It may be remarked here in passing that the men were not long in learning that there was something in “soldiering” besides romance and “flowery beds of ease.” Before June 1st six or seven of them had been discharged for disability by reason of sickness, and one made up his mind that he had got all he wanted and deserted.
All the way to Columbus the boys sang and laughed and shouted in the exuberance of their patriotic emotions, and told one another of the valorous deeds they would perform as soon as opportunity was afforded them. At all points along the route the people greeted them with uproarious cheers. Wherever the train halted the guns and caissons, which were on platform cars, were regarded with the utmost curiosity and interest by crowds of men, women and children. The engines of war were a novelty to them.
On reaching the state capital—where it had been supposed that the regiment would debark and go into camp for a few days at least—an order was received to proceed at once to Marietta, Ohio, by way of Loveland. It was thought that Marietta was in jeopardy, being threatened by rebel forces in Virginia. All the infantry companies from that part of the state which had offered their services had been sent to Washington. The city was wholly defenseless and there were no troops to send there except the Cleveland artillery regiment. After something had been learned of the art of war it came to be considered the proper thing to always provide an infantry support for artillery, but nobody thought of such things at the moment of emergency. So the hundred and sixty fledglings from Cleveland, with their guns and caissons, but without a single horse to move them, were hurried away to prevent the rebels from capturing Marietta. It is but justice to the members of the regiment to say that they had an abiding confidence in their ability to hold that city against the entire Southern Confederacy. As the train went whirling on through the darkness all hearts were swelling with patriotism and a heroic determination to obey every call of duty, even to facing death in its most awful form upon the battlefield. They expected to commence wading in blood immediately.
Marietta was reached early next morning but no enemy was there to fight. The air was full of wild rumors that legions of rebels were approaching, with evil designs upon the city, and the people were badly scared. The arrival of the Cleveland artillery, with real cannon, had a reassuring effect upon the citizens. The men were most cordially welcomed and received with unbounded hospitality. The regiment went into camp on the fair grounds, placing the guns in position to command the city and spread havoc and destruction among any misguided people who should attempt to capture it.
The regiment had as yet received nothing whatever in the way of supplies from either the state or national government. Indeed the men had not even been mustered into the service—and as a matter of fact they were not until three months later. Immediate requisitions were made upon the authorities at Columbus, by mail and telegraph, for clothing, rations, ammunition, etc., all of which were quite indispensable to efficient service. When ordered on from Columbus Colonel Barnett had been assured that everything needful would be forwarded at once, but the supplies did not come, nor was the slightest attention paid to the requisitions. The Cleveland contingent seemed to have been entirely forgotten. It was a pretty clear case of “out of sight out of mind.” There may have been some excuse for this in the fact that the call to arms had come suddenly and found the state wholly unprepared for such an emergency; nor had there been sufficient time as yet for the United States government to adjust itself to a condition of actual war and provide for the needs of its soldiers. The state authorities no doubt did the best they could, but in the hurry of raising troops and rushing them to the front in the shortest possible time everything was in the wildest chaos. It is little wonder that things went at haphazard and it was only by chance that any officer got for his men what they needed.
As day after day passed and no answer to the requisitions came both officers and men began to get a little warm under the collar. Colonel Barnett prodded up the Columbus people daily, his messages growing more and more pungent and emphatic. The artillery had not been provided with a single horse and would have been of little practical value in case of an attack, unless the rebels had kindly marched up in front of the guns and permitted themselves to be shot down. In this case the slaughter would have been fearful, had the boys been supplied with effective ammunition. When the regiment passed through Columbus the condition of the command was reported and the Adjutant General had promised that horses and ammunition should be promptly furnished at Marietta. As a starter he put into the baggage-car, before leaving the state capital, several pork barrels full of round shot, a few chests of fine rifle powder and a lot of linsey-woolsey stuff, ostensibly for the purpose of making cartridges. The whole “outfit” was entirely worthless. The shot did not fit the guns and the powder was no doubt a good thing with which to go squirrel hunting, but was little better than so much sawdust for artillery use. It will be readily understood that at this time the Cleveland Light Artillery was not in condition to do any overwhelming damage to the Southern Confederacy.
