he deposited his thoroughly disgusted prisoners, to enjoy the care and entertainment of the government, while he enjoyed the hospitality proffered him by the people of Boston, where his action made him a great hero.

All this, which happened n November, 1861, made a deuce of a row.  Our government soon learned that yanking the British lion’s tail, without lawful right, meant something, and it was forced to eat its dish of “crow” by apologizing for its hasty  action, and transferring the prisoners to an English ship, anchored at Provincetown, and thus fortunately ending the matter.

In consequence of these exiting incidents Mr. Mason’s residence became an object of much curiosity, and as a guard was detailed from the Thirteenth to protect the premises, we had an opportunity of becoming distantly acquainted with his family.  Their sentiments were of the rabid kind. They believed a dead Yankee was the best kind of a Yankee.  We did our best, by good nature and politeness, to remove their impressions; but it was no go, as the gangrene of contempt had too deeply affected their minds to allow a change of heart.  When the guard arrived at the house, Mrs. Mason, mistaking their purpose, remonstrated against any “Northern mudsills” entering her premises, which statement was promptly communicated to the colonel, who soon made his appearance and explained to her that it was the guard sent to protect her and her property from the presence of persons whom she had no wish to see. And this is the way we were treated in return for all our kindness and attention to her husband during his stay at Fort Warren.

An order was this day issued by General McClellan, in accordance with the President’s order of the 8^th inst., designating General Banks’ corps, composed of the divisions of Generals Williams and Shields, as the Fifth Corps.  An order was also issued this day by General Banks to his troops, containing he following :

The commanding general learns with sincere regret that officers in some cases, from mistaken views, either tolerate or encourage depredations upon property.  This is deeply regretted.  He calls upon them to reflect upon the destructive influences which attend such practices, and to remember the declarations of the great master of the art of war, that pillage is the most certain method of disorganizing and destroying an army.

When we reflect how much property we protected, and thereby made useful for Jackson in his subsequent raids up the valley, we naturally asked which army he means will be destroyed.

So far as our experience goes, the people of Winchester expressed astonishment that no plundering had occurred, as they had been informed that terrible things would happen upon our entry into town.  Whether they lied or not are  unable to say, but they said the town was never so quiet as during our stay there. It may be they spoke the truth, as most of the stores were closed upon our entrance, but shortly afterward opened, doing a thriving business.

Saturday, March 15.

Early in the morning the right wing of the regiment, with two companies of cavalry and four pieces of artillery, made a reconnoissance to Newtown, eight miles away.  Upon our arrival at that place, we found the enemy drawn up in line of battle in readiness to make it warm for us should we feel disposed to advance. The artillery was immediately placed in position and began firing.  Whether we did any damage or not we had no means of knowing. On our side no one was hurt, though several were badly scared.  During the desultory firing, arrangements were being quietly made by the enemy to gobble the whole outfit, which action was discovered in season to prevent its completion.  As there was no time to countermarch the regiment, it marched back to Winchester “Left in front,” the small men thereby taking the lead.  It soon began to rain, and before our arrival in Winchester we were drenched to the skin. This return march of eight miles was made in one hour and fifty minutes – extraordinarily good time for a regiment marching in column, and will be recollected by the participants for that, if for nothing else.  It was a great day for the “ponies,” as it was they who set the pace.

The average speed of a regiment on the march is from two to two and a half miles per hour. This speed includes such delays as occur from obstructions in the road, caused generally by streams that are not bridged. It sometimes happens that a speed of three miles per hour, and occasionally three and a half miles, is attained under special circumstances.  In the march from Newtown, just recorded, the rate of speed exceeded four miles per hour; a very exceptional case.

The manner of marching was in fours, and by what is known as “route step;” that is, “go as you please.”  The men were generally in step, because it was easier, as everybody knows. You were at liberty to carry your gun, knapsack, blanket, ammunition, etc., as best pleased yourself. Three to five days’ rations were often carried in the haversack. In the last part of the war, to have had issued to you for three days such a quantity and variety of rations as was given you for one day at this time would have made a man think he was preparing for Thanksgiving day.

