Camp Advance, September 27, 1861.
My dear Wife,—I appointed Hazard adjutant of the Highlanders yesterday. He has been with the regiment under fire three times, acting as my aide on two occasions, and the aide of Captain Ireland on the third. The appointment is very acceptable to the regiment.
Hazard will make an excellent adjutant. It will be easy for him to learn the technical part. His general experience will make everything easy.
I am looking somewhat for my brigadier’s commission this week.
The young man joined the regiment immediately after it crossed the Potomac, and had borne a musket in some of its skirmishes, and was appointed adjutant on the advancement of the former adjutant, David Ireland, to a captaincy in the regular army.
General Stevens’s appointment as brigadier was made on the 28th, and on the following day he was formally assigned to the command of the third brigade of Smith’s division, consisting of the four regiments already under his charge, viz., the Highlanders, 33d and 49th New York, and 47th Pennsylvania. He retained the immediate command of the Highlanders in addition to that of the brigade.
A few days afterwards Smith’s division and other troops of the right wing were advanced some four miles permanently, without encountering the enemy. About noon, soon after the troops had come to a halt, General McClellan, escorted as usual by a numerous staff, appeared on the scene, and, after visiting different points, dismounted, and sat down to a lunch which his attendants spread for him. He invited General Smith and some other officers to partake of the repast, but ignored the presence of General Stevens, who was quite near. The latter may have been unduly sensitive, but he regarded the omission as an intentional slight, and remarked that he actually pitied McClellan.
General Stevens named the new position occupied by his brigade, which was not far from Falls Church, the Camp of the Big Chestnut, from a huge sylvan monarch near by. A train of one hundred and forty-four wagons came over from Washington to move the tents and baggage of the command,—what a contrast to later campaign days, when four wagons only, or even less, were allowed to a brigade!—but even this number proved inadequate to bring everything at one trip. The new adjutant of the Highlanders directed the wagon-master to send some wagons back for what was left behind, but that functionary flatly refused, alleging that he was under orders to make but one trip, and then return to the city. The adjutant thereupon applied to the general for instructions in the premises, but his reception was hotter than he bargained for. “Have you a thousand men at your disposal, and suffer yourself to be set at defiance by a wagon-master? If you are not man enough to make your authority respected, you are not fit to be an officer. Go back to your regiment and attend to your duty.”
Smarting under this unexpected rebuke, the young officer again summoned the wagon-master and reiterated the order, and, on his second refusal to obey it, had him lashed fast to a neighboring tree. Four of his wagoners, equally contumacious, shared the same fate; and a sergeant and four soldiers of the ever ready and capable Highlanders were soon driving the teams back to the old camp, and in a few hours safely returned with the left-behind goods. The bound wagon-master and teamsters were then set free and ordered to mount their wagons and drive off instantly, an order which they obeyed with alacrity, and returned to Washington doubtless madder if not wiser men. Although at times a severe and exacting man, General Stevens always encouraged his subordinates to self-reliance, to do things, “to take the responsibility,” in Jackson’s phrase, and was sure to back them up if they acted in this spirit.
Drilling, picketing, and tree-felling fully employed the troops, at Camp of the Big Chestnut. By McClellan’s orders the woods, which covered a good part of the country, were slashed, the roads blocked, and the whole front obstructed by felled trees. The troops were ordered to get under arms and stand in line for half an hour before daylight every morning in anticipation of an attack which never came. This was an especially disagreeable and unhealthy task, for the Potomac fog shrouded the country at that hour, the autumnal mornings were damp and chilly, and the men would stand coughing all along the line. Many a poor fellow owed his death or disablement to this useless exposure. Strict orders were issued to avoid any movement which might lead to a collision with the enemy, and especially to shun everything which might bring on a general engagement. The orders frequently repeated these cautions, and seemed to be filled with a nervous apprehension of fighting. General Stevens thought this passive-defensive attitude all wrong. He took great pains to inculcate and develop a bold and enterprising spirit in his own brigade, especially charging his pickets to hold their ground in case of attack, and was delighted when a detachment of the 49th New York stood firm, and handsomely repulsed a dash of the enemy.