November 1st.—At 12 o’clock, night, I reached camp, two miles north of Berlin, Maryland. Again I have left the pleasures of a cheerful, happy home, to encounter the hardships of camp life and to engage in the turmoil, the trials and the dangers of a war in which it is difficult to tell whether the hope of manufacturing political capital or of sustaining a government is the dominant motive.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Saturday, November 1st.—Uncle Nathan Anderson and Aunt Matilda and Cousin Mary Conley came to see us to-day.
November 1 — To-day we heard cannon firing, which we supposed to be at Leesburg.
November 1, Saturday. The work on the ironclad turret steamer Passaic is nearly finished. Ericsson makes a proposition to fire the fifteen-inch gun through the orifice instead of protruding the piece. I have no faith in it. Fox was at first disposed to consider it favorably but doubtingly. Have sent Fox, Admiral Smith, and Dahlgren to New York to witness test experiment.
Saturday, 1st—I was on guard today. The Sixth Division received orders to march in the morning.[1] We are to go in light equipment, leaving here our knapsacks and tents, which are to be put in storage.
[1] The Eleventh Iowa regiment was within fifty miles of Corinth for two hundred and thirty-four days, and in that time took active part in the two days’ battle at Pittsburg Landing, the siege of Corinth, two months of garrisoning and fortifying Corinth, forty-two days in fortifying and garrisoning Bolivar, the battle of Iuka and garrison duty there, the two days’ battle of Corinth and then the pursuit of the enemy and return to Corinth. During all this time Company E was with the regiment performing its full duty. The losses of our company were nine killed in battle and five dying of disease, making fourteen of the company whose bodies were laid away under the green sod.—A. G. D.
Saturday, 1st. Lay in camp. Men save ours were mustered for pay. The boys went out and got the body of the Butternut, and buried him in the cornfield—shot in the neck. Wrote home. Bought a jacket of T. R. S. Saw Major P.’s ring we boys have bought for him—nice. Went to bed rather early. Commenced a letter to Fannie. Interrupted to go out scouting. In the P. M. Capt. Welch with Stewart and Lisering and 25 men went out seven or eight miles expecting to find some bushwhackers seen by a 9th Wis. Found nobody. Stopped at three houses and got horses. One girl, husband pressed into rebel army, plead so earnestly for her pony. It was touching. Finally the captain gave it back. Reached camp at 1 A. M.
Corinth, Saturday, Nov. 1. Orders were given to Battery to cook three days’ rations in their haversacks and three days’ in the wagons, all ready to march on the following morning.
NOVEMBER 1ST.—Gen. Winder’s late policemen have fled the city. Their monstrous crimes are the theme of universal execration. But I reported them many months ago, and Gen. Winder was cognizant of their forgeries, correspondence with the enemy, etc. The Secretary of War, and the President himself, were informed of them, but it was thought to be a “small matter.”
Gen. Lee made his appearance at the department to-day, and was hardly recognizable, for his beard, now quite white, has been suffered to grow all over his face. But he is quite robust from his exercises in the field. His appearance here, coupled with the belief that we are to have the armistice, or recognition and intervention, is interpreted by many as an end of the war. But I apprehend it is a symptom of the falling back of our army.
I have been startled to-day by certain papers that came under my observation. The first was written by J. Foulkes, to L. B. Northrop, Commissary-General, proposing to aid the government in procuring meat and bread for the army from ports in the enemy’s possession. They were to be paid for in cotton. The next was a letter from the Commissary-General to G. W. Randolph, Secretary of War, urging the acceptance of the proposition, and saying without it, it would be impossible to subsist the army. He says the cotton proposed to be used, in the Southwest will either be burned or fall into the hands of the enemy; and that more than two-thirds is never destroyed when the enemy approaches. But to effect his object, it will be necessary for the Secretary to sanction it, and to give orders for the cotton to pass the lines of the army. The next was from the Secretary to the President, dated October thirtieth, which not only sanctioned Colonel Northrop’s scheme, but went further, and embraced shoes and blankets for the Quartermaster-General. This letter inclosed both Foulkes’s and Northrop’s. They were all sent back to-day by the President, with his remarks. He hesitates, and does not concur. But says the Secretary will readily see the propriety of postponing such a resort until January—and he hopes it may not be necessary then to depart from the settled policy of the government—to forbear trading cotton to the Yankees, etc. etc.
Mr. Benjamin, Secretary of State, has given Mr. Dunnock permission to sell cotton to the Yankees and the rest of the world on the Atlantic and Gulf coast. Can it be that the President knows nothing of this? It is obvious that the cotton sold by Mr. Dunnock (who was always licensed by Mr. Benjamin to trade with people in the enemy’s country beyond the Potomac) will be very comfortable to the enemy. And it may aid Mr. Dunnock and others in accumulating a fortune. The Constitution defines treason to be giving aid and comfort to the enemy. I never supposed Mr. Randolph would suggest, nay urge, opening an illicit trade with “Butler, the Beast.” This is the first really dark period of our struggle for independence.
