Chapter I: Front Matter

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THE BOYS OF '61;

or,

FOUR YEARS OF FIGHTING.

PERSONAL OBSERVATION WITH THE ARMY AND NAVY,

_FROM THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN TO THE FALL OF RICHMOND_

BY

CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,

AUTHOR OF "THE BOYS OF '76," "THE STORY OF LIBERTY," "WINNING HIS WAY." "MY DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE BATTLEFIELD," "FOLLOWING THE FLAG," "OUR NEW WAY ROUND THE WORLD," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED.

BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY ESTES AND LAURIAT,
301-305 WASHINGTON STREET.
1886.

Copyright, 1881 by
ESTES AND LAURIAT.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of
Massachusetts.

PREFATORY NOTE.

This volume, though historic, is not a history of the Rebellion, but a record of personal observations and experiences during the war, with an occasional look at affairs in general to give clearness to the narrative. The time has not arrived for the writing of an impartial history of the conflict between Slavery and Freedom in the United States. Reports of military operations are incomplete; documents in the archives at Washington are inaccessible; much material remains to be gathered before the patient historian can sift the wheat from the chaff. More than this, the war of ideas is not yet ended. Defeated Rebels in some parts of the South are bent on exterminating the African race. Few of those lately in rebellion plead guilty of having committed a crime; taking up arms against the government they consider to have been a blunder only. We are, therefore, too near the great events to render proper judgment upon questions in which our principles and sympathies have been enlisted.

The chapter concerning the Confederate Cotton Loan may seem to be out of place in a volume of which so large a portion is given to narrative, but I trust that it will be acceptable to the general reader, inasmuch as it reveals the efforts of the Rebels to array all Europe against the United States in the late struggle. The correspondence in my possession was picked up in the streets of Richmond, and will be of value to the future historian. The chapter in question is but an outline of the operations of the Confederates abroad.

In looking over the sheets as they came from the press, several errors relative to the organization and formation of troops in battle have been detected, which, however, will appear in but a few copies. Undoubtedly there are others, and the writer will esteem it a favor to be put right wherever he is in the wrong. Few official reports of regimental and brigade officers have been published, while the reports of division and corps commanders are only general in their statements. The true history of battles cannot be given till the history of regiments is written.

My stand-point as an observer is that of one whose instincts from early childhood have been on the side of Freedom. I have ever believed that Civil Liberty is the birthright of all men, and from the firing upon Sumter to the close of the contest had full faith that the people, under God, would subdue the Rebellion, and give freedom to the slave.

The four years have been worth a century of ordinary life; for in the mighty contest Right has triumphed over Wrong, and the human race, with a clearer perception of Truth and Justice as the sure foundation of government, is moving on to a higher civilization.

C. C. C.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

BEGINNING OF THE CONFLICT.
Page
Ideas and Principles. -- Battles witnessed. -- The Leaders. --
State of Affairs. -- Baltimore. -- Dulness in the Streets. --
Baltimore Women. -- Raw Troops. -- Visit to Fort McHenry. --
Washington. -- Material of the Army. -- Generals in Command. --
General Scott. -- His Position. -- Newspaper Reports. -- Troops
organized. -- The Gathering of the Rebels. 1

CHAPTER I.

AROUND WASHINGTON.

Alexandria. -- The Massachusetts Fifth. -- A Song for Bunker
Hill -- The Review. -- The Distant Gun. -- The Affair at
Vienna. -- A Dinner in the Field. -- Vallandigham and the Ohio
Boys. -- Patriotism of the Soldiers. -- The Rogues' March. --
Mutiny of the Garibaldi Guard. -- An Adventure. -- Broken
English. -- Unpleasant Position. -- General Mansfield's Wrath.
-- The Lager-Beer Business. -- A Faded Aristocracy. -- Living
on a Name. -- The Sirens of Virginia. -- A South Carolina
Chattel. -- His Search for Chickens. -- How he found Freedom 8

CHAPTER II.

BULL RUN.

The March. -- The Second Maine. -- The Pageant. -- The Bivouac.
-- The Beehives. -- Beauregard's Proclamation. -- McDowell's
Order. -- The Contrast. -- Virginia Unionism. -- The First
Shot. -- The Artillery. -- Retreat of the Rebels. -- The
Negro's Story -- Centreville. -- Snuff Dippers. -- Affairs at
Blackburn's Ford. -- The Morning -- Progress of the Battle. --
The Rebel Prisoner. -- The Turning of the Tide -- At the Spring
-- The Panic -- The Teamsters. -- The Rebels on the Point of
Retreating. -- Richmond Dispatch. -- Wonderful Stories of the
Rebels. -- Change of Sentiment. -- General Butler. -- Union Men
of Virginia. -- Bitterness of the Rebels. -- Seductive
Influences of Slavery. 17

CHAPTER III.

