Diary of a Young Officer–Josiah Marshall Favill (57th New York Infantry)

January 20th. General Warren and the officers of his staff are projecting a ball at corps headquarters for the evening of February 22d, Washington’s birthday. It is to be the occasion of a grand military display, and all the notables of the country are to be invited to make it an epoch in the annals of the army of the Potomac.

January 10th. The officers of corps and division headquarters are determined to have a gay winter and are making great exertions to this end. Under the direction of Major Hancock, our division is branching out prodigiously. Within the lines was found an abandoned saw mill, much dilapidated, but still susceptible of repairs. The major conceived the brilliant idea of fitting it up, felling the forest trees, sawing them into boards and timber, and building a large hall for music, dancing, and other amusements. As officers are allowed to invite ladies to camp, and almost every commanding officer has some of them, this seems an excellent thing to do. In response to a circular sent to regimental commanders asking for men familiar with sawmills, several Maine regiments offered many more than were needed; so we ordered a saw from Washington, kegs of nails, etc., and put as many men to work as could do so to advantage. We planned and built a building 80×40, with two immense fireplaces on one side large enough to take in logs ten feet long. In the course of two weeks the whole thing was completed, decorated handsomely with evergreens, flags, guidons, various kinds, of small arms, drums, etc., and was ready for occupancy. This palace of Mars became the center of the social hospitality of the Second corps and lectures, concerts, dinners, and dances followed each other in rapid succession.

The ladies are in ecstasies, bewildered by the immense attention they received, and dazzled by the splendors of a military camp. Every officer is devoting himself, his horses, and his servants to their comfort and thus they are in a measure repaid for their long, anxious hours of expectancy during active operations.

January 8th. General Hancock, who rejoined the corps a few weeks ago, went home to-day, not being able to stand the worry and fatigue of camp life. Warren takes over the command again and is likely to remain with us all winter; compared to Hancock, he is decidedly a light weight, although a good soldier and engineer officer, but lacks dignity and force of character. He is a great card player, and with certain of his staff spends most of his leisure time in playing. He is slight, dark, good looking, but dull and uninteresting. General Hancock, being an ideal looking soldier, any one almost succeeding him must suffer, at least in our eyes, and this is to be remembered.

I received my commission as captain to-day with rank from September 23, 1863. We are all enthusiasm, preparing for a brilliant social season; amongst other ventures we have started a newspaper; “Our Camp Journal,” edited by Lieutenant L. D. Burch, Twenty-sixth Michigan, and it is to appear every week. Local matters, of course, will be its chief resource, but the lieutenant is bright and proposes to review the general situation whenever in the mood. To show the ability of the writer and the range of subjects, I shall transcribe a few of the leading articles. Here is his first gun, “Speaking of the army of the Potomac. If there is one army of this half century, to which posterity will accord greater honor than to any other it is the army of the Potomac. There is not an army of history even that may produce a record of so many great battles, so much loss of life and limb, so many rapid, extended and fatiguing marches, and such extreme trials of human endurance as this same Potomac army. The Potomac army has been opposed from first to last by the choicest troops of the confederacy, under command of men confessedly its ablest generals, and indeed among the best of their time.”

“It is generally conceded that Virginia troops have given the most stubborn resistance to our advance of any in the rebel service. Besides this, the Potomac army has fought an army always its equal; generally, its superior in numbers, with the vast advantage of a defensive warfare in a region made up of the strongest natural defenses to be found upon the continent.

“An officer of high rank recently from the Western army, on a visit to the Second corps, remarked in our hearing: ‘I am only surprised that an army invading such a country has not been wholly destroyed. These jungles of pines, cedars, and brambles, bottomless roads, interminable ranges of hills, with an endless succession of rivers and “runs,” which make up the topography of Virginia, render even ordinary military resistance hard to be overcome; and then, too, it has repeatedly been forced by the inexorable demands of an excited, half frenzied, and exacting public opinion, to fight the enemy in his stronghold, against the judgment of its commanders.

“‘Their first movements have resulted in unfortunate failures, out of which came many criticisms, calumnies, and indignities from the press, the rostrum, and the public, not to say the people, but in the midst of which the noble army has marched on, fought on, and suffered on, through a succession of campaigns, such as would blot from the map of Europe half its old principalities and powers, still unshaken in its faith in the final triumph of our arms, still unshorn of its strength to fight and win the battles of other campaigns.

“‘Fighting on the vast plains of the West, with the advantages equally distributed, is quite a different thing from dislodging an enemy from a chain of continuous natural and artificial defenses, covering an area of sixty thousand square miles. For the present, we are content to believe in the men and their leaders, who upon the plain of Gettysburg fought and won the grandest battle of the century, saved the fortunes of the republic, and are calmly watching and waiting by the Rapidan the coming of their last campaign.'”

