The regiment, while here, did very little duty; in fact none, with the exception of one brigade drill in the snow, which only vexed the command, without accomplishing any good.
Colonel Sprague, formerly captain of Company E, now paid the regiment a visit, the first time he had met his old comrades since his capture. Following that had intervened his long imprisonment. The meeting was a pleasant one.
On the 13th of March the regiment left camp, and, taking the Bradford pike, crossed a range of hills, at the foot of which is the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Taking this road, Pau-Pau Station was reached before night. Here we found quite a number of troops.
General Lander advanced with one brigade on the Blooming pike. Soon the advance-guard, consisting of a part of a regiment of cavalry, came on to an intrenched camp of militia. The general, taking command in person, ordered a charge; but barely a dozen of these horsemen could be made to follow their brave leader. But, nothing daunted, Lander, followed by his staff and a few of the cavalry, dashed over the intrenchments, when some fifty rebels surrendered; Colonel Baldwin, their commander, giving himself up to Lander, after the latter had seized him by the shoulder, despite the revolver which the rebel colonel held in his hand.
On the return of this expedition, the Seventh was ordered out on to the pike. After advancing for nearly two miles, it halted by the roadside, where it remained in the mud and snow till the following afternoon, when it went into camp close by.
CHAPTER X.
Gallantry of Lieutenant O'Brien. — Death of General Lander. — The Seventh escort his remains. — The occupation of Winchester.
During the occupation of the country about Pau-Pau Station, the troops were kept active. Skirmishes were of frequent occurrence. One of them is deserving of mention. A reconnoissance was being made by Lieutenant O'Brien, of Lander's staff, accompanied by twenty or more cavalry, when they were met by a band of rebels, who immediately fired a volley; following which, they demanded the small party of Federals to surrender. O'Brien, riding to the front, declined, at the same time emptying the saddle of the foremost rebel with a revolver, which he had in his hand ready for use. The lieutenant soon after received a fatal wound in the shoulder, from the effects of which he died some weeks after. Seeing their leader disabled, the Union cavalry hurried him to the rear, at the same time presenting a determined front. When he had arrived at a safe distance they fell back, fighting as they went. They thus brought the gallant O'Brien safe to headquarters.
O'Brien was a writer of some note. Before the war he was a contributor to several periodicals, among which was the Atlantic Monthly. For these magazines he wrote many elegant things, which their readers will probably remember.
On the first day of March, the monotony of life in camp was broken by an order to march. We moved out of camp, followed by the entire division, on the road leading to Winchester. Towards evening we crossed the Big Cacapon River, and after ascending a spur of the Shenandoah Mountain, filed into a grove of pines, and remained till the following afternoon, when an order was given to fall back. On returning to our camp, we found that the retrograde movement was occasioned by the sudden death of General Lander. The brave soldier and able commander expired while his troops were moving on an important position of the enemy,—a campaign which his fertile brain had conceived, and which his daring and dash were to put into successful execution. No wonder, then, when the spirit of its leader took its flight, that the division was recalled. None were found competent to succeed him in the command of an expedition which had occupied his every thought while he had been connected with the department.