MILITARY: One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Second Regiment, Bucktail Brigade, Chapter 9 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. 68 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH CHAPTER IX. VARIOUS HAPPENINGS IN AND OUT OF CAMP. AMONG the officers detailed to serve upon the staff of General Doubleday, commanding the division, was Second Lieutenant John Huidekoper, of Company E, 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers, who was made acting topographical officer, - a position for which his foreign education (he was born and reared in Holland), as well as his subsequent experience as a civil engineer, well fitted him. He had been a sergeant in Company E, 5th Pennsylvania Reserve, but was discharged in October, 1862, to accept promotion in the 150th, his muster in the latter regiment dating October 31. In his own command and also at division headquarters he was familiarly known as "Shacks", the designation arising from his imperfect pronunciation of his own nickname, "Jack", which his Dutch tongue was unable to handle correctly. In his new capacity Lieutenant Huidekoper made careful surveys of the roads and principal outlines of the country lying between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers in the neighborhood of the camps of the First Corps; but his observations frequently extended many miles beyond the lines occupied or picketed by the troops. On one occasion, when he had gone an unusual distance from his base, he was approached by a couple of mounted field-officers of another division, who had been reconnoitring on their own account, and who found him sitting on his horse, leisurely transferring to paper the salient features of the district around him. As they rode up, one of them exclaimed, "Good God! Huidekoper, is that you? We're awfully glad to see you, for we're completely lost". PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 69 "Shesus Grist!" replied "Shacks", without so much as lifting his pencil from the paper, "so am I!" Hurriedly finishing his sketch, however, and carefully taking his bearings, he piloted his friends safely back to camp. In a letter written February 23, the adjutant states that he is having a hut built for an office, Sergeant Clark Wells, of Company G, having charge of its construction. He adds, "Colonel Stone has been pouring in orders faster and faster". On the 24th he writes, "This afternoon the log hut is finished, and is a very fine thing. Old Wells has outdone himself. The fierce flow of orders is drying up, I think, but it may be only a temporary lull . . . . The tendency of the sickness of the men is to enteritis, but the sick-list is very small, - only twenty in the regiment. To be sure, we got rid of our worst cases in Washington, but we started to bring good out of evil when we availed ourselves of the detail made on us of forty men for various duties, to send off the lame, halt, blind, the drunken, the very aged, the deaf, the incurably lazy and wholly worthless; so that, except when they detailed the men by name, - which they did in about six or seven cases, when, of course, they took the very best, - our superiors did not make much out of us". In a letter dated March 7 the adjutant states, "We have a good deal of sickness, but not so much as other regiments around here, and our total per cent. for duty, with nine companies, is almost as large as that of the 149th with ten companies. We have two cases of smallpox, - one, I am sorry to say, the handsome Corporal Mudge (Henry A. Mudge, of Company I, subsequently sergeant, killed at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863) who used to bring our letters . . . .I have a new clerk now, - Elvidge, of Company A, - a nice boy, who writes fast and pretty well, and is very handsome, which first attracted my attention to him". 70 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH During the winter of 1862-1863 the Democratic press of the North was especially active in its efforts to hinder the administration in a determined prosecution of the war, and to create dissatisfaction not only at home but in the field. Its utterances found but a feeble echo in the army, which, to its everlasting glory, was firm in the belief that the rebellion could be suppressed and in its purpose to suppress it. In the 150th the feeling of resentment towards the "enemy in the rear" grew in bitterness each day, until it could no longer be contained. On the 8th of March, at the urgent instance of the company commanders, Adjutant Ashhurst prepared a paper, which was signed by every field-, staff-, and line-officer present with the regiment, requesting Colonel Wister to call a meeting of the command for the purpose of giving expression to its sentiments. The meeting took place, and what was said and done is thus related by the Washington Chronicle: ANOTHER REBUKE. CAMP NEAR BELLE PLAIN, March 12, 1863. A meeting of the officers and soldiers of the 150th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers was held at the regimental headquarters on the eleventh day of March, 1863, in pursuance of the following call, signed by all the officers of the regiment: The undersigned, officers of the 150th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, respectfully request Colonel Wister, commanding the regiment, to call a meeting for the purpose of expressing our earnest loyalty and devotion to our country, and our detestation of the Northern traitors now endeavoring to paralyze the efforts