January 6th. Our quarters, now completed, are extremely comfortable; they are wall tents set up on split logs, which raise the tent about two feet from the ground, and thus provide for a fireplace made of mud and sticks, as is also the chimney. We have a bunk big enough for two, well filled with cedar branches, and to crown all, a real door fitted to the tent, so that we may be said to live in luxury. We have also a new band, this time a division band, and it is to be stationed at our own headquarters. Major John Hancock, the adjutant-general, organized it in Boston. It is led by Higgins, a superb musician, and is equipped with instruments which cost the officers of this division four thousand dollars.

The prisoners have put up a large log house, in which the poor wretches will be tried. It is commodious, has an immense fireplace and pretty good roof, and we expect to hold our first session to-morrow and renew the dispensation of justice. The general takes great interest in military law and enjoys the exercise of his reviewing authority immensely. We usually go over the completed cases after dinner, when I give him all the information I possess. He is disposed always to leniency, and as I am, too, the men in our division must be deserving of it, if they are severely punished.

January 1, 1864. The army is comfortably quartered in log huts, and horse racing, games, etc., are under full headway. The rebel army still confronts us as defiantly as ever, and is securely entrenched on the other side of the Rapidan. Who would have dreamed in ’61, that those of us who started out to finish the war in the course of a three months’ service, would still be in the field three years afterwards, with the task still unaccomplished? Immense changes have occurred; in the meantime we have had a vast experience in war and are no longer enthusiastic boys, but veteran soldiers, taught in the best of all military schools, actual service, in campaigns that have had no equal in modern times.

Over one half of our original number has disappeared from the muster rolls; killed in action; died of wounds, of disease, of fatigue and exposure, or perhaps resigned, unable to stand the constant shock of arms. This old state of Virginia has become a vast cemetery, in which thousands of once bright and ambitious men belonging to the army of the Potomac now lie scattered in its shady nooks or somber woods, unmarked except by their bleaching bones and the accumulation of various parts of their accoutrements, which still lay rusting and rotting about them. Amongst the survivors, the excitement and enthusiasm of early days has long since passed away, but the resolve still remains, and until the work is done this army will never lay down its arms.

Our daily life seems natural enough to most of us, and fighting battles and campaigning the ordinary routine of life. There is not much talk of the end of the war, and yet we know it cannot be so far away; still these people have fought so well, made such extraordinary good use of their limited resources and prolonged the contest so unexpectedly that one is loth to express any opinion respecting the ultimate collapse. They will no doubt, fight to the death, in the last ditch, as they suggestively put it, and we shall have many more battles to fight, marches to make, and sacrifice of lives, before the end comes; but come it must, and this grand old army will surely one day parade to receive the submission of what is left of its great antagonist, then quietly disband never to meet again.

I remained in New York taking sulphur baths, and received the special attention of several army surgeons, but recovered very slowly. On December 10th I returned to Washington, intending to join the army, but upon examination by an army surgeon, was declared unfit for service, and was detailed on court martial duty in Washington. The court broke up on the fifteenth, and at my own request, I was relieved from duty, and joined my command, now in winter quarters. I found division headquarters located amongst a lot of bushes, on low ground knee deep in mud; the general staff were under canvas, not having commenced the erection of permanent quarters, and for a partially sick man the immediate outlook was not reassuring. The day after my arrival men were put to work to fix us up, and all the wall tents were mounted on framed logs made flat inside ,and fitted with fireplaces, chimneys, doors, and floors. We put up a bunk to accommodate two, had it filled with cedar branches, covered with blankets, and thus provided ourselves with a lovely bed. In the evening when the open fire was lighted, we were indeed comfortable and did not envy the richest man in the country. Our servants’ tents were placed on logs, just in rear, within call, and the horses amply provided for, so we were thoroughly prepared for the winter. General Warren, who has been in command of the corps since Gettysburg, which I forgot to mention, is still in command, General Hancock not yet having recovered from the severe wound he received at Gettysburg.

December 1st. During the night orders were received to recross the Rapidan and go into winter quarters, so the entire army marched back to the original spot selected for winter quarters, and to the delight of all, the huts were found intact. Thus ends the campaign of 1863. Active operations ceased, and all prepared to pass a comfortable winter. The camp is designated as near Stevensburg, Virginia, but there is no town so far as I can learn.

November 30th. Under arms all day waiting orders; cold nights now make active service doubly severe.

November 29th. Marched early this morning via Robertson’s tavern to the plank road leading to Orange court house, across which the division formed in line of battle; a little skirmishing followed, but did not amount to anything.