MILITARY: One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Second Regiment, Bucktail Brigade, Chapter 4 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by JRB & JP Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm An html version of the book with graphics, may be found at http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/military/cw/150-bucktails/150-bucktails.htm ________________________________________________ HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH REGIMENT PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS, SECOND REGIMENT, BUCKTAIL BRIGADE. BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL THOMAS CHAMBERLIN, HISTORIAN OF THE SURVIVORS ASSOCIATION. REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION, WITH COMPLETE ROSTER. PHILADELPHIA: F. McMANUS, JR. & CO., PRINTERS, 1905. 36 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH CHAPTER IV. ON TO WASHINGTON - IN WASHINGTON ON Friday morning, September 5, about seven o'clock, the regiment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Huidekoper (Colonel Wister not yet having been relieved of his duties as a recruiting officer), took train for Washington, but, encountering some delays, did not reach Baltimore until the middle of the afternoon. The march through the streets to Camden Station was full of interest to the entire command, many of whom saw the beautiful city for the first time. In passing along Baltimore Street the minds of all reverted to the scenes of disorder and bloodshed which marked the passage of the first Northern soldiers through Baltimore in 1861. Now the tone of the people was strongly loyal, and the regiment on its march was greeted with every sign of sympathy and good feeling. Substantial citizens joined the column and, accompanying it over the route, expressed their gratification at the sight of such a re-enforcement - which they declared looked more like a brigade than a regiment - moving towards the capital, then felt to be in danger. At the Camden Station there was a considerable delay, of which the men took advantage to stretch their limbs and partake of a comfortable supper. Late in the night a fresh start was made, and the train arrived at Washington about daybreak. The journey was without important incident, but its very slowness, coupled with the loss of sleep, was excessively fatiguing, and the regiment was glad of a few hours' repose at the "Soldiers' Rest". Here Colonel Huidekoper received orders to report with his command to General Casey, whose PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 37 headquarters were at the south end of Fourteenth Street, not far from the beginning of the Long Bridge. Thither the regiment marched, only to receive instructions to move out north of the city, in the direction of Frederick. Starting about mid-day, it proceeded by way of Seventh Street, and, after accomplishing a distance of five or six miles under the pleasurable impression that it was about to join the Army of the Potomac, its course was arrested by orders to return to the capital. This was a great disappointment, for which, however, there was no help, and the column dragged its slow length back over the road by which it had come, wondering - as inexperienced soldiers will - whether the military authorities of the department "knew their own mind". The first march of a regiment with its full equipment is necessarily a trying one, and the exhaustion of the men of the 150th, on again reaching the city, led many of them to estimate the distance traversed that afternoon at twenty miles or more, when in reality it did not exceed twelve or fourteen. Adjutant Ashhurst is of the opinion that the command was to halt at the Soldiers' Home, outside of the city; but by a misunderstanding it was led back to the "Soldiers' Rest". Night had fallen when the latter place was reached, and, as neither tents nor other means of shelter were at hand, the regiment bivouacked at will on door-steps, pavements, and open lots, wherever a blanket could be spread to advantage or a body overwhelmed with fatigue could stretch itself to rest. On the following morning, September 7, the regiment was placed under the control of General Wadsworth, then Military Governor of the District of Columbia, by whose orders it proceeded to Meridian Hill and established a camp in a large grove, at a point about one-fourth of a mile southwardly from Fourteenth Street. West of this grove was a considerable stretch of open ground, somewhat broken and irregular in its surface, but fairly well adapted to drilling purposes. Tents 38 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH were promptly supplied for quartering both officers and men. The shelter of the trees on warm afternoons was very grateful, and the good taste and ingenuity of the members of the several companies were soon apparent in the attractions and comforts which distinguished the camp. Here Colonel Wister, who had been relieved from his mission as a recruiting officer and mustered on the 5th of September, joined his command and assumed his proper functions. Guard duty at some of the neighboring hospitals at once absorbed the services of a large portion of the regiment, several companies being detailed at a time. The men who were left in camp were industriously exercised in squad, company, and battalion movements, so that all in turn received much-needed instruction. The disintegration of the command, however, began before the camp was fairly established. On the 7th Companies C and H were ordered to the Soldiers' Home, where President Lincoln and his family were then staying, to relieve some "regulars" who were on duty there; but, either from a misunderstanding of the order or ignorance of the location of the Home, they proceeded to the large frame building known as the "Soldiers' Rest", near the Baltimore and Ohio Depot. The regulars having left the Home, and no troops appearing to take their place, an aide was sent to the camp of the 150th to see what had become of the promised detail. Companies D and K were then promptly started for the Soldiers' Home, under proper guidance, and C and H were recalled to camp. Companies D and K pitched their tents in a small sloping field, or paddock, just outside of the neatly kept grounds of the Home, but in view of the buildings. Their especial duty was to guard the premises and look after the safety of the nation's chief, whose life was even then believed to be more or less in danger. Here Lieutenant-Colonel Huidekoper visited them each day, inspecting the guards, instructing the men off PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 39 duty in company evolutions as well as in the manual of arms, of which latter he was a complete master, and generally laboring to promote the discipline and efficiency of both officers and privates. A few days after taking command of the regiment, Colonel Wister received a message from General Wadsworth, asking him if he could furnish an active and intelligent young officer for temporary duty on his staff. Lieutenant J. Q. Carpenter, of Company E, was selected, and, in an interview with the general, made