12 THE CAMPAIGNS OF THE issued, and we received the cheerful intelligence that they must last us five. At half-past ten, we resumed our march passing through the villages of Middleburg and White Plains, arriving near Upperville at ten o'clock, P. M., having marched about fifteen miles. On the next morning we marched at daylight through Salem, and crossed the mountains over Free State Road. On our route, a locomotive passed us, and was greeted by three hearty cheers from the boys, who were reminded of home and civilization by the sight. We marched about twenty miles over very rough and mountainous roads, and bivouacked near Warrenton. Several rebel stragglers were captured by the provost guard at houses along the route. The weather was very cold on the seventh, and during the day the first snow of the season fell. The regiment at this place confiscated about seventy hives of honey and a large amount of pork and mutton, from the estate of Mrs. Lee, a relative of the rebel general, Robert E. Lee. We remained in the vicinity of Warrenton until the tenth, when we marched at five o'clock, P. M., with seven days rations, passing through Waterloo and bivouacking at ten o'clock. Waterloo, evidently, was once a thriving village, but at this time was completely in ruins. The camp-fires of the enemy were visible from our bivouac. On the following day a portion of the army was engaged, but we were in the reserve. Up to this time, the movements of the Army of the Potomac had been made in accordance with General McClellan's plan, of advancing on Richmond via Culpepper and Gordonsville. General Burnside, having succeeded to the command of the army, decided, after a council of war, to change the plan of the campaign, and move on Richmond via Falmouth and Fredericksburg, making Aquia Creek his base. Accordingly, on the twelfth, the army was withdrawn from its advanced position, and once more encamped in the vicinity of Warrenton. At this place General Berry returned from a sick leave and assumed the command of the brigade, which during his absence had been commanded by Colonel Poe, of the First Michigan Volunteers, and Colonel de Trobriand, of the Fiftyfifth New York Volunteers. We remained in this vicinity until November sixteenth, when we again took up the line of march, moving slowly and with frequent rests until four o'clock, P. M., when we bivouacked for the night, after a march of only six or seven miles. On our route we passed near the village of Warrenton, which appeared to be a beautiful place, comparing quite favorably with some of our New England villages. The next day we resumed our march, passing through Fayetteville, a flourishing municipality, which, at the time of our passage through its streets, consisted of one house, burning, and an old barn and two ancient American citizens of African lineage, standing. It is a common practice in Virginia to give a single house or farm some high-sounding and pretentious title. A dilapidated, one-story hovel, with mud floors and wooden chimneys, will frequently be dignified with a ville appended to the owner's name. For this reason it will be impossible to find upon any map the names of many places which the war has made historic. We bivouacked about dark in the vicinity of Bealetown. At this place a soldier of one of the New York regiments of our brigade, while endeavoring to procure some straw for a bed, from the stack of a rebel citizen, was wantonly shot by a provost marshal. The affair created considerable stir and indignation among the soldiers, who had their revenge, later in the evening, by setting fire to several stacks of hay and straw, and the barn and out-buildings of the farmer, which were speedily consumed. The idea of guarding "secesh" property too strictly was not relished by the soldiers. On the eighteenth, we continued our march, which, owing to the condition of the roads, and the weather, was quite a hard one, and bivouacked in the vicinity of Morrisville. On the nineteenth, we marched from half-past ten, A. M., until three, P. M. It rained most of the day, and the roads were in a very muddy condition. We remained during the twentieth and twenty-first in a field in the vicinity of Falmouth, it raining the whole time almost incessantly. The roads were extremely bad, and almost impassable for artillery or wagons. On the twenty-second, we resumed our march at half-past seven o'clock, passing Berea Church and the deserted camps of McDowell's army, which had been profusely decorated with arches of evergreen and elaborate bowers. Our march was by a very circuitous route, and we accomplished only about twelve miles, bivouacking in the vicinity of the DeLacy House, and within sight of the spires of Fredericksburg, surrender of which city had been demanded. - the On Tuesday, the twenty-fifth, the division was reviewed by Major-general Hooker, commanding the center grand division of the Army of the Potomac, and Major-general Stoneman, commanding the corps. Thursday, November twenty-seventh, "Thanksgiving day" in Maine, we munched our wormy hard tack (short rations at that ), shivering over our camp-fires, and thought of the groaning boards and the good cheer we were wont to enjoy; the happy reunions and family gatherings in "our dear old native homes." As we gather around the family table at each recurring anniversary of this dear New England holiday, let us not forget the Thanksgiving day of 1862, spent on the banks of the Rappahannock. On the twenty-eighth, we made our first appearance on brigade drill, under the instruction of General Berry, and on the following day we were detailed for fatigue, receiving our first lessons in building corduroy roads. At this duty the sturdy yeomen of Maine were in their element, and the city boys, although none of them over-exerted themselves, worked well. Several of the men stockaded their shelter tents with logs, and some few huts boasted the luxury of a fireplace. On the fifth of December it rained in the morning, but towards noon it commenced to snow. Snow fell during the day and evening, and on the following morning the landscape presented a decidedly northern aspect. The weather during the first two weeks of December was cold, stormy and blustering, and our cotton tents afforded but little protection from the inclemency of winter. |