Chapter IX: By E. C. Strouss

We Leave Gettysburg--Rebel Spy Hung--French's Division Joins the 3d
Corps--Enemy's Position at Falling Waters--He Escapes Across the
Potomac--In Old Virginia Again--Manassas Gap--Camp at Sulphur
Springs--Movement to Culpepper--Eleventh and Twelfth Corps Sent
West--Lee's Efforts to Gain Our Rear--Skirmish at Auburn
Creek--Warren's Fight at Bristow Station--Deserter Shot--Retreat of
the Enemy--Kelly's Ford--Mine Run Campaign--The Regiment
Re-enlists--The "Veteran Furlough"--Recruiting--Presented with a New
Flag by Governor Curtin--Back to the Front--General Grant Commands
the Army--Reorganization--The Wilderness Campaign--Three Days of
Hard Fighting--Loss in Fifty-Seventh.

On the morning of July 7th we left Gettysburg and moved southward, through Emmitsburg and halted for the night at Mechanicstown, Md. On the 8th we passed Frederick City, and encamped two miles beyond the town. While passing the town we could see away off to our right near the town a gallows standing, and a large crowd gathered about it. A rebel spy had been caught and hung. Some of our men who saw this spy, recognized in him the same man who sold and sang songs throughout our camp the summer before when we lay in front of Richmond. He was a fine singer and sold lots of his songs, but he met the fate of a spy at last. On the 9th we moved again and at night we reached South Mountain.

About this time the division of Gen. W. H. French was assigned to our corps and became the 3d division. General French being the senior general, now took command of the corps. Colonel Tippon had been relieved from the command of the brigade, which was now commanded by Colonel Madill, of the 141st Pennsylvania.

On July 10th we marched from South Mountain to a point about five miles beyond Keedysville, Md. On the 12th we were drawn up in line of battle near Falling Waters, and expected to attack the enemy, who had thrown up a strong line of works to cover their crossing of the Potomac. The attack, however, was delayed too long, and when we advanced on the 14th we found their works deserted and the enemy safely across the river. Previous to this many of their wagons had been captured and many prisoners taken by our cavalry.

It was humiliating to think that the enemy escaped so easily. With the swollen Potomac in their front, their pontoon bridge destroyed, and our victorious army in their rear, they ought to have been compelled to surrender. But Appomattox was still a long way off and many brave boys would fall before the end came. The news that General Grant had taken Vicksburg, and caused the surrender of Pemberton's army, was some consolation in our disappointment over Lee's escape.

On the 15th we passed over the old Antietam battlefield, and halted for the night about two miles beyond Sharpsburg. On the 16th we passed through Brownsville and Rohrersville and encamped near Harper's Ferry. The next day about dark we crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry and were once more on the soil of Virginia.

We resumed our march on the 18th and 19th, and on the 20th we reached Upperville. On the 23d we were near Manassas Gap, where it was expected we would strike the enemy's column, which was moving up the Shenandoah valley. We moved to the top of a high hill, where we had a fine view of Front Royal and the surrounding country. We also witnessed a fight in a field in the valley to our right, of a force of the enemy and Sickles' old Excelsior brigade. This engagement, in which we were but slightly engaged, is known as the skirmish of "Wapping Heights." The enemy retreated during the night and next day we moved some miles beyond Piedmont on the Manassas Gap railroad. The greater part of our march was over the torn up railroad track, and as the day was excessively hot we were a tired lot of men when we encamped that night.