The machinery necessary for providing an army as large as the Union army with daily rations seemed to us the most wonderful of the various responsibilities that occupied the attention of the government. The occasions were rare when the soldier worried himself about the matter. Of course it did happen occasionally that he was forced to put up with short commons, as in cases where forced marches were suddenly made, or where supplies were cut off by raids of the enemy. In instances where the full ration was not issued, it was the custom of the government to commute the difference, paying the sum so realized to each company, which fund was known as the “company fund,” and which was held by the captain, who was allowed to draw therefrom for such purposes as, in his judgment, were necessary for the comfort of his men. The rations issued the first year of the war were good, and little cause for complaint existed as a rule.  Later, when the exigencies of the service prevented their prompt delivery, hardtack, from exposure to the weather, was frequently ornamented with a border of green, and occasionally with maggots or weevils. Coffee and pork came in for their share of these diminutive specimens of animal life. As we advanced in our education and experience as soldiers, a small matter of this kind ceased to have a disturbing influence in our daily life.  Hardtack was a nutritious article of diet, and though soft bread was occasionally issued, old soldiers preferred the former, not only for its compactness, but for its sustaining and satisfying qualities. When it left the oven it was uniformly good, as it was uniformly hard.

Sunday March 16.

  The chaplain preached a rattling sermon on the evils of secession, in front of the court-house.  Notice having been given out to the towns-people that he was to preach, advantage was taken by some of them to be present and listen to a “Yankee” preacher.  An opportunity was thus afforded the chaplain of airing his eloquence, with which he was highly gifted, on these degenerate sons of Virginia.

Monday, March 17.

 St. Patrick’s Day without a procession in honor of the man who drove snakes out of Ireland is a deprivation we were unused to.  What a terrible thing is war!  We were now in a part of the country where an “F.F.V.” was a bigger man than St. Patrick.

For real thoroughbred aristocracy, the “First Families of Virginia” can lay over, or think they can, all the “blue-bloods” of the North or South.  They have a well-grounded opinion of their superiority to other mortals in this world, with anticipations of a similar rank in the next. Perhaps they expect, on announcing their names at the gates of Paradise, that St. Peter will doff his cowl with becoming humility, and lead them to the seats already reserved about the throne for people whose blood is of the ultra-marine hue.  In their opinion, to bear the label “F.F.V.” confers a distinction that no honor can excel.  It is a brand of aristocracy too choice to be the reward of mere wealth. As a rule they were persons of culture and refinement, and took great pride and pleasure in dispensing a generous though ruinous hospitality. They looked upon themselves as the nobility of the land, and prior to the war, with abundance of means, and numerous slaves to do their bidding, many of them led ideal lives. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the breaking up of such an existence should develop an unnatural animosity toward the government.  It was impossible to live as they did, in the dazzling rays of external splendor, without exciting the unreasoning enmity of their less fortunate neighbors, who took advantage of our presence to retaliate. It happened after we crossed the river into Virginia, that, knowing little about them, we sought every opportunity of exciting mirth or provoking ridicule at their weaknesses. As we became acquainted with them, we were ready to believe them to be generous, brave, and attractive in manners, except when their tempers were excited, as against the North, and then they were rabid and unreasonable.  We soon learned that every ill-clad ignorant specimen on the roadside was not an “F.F.V.”  We also learned that their less fortunate neighbors took every opportunity of maligning them, and the stories told us of the terrible things they were doing had to be taken with a good deal of allowance, otherwise we might have done them injustice.

Tuesday, March 18.

  Companies B and K, retained in town for duty while the rest of the regiment prepared to go into camp, an order having been received transferring the thirteenth to General Abercrombie’s brigade. During the day we called on our old associates of Hamilton’s brigade and bade them good-by.  General Shields with his division of 10,000 men passed through Winchester to-day and made a good show.

Wednesday March 19. 

Marched out of town about two miles; pitched tents in sight of the camps of the Second and Twelfth Massachusetts regiments. We then marched to the camps of the regiments in Abercrombie’s brigade, that we might see them, and let them see us. The new brigade was composed of the Twelfth Massachusetts, Ninth New York (Eighty-third Vols.), the Twelfth and Sixteenth Indiana regiments.  Whatever may have been their opinion of us, we were favorably impressed with our new associates. We thus began an association with the Twelfth Massachusetts and Ninth New York regiment that lasted during the rest of our service, and with whom we shared a good many hardships and dangers as time rolled on.