a sufficiently favorable impression to be at once detailed as an aide. General Wadsworth was at that time the Republican candidate for Governor of New York, but, being defeated at the polls some weeks later by Horatio Seymour, and requesting to be sent to the field, he was relieved from his position as Military Governor of the District of Columbia and put in command of the First Division of the First Corps, then at Belle Plain. General Martindale succeeded him in the military governorship, and, his staff being complete, Lieutenant Carpenter rejoined his company. On the 12th of September, Company F was sent to Carroll Hill to perform guard duty at Old Capitol Prison, - a service which gave it occupation until the 23d of October, when it was transferred to Harewood Hospital, where its duties were of a more monotonous nature. While at Carroll Hill, details were made from its ranks from time to time, to escort bodies of rebel prisoners to Fortress Monroe, by boat, and sometimes up the James River to the vicinity of Richmond, where exchanges took place under the supervision of the federal and rebel commissioners. In turn, most of the members of the company were accorded "outings" of this kind, which they greatly enjoyed, although the excursions were not without occasional unpleasant features. About the same time that Companies D and K were assigned to special duty at the Soldiers' Home, Company C was ordered 40 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH to the War Department, where its tents were raised on the greensward just inside of the iron fence which separated the grounds from Pennsylvania Avenue. The remaining companies were permitted to linger at Meridian Hill some weeks longer. Dr. Michael O'Hara reported for duty about the middle of September, having been commissioned as assistant surgeon on the 12th of that month. He had had experience as assistant surgeon in the United States navy, and had practised medicine with success in Philadelphia. Being thus well qualified for his position, it was not surprising that he should, within a few weeks (November 13), be advanced to the rank of surgeon. On the 23d of September, Major Chamberlin was mustered and went to camp. At the time of receiving his commission in the 150th he was still in hospital at Baltimore, quite lame from his Peninsular wound; but learning that the Army of the Potomac had passed into Maryland to head off Lee's invading column, he asked for and obtained his discharge from the hospital, and, hurrying to Washington, sought the earliest means of reaching his old command, the 5th Pennsylvania Reserve. Nothing better offered than a seat in the wagon of the regimental sutler, which he promptly accepted, and, after a fatiguing ride of an afternoon and night, succeeded in joining the regiment. then bivouacking near Frederick. Here he was made acting major, and being kindly supplied with a horse by Adjutant Mason (subsequently brevet lieutenant-colonel on General Meade's staff), was enabled to participate in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. When it became apparent that Lee's army had escaped into Virginia, and that no further fighting was imminent, he sent in his resignation, to accept promotion, and, returning by way of Harrisburg to Washington, joined the 150th. To him was immediately intrusted the care of the companies at the Soldiers' Home, and up to the 22d of October he visited them each day, inspecting the camp and PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 41 guards and exercising the men in all the more important company and battalion movements. Here he several times witnessed the arrival of the President, who, after the onerous duties of the clay at the White House, was driven to his summer retreat in an open carriage, accompanied by an insignificant detail of cavalry from "Scott's Nine Hundred" (generally nicknamed "Scott's Blind Thousand"). Here, too, he frequently met little Thomas Lincoln, vulgarly known as "Tad", who spent much of his time in the camp, in which he seemed to have a weighty sense of proprietorship. The President also was not an infrequent visitor in the late afternoon hours, and endeared himself to his guards by his genial, kindly ways. He was not long in placing the officers of the two companies at their ease in his presence, and Captains Derickson and Crotzer were shortly on a footing of such marked friendship with him that they were often summoned to dinner or breakfast at the Presidential board. Captain Derickson, in particular, advanced so far in the President's confidence and esteem that, in Mrs. Lincoln's absence, he frequently spent the night at his cottage, sleeping in the same bed with him, and - it is said - making use of His Excellency's night-shirts! Thus began an intimacy which continued unbroken until the following spring, when Captain Derickson was appointed provost marshal of the Nineteenth Pennsylvania District, with headquarters at Meadville. First Lieutenant Thomas Getchell succeeded to the captaincy of the company. Of their service at the Soldiers' Home, one of the most pleasing recollections of Captain Crotzer and his men is of the unvarying kindness of Mrs. Lincoln, who arranged, among other things, that a midnight luncheon should always be ready for the guards on duty, as in turn they were relieved from their posts. Nor can they forget their first Sunday in the little camp, remote from the stir and noise of Washington, when, having been drawn up in line in the bright morning sunshine, 42 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH their captain reminded them that, though removed by their military duties from the sweet influences of family and church, they must not disregard the teachings of their youth or unlearn the views which they had ever held and practised in reference to the sanctity of the Christian Sabbath. Then followed reading of the Scripture by the captain, and Private Peter Stahl closed the impromptu service by invoking the divine blessing to rest upon the company, upon the armies of the republic, upon the government, from its illustrious head to the humblest in public station, to the end that peace might be speedily restored and the country, reunited, go forward in a career of prosperity. A few hours later President Lincoln sent for Captain Crotzer and, grasping him warmly by the hand, assured him that he was more than gratified to learn of the incident of the morning, adding that when he heard of it he said to Mrs. Lincoln that "with a good God and Father above and a praying company of men to guard them and their home, they need fear neither men nor devils!" An evidence of the President's warm interest in the regiment which furnished his bodyguard is found in the fact that on visiting Carver Hospital and learning that Corporal Albert Kooker, of Co. A, - then a patient at that place - belonged to the 150th, he not only indulged in a long chat with him, but next day brought Mrs. Lincoln and introduced her to his "Bucktail friend". The Corporal was the recipient of many kindnesses from both during his illness. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. [portrait]