Friday, November 1 . — There was a rainbow early this morning, and the old adage that “a rainbow in the morning is the sailor’s warning” was well carried out; for about ten o’clock it clouded up, and in an hour we had a strong breeze blowing, which soon turned into a gale. It blew hard all night, and I surely thought we were going to the bottom. One sea which broke over the ship killed one of Captain Hascall’s horses. I did not go below during the whole night. I am afraid the Governor and some other vessels are lost. We parted with our tow this evening. I never passed such a horrible night in my life. I had fully made up my mind to be drowned, but suspense was dreadful. The wind would blow and shriek through the rigging till it seemed as if it could blow no harder; and when I thought it was at its height, it would scream and whistle more than ever. There was something terrible to me in the waves, which were enormously high, and only rendered visible by the phosphorescent light on the tops of them. At times it would rain so that one could not see, and the gangways would be full of water dashing hither and thither with the motion of the ship, until it seemed as if we were full of water and were going to sink immediately. The drum-major of the regiment exhibited such cowardice that it was disgusting to see him. I was glad to see daylight as the sea grew calmer. We were in Long, 77° 53′ and Lat. 33° 01′ at noon.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Friday, 1st—Our uniforms were brought up to camp from town, and several companies drew theirs today. Every company drills four hours a day now. Some of the men have a hard time remembering the commands of the officers and some of the officers cannot remember the correct commands to give. Some of them make as big blunders as the men.[1]
[1] Upon one occasion a certain captain had his company out for a drill on the town commons. The company was marching “by platoon guide right,” and advancing toward a big open ditch full of water, when the captain, forgetting the correct command to give, “halt” or “right-about-face,” called out, “Look out for that ditch!” Now according to military tactics soldiers are not expected to move or change their course except on specific command, and so, to the chagrin of the captain, his men went right on, plunged into the water and crossed to the other bank. A few, however, did “look out for the ditch,” and the company was thrown into great confusion.—A. G. D.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1
The day has been rather cool and windy and it rains a little tonight. I called at the Sec’ys and was told to have patience, that I should have a position soon. Went on the Ave and was at Willards an hour or so, a great many officers there, think they had better be with their Regts. The City seems to be very full at present. There seems to be no place for the Congressmen who will be here in a month. Nothing new from the army today.
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The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of Congress.
We Arrive at New York.
Nov. 1. We left Worcester about 5 o’clock last evening. Arriving at Norwich, we went aboard the large and splendid Steamer Connecticut, the regiment numbering one thousand and thirty, with all our horses, wagons and camp equipage. The staunch steamer bore us rapidly across the sound, landing us in New York about 9 o’clock this morning.
After disembarking and forming the regiment, we marched amid a perfect storm of applause and the New Yorker’s peculiar “hi! hi!” to the City Hall park. A guard was then posted and the regiment dismissed until drum call. A committee of gentlemen waited on the colonel, inviting him, his officers and the band, to a dinner at the Astor House. After they had gone, we fellows, by invitation, marched into the park barracks, to regale ourselves on mutton soup. And in all fairness, I must say that a worse soup or dirtier surroundings never came under my observation. I didn’t hanker for any, and beat a hasty retreat. If that soup didn’t smell to heaven, it must have attained a high altitude above the city. Fortunate New Yorkers, that dwell in basements. I suppose the evening papers will have it that the 25th Massachusetts regiment dined at the Astor House. So we shall get the name, if we missed the turkey. Feeling inclined to take a stroll and see the sights of the big city (the guards not being very effective), it was an easy matter to break the hounds, and we had things our own way until about 4 o’clock, when the regiment was again formed.
Marching Down Broadway.
With an easy, swinging gait, in column of platoons, we marched down Broadway, looking the very soul of soldiery, and were greeted with a perfect ovation all along the route, until we reached the Jersey City ferry, when we crossed to Jersey City, and took cars for Philadelphia.
A Streak of Luck.