On the 25th we marched to within six miles of Warrenton, in Fauquier county, Va. The next day we moved four miles beyond the town and encamped at Fauqueir Sulphur Springs. Here we remained for about six weeks, during which time Colonel Sides and some of the officers and men who had been wounded at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg returned for duty. Here we had a fine camp, with good facilities for bathing in Hedgeman's river, a branch of the Rappahannock. The large brick hotel at the springs had been destroyed by fire the year before during Pope's campaign. Back of the hotel site was a fine park which was surrounded on three sides by cottages which had been used by summer sojourners at this place. Near the center of the park stood a pavilion, under which was the noted spring, the water of which was very cold and strongly impregnated with sulphur. We drank freely of this water and were advised to do so by the medical officers of the division. If we had been afflicted with the itch, the water would no doubt have been an effective remedy, but the only itch that troubled us was caused by a small insect known among scientists as the _pediculus vestimenti_ and the sulphur water was not effective in driving the pests away.

Our camp at the spring was broken up on the afternoon of September 15th, when we moved southward to Freeman's ford, where we crossed the Rappahannock and took up a position between Culpepper and Stone House mountain. The whole army was now in position between the rivers Rappahannock and the Rapidan.

About the end of September the 11th and 12th corps were detached from the Army of the Potomac and under General Hooker were sent to the west to reenforce our army operating around Chattanooga, Tenn. Longstreet's corps of the rebel army had previously been sent to the same point to reenforce General Bragg.

We remained in the vicinity of Culpepper until October 12th, when it was found that Lee's army had crossed the Rapidan and was turning our right. This caused a retrograde movement of our whole army. Our division moved to the rear on October 11th, the 57th acting as flankers on the left of the column. At one point, when on a high hill, we had a fine view of a cavalry battle which was going on in our rear near Brandy Station. In the evening we crossed the Rappahannock at Freeman's ford and halted for the night in a pine woods. On the morning of the 12th we learned that the enemy had driven back our cavalry, and was crossing the river at our old camp at Sulphur Springs, about three miles above us. Our march to the rear continued on a by-road which brought us to the Warrenton branch of the O. & A. R. R. about three miles east of Warrenton. We rested here for a while and then after a march of about five miles further we halted for the night.

About 4 p. m. on the 13th we encountered the enemy's cavalry at Auburn creek. Our brigade held the advance of the column on this day, and the 57th was the leading regiment. Companies A and K acted as advance guard. These companies deployed on both sides of the road and opened fire on the rebels, who were dismounted and advancing through the woods and fields. Our firing soon brought up the rest of the brigade and a battery, whereupon, the rebels seeing we were well supported, mounted their horses and retreated at a lively gait. Several men of our regiment were slightly wounded in this affair. When the skirmish was over we resumed our march, and about dark we reached the English settlement called Greenwich, where we encamped, and our regiment was posted as pickets.

We started again next morning and moved to Centerville, via Bristow and Manassas Junction. Late in the afternoon, the 2d corps, under General Warren, acting as rear guard, had a severe battle with Hill's corps, in which Warren was victorious, capturing a battery, several battle flags, and about four hundred prisoners.

On the 15th we moved to Fairfax Station and here on the following day, our regiment for the first time witnessed the solemn spectacle of a military execution. A private of the 5th Michigan who had deserted to the enemy and had been recaptured, was shot for desertion.

In the late movements, General Lee's object was to gain our rear and cut us off from Washington, but when we reached the strong position on the heights of Centerville, he found he was foiled, and then it became his turn to retreat. He was followed by our cavalry and several brisk skirmishes took place between our troopers and the enemy.

On the 19th our division was again moving, this time with our faces toward the Rappahannock, and at night we encamped near Bristow station. On the 20th we marched through Greenwich and encamped two miles beyond the town. On the 21st we passed through Auburn, and over the ground where Gen. Alex. Hay's division of the 2d corps had engaged the enemy a few days before, and at night we encamped near Catlett's station. From this date until November 7th we moved to various points along the railroad, which having been destroyed by the enemy, made it necessary for us to rebuild it, consequently our advance was slow.

Near Warrenton Junction, at 5 a. m. on November 5th we broke camp and moved to Kelly's ford on the Rappahannock. Here our crossing was disputed by the enemy and a brisk skirmish ensued. They finally relinquished their attempts to hold the ford when we crossed over and encamped about dark. In this skirmish, while Capt. T. L. Maynard, our brigade inspector, was giving a drink of water to a wounded rebel, he was mortally wounded and died next morning.

