Colonel Rogers was a strict disciplinarian. The surgeon of the regiment was a great lover of horses. It was said of him, before he entered the service, that if he was sent for in a case of expected immediate death, and he had an opportunity while on the road to trade a good horse for a better one, he would always let his patient take the chances.—I do not wish to be considered as authority for the truthfulness of this assertion.—One Sunday morning our company was ordered to report in front of the colonel’s “markee” for inspection. While the inspection was going on, the colonel stood in front of us, and just a little to his left the surgeon and quartermaster, it being just before divine service, were driving a horse trade. Naturally enough this attracted the attention of the men, and it being noticed by Colonel Rogers, he exclaimed in that melodious tone of voice so characteristic of him: “Eyes to the front; you wa’n’t ordered down here to inspect the quartermaster’s department!” Colonel Rogers was, indeed, peculiar.
In an excellent paper which was read by Captain Charles H. Parkhurst, of Company C, at a recent reunion of the Eleventh regiment, he thus contrasted Colonel Metcalf and Colonel Rogers:
“Colonel Metcalf, as a rule, commanded without saying anything about it. When Colonel Rogers commanded he couldn’t help saying something about it. No one seeing Colonel Metcalf off duty, or un-uniformed, would have suspected that he had any command, while the most casual observer looking at Colonel Rogers, even when asleep, would instinctively know that even then the colonel, at least, thought that he was in the exercise of authority.”
Our last commanding officer, Colonel Church, was a thorough soldier and, like Colonel Rogers, whom he succeeded, a strict disciplinarian. He was, apparently, a favorite with the officers of the regiment, but his ways smacked too much of the regular army to have ever made him popular with volunteer soldiers. It is, however, due Colonel Church to say that while under his command the regiment attained a high degree of proficiency in all that characterizes good soldiership, and won for itself much praise from those who were even superior in rank to its colonel.
Speaking of the peculiarities of Colonel Church, for he had them too, perhaps nothing created a greater dislike for him on the part of his men than the severity of his discipline in regard to very small matters. To illustrate: The sending of a man to the guard-house because in his exasperation he so far forgot himself as to raise his hand to brush a fly off of his nose when on dress parade, was not relished. It might have done for a holiday, but not in time of war. At any rate, that is the way the boys looked at it.
Chapter IX.
Suffolk was our last regular encampment. From there we went to Yorktown, expecting to take transportation home, as our term of service had nearly expired. After remaining there a few days we were, very much to our surprise, ordered up the peninsula. Somebody evidently made a mistake in his reckoning, for when we arrived at Williamsburg, only twelve miles distant from Yorktown, we were ordered back, an order which was not reluctantly obeyed, although had there been urgent need for the regiment’s services for a longer period, I feel sure that they would have been cheerfully rendered.
Upon our return to Yorktown we once more pitched our shelter (or “dog”) tents, and made ourselves as comfortable as we could until transportation was furnished. Finally we embarked on the steamer “John Rice,” and after a three days’ sail arrived in Providence on the afternoon of the sixth of July, 1863, just nine months to a day from the time we left Rhode Island.