During the month of October, Col. Stevens left for the south, taking the Seventy-ninth Highlanders with him. Col. Taylor assumed command of the Brigade, until Gen. Brennan was sent to take charge of it. Not long after he was likewise ordered south. The Forty-seventh Pennsylvania accompanied him, the Eighty-sixth New York taking its place. Gen. Brooks now commanded the Brigade for a few days, at the end of which time General Davidson, a loyal Virginian, from Fairfax County, was placed over it. Previous to the outbreak he had been a Major in the regular cavalry service, and was a brave and popular officer. He rode a spirited mustang, presented to him by Kit Carson, while serving on the western frontier. The Eighty-sixth New York was soon sent back to Casey’s Division, and the Seventy-seventh, raised in the vicinity of Saratoga, succeeded it. As an instance of the great cutting down of the impedimenta of our armies, this regiment then employed one hundred and five double wagons for transportation, where only five are now used for that purpose. The same can be said of most of the commands.
A novel wedding came off one night at the Chaplain’s quarters, the happy couple being a private and a laundress belonging to Company C. The affair was conducted with all the ceremony the circumstances of the case would permit of, and to the satisfaction of the guests, who were regaled with wedding cake, wine, and other refreshments, decidedly palatable after the long experience on “hard tack.” While the after-festivities were happily progressing, the fortunate bridegroom suddenly brought them to a close by grasping the hand of his “fair one,” and disappearing in the direction of his domicile, with a general invitation to “call round.” The wife remained with her husband until the battle of Antietam, when, he being wounded, they both departed for the North.
About $400 were contributed by the various Companies for a chapel-tent and reading-room. A temperance pledge, circulated among the men, was signed by a large number, many of whom have kept it until this time. On the day of the battle of Drainesville, the long roll beat, and the Brigade proceeded out to “Freedom Hill,” where it was drawn up in line of battle to intercept the rebels, should they, in case of a defeat, attempt to escape in that direction. The enemy not appearing, the Regiments returned to camp at sunset.
At the time of the Ball’s Bluff affair they were furnished with three days’ rations preparatory to again moving, but were not called out.
CHAPTER V.
Grand Review of the Army, at Bailey’s Cross Roads.—Pleasant Acquaintances formed.—Changes and Deaths at Camp Griffin.—Dissatisfaction at the General Inactivity.—President’s War Orders.—Gen. McClellan’s Plans and Correspondence with the President.
The grand review by Gen. McClellan took place while the Thirty-third was encamped at Camp Griffin; the troops, over seventy thousand, were assembled at Bailey’s Cross-Roads, early in the day, to await the arrival of their Chief. Towards noon Gen. McClellan appeared, accompanied by the President and other distinguished personages, and as the party rode along in front of the line, cheer after cheer rent the air. Having assumed a stationary position on an elevated spot, the various commands passed in review before them. The day was mild and beautiful, the roads in good condition, men in fine spirits, and the review presented a most imposing spectacle, surpassing anything of the kind ever before witnessed in America. Surgeon Dickerson was unfortunately thrown from his horse by a collision on this occasion, receiving a severe concussion. The Surgeon attending pronounced the case a fracture of the skull producing compression of the brain, when a Herald attaché, standing by, added: “died in a few moments,” and a telegram was published to that effect in the Herald of the following day.
During their stay here, the officers and men made the acquaintance of several interesting families in the vicinity. Among them was the “Woodworths,” residing on the picket line. Mr. W., who originally moved from Oswego County, New York, had suffered much at the hands of the enemy. After the first battle of Bull Run, the rebels entered his house, robbing it of many valuables, and conducted him to Richmond, where he was imprisoned. Being released in the following October, he returned to find his once happy home nearly in ruins. The officers spent many pleasant hours in the society of his entertaining daughters, and in listening to the old man’s narrative of the wrongs inflicted upon him for his Union sentiments. All the members of the family apparently vied with each other in their efforts to render the sojourn of the Thirty-third in that locality as pleasant as possible.