As a non-commissioned officer I did not have to do any of the digging; I superintended my section and kept them at work, but the nights were still cold and raw and I often relieved a tired private for a while to warm up; besides I was as much interested as any of them to make a hole in the ground deep enough to protect me when the enemy fired at us.
All through the night, at almost regular intervals of about fifteen minutes, a single gun in the forts at Yorktown fired a shell in our direction, which passed over us and exploded or buried itself in the ground somewhere behind us. On the half-dozen occasions when I was on such a detail I can recall only one shell bursting over us which severely wounded two men of a regiment working next to ours. When the gun was fired at Yorktown a mile or more away, there was a flash in the sky and a sergeant on watch called out "Lie down!" when we immediately dropped flat on the ground or into the trench. About the time we heard the report of the gun, the shell was passing over us. The interval of time between seeing the flash of the gun and hearing the report was just about sufficient for us to drop for protection. Occasionally the Union gunboats in the river fired a few rounds in the direction of the Rebel gun which was annoying us and had the effect of silencing it for an hour or two. At the first streak of daybreak we ceased digging and returned to camp, depositing our entrenching tools where we had received them. We were then excused from duty and rested all day; alternate nights the same detail went out to work on the trenches again. Similar work was done by the troops all along our front line.
We had a fairly good camping ground, which could be drained, but there was much rain at this season and our thin canvas shelter tents leaked badly, until we thought to give them a coating of pork-grease or melted tallow, which improved them for a time at the expense of their looks, for all the dust and dirt flying about clung to them. In this respect the volunteer regiments were better provided for than we; many of them had rubber ponchos—not furnished by the Government, but by the states from which they hailed. The ponchos could be used as a shelter tent and were waterproof; they could also be worn as a protection in rainy weather, while on the march or on picket, for they were slit in the center for the head to pass through. They had, however, the disadvantage of being much too heavy and excessively hot when used as tents in warm weather.
During our stay at Camp Winfield Scott, for about a month, we had no drum or bugle calls nor were any bands allowed to play, and after sunset all fires were extinguished. This precaution was taken to prevent the enemy from ascertaining the exact location of our camps, many of them being within easy distance of their long-range guns, only a thin strip of woods masked the camps in most places.
A large captive balloon near the army headquarters was in charge of the signal corps, a new branch of the service added since the beginning of the war. Some of the engineer officers made ascensions in this balloon for hundreds of feet and must have obtained a comprehensive view of the enemy's camps and defenses. Shells were fired at this balloon at times; we saw them burst in the air, but they never came close enough to endanger the occupants. There was also a telegraph corps at headquarters, which was an innovation in warfare. Insulated wire was used, wound on large reels mounted on trucks drawn by horses. The wires could be paid out quickly and were secured to trees or fences, or laid on the ground, and communications established between headquarters and commanders of the corps.
Not a day passed without some long-range artillery firing from both sides; sometimes a shell passed over our camp and over General McClellan's headquarters camp behind us. Picket firing also went on, and there were some casualties daily. It was at this camp that I saw Rebel soldiers for the first time; some prisoners, taken in a skirmish, were brought to headquarters. Only a few among them wore a complete uniform of gray; the others had a mixture of military and civilian clothing and wore slouch hats; they were taken charge of by the provost-guard.
An estuary of the York river extended close up to our camp. There were many oyster beds in it, which were soon exhausted by the soldiers. We washed our clothing in this water, which was brackish; our drinking water we obtained from springs and from wells which we dug. Encamped alongside of our brigade was the regiment known as Colonel Burdan's United States Sharp Shooters, an independent organization belonging to no particular state. This regiment was much used as skirmishers and on picket. Many of the men had their own private arms, rifles with telescopes, hunting rifles and other superior arms; some had powder horns and cast their own bullets rather than use any fixed ammunition. A detail from this regiment was sent out and remained in the rifle-pits or were concealed in the branches of trees from daybreak till dark for the purpose of taking shots at the Rebel gunners in the fortifications of Yorktown.
About the first day of May Battery Number One on our right, the largest of our batteries, was completed and began firing occasional shots from its one-hundred and two-hundred pounder siege-guns at the Rebel fortifications at Yorktown and Gloucester Point on the opposite side of the York river. The noise caused by the firing of these great guns and the explosion of the shells was deafening. Siege mortars were also fired. At night we could plainly follow the course of the mortar shells by their burning and sputtering fuses as they curved high up in the air in their flight towards the enemy's works. It was expected that in a few days, as soon as all of our batteries were ready, a general bombardment all along the line would take the place of desultory firing. For several days the enemy replied but feebly to our rambling fire, but on Saturday evening they commenced a furious fire all along their line and kept it up until long after midnight.
At daybreak on Sunday morning, May fourth, it was discovered that the Rebels had evacuated Yorktown and were in full retreat up the peninsula toward Richmond. There was great cheering in all the camps as they received the news, the bands, silent for a month, played patriotic airs like mad, and as though they would never have another chance to play. We seemed to be celebrating a great victory and forgot our tremendous and now useless labor during the siege operations. When General McClellan and some of his staff appeared among the camps on their way to Yorktown, we threw our caps into the air and cheered him to the echo, for he was our "Little Mac," our "Napoleon," our "Little Corporal." The soldiers were very enthusiastic and cheered him along the line of march, whenever he appeared; they had the greatest confidence in him and would have followed him anywhere. No future commander of the Army of the Potomac inspired the rank and file with the same affection; they idolized him. But we were inexperienced in war and too easily enthused at this time; we expected our commander to lead us to certain victory. Of the future commanders I think that General Joseph Hooker was next to McClellan in the affections of his soldiers, but to a lesser degree.
Immediate pursuit of the enemy followed by a cavalry brigade which met with some loss from percussion shells planted on the road leading from Yorktown to Williamsburg, before they overtook the enemy's rear-guard and had a skirmish with them. The cavalry was followed within a few hours by the infantry of the fourth and a part of the third army corps, which pushed on vigorously until near night, when they encountered a large force of the enemy strongly posted in a work called Fort Magruder and about a dozen redoubts and many rifle-pits located about a mile or more east of Williamsburg.