THE FALL OF 1861.

Position of Affairs. -- Disaster at Ball's Bluff. -- The News
in Washington. -- How President Lincoln received it. -- His
tenderness of Heart. -- Mr. Lincoln in his Springfield Home. --
His Temperance Principles. -- Poolsville. -- Colonel Baker's
Body. -- Slavery in Western Maryland. -- Visit to Eastern
Maryland. -- The "White Horse." -- Character of the Country. --
Our Host at Pamunkey. -- His Family. -- Visit to Annapolis. --
Aristocratic Pride. -- Secession in Washington. -- The Spirit
of Slavery in the Army. -- The Hutchinson Family and General
McClellan. -- Whittier's "Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott." --
Major Gould and his Scout. -- A Rebel Minister. -- Washington
Jail and its Inmates. -- Close of the Year. 30

CHAPTER IV.

AFFAIRS IN THE WEST.

Louisville. -- Position of Kentucky. -- The Opinions of a Loyal
Tennesseean. -- General Buell and His Policy. -- Events in
Missouri. -- General Halleck. -- Order No. 3. -- General
Schofield and the Guerillas. -- Negro Testimony. -- Fremont's
Army. -- Visit to Rolla. -- General Sigel. -- Radical
Sentiments of the Army. -- Cairo. -- Union Generals. --
Introduction to General Grant. -- Commodore Foote. -- The
Mississippi Flotilla. -- Captain Porter and the Essex. -- His
Challenge to Captain Montgomery. -- Major-General Bishop Polk.
-- Reconnoissance towards Columbus. -- A Kentucky Farm-house.
-- Return to Cairo. 47

CHAPTER V.

CENTRAL KENTUCKY.

Battle of Mill Springs. -- A genuine Kentuckian. -- Discussion
of the Negro Question. -- Kentucky Farmers. -- Lexington. --
Scenes at the Phenix Hotel. -- Secession Ladies. -- Anthony
Trollope. -- Tomb of Henry Clay. -- Clay's Opinion of
Abolitionists. -- How a Presbyterian Minister would conduct the
War. -- Buell's Right Wing. -- Trip down the Ohio. --
Passengers on Board the Grey Eagle. -- The People of
Owensborough. -- Up Green River. -- Kentucky Unionists. --
Visit to Calhoun. -- A "first-class" Hotel. -- Scenes on the
Steamer. 59

CHAPTER VI.

THE OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE.

Capture of Fort Henry. -- Commodore Foote's Account of the
Fight. -- His Care for the Wounded. -- His Preaching on Sunday.
-- Affairs in Mississippi. -- Capture of Fort Donelson. --
Movement of the Troops. -- The Surrender. -- The Appearance of
the Rebels. -- The Town of Dover. -- Scenes in the Rebel Lines.
-- The formal Surrender of the Fort. -- Appearance of Buckner
and Grant. -- Rebel Officers on the Rampage. -- Commodore
Foote's Intentions. -- His Plans frustrated by Halleck. --
Nullification of Order No. 3. -- Occupation of Columbus. -- The
Southern Muse. -- Bombardment of Island No. 10. -- Colonel
Bissell's Canal. -- Passage of Transports to New Madrid. --
Running past the Batteries. -- General Pope's Operations. --
Capture of Rebels. -- Surrender of Island No. 10. 76

CHAPTER VII.

PITTSBURG LANDING, FORT PILLOW, AND MEMPHIS.

The Opposing Forces. -- The Battle-Field. -- The Poor Whites of
the South. -- General Sherman. -- Beauregard's Despatch. --
Retreat of the Rebels. -- Halleck's Advance upon Corinth. --
The Mississippi Fleet. -- Admiral Davis. -- Captain Maynadier.
-- A Trap for the Rebels. -- Movement of the Rams. -- Fire of
the Rebel Batteries. -- Evacuation of Fort Pillow. -- Gunboat
Fight at Memphis. -- Surrender of the City. -- Commodore Ellet. 93

CHAPTER VIII.

INVASION OF MARYLAND.