While we were fighting at Kelly's ford, the 5th and 6th corps had a fight with the enemy, whom they drove out of their works at Rappahannock station, about eight miles above Kelly's ford.

On the 8th we reached Brandy Station and after a few days we moved into the woods near James Barbour's house, and occupied a lot of huts, which had lately been constructed by the rebels, to be used as winter quarters, but they had now fallen back beyond the Rapidan river. We remained in this camp for a few weeks and then were once more on the move to take part in what is known as the "Mine Run campaign."

On the morning of November 26th we moved out of camp, and in the evening crossed the Rapidan at Jacobs' ford, without interruption from the enemy. The advance was resumed next morning and about 4 p. m. our division was hurried to the front to relieve the 3d division, which had become engaged with Johnson's division of Ewell's corps. We got into a brisk little fight in which the 57th had seven wounded. This action occurred near Locust Grove. It appears that our corps commander, General French, had been instructed to move on a road which would have led him between the corps of Hill and Ewell, who were miles apart, but he got on the wrong road and ran against the corps of Ewell, which brought on the engagement. The enemy retreated during the night and the next morning their army was concentrated, which our movements the day before were intended to prevent.

On the 28th we started again and after marching all day in the rain we came up with the enemy, who were occupying a strong position near the western bank of Mine run. This stream, flowing north, is deep and sluggish, with steep banks, and empties into the Rapidan at Mitchell's ford.

On the 29th the regiment lay in rear of a battery as a support, and at night a part of the regiment was sent out to the run to support the picket line. It was bitter cold, and we were allowed no fires, so we had a very uncomfortable night of it.

General Warren, with the 2d corps, held the extreme left of the line, and he thought that he could carry the enemy's position in his front, if strongly reenforced. Early in the morning one division of the 6th corps, and the 2d and 3d divisions of the 3d corps were sent him. We of Birney's division were in the center, posted along the brow of a hill with the enemy behind breastworks about three-fourths of a mile in our front. We were to hold ourselves in readiness, upon hearing the sound of Warren's guns, to charge the enemy's works. Warren, upon further examination of the enemy's lines, informed General Meade that the enemy's lines were too strong to hazard an attack. We were not sorry when we heard this, for it would have been extremely perilous to have charged over the broad open field in our front up to the enemy's works.

On December 1st a snow storm set in, and after dark we marched to the rear, and recrossed the Rapidan at Culpepper ford about daylight on the 2d. About 9 o'clock our march was resumed, the 57th and the 63d Pennsylvania acting as wagon guard to our long train. Having run out of rations we were very hungry, but we contrived to get something to eat before night. On December 3d we reached our old camps, and finding our huts still standing, we soon had them roofed, and were again comfortably housed.

A few days after we got settled down, the question of reenlistment was much discussed among the men. The War Department had issued General Order No. 191, which allowed every man who reenlisted a bounty of $400.00 (to be paid in installments) and a furlough for thirty days. Before leaving on furlough each man was to be paid $100.00, under the bounty act of July 22, 1861, one month's pay in advance, $13.00, premium, $2.00, and first installment of bounty under General Order 191, $60.00, making a total of $175.00. Where three-fourths of the men present for duty in a regiment reenlisted, the regiment was allowed to go in a body with their arms to place of organization, and from thence the men could go to their homes on furlough. They were also entitled to be designated as "veteran regiments," and each man was allowed to wear the veteran stripes on the sleeves of his coat.

On the 24th of December the regiment was formed in a hollow square in front of headquarters, and was then briefly addressed by Chaplain McAdam on the propriety of reenlisting. At the conclusion of the chaplain's remarks, Colonel Sides requested those who were willing to reenlist, to step three paces to the front. Over three-fourths of the men stepped forward, and, after giving three hearty cheers for the Union, were dismissed. Then for several days the officers and first sergeants were busy making out muster rolls, furloughs, and reenlistment papers.