of the army in the field, and insidiously to overthrow their country's cause. Lieutenant-Colonel Huidekoper was called to the chair, and Adjutant R. L. Ashhurst appointed secretary. The object of the meeting having been stated by Major Chamberlin, after appropriate and patriotic remarks by Colonel Wister, - Adjutant Ashhurst, Lieutenant Huidekoper, Private Philip Hammer, Company A, Lieutenant William P. Dougal, Company D, and Quartermaster A. S. Voorhis, the following preamble and resolutions, offered by Major Chamberlin, were unanimously adopted amid great enthusiasm: "WHEREAS, After nearly two years of the most patriotic sacrifices on the part of our people and the most desperate trials and struggles on the part of our army to restore our shattered Union and maintain our national honor, our government finds PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 71 itself assailed by a class of persons at home who would yield it, Judas-like, into the hands of the enemy, or sully it by a dishonorable compromise with the hosts of treason, and who are even now trying to induce the masses to resist its lawful authority in order the sooner to gain their hellish ends; therefore, "Resolved, That we hereby express our firm and unalterable devotion to our government and its laws, and declare our determination to stand by it at all hazards, pledging to the restoration of its entire authority 'our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.' "Resolved, That we look upon all proposals, from whatever source, to give up this struggle on any other terms than the unconditional submission of the traitors in arms against their country as disgraceful to those who originate and to those who for a moment lend an ear to them. "Resolved, That we condemn and repudiate as unworthy sons of their country those who, staying at home in the North, are striving to cripple the hands of their country's defenders; who, under the garb of a false patriotism and an assumed zeal for the Constitution, cavil at all measures calculated to prostrate the rebellion; and who endeavor to hold back and paralyze the strong arm of right, now outstretched to crush the foul treason which attacks the life of the nation. "Resolved, That we have no sympathy or feeling in common with those who, from real or pretended admiration of any man or general, would make their earnestness in their country's cause, or perhaps their loyalty, dependent on, or subordinate to, their personal feelings: that we are ready and anxious to fight for our country under whatever commander we may be placed, and under none with greater alacrity than our present commander-in-chief. "Resolved, That as we believe that 'fighting for Southern rights' means nothing more than warring for the extension of slavery, which we regard alike as a curse to the land and a great moral wrong, we hail with joy the President's proclamation doing away with that institution in every State in which rebellion exists, and hope soon to see it forever blotted from our soil. "Resolved, That our feeling towards traitors, both North and South, is one of implacable hatred, and that, while this army has bullets for those at the South, it has also heels broad enough and heavy enough to crush the vile 'copperheads' of the North if they persist in their insidious attempts to weaken and overthrow the government". Major Chamberlin; Captain Widdis, Company A; Captain Reisinger, Company H; Quartermaster Voorhis, and Adjutant Ashhurst were appointed a committee for the publication of these resolutions. On motion, adjourned. H. S. HUIDEKOPER, Lieutenant-Colonel 150th Regiment P. V., Chairman. R. L. ASHHURST, Adjutant 150th Regiment P. V., Secretary. 72 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH The same report of the proceedings of the meeting was published in the Philadelphia Press and the New York Tribune. In the preparation of the series of resolutions, Major Chamberlin and Adjutant Ashhurst collaborated. The gathering took place a little before sunset, on the brow of the hill on whose side the company quarters were located, and presented a noteworthy picture, officers and men mingling like so many citizens at a political rally at home. Here, however, there was no division of opinion. Those who had been known as Democrats before entering the service were now emphatic in their denunciation of the attitude of their old party. The meeting broke up in the twilight with cheers for the Union, the President, the army, - for everything loyal - and the effect was good and lasting. On the same evening, attracted possibly by the cheers from the camp, Captain O'Rourke, of the 1st Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve, came to visit his old friend, the major, and over a glass of the mellowest "commissary" rehearsed, in language full of color, the story of Burnside's disastrous attack on the heights of Fredericksburg. A short time before that event the ambulance service in the army, which had been indifferently managed under the direction of the medical department, was thoroughly reorganized, with a view to its greater efficiency. The captain was detailed to take charge of the ambulances of the First Corps, and in that capacity rendered such important service during the progress of the battle as to receive the warmest commendations from corps, division, and brigade commanders. After relating at much length the part which he had had in the fight, the captain wound up by saying, "When they first proposed to me the command of the Ambulance