We have acres enough, and laborers enough, to subsist 30,000,000 of people; and yet we have the spectacle of high functionaries, under Mr. Davis, urging the necessity of bartering cotton to the enemy for stores essential to the maintenance of the army! I cannot believe it is a necessity, but a destitution of that virtue necessary to achieve independence. If they had any knowledge of these things in Europe, they would cease their commendations of President Davis.
Mr. Randolph says, in his letter to the President, that trading with ports in possession of the enemy is forbidden to citizens, and not to the government! The archives of the department show that this is not the first instance of the kind entertained by the Secretary. He has granted a license to citizens in Mobile to trade cotton in New Orleans for certain supplies in exchange, in exact compliance with Gen. Butler’s proclamation. Did Pitt ever practice such things during his contest with Napoleon? Did the Continental Government ever resort to such equivocal expedients? A member of Washington’s cabinet (and he, too, was a Randolph) once violated the “settled policy of the government,” but he was instantly deprived of the seals of office. He acted under the advice of Jefferson, who sought to destroy Washington; and the present Secretary Randolph is a grandson of Jefferson. Washington, the inflexible patriot, frowned indignantly upon every departure from the path of rectitude.
I can do nothing more than record these things, and WATCH!
November 1st, 1862. Fell in, and marched to Snicker’s Gap, our brigade in advance. We left part of the brigade with two guns in the Gap, about half way up the mountain, and posted the other half on the summit, which is broad, flat, and covered with fine grass, used in times of peace for grazing. There is an occasional house, and although very lonely, we found it an interesting position. After posting a picket line looking towards the Shenandoah, we descended to near the house, where brigade headquarters were established.
(by General Herman Haupt.)
I made the following report on how to destroy bridges and locomotive engines expeditiously:
Washington, D. C, November 1, 1862.
A simple and expeditious mode of destroying bridges, and rendering locomotive engines useless to an enemy, is often a desideratum. Cavalry may penetrate far into an enemy’s country, may reach bridges forming viaducts on important lines of communication, which, it may be desirable to break effectually; or, in retreat, the destruction of a bridge may be essential to the safety of an army, and yet time may not be sufficient to gather combustibles, or they may not be accessible, or the fire may be extinguished, or the damage may be so slight as to be easily repaired.
What is required is the means of certainly and effectually throwing down a bridge in a period of time not exceeding five minutes, and with apparatus so simple and portable that it can be carried in the pocket or a saddle-bag.
These requirements are fulfilled by a torpedo, which consists simply of a short bolt of seven-eighths inch iron, eight inches long, with head and nut—the head to be two inches in diameter, and about one inch thick. A washer of same size as the head must be placed under the nut at the other end, with a fuse-hole in it. Between the washer and the head is a tin cylinder one and three-quarters inches in diameter, open at both ends, which is filled with powder, and, when the washer and nut are put on, forms a case which encloses it.
In using this torpedo, a hole is bored in a timber; the torpedo (head downwards) is driven in by a stone or billet of wood, and the fuse ignited. The explosion blows the timber in pieces, and, if a main support, brings down the whole structure.
The time required is only that which is necessary to bore a hole with an auger. Ordinary cigar lighters, which burn without flame, and cannot be blown out, are best for igniting the fuse, which should be about two feet long.
For portability, the auger should be short, say thirteen inches, and the handle movable and of same length.
The proper place at which to insert the torpedo is of much consequence. Most of the Virginia bridges are Howe trusses without arches. In this kind of bridge, the destruction of the main braces at one end, and on only one side of a span, will be sufficient to bring down the whole structure. There are usually but two main braces in each panel, and two torpedoes will suffice to throw down a span. Two men can bore the two holes at the same time without interfering with each other.
Cartridges containing a fulminate would be more portable, but they are not always conveniently procurable, and their use is attended with risk of explosion.
It is only necessary to operate at one side and on one end of a bridge. If one side falls, the other side is pulled down with it.
If the structure contains an arch, two additional torpedoes will be required; but in this case it may be equally advantageous to operate upon the lower chord.
Experiments made at Alexandria proved that a timber placed in the position of a main brace, and similarly loaded, was shattered into many pieces, some of which were projected by the force of explosion more than a hundred feet.
To Render Locomotives Unfit for Service: The most expeditious mode is to fire a cannon ball through the boiler. This damage cannot be repaired without taking out all the flues.
The usual mode of disabling engines consists in burning the flues
by letting out the water and making a fire in the fire-box; but this is generally done so imperfectly that the enemy soon gets them in running order.
Cars are Readily Destroyed by Burning: On this subject no instructions are necessary. The destruction of more than four hundred cars by our own troops within the last six months proves that in the work of destroying such property perfection has been attained, and no room left for winning fresh laurels in this field.
The Superintendent of the Orange & Alexandria Military Railroad has instructions to furnish sample torpedoes to officers who may order them.
Address “J. H. Devereux, Superintendent of Orange & Alexandria Railroad, Alexandria, Va.”
H. HAUPT
Brigadier-General,
In Charge of United States Military Railroads.
