1862. Sunday, Sept. 7. CHAPTER VII. Ar daylight we halted, having marched all night. We were about ten miles from Washington on the Baltimore road. About 9 A.M. we resumed our march, and after tramping five miles went into camp. We were back in Maryland, which we left six months before. While the progress we had made toward crushing the rebellion was not very flattering, it afforded us pleasure to be again marching among loyal people who had an interest in our welfare. Monday, We were now about half-way between Washington and Darnestown, the place where we were encamped a year Then we were a thousand strong; but now we had dwindled to half that number. Some were killed, and a good many in hospitals, wounded or sick, never to return. ago. Yesterday at 4.15 P.M. we marched to Mechanicsville, Wednesday, about eight miles, where we now were. Sept. 10. We received another lot of recruits to-day, and a finelooking set of men they were. It is a notable fact that this batch of recruits was the last in which we had any feeling of pride. Up to and including this time we had been fortunate in our recruits. They were a credit to the State and reflected honor upon the regiment; they were in such marked contrast to those who followed that the fact is worth mentioning. Disappointment and mortification was the lot of one of this number, who came to us full of confidence and hope. Having completed his school education he was seized with the patriotic desire to enlist, and leaving the tender care of mother and father he joined the Thirteenth. His first shock was at our appearance. Instead of bright uniforms, with gilt buttons and shoulder knots, he found us with ragged trousers, ill-fitting blouses, and torn and faded caps 1862. the result of long marches over dusty roads and bivouack- regiment of tramps than soldiers. On the morning following his arrival, our new recruit made inquiry of his comrades as to where he was to get milk for his coffee, and The capwas told that the captain kept the milk in his tent. Having perfect confidence in his comrades, he made application at once. tain was surprised at the request, and explained to him that milk was not in the list of articles of diet provided by the Government. Of course the recruit felt mortified at his mistake, but made the best of it, though it destroyed his confidence for a while in his associates' statements. He learned that "Ask and ye shall receive" had no coinage in the army. Notwithstanding his verdancy he became an excellent soldier. Most of us cared little about the deprivation of milk, though the temptation was strong among some of the boys, when sighting a cow, to ascertain if they had lost the trick of milking. Although a cow, under ordinary circumstances, is a peaceable animal, she draws the line when her lactary reservoir is being too energetically pumped. To hold a dipper with one hand and milk with the other, particularly when three other hands were endeavoring to do the same thing on the same cow, and she unwilling to stand still, required a degree of skill that few of us possessed. In spite of being well-aimed, the stream of milk would generally go in any direction but that of the dipper; hence the necessity of struggling with this problem when no other soldiers were about, unless you were fond of unrewarded labor. Therefore most of us preferred buying it at farm-houses, though the demand was so much greater than the supply, we were often disapWhen the sutler was with us we pointed in our efforts to obtain it. could buy "condensed milk," which we found an excellent substitute. At 9 A.M. we started on the march and kept it up all Thursday, day, in a slow, tedious manner, until we paced off twelve miles on the road to Frederick. Sept. 11. Friday, After inspection in the morning we marched to Ridgeville, seven miles, and camped. GENERAL ORDERS WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, 1. The President directs that the First, Second, and Third Corps of the Army of Virginia, announced in General Orders No. 103, be hereafter designated the First, Eleventh, and Twelfth. The several army corps will now stand as follows: The First, Second, Third, and Fourth, as arranged in General Orders No. 151, of March 13, 1862, from the Headquarters Army of the Potomac. The Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth, as announced in General Orders No. 84, of July 22, 1862, from this office. The Tenth, as announced in General Orders No. 123, of Sept. 3, 1862, from this office. The Eleventh and Twelfth the same as the First and Second Corps, Army of Virginia. By order of the Secretary of War, L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General. 1862. Saturday, Sept. 13. Sunday, Sept. 14. We started at 1 P.M. and marched twelve more miles toward Frederick. At 5 A.M. we broke camp and marched all day with frequent and uncertain halts, passing through Frederick and Middletown, until about six o'clock, when our division (Hooker's) was placed in second line of battle. on South Mountain. As we climbed up the steep sides of the mountain we were fired at by the enemy, who made the very common mistake of soldiers when firing from an elevated position, · that of firing too high, by which means we escaped any casualties. We laid on our arms until morning. The unexpected often happens in the army. When we retreated from Manassas, the afternoon of August 30, we gave up all hope of seeing our knapsacks again, as the grove where they were deposited had been taken possession of by the enemy. During our advance up the mountain to-day, the dead body of a rebel belonging to a Georgia regiment was seen lying on the ground near the road, where he was killed. One of our boys, regretting the loss of his knapsack, and noticing the Reb had one, concluded to make good his loss by transferring it to his own back. Now the most astonishing thing about this was the discovery, upon removing the knapsack, that it |