Corps, I thought it an infayrior and maynial position; but I found it a place for great achayvements and high considera- PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 73 tions!" With his rich Irish brogue and earnest manner (stimulated, perhaps, by the contents of his glass), this peroration was inimitable. As the camp of the regiment lay upon the side of a hill with a pretty sharp slope, it had the advantage of quick drainage in wet weather, and never became uncomfortably boggy. The health of the command was generally good. During the month of March a few cases of varioloid developed among the men, but those attacked were speedily removed to a field hospital at a safe distance, and the disease was readily checked. Measles also appeared in one or two companies, but by the prompt action of the medical department this scourge was also prevented from spreading. Among those who were treated for this latter complaint was Lewis, the colored cook at regimental headquarters, who continued to perform his duties as cook and waiter until his face bore unmistakable evidence of the nature of his ailment. Singularly enough, every member of the headquarters mess was spared. Surgeon O'Hara and Assistant Surgeon Henry Strauss easily looked after all the cases of sickness in the camp, and for the most part the several companies presented themselves with fairly full ranks for the purposes of drill, review, and inspection. On the 17th of March the adjutant writes, "We lost another man last night, - Sergeant Tanner, of Company E, a very fine fellow. He came down here when he ought to have gone to the general hospital. We applied for a furlough for him a few days since, the exposure here having utterly prostrated him, but it came back approved too late. He had only an hour or two to live, poor fellow! We got it last night about 9.30; he died early this morning". On the 19th of March the field and staff were completely upset by the receipt of the following announcement, close on 74 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH whose heels came the order giving effect to the President's decree: The President directs that Captains Widdis and Jones, 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers, be dismissed the service, and all back pay be stopped, for drawing pay on false and fraudulent accounts. L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General. The captains named were highly prized for their intelligence and efficiency, and the regiment could ill afford to lose them. Coming without a previous note of warning, this cruel order fell with the severity of a trip-hammer blow, for the moment almost stunning the few who had knowledge of it. Allusion has already been made to the fact that while recruiting his company at Germantown, Captain Jones subsisted a large number of his men at Napfle's Hotel for several days, incurring a bill of some proportions. Captain Widdis's men found board and lodging at home or among their friends in Germantown, with the understanding that if commutation for their rations could be obtained from the government they were to be reimbursed for their outlays. Both captains filed a claim in due form for this subsistence, to which in equity they were clearly entitled. It appears, however, as has been previously intimated, that, without their knowledge, Quartermaster-Sergeant Bringhurst, or some other person, had drawn the rations of the two companies (or the commutation therefor) and diverted the same to his own use, charging them in due form to Jones's and Widdis's commands. No other explanation of the matter seems possible, as all the officers' pay-rolls passed through regimental headquarters and were found correct; and neither Captains Widdis and Jones nor any other captain had "drawn pay on false and fraudulent accounts". Quartermaster-Sergeant Bringhurst deserted in January, 1863, and this fact gives strength to the belief that he was at the bottom of the trouble. Of course the War Department, on receipt of PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 75 the statement of the quartermaster (Ruff) at Philadelphia, showing that the supplies had been duly issued, without inquiring into the details of the affair, jumped to the conclusion that the two officers were endeavoring to defraud the government, and the order for their dismissal followed. Fortifying themselves promptly with letters and certificates from their superior officers, bearing on the facts of the case and attesting their integrity and soldierly worth, Captains Widdis and Jones hastened to Washington, accompanied by the good wishes of their many friends, and in a few days, with the assistance of Philadelphia Representatives in Congress and other influential persons, succeeded in obtaining an interview with President Lincoln, who, after a full hearing of their side of the case, issued an order for their reinstatement. Quartermaster Voorhis, who went to Washington in their behalf, proved a valuable re-enforcement, seconding their efforts with great intelligence and ability. On the 1st of April they returned to camp, where their appearance was the occasion of much rejoicing. It is needless to add that not a dollar of their claim was ever recovered from the government. Concerning the arbitrary dismissal of the two captains, Adjutant Ashhurst wrote, on the 21st of March, "I drew up a communication, from the colonel to the adjutant-general, setting forth their good qualities and earnestly appealing for a trial for them. Colonel Stone approved