Among the men the furlough was the all-absorbing theme. When were they to be granted? It is safe to say that a bounty of $1,000.00, without the furlough, would have secured but a small number of the men. But the assurance of spending thirty days at home was the great inducement for reenlisting, as most of the men had been absent from home for two years or more.

January 8th, 1864, was the time appointed for the regiment to depart for the north, and long before daylight the boys were up and getting ready for their departure. The men who had not reenlisted were temporarily assigned to the 141st Pennsylvania. At 7 o'clock a. m., in the midst of a snow storm, we boarded a train at Brandy station and were soon on our way to Washington, where we remained for a day and a night, and then started for Harrisburg. Here we deposited our arms and accoutrements in the arsenal, and then the men departed by different routes for their homes.

Our stay at home was one continual round of pleasure. There were parties, festivals and sleigh-rides without number and the men will never forget those halcyon days of our "veteran furlough."

After the men had been at home for some days, many of their friends were anxious to enlist and return with them to the army. On account of our success in obtaining recruits our furlough was extended. When we left for home the regiment numbered barely two hundred men. After an absence of forty-five days we returned with nearly five hundred men in our ranks.

Our old flag which had been torn by the bullets of many battles was left at Harrisburg while we were on furlough, and when we returned to the front we received a new one, with an appropriate speech, from the hands of Governor Curtin.

On the 25th of February we rejoined our old brigade near Culpepper, Va., and on the 27th we went with the division on a reconnaissance to James City. We were gone two days, during which time nothing of importance occurred.

General Grant, having been appointed lieutenant-general, and placed in command of all our armies, made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac some time in March, 1864. About the 16th of March the army was reorganized, the 1st and 3d corps were disbanded and the divisions assigned to other corps. The 1st and 2d division of the 3d corps (the old divisions of Kearny and Hooker) were assigned to the 2d corps, commanded by General Hancock. The 3d division was assigned to the 6th corps. Our division, now designated as the 3d division, of the 2d corps, was commanded by General Birney. It consisted of two brigades commanded by Generals Ward and Hays. Our brigade (now designated as the 2d brigade, 3d division, 2d corps) was commanded by Gen. Alexander Hays and was comprised of the following named regiments: 4th and 17th Maine; 3d and 5th Michigan; 93d New York; 57th, 63d and 105th Pennsylvania, and 1st United States Sharpshooters. The 68th and 114th Pennsylvania of our old brigade were detached, and acted as provost guard at army headquarters. The 141st Pennsylvania was attached to Ward's brigade.

The men were proud of the record of the army corps to which they had formerly belonged, and felt very glad to know that they would be allowed to wear the old badge of the corps in which they had previously served. Under the reorganization the Army of the Potomac consisted of three corps, as follows: 2d corps, General Hancock; 5th corps, General Warren; 6th corps, General Sedgewick. The 9th corps, under General Burnside, joined the Army of the Potomac about the 5th of May.

The great campaign of 1864 began soon after midnight on May 3d. Our corps, preceded by Gregg's cavalry, moved out, and about daylight crossed the Rapidan on a pontoon bridge at Ely's ford, and on the night of the 4th we bivouacked on the old Chancellorsville battlefield, on the ground over which we had fought one year before.