The men had no clothing except that which they had brought from home. Few had a change of garments, as it was understood when they left Cleveland that they would be amply supplied. They could rub along a while with what clothes they had but they must have “grub”—that was in the nature of a prime and fundamental necessity. Patriotism was a good thing as far as it went, but it didn’t go a long way in satisfying the cravings of an empty stomach. Appeals to the authorities were in vain and so Colonel Barnett entered into a contract with a man named Hall, of Marietta, to “board” the command. There was nothing else to be done, and it is just to the authorities to say that this bill was finally allowed and paid by the state. It is also fair to Mr. Hall to say that he carried out his contract in good faith, furnishing plenty of food which allowed small margin for grumbling.
The camp of the artillery in the fair grounds was named “Camp Putnam,” in honor of an old and patriotic citizen of Marietta who was a direct descendant of Gen. Israel Putnam—“Old Put”—of Revolutionary fame. The men fixed up their quarters in a style that a year or two later would have been considered luxurious in the extreme. The kindness and hospitality of the citizens were conspicuous. No effort was spared to make the boys as comfortable as possible. But even under these favorable conditions some of the boys imagined that they were having a hard time of it and were suffering a good deal for their country. When they came to experience the real hardships of active service in the field they looked back with unutterable yearnings to the idle weeks that were largely spent in playing euchre and “old sledge” at Camp Putnam.
Colonel Barnett was in command of the camp and of the post of Marietta. He enforced the strictest discipline and daily drills rapidly increased the efficiency of the command. Early efforts were made to secure a supply of better ammunition, as that hastily picked up at Columbus was of no value whatever. There were no shells or canister, and the solid shot were not only wrong in size but they were not round and could not have been thrown with any degree of precision. Colonel Barnett telegraphed to Cincinnati and secured a quantity of shot that was promptly forwarded. He engaged the use of a shop in Marietta where a lathe was put to work turning sabots, and a laboratory was fitted up where cartridges were made and the sabots were properly strapped to the shot. Nearly all this work was performed by the members of the regiment. Many of them were excellent mechanics and all were intelligent and willing. Such men can do anything. The ladies of Marietta offered their services, glad of the opportunity to do something for the cause of the Union. Since the first tocsin of war they had been busy in scraping lint and preparing bandages, until the supply seemed to be greatly in excess of the immediate demand—for scarcely anybody had been hurt yet, and a million or two of women all over the North had been engaged in the work. Now there was a chance for the matrons and maidens of Marietta to render assistance in another very practical way. A bountiful supply of red flannel was procured and immediately a hundred fair hands were at work, plying scissors and needle, in making cartridge-bags. The ladies made a “bee” of it, and in a wonderfully short time they had finished enough to last for months. The fine rifle powder that was pitched on the train at Columbus was exchanged for cannon powder, and the artillery began to look more like business. This homemade ammunition was largely used in target practice, which was deemed highly essential to future usefulness. Day after day the air resounded with the roar of artillery, as the boys sighted their guns at the targets and imagined themselves hurling the whistling missiles through solid battalions of rebels.
It was nearly a month before any supplies of clothing and camp and garrison equipage were received. About the middle of May, Captain O. M. Poe, of the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, was sent by Gen. George B. McClellan to inspect the Cleveland Light Artillery with a view to its being ready for service, at a moment’s notice. Capt. Poe expressed himself as greatly pleased with the command and the drill, discipline and soldierly bearing of its members. He assured Colonel Barnett that it should be thoroughly equipped without further delay. There seemed good reason to hope that at length there would be something besides mere promises. A few days later this was partially realized by the arrival of a quantity of clothing, which made the men feel more like soldiers, even though it was shoddy—and very poor shoddy at that. It is a fact that the garments were of such poor stuff that a week or two of wear was sufficient to finish them. They had to be thrown aside out of a decent regard for the usages and proprieties of civilized people. While wearing these clothes the men would break for their quarters and hide themselves if ladies entered the camp. There also came a lot of kettles, pans, and camp utensils of various kinds. These were heartily welcomed, as the boys had been forced to make all sorts of shifts, with such articles as were kindly furnished them by the people of Marietta.