it in a very handsome endorsement. General Doubleday approved and forwarded it, and we left it with Lieutenant-Colonel Kingsbury, who promised that General Reynolds should endorse it up. The staff-officers at headquarters all expressed great sympathy and indignation at the dismissal". On the 25th he wrote, "Colonel Wister and I have been out to visit the picket line. We had a delightful ride. The weather is thoroughly spring-like, alternately cloudy and sun- 76 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH shiny. Doubleday wanted a piece of woods cut off that projected over on our picket line, furnishing a fine cover for an attack. I went out to give instructions to have it cut away. I have a conversation of about ten minutes with the general every morning, when I receive a vast deal of information as to the art of war. The general is a fine theorist. He is said to be slow in the field, and perhaps he may be, but he has many fine qualities, is very careful of his men, very painstaking, and is evidently zealous in the cause. He is a very urbane, courteous gentleman also. "A large quantity of baggage from our regiment has been packed and loaded to-day, to go to Washington". Second Lieutenant George de V. Selden, of Company H, having been appointed to the same grade in the 2d United States Cavalry on the 31st of March, at once tendered his resignation as an officer of the 150th, and, being notified of its acceptance early in April, left for his new command. Lieutenant George de Vincent Selden, son of George S. Selden, Esq., and his wife Elizabeth Wright Clark, was born at Pittsburgh, Pa., November 25, 1843. He had some military training while at school in New Haven, Conn., which subsequently proved of advantage. On the recommendation of Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, he was appointed by General James H. Lane, lieutenant of engineers on his staff, by virtue of a commission from Governor Morton of Indiana, and served in that capacity in Missouri and Kansas, in 1861. In 1862 he assisted in organizing Company H of the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers, in which he was commissioned second lieutenant. April 6th, 1863, he was commissioned second lieutenant in the 2d United States Cavalry, and served with his regiment in its numerous engagements in May and June of that year, including Beverly Ford and Aldie. On the 3d of July, 1863, at Gettysburg, he was mortally wounded while engaged with his regiment in a desperate attack upon the PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 77 extreme right of the rebel line, and died at Frederick, Md., on the 17th of the following September. He was a very gentlemanly young officer, - bright, alert, and well qualified for his position, giving such promise of efficiency, while connected with the 150th, that the field and staff greatly regretted his withdrawal from the command. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, amid his exacting duties, took the time to write him a cordial letter, while he was lying wounded, in which he stated that "he had pluck and a brave spirit", and that he had his "earnest wishes and prayers for his recovery". His brigade commander, General Wesley R. Merritt, in his official report of the battle of Gettysburg, states that "Lieutenant Selden, a young man of much promise, who had lately joined, fell mortally wounded". On the 8th of April, Surgeon O'Hara resigned and returned to his practice in Philadelphia, leaving the health of the regiment to be cared for by the two assistant surgeons, Strauss and Henderson. The latter, who had been assigned to the 150th on the 29th of January, was himself in indifferent physical condition, and saw little service with the command. He was discharged on the 30th of June following, on certificate of disability. During the month of April the First Corps - indeed, a large portion of the army - was abundantly supplied with fresh fish, chiefly shad, rock, and herring, of admirable size and quality, from the government fisheries at Aquia Creek. These were a welcome addition to the ordinary rations, and doubtless contributed greatly to the health of the troops. Although not furnished gratuitously, the price was put so low as to be easily within the reach of the enlisted men, who, when off duty, could be seen at almost any hour, singly or in groups, lugging the precious food towards camp. Spring was now fairly on the way, and a succession of inspections and reviews of the different corps announced that 78 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH the time for breaking up winter quarters was approaching. The First Corps, then one of the strongest in the army, was paraded with much pomp and glitter on the beautiful ground of Belle Plain, - which almost seemed to have been created for the purpose, - under the scrutinizing glance of the President and a brilliant retinue of officers, who could not but be favorably impressed with the appearance and marching of the troops. Certainly the latter never looked better, or stepped to the music of the bands with a more perfect alignment or more imposing front. The return route was marked by a snowfall of paper collars, which, having served their purpose, were discarded at the earliest moment. The white gloves with which some of the regiments were provided were carefully preserved for future use. After this review, which was held the 9th of April, nothing occurred to disturb the peaceful but busy routine of the 150th until the 20th of that month.