While waiting in the cars at Jersey City, the depot and platforms were crowded with people, all anxious to see and talk with us. Happening to have a seat next to the window, a gentleman engaged me in conversation. He asked all manner of questions about the regiment, and among others, if we were well provided for, meaning, I supposed, with everything, blankets, rations, etc. I said we seemed to be well provided with everything, except perhaps the sinews of war; in that direction I thought we were rather weak.- On hearing that, he drew from the depths of his pantaloons pocket, a couple of half dollars and tendered me, which I accepted with many thanks, and best wishes for his health and happiness. That was true patriotism; good fellow! long may you wave.
November 1st.—Again stagnation; not the smallest intention of moving; General Scott’s resignation, of which I was aware long ago, is publicly known, and he is about to go to Europe, and end his days probably in France. McClellan takes his place, minus the large salary. Riding back from camp, where I had some trouble with a drunken soldier, my horse came down in a dark hole, and threw me heavily, so that my hat was crushed in on my head, and my right thumb sprained, but I managed to get up and ride home; for the brute had fallen right on his own head, cut a piece out of his forehead between the eyes, and was stunned too much to run away. I found letters waiting from Mr. Seward and others, thanking me for the game, if canvas-backs come under the title.
NOVEMBER 1ST—There is an outcry against the appointment of two major-generals, recommended, perhaps, by Mr. Benjamin, Gustavus W. Smith and Gen. Lovell, both recently from New York. They came over since the battle of Manassas. Mr. Benjamin is perfectly indifferent to the criticisms and censures of the people and the press. He knows his own ground; and since he is sustained by the President, we must suppose he knows his own footing in the government. If defeated in the legislature, he may have a six years’ tenure in the cabinet.
November 1st, 1861.—School had opened on the first of last month, but, after the trouble which came to us, mother let Miss Sadie go to visit her sister for a while. She came back on the 15th and the other girls have been going to school while I was away. This morning I began again, there are no others in my class so it did not really make much difference. Miss Sadie does not teach Trigonometry, so I have laid that aside until Father feels better and can help me with it. I feel so strange—and the war news hurts me as it never did before. I seem to be looking for bad news all the time. Father says I must try to overcome this feeling, he has given me a poem to learn and I think I shall copy it here:
“Let us try to be happy,
We may if we will,
Find some good in life
To o’er balance the ill.
.
“There are times when
The lightest of spirits must bow
And the sunniest face
Wear a cloud on its brow.
.
“But the deeper our own grief
The greater the need,
To try to be happy
Lest other hearts bleed.
.
“Let us each in all earnestness
Work for the best;
And leave to our God and
Our conscience the rest
.
“Still holding this truth
Both in word and in deed
That who tries to be happy
Is sure to succeed.”
November 1.—Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, in a letter to the Secretary of War, dated October 31, having requested that his name might “be placed on the list of Army Officers retired from active service,” a special Cabinet Council was convened, and decided that Gen. Scott’s request, in view of his advanced age and infirmities, could not be refused; and his name was accordingly so placed, “without reduction in his current pay, subsistence, or allowances.” Major-General George B. McClellan was thereupon appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States, to succeed Gen. Scott, and assumed the position in a general order, in which he expresses his regret “that the weight of many years, and the effect of increasing infirmities, contracted and intensified in his country’s service, should just now remove from our head the great soldier of our nation.” (Doc. 122.)
—Colonel Mulligan, made prisoner by the rebels at the capture of Lexington, was exchanged.—St. Louis Democrat, Nov. 3.
—The Federal prisoners at Charleston were removed from Castle Pinckney. Along the whole line of march, the streets were thronged with a motley crowd of people, juveniles, and darkies. Great eagerness was expressed to see the officers, especially Colonel Corcoran, late of the New York Sixty-ninth regiment. The privates were indeed a sorrowful-looking set, but seemed in quite good humor; and many of them carried along on their shoulders their chairs, chess beards, and other similar conveniences, which they had extemporized during their stay at Castle Pinckney.—Charleston Mercury, Nov. 2.