On the morning of the 5th we moved down the plank road to a point about two miles beyond the Chancellor house, when we turned to the right, which brought us to Todd's tavern about noon. Here we cooked our coffee and then resumed our march until we struck the Brock road, where we turned to the right and formed a line of battle facing west. Soon after we were ordered back into the road, and then at double quick we went up the road until we reached the Orange plank road. Here we saw General Hancock, who ordered General Hays to throw in his first regiment on the right of the plank road. This happened to be the 57th, and as soon as our left had cleared the road we were faced to the left and advanced in line of battle facing west, with the left of the regiment resting on the plank road. We were now in what is known as the Wilderness. This is a tract of land of about twenty thousand acres covered principally with small pines and scrub oaks. It formerly belonged to Governor Spottswood, and was once covered with heavy timber, which was cut down and made into charcoal, used for smelting iron in the old fashioned furnaces, of which there were many in this vicinity. We continued to grope our way through the thicket and swamps and finally met the enemy and opened fire. The whole division was soon engaged and the roar of the musketry was terrific. In our front the enemy was less than two hundred feet from us, but so dense was the underbrush that it was almost impossible to see them. We had the advantage of the enemy, who were on higher ground, and many of their balls passed over us. The left of the regiment had the hottest part of the line, as it rested on the plank road and was subjected to the fire of the rebels who were on the other side of the road. The left began to break, when the 17th Maine coming up on the left of the road soon gave the enemy enough to do on that side. The battle lasted until nearly dark, when we were relieved, and moved a short distance to the rear, where we remained for the night.

On the morning of May 6th our corps was ordered to begin the attack at 5 o'clock. We at once moved out the plank road and soon attacked the enemy, this time on the left of the road. The fighting for a while was all in our favor and we drove the enemy (Hill's corps) back for over a mile and were just about entering the open fields around the Widow Tapp's house, when Longstreet's fresh corps arrived and reenforced Hill, whose corps was in great confusion. Owing to the density of the woods through which we had been chasing the enemy, our lines had become much disordered, and before that could be rectified, Longstreet attacked with his usual vigor and we were in turn forced back. We retired fighting until we reached the Brock road, where we took a position on the left of the plank road in rear of the entrenchments that had been thrown up along the Brock road. Here about 4:15 p. m. the enemy charged the works and drove back the first line, when we advanced and retook them, capturing a number of prisoners.

On the morning of the 7th we made a reconnaissance, crossing over to the right of the plank road and advancing over three-fourths of a mile, when we found the enemy entrenched behind strong works. We had a sharp fight, and were then withdrawn, and again took position on the Brock road.

According to the monthly report of the regiment, dated April 30, 1864, we had present for duty 18 officers and 357 men. As this was but a few days before the battle, it will give a nearly correct estimate of the number of men the regiment took into the field on May 5th, on which day our greatest losses occurred. During the three days' fighting our losses were 22 enlisted men killed; 4 officers and 128 enlisted men wounded and 3 enlisted men missing. Of those killed none was more deeply mourned than First Sergeant Duke Miller, of Company E. He was one of the bravest and best men in the regiment, and his social and intellectual qualities were admired by all who knew him. Colonel Sides and Lieut. F. V. Shaw were among the wounded.

Senior Captain A. H. Nelson had command of the regiment as Colonel Side's successor until the last week in June, when Major Neeper, who had been captured at Gettysburg, returned and took command.

Gen. Alexander Hays, commander of our brigade, was killed in the battle fought on the afternoon of the 5th. He was one of the bravest men that ever lived, and an accomplished soldier. With the exception of a short time when he served in the 2d corps, in 1863, he had been identified with the old 1st division of the 3d corps since the Army of the Potomac was organized. He was a native of Venango county, Pa., and was a graduate of West Point and had served with honor in the Mexican war. He entered the war for the Union as colonel of the 63d Pennsylvania Volunteers. At Gettysburg he commanded a division in Hancock's corps. His reputation as a fighter was well known in both the Union and Confederate armies.

The writer was wounded on the morning of May 6th, and went to the rear in company with the color sergeant, Cyrus P. Slaven, also wounded. On our way to the rear we turned into the woods along the plank road where we had fought the afternoon before. The wounded and killed had all been removed, but the trees were witnesses of the terrible musketry fire that had raged here. Not a tree or a bush but bore marks of being hit by a bullet. How any of us got out of there without being hit is a mystery.