March 17, 1863 by Edwin Forbes.
Library of Congress image.
Library of Congress
Passing the River Batteries.
Our picture represents that moment in the fight when the “Hartford” has reached safety above the forts; the “Monongahela ” is turning to drift down, and the ” Mississippi ” is bursting into flames as the crew desert her under the fire of the Confederate batteries. Beacon-fires on either shore flash fitfully through the gloom, and with the locomotive head-lights on the lower banks enable the gunners to discover the position of the passing vessels. (Catalogue; Prang’s War Pictures.)
Library of Congress image.
Admiral Farragut’s fleet engaging the rebel batteries at Port Hudson, March, 14th 1863.
Currier & Ives.
Library of Congress image.
Marriage of Captain Daniel Hart and Nellie Lammond, March 12, 1863.
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On the 12th inst., marriage rites were celebrated in camp, this being the first occasion of the kind that has ever transpired in the army of the Potomac. Of course it “drew,” as all novelties do, and created a sensation in camp for a week preceding the affair. We, being on the staff, of course received a card…
(Troy NY Daily Times, March 24, 1863)
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WE reproduce on page 216 a picture of Mr. Waud’s, representing A MARRIAGE IN THE CAMP OF THE SEVENTH NEW JERSEY VOLUNTEERS in the Army of the Potomac. Mr. Waud writes:
“An event to destroy the monotony of life in one of Hooker’s old regiments. The camp was very prettily decorated, and being very trimly arranged among the pines, was just the camp a visitor would like to see. A little before noon the guests began to arrive in considerable numbers. Among them were Generals Hooker, Sickles, Carr, Mott, Hobart Ward, Revere, Bartlett, Birney, Berry, Colonel Dickinson, and other aids to General Hooker; Colonels Burling, Farnham, Egan, etc. Colonel Francine and Lieutenant-Colonel Price, of the Seventh, with the rest of the officers of that regiment, proceeded to make all welcome, and then the ceremony commenced. In a hollow square formed by the troops a canopy was erected, with an altar of drums, officers grouped on each side of this. On General Hooker’s arrival the band played Hail to the Chief, and on the approach of the bridal party the Wedding March. It was rather cold, windy, and threatened snow, altogether tending to produce a slight pink tinge on the noses present; but the ladies bore it with courage, and looked, to the unaccustomed eyes of the soldiers, like real angels in their light clothing. To add to the dramatic force of the scene, the rest of the brigade and other troops were drawn up in line of battle not more than a mile away to repel an expected attack from Fredericksburg. Few persons are wedded under more romantic circumstances than Nellie Lammond and Captain De Hart. He could not get leave of absence, so she came down like a brave girl, and married him in camp. After the wedding was a dinner, a ball, fire-works, etc.; and on the whole it eclipsed entirely an opera at the Academy of Music in dramatic effect and reality.” (Harper’s Weekly, April 4, 1863)
Drawing by Alfred R. Waud, Maarch 18, 1863.
Library of Congress image.
Marriage at the camp of the 7th N.J.V. poster available at Zazzle.com
Harper’s Weekly, April 4, 1863
Stereograph showing gunboats at dock at the Baton Rouge coaling yard of Messrs. Hill & Markham at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, March 1863.
Library of Congress image.
March 1863 – alternate title: Coaling Farragut’s Fleet after New Orleans.
Stereograph showing sailors and soldiers resting on shore with carts and supplies in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the distance, ships rest in the harbor.
Library of Congress image.
WE illustrate herewith a very familiar personage to our armies. Mr. Waud, the author of the sketch, writes:
“This sketch, taken in a little country store, is a fair representation of a class which increases with great rapidity when the army is on the move. With worn-out clothes, mournful looks, and dirty persons, they beg or steal as occasion offers, carefully avoiding their regiments, where they can get all needful supplies, for fear they should be given something to do. They generally travel in little squads, some of whom have thrown away or sold their arms and knapsacks—sleeping in barns or camping out in by-places, for which the modern shelter-tent affords great facilities, being so easily transported and pitched. Sometimes they want for food, but more often live on the fat of the land, begging or buying bread, and stealing poultry, meat, vegetables, and so forth. Where it is safe they do a good deal of bullying; in the vicinity of guards they assume a dejected air, usually counterfeiting lameness to get the charity of the country folk.
“A more efficient provost guard would remedy this crying evil in the army, it being a noticeable fact that not till after a new country has been subjected for days to pillage at the hands of straggling scoundrels is any effort made to do away with the evil, although a private citizen is liable to arrest or detention in the most absurd places.”
Harper’s Weekly March 28, 1863