—The Tenth regiment of Connecticut Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Charles H. Russell, passed through New York.
—Lieutenant-Colonel Morse, with four hundred cavalry, surprised a rebel camp, eight hundred strong, near Renick, Randolph County, Mo., and drove out the rebels in complete rout. —(Doc. 123.)
—Some scouts from the Second Kentucky regiment, under Captain Wheeler, reported to Gen. Rosecrans, the rebels in considerable force on the west side of New River, some few miles above Gauley Bridge, in Virginia.
Shortly after Captain Wheeler’s return, two batteries were opened upon the National troops in the vicinity of Gauley Bridge from the hills on the opposite side of the river—one directly opposite the bridge, and the other two miles lower down, at the falls of the Kanawha, opposite a large brick house in which commissary’s supplies were stored. These batteries played away nearly all day, the commissary’s quarters affording them a fine mark; but so bad was their firing, they did not strike the building once! In almost every instance their balls and shell fell short. The upper battery, after wasting a good deal of ammunition, succeeded in driving the Eleventh Ohio from their camp on the hillside opposite, and in sinking a flat-boat, which served the army as a ferry. This was the extent of the damage done. Not a man was killed, and the flat-boat was raised again the same evening, and made to do good service that night.
It was not till the day had far advanced that the National artillery could be brought to bear upon the rebel batteries. The rifled guns were all at the various camps up New River; but when they were once placed in position, it was not long until both the rebel batteries were silenced. A train of wagons, on its way from Gauley Bridge to the encampments above, was fired upon the same day, when five or six miles up the river, by rebel infantry, and two of the Nationals were wounded. Three companies from General Benham’s camp, at Hawk’s Nest, came to their relief, and soon drove the enemy back of the hills.—Cincinnati Gazette, Nov. 5
—An important proclamation relating to the coming election in Maryland, was issued by General Dix. It having been understood that persons formerly residing in the State, but who had recently been bearing arms against the United States Government, had returned with the intention of taking part in the election, with the purpose of carrying out treasonable designs, General Dix ordered the United States Marshal of Maryland and the Provost-Marshal of Baltimore to arrest all such persons; and he further directed the election judges throughout the State to detain all such persons who might present themselves at the polls, until they could be taken into custody by the proper authorities.— (Doc. 124.)
—Since the Twentieth and Twenty-first regiments have been in camp near Griffin, Pike County, Georgia, the measles and typhoid fever have broke out among them. There are now over two hundred on the sick list and several have died. Two large buildings have been set apart as hospitals, and the sick receive the daily attentions of the benevolent ladies of Griffin.— Griffin Union, Nov. 1.
—General Fremont signed, at Springfield, Mo., an agreement entered into with two commissioners, on the part of the rebel General Price, “to facilitate the future exchange of prisoners of war,” and which provides, “that all persons heretofore arrested for the mere expression of political opinions, may be released from confinement on parole; also, that in future the war be confined exclusively to the armies in the field.” —(Doc. 125.)
November 1. Camp Tompkins. — Cold, gusty, but sunshiny. The fine band of the Second Kentucky does discourse glorious music. A dapper little fellow with a cane, “a nice young man,” fit for Fourth Street in piping times of peace, walked by my tent just now. Not a fellow in camp with his army blue, tattered or not, who does not feel above him.
The enemy have just begun to fire on the ferry and on the teams and passers between here and Gauley Bridge. They have cannon and riflemen on the opposite side of New River. Went with Sweet scouting to ascertain exact position of enemy. Followed up rills and ravines, running imminent risk of breaking necks; discovered tolerable views of the enemy. The echoes of the cannon and bursting shells were grand in these defiles. Two of our men slightly wounded. The ferry stopped during daylight (but doing double duty at night), is all that was accomplished. Great waste of ammunition, great noise, excitement among soldiers. Vox præterea nihil. Got home at night, tired enough, in the rain.
