FORAGING AND MARAUDING.

337

of room. The movement was continued up to White House, where the Twenty-first Connecticut was detached for provostduty; Col. Dutton still commanding the brigade.

At six o'clock on the morning of July 1, the force crossed the Pamunkey River at White House, on the railroad bridge. The day was extremely hot; but the column moved slowly northward, passing Lanesville and King William Court House, encountering no enemy. The Connecticut brigade bivouacked in a clover-patch of a Mr. Pemberton, while the horses were turned loose in fields of juicy oats. Mr. Pemberton was away at a meeting; and every man for miles around was absent,-" gone to mill," "gone to see his sister," gone to an indefinite meeting at some indefinite place for some indefinite purpose.

Next day the force made eleven miles more, passing still westward towards Mongohick. Chaplain Morris, in a letter to the Palladium on that day, said, "There is a general order strictly prohibiting foraging by irresponsible parties; but I regret to say that it is openly disregarded in some regiments by both officers and men. The woods resound with the crack of the rifle; and in all directions men are entering camp loaded with poultry, fresh pork, beef, and mutton. In an adjoining field, while I am writing, there lie as many as fifty sheep-skins.

"We passed just after mid-day the princely mansion of Dr. Fountain, whose wife is a daughter of Patrick Henry, and is an outspoken and zealous rebel. The planter had gone to Richmond; and the women fled in terror at our approach, leaving the splendid establishment in the hands of the blacks. When we arrived, marauders had been before us. Every chair and table was broken, marble tables and mantels, mirrors and picture-frames, smashed to fragments; one old family portrait was cut from top to bottom, and hopelessly ruined; bureaus were broken open, destroyed, and their contents torn and scattered and trampled by muddy boots; bedposts were split in twain by axes; jars of preserves were dashed against the clean white walls; a splendid library was tumbled from the shelves, and many books chopped in two and stamped to pieces. Nothing

escaped the ax, or the butt of the musket: every room was strewn thickly with fragments and tatters, bedaubed and unsightly where every thing had been costly and tasteful.

"The indignation of Gen. Getty, and of every decent man, was unbounded. A guard was immediately posted, and every effort made to detect the miscreants. Several were arrested, and tried this afternoon by a drumhead courtmartial; but I regret to say the evidence was too meager to convict any of the despicable knaves. The perpetrators doubtless were professional stragglers. A majority of the soldiers, I am happy to say, condemn and execrate such men, and would deem the death-penalty inadequate punishment."

On July 3, the Connecticut brigade had the advance, the Eighth out as skirmishers. It was fiercely hot, and many fell sun-struck. Surgeon Sabin Stocking of the Eighth, and the chaplain, impressed from the plantations along the march all the horses, mules, carriages, and carts they could discover to transport the loads of sick and fainting men. It was a motley collection of carts and gigs, of colts, toothless nags, and broken-down mules, uniform only in leanness and worthlessness; but they served the purpose to the extent of their feeble ability, and were turned loose at the journey's end. At night, the force reached a point due north from Richmond, opposite Hanover Court House, on the Pamunkey.

The next day, the 4th of July, was spent near the bivouac, on the plantation of Mr. John Taylor, one of three wealthy brothers, a keen, cruel, sensual man, and a bitter rebel. Mr. Taylor was in a frame of mind to enjoy the day and the scene. Being a wily, fluent, and vehement talker, well posted in political history, and not at all backward in declaring his views, he volunteered to make a speech to the soldiers from his porch. Some of his slaves and quadroon women were peeping from the windows of the mansion. His wife had long been divorced. He spoke of the "invasion of the South," but especially of slavery, in regard to the workings of which he claimed to be well informed. He

A BLACKBERRY RAID.

339

said it was a patriarchal institution, good for the happiness of both races. He spoke freely of his kindness and gentle care of his slaves; admitted that he had to punish them occasionally, but explained that he stood in a paternal relation to them (which, in many cases, was believed to be the exact truth); that they regarded his correction as inflicted for their own good; and that they were devoted to him, and ready to do or die for him. Deluded orator! at that very instant the hiding-place of his own son, a member of Stuart's cavalry, now home on furlough, had been betrayed by some of his most trusted "servants;" and others were pointing out his secreted treasures of meat, wine, grain, and store; while every black that could hobble was gathering what he could to "tote" to the land of freedom.

In the mean time, it transpired that the Connecticut brigade had been left as a reserve to assist Mr. Taylor in a proper celebration of Independence Day; while the other regiments of the division had tried to cross the Pamunkey into Hanover for the purpose of destroying the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad. The passage of the river was successfully resisted; and, after burning a bridge or two, they returned to Taylor's next day. The expedition was substantially a failure, and the troops felt disheartened as they turned their faces again to the rear; their chagrin being modified, however, by exhilarating rumors from Pennsylvania.

Early fruits were in their prime, and the troops lived voluptuously. The soldiers from the hard hills of New England had never before seen such a wealth of berries, especially of running blackberries, as now bestrewed the route of march. A man could sit upon the ground, and, without changing his position, pick as many as he could eat. An officer recalling this time says, "I picked a water-pail three-quarters full from the vines within my tent." These promoted the health of officers and men, previously inclined to dysentery; and the column returned rapidly and in good spirits, five hundred thoughtless, careless, jolly contrabands swarming upon the flanks and rear.

The return through White House, Williamsburg, and Yorktown, to Hampton, was made on foot, through a region too poor for plunder; and the division crossed the Roads next day, and again quietly encamped for rest and drill, cheering over the news from Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and resolutely subduing their feelings of pride as they rehearsed the achievements of "The Blackberry Raid."

CHAPTER XXII.

The Tenth Connecticut Volunteers at Newberne. -Expedition to the Interior. - The Tarborough Scout. - Forage and Rations. - An Incident of Slavery. - The Battle of Kinston.-The Tenth at the Front. The Contest for the Bridge. - Complimented by Gen. Foster.—Heavy Losses. — The Railroad destroyed at Goldsborough. -Gallantry. To St. Helena Island. - Camp and Surroundings. - The Eighteenth Connecticut Volunteers still at Baltimore. -Joins Milroy at Winchester. - The Situation. Battle of the First Day. The Second Day at the Intrenchments. - The Evacuation. The Charge into the Woods. Surrender of the Eighteenth.- Casualties. Colors saved. - Prison Life.

---

EANTIME, in the summer of 1862, the Tenth staid at Newberne; recovering its strength, and attaining admirable discipline. Major Pettibone had been promoted to be colonel, and Capt. Pardee became lieutenant-colonel. The latter resigned, however, in September, and was succeeded by Major Robert Leggett. Inaction seemed not to dull the spirit, or injure the morals, of the men. Rev. Henry Clay Trumbull, who had brought to the regiment all the characteristics of an admirable chaplain, wrote, "This is a noble regiment. I do not hesitate to say that the moral standard is now as high in the camp of the Tenth as with the same class of men in any part of Connecticut. I have heard more profanity in one day in some streets of Hartford than here in any week since my arrival. Many are far more manly than when they left home."

The Tenth lost an excellent officer, Sept. 19, in Capt. Thomas R. Mead of Greenwich, who died of exposure to the debilitating influence of the Southern climate. He was a young man of sterling qualities, — of earnestness, bravery, integrity, and he impressed himelf for good on all his associates. Major Daniel M. Mead, also of Greenwich, died