Battle of Manassas. -- Colonel Broadhead. -- Confidence of the
Rebels. -- Uprising in Pennsylvania. -- Surrender of Harper's
Ferry. -- Escape of the Union Cavalry. -- Negro Teamsters. --
Excitement of the Citizens. -- Hagerstown. -- Antietam. --
Visit to the Right Wing. -- Poffenberg's House. -- Sumner's
Movement. -- The Corn-Field. -- Burnside's Attack. -- The Fight
at the Bridge. 110

CHAPTER IX.

INVASION OF KENTUCKY.

The Opposing Forces. -- Bragg's Advance. -- Capture of
Frankfort. -- The Rebels in Lexington. -- Inauguration of
Governor Harris. -- Bragg's Retreat from Frankfort. -- Battle
of Perryville. -- President's Proclamation. -- The Kentucky
Policy. -- General Gillmore's Order No. 5. -- Twenty-Second
Wisconsin and Colonel Utley. -- Judge Robertson and his Boy Jo.
-- The Kentucky Policy reversed. -- An Evening in Louisville. 122

CHAPTER X.

FROM HARPER'S FERRY TO FREDERICKSBURG.

Soldiers' Pets. -- Removal of McClellan. -- Burnside's Plans.
-- Army Correspondence. -- Gold Speculators. -- Expectations of
the People. 137

CHAPTER XI.

BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.

The Signal Guns. -- Laying the Pontoons. -- Bombardment of the
City. -- Hall's Brigade. -- Rebel Sharpshooters. -- Crossing
the River. -- Seventh Michigan. -- Yankees in Fredericksburg.
-- Night Scene. -- The Drummer-Boy. -- Rev. Arthur B. Fuller.
-- His Funeral Obsequies. -- Lee's Army. -- Positions of the
Troops. -- Burnside's Orders to Franklin. -- The Morning. --
Movement of the Army. -- Attack on the Left. -- Franklin's
Despatches. -- Meade's Attack. -- Jackson's Line broken. --
Franklin's Account. -- Wounded Soldiers. -- Attack on the
Right. -- Eleventh New Hampshire. -- Sturgis's Division. -- The
Last Attack. -- Recrossing the River. 142

CHAPTER XII.

THE WINTER AT FALMOUTH.

Employment of the Men. -- American Tract Society. -- General
Howard and the Secessionists. -- Sanitary and Christian
Commissions. -- Religion in the Army. -- Chapels. 174

CHAPTER XIII.

CHANCELLORSVILLE.

General Hooker in Command. -- Reorganization of the Army. --
Hooker's Plan. -- Movement of the Troops. -- First and Sixth
Corps. -- Lee puzzled. -- Hooker in Position. -- Lee's
Movement. -- Jackson's March. -- Howard's Position. --
Sickles's Advance. -- Jackson's Attack. -- The Eleventh Corps.
-- Sickles's Return. -- Death of Jackson. -- The Battle of
Sunday. -- Best's Artillery. -- Stewart's Attack. -- The Second
Corps. -- Hooker's last Position. -- Second Battle of
Fredericksburg. -- Sedgwick's Attack. -- Maryee's Hill. --
Barksdale's Retreat. -- Battle of Salem Church. -- Lost
Opportunity. 179

CHAPTER XIV.

CAVALRY OPERATIONS.

Stoneman's Preparations. -- Crossing the Rapidan. -- Raid
through Virginia. -- Kilpatrick's Audacity. -- Shelling
Richmond. -- His Escape. -- Stoneman's Return. 212

CHAPTER XV.

THE ATLANTIC COAST.

Port Royal. -- Sunday Services. -- Rev. Mr. Murchison. -- Visit
to the Plantations. -- Sancho's Address. -- Negro Music. --
Mitchelville. -- Sojourner Truth. -- Enlistment of Negro
Troops. -- Colonel Higginson. -- Antipathy of White Soldiers.
-- First South Carolina Regiment. -- Smith's Plantation. 224

CHAPTER XVI.

THE IRONCLADS IN ACTION.

Destruction of the Nashville. -- Captain Worden. -- Attack on
Fort McAllister. -- First Bombardment of Sumter. -- Visit to
the Fleet. -- Captain Rodgers. -- Damage to the Fort. 248

CHAPTER XVII.

THE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

General Lee's Movements. -- Hooker on the Watch. -- Bedlam in
Pennsylvania. -- Harrisburg. -- Baltimore. -- Colored
Population. -- Resignation of General Hooker. -- General Meade.
-- Feelings of the Soldiers. -- Advance to Gettysburg. --
Organization of the Army. -- Patriotism of the People. -- Bread
for the Soldiers. -- Ride to Gettysburg. -- Geographical
Features of the Place. 258