CHAPTER VII. ΤΟ ARRIVAL AT MOUNT CLAIR-AN UNPLEASANT INCIDENT-REPORT WE were delayed by various causes on our short journey, and it was after dark when we reached the westerly suburb of Baltimore, and debarked at Mount Clair. Everybody was worried and fagged out by the hurry and bustle of the day, and ill temper was the dominant condition of officers and men. Our bivouac was an open field, south of the railroad track, where the regiment was formed, stacked arms, and prepared to spend the residue of the night. We did not know our future destination. As it was expected we would reach Baltimore early in the afternoon, no rations were issued for the journey, but they were put into a freight car attached to our train. On reaching our bivouac, Commissary Lounsbery proceeded to perform the difficult duty of getting his rations out of the car, in the darkness, and issuing them to the several companies, in the established order. The field officers were lying upon the ground, near the right of the regiment, waiting for their own supper, when their attention was drawn to a tumult, near the commissary car. Colonel Pratt sent a staff officer to learn the cause of the disturbance, who soon returned and reported that the officers of a certain company were insisting that their men should be served out of their order, and threatened to have their men take possession of the car and help themselves, unless the Commissary at once gave them their rations. Pratt was not a stickler for matters of form, and was ready at any time to deviate from any established routine for the comfort or convenience of his command. But he was a resolute enforcer of discipline, and the last man in the world to allow one of his officers to be overrun when in the proper discharge of his duty. He at once went to the scene of controversy, and found things rather worse than they were reported to be. The Co. in question had fallen in, without arms, and were quietly awaiting the course of events; their Captain was greatly excited, and was applying very strong and uncomplimentary language to the Commissary, who received it with his habitual imperturbability. Colonel Pratt ordered the captain to march his company back to its quarters, and await his turn for rations. This he refused to do, and the situation, thereupon, became delicate and important, in so far as the discipline of the regiment was concerned. The issue was squarely presented between the authority of the colonel and that of a captain. But Pratt did not hesitate; he ordered Captain Flynn to put F Company under arms and march to the scene of trouble. When they arrived Colonel Pratt told the captain of the Company in question, that if he did not return with his company to his quarters at once, he would order them to fire upon him. After a moment's hesitation, the officers returned with their men to their position in the line of bivouac, while F Company, relieved from a disagreeable duty, returned to its place and stacked arms. The commissary then proceeded with his work, and all were finally supplied with their rations in proper order, and our first night in Baltimore passed without further incident worthy of notice. 1861.] REPORT TO GEN. BANKS. 99 The following morning the lieutenant-colonel, accompanied by the adjutant, rode through the city, and thence to Fort McHenry, and reported the arrival and position of the regiment to General Banks. He inquired what route we had taken to reach the fort, and when informed, he said we had had a dangerous ride, and directed we should return by a route that would avoid the city. He said that he had arrested certain prominent Baltimoreans the night before, and that the feeling among the rebels in the city toward Union soldiers was very bitter, and that we were liable to be shot while riding through the streets. He directed that the regiment should march through the city, to Patterson's Park, on the east side, and encamp; the two officers, in returning to the regiment, took General Banks' advice, and gave the city a wide berth. Fort McHenry is situated on the point of a peninsula, at the mouth of the harbor, and is famous for having sustained a 24 hours' bombardment by 16 British ships-of-war on the 13th of September, 1814. While this bombardment was going on, Francis Scott Key, then a prisoner on the British ship Minden, lying near Soller's Flatts, eight miles below, and where the white walls of the unfinished Fort Carroll now rise above the water, composed the national song known as the "Star Spangled Banner." Baltimore was justly proud of the defense of the fort and the city, and well it might be, in view of some contemporaneous events. Superadded to the attack by the fleet, 9,000 troops landed and advanced against the city. General Stryker, with the Baltimore brigade of 3,200 men, met the invaders, and opposed them so stoutly, killing a large number, including General Ross, their commander, that they were glad to get aboard their ships again and sail away. Battle Monument, in the city, commemorates these events. We marched through the city with drums beating, and colors flying, greatly to the disgust of the secession element. As we advanced through the streets, we could see heads thrust out of windows, in front, and after a hurried look at the approaching troops, the head would disappear, and the window blinds would be closed. Men and women retired to their houses, and the streets and buildings looked deserted. Many of the people secluded themselves because they were afraid of another street fight, but more of them did so because they did not want to see Union soldiers, or appear to take any interest in them. Reaching Patterson Park, on the east side of the city, we went into camp. This park contains 56 acres, some portions of which are covered with trees of large growth, the shade of which, on a July day, we found very acceptable. The park is on high ground, which overlooks much of the harbor, canton, and the surrounding country. The City of Baltimore is built up to the westerly and northerly limits of the park, and ten minutes' walk takes one into Broadway, one of the fashionable streets of the city. Until eclipsed by the superior attractions of Druid Hill Park, Patterson Park was a favorite resort for pleasure seekers, and pedestrians yet resort to it in great numbers, as a convenient and pleasant breathing place in warm weather. It is so high it catches the breeze from every direction, while it affords a view of city, country and harbor that make up a very charming combination of scenery. An earthen fort was constructed in the park, as one of the means of defending the city, in the war of 1812, and the embankment yet remains, overgrown with sod and grass. The park belonged to, and was called after the Patterson family, of Baltimore, whose beautiful daughter Elizabeth married Jerome Bonaparte, on Christmas Eve, 1803, and who was deserted by her husband, in order to restore himself to favor with his brother, the Emperor, and who, on the 12th of August, 1807, at the command of his 1861.] ORDERED INTO CITY. 101 brother, married Fredrica Catharine, daughter of the King of Wurtemberg, while his wife was clasping to her torn heart, his infant son, in her father's house, in Baltimore. In Loudon Park Cemetery, near Baltimore, peacefully repose the remains of the child of that famous but unhappy marriage. On an imposing granite obelisk is this legend: "Sacred to the memory of Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, born July 7th, 1805; died June 17th, 1870, aged 65. Requiescat in pace." We named the post "Camp Banks," in honor of the commander of the department, Major-General N. P. Banks. Soon after settling down we lost one of our men, Dubois, of E Company, who died of brain fever. He was buried by his comrades. Colonel Pratt On the evening of Sunday, July received an order to report to General Banks, at Fort McHenry. Returning to the camp about midnight, he ordered the regiment to be ready to march at five o'clock Monday morning, excepting a detail of 100 men to be left in charge of the camp. At the designated time on Monday morning the regiment marched out of camp, and filing into Broadway, moved down that fine street, until the head of column rested on Bank street, where we were directed to await orders. The rain came down in a steady drizzle. We had no idea what was expected of us, but we saw we were giving the occupants of the locality a genuine surprise. As they arose and looked from their windows, the first sight that greeted their eye was a halfdozen mounted officers and a good sized regiment of infantry, occupying their street, and apparently waiting for some development. The rumor soon spread that we were going to search the neighborhood, and especially a church near by, for concealed arms, and I think we rather fell in with the notion ourselves. By and by an order came for four companies to march to the Custom House, in Lombard street. Col |