During the morning we were gratified with the first sight of the enemy's paraphernalia, consisting of a train of captured baggage wagons, taken from Longstreet, and which were being driven in the direction of Harrisburg, whither, it is said, some hundred or more of prisoners from the same corps are being conducted. With a view of the latter we were not rewarded. The curiosity of the men to see a live rebel—in a captured condition—is very great. The wagons were guided by contra bands, who did not, however, look as if they belonged to the numerous class called "intelligent," who figure so largely as news-bearers in the army dispatches. The train, as well as the prisoners, was under the escort of the Anderson Cavalry, which was doing scout duty between the lines. A slight change in the position of our quarters was ordered during the day, and tents were struck about 4 P.M. and the company marched about two miles further to the south, halting in a large stubble field west of the railroad, in a position which had been dignified by the title of "Camp McClure." Had an attack of my old adversary, the sick-headache, and was soon forced to surrender. Was very kindly waited upon by several of the men, especially P.E. and his brother D., who is a candidate at home for District Attorney, but not on that account any the less unselfish in his friendly offices on the present occasion. The former made me some tea from pennyroyal, gathered upon the ground, which shortly operated as an emetic. On a bed of blankets and straw, arranged by sympathetic hands, with my knapsack for a pillow, and the open vault of heaven for a canopy, I soon became, as is usual with sufferers from this severe complaint, utterly indifferent to surroundings. A good night's rest brought a happy relief.
Tuesday, September 16. Part of the morning was devoted to foraging at the neighboring farmhouses, but little or nothing could be procured, the ground having already been pretty well covered by advance parties. Apples, however, were abundant, as there were many fine orchards in this vicinity. Was detailed to attend Dr. S., the Company Surgeon, who was sick, and had taken refuge in an adjoining wood, into which our quarters were presently moved. Here, under the direction of the Quartermaster, a sort of wigwam was constructed, built of fence-rails and cornstalks, and floored with straw. It was long enough to accommodate the entire company, and formed a very tight and really comfortable tenement. The Conococheague Creek ran within a few hundred yards of the camp, and the men had several good baths in it. Regiments were continually arriving from the railroad, and the shrieks of the steam-whistles, the blasts of bugles, clatter of drums, and the cheering of the troops enlivened the day. Among the accessions were the Blue Reserves, of Philadelphia, a uniformed organization, which made a handsome appearance. Before night there were said to be ten thousand men on the ground. A large force of militia was evidently intended to be concentrated at this point. Met a number of acquaintances among the new arrivals. Had several squad and company drills, and expected, from the arrangements we observed in progress, to remain some time in this situation. While out for exercise we could hear the noise of distant artillery proceeding from the direction of Sharpsburg and Harper's Ferry. The anxiety increased to hear something from the army. Occasionally a newspaper, a day or two out of date, was brought in from the railroad, and its contents eagerly devoured. It was said that Hagerstown had been abandoned by the rebels, and that telegraph and railroad communication had been re-established with that point. Reports circulated, which were afterwards verified, that fighting had commenced between the corps of Generals Hooker and Reno and the rebels, and that General Reno had been killed. When the camp-fires were lighted, after nightfall, the woods resounded with martial music, song, and cheers, and the scene was a highly animating and inspiring one. Such sights are seldom witnessed, and are not to be soon forgotten. Before turning into our hut, seated myself on a bank a little distance apart from the rest, in company with my friend K., and we took a quiet smoke and talked of home, whither our thoughts continually turned. Enjoyed the best night's rest of the campaign, owing to the comfort of our quarters.
Wednesday, September 17. Drilled in the morning in the adjoining fields, and while thus engaged observed a renewal of the reports of artillery towards the south, heard on the day previous, and with still greater distinctness. These proceeded, as we afterwards learned, from the battle-field of Antietam, some thirty miles off. A dull gruff belch, at irregular intervals, accompanied by a sense of concussion, told the story of the distant conflict. This inspired strange and solemn feelings. Human lives were being offered up as a sacrifice upon the altar of our country, and thousands of homes would sit in dread suspense until it should be known upon whom the fatal blows had fallen. The result, too, was of great concern to us, who were mere auxiliaries in reserve against an untoward crisis. The evolutions now assumed a significance they had not heretofore possessed. Their object seemed no longer to be skill merely, but preparation. The zeal for duty was quickened, and it was the idea of responsibility which was uppermost in the minds of all. Additional regiments meanwhile arrived, among others two of the Gray Reserves and Home Guards of Philadelphia, which left Harrisburg yesterday. With drilling, guard mounting, and the usual routine of camp duties, the day wore slowly away. Another picturesque scene at night. After roll-call crawled again into our comfortable domicil of cornstalks, with every reason to expect another good night's sleep. This idea, however, was a grievous delusion, as the sequel will show.
Thursday, September 18. About 11 o'clock last night the beating of the ominous long roll aroused us from our peaceful slumbers, and the word quickly passed that we had received marching orders for Hagerstown, and were to be ready to leave at 12. The accoutrements having been collected by the light of the fires, the regiment marched to the railroad, a mile off, where it was expected a train would be in waiting for us. Alas! we here received our first practical lesson of the great uncertainty of military movements, and the mechanical nature of the duties of the soldier, who must obey orders, simply, without inquiring for reasons. In the quality of civilians, which we could not altogether consent to drop, our sense of individual importance was frequently infringed upon in our new capacity. Each in his turn felt disposed to divide with his superiors the responsibility of the command. After waiting several hours in the crisp cool air of the autumn night, without any train appearing, we lost all patience and lay down on our blankets for temporary repose. As the dews of heaven gently distilled upon our unprotected forms, the memory of the comfortable quarters we had just left did not add to the feelings of reconciliation to our present miserable situation. Sundry imprecations were vented upon the unknown authority in charge of the department of transportation. Many went to sleep, from which they would be occasionally roused by the rapid passing of trains, but our own looked-for conveyance did not, nevertheless, arrive. Morning broke at length and breakfast was improvised by the cooks.
We waited hour after hour for our train, but in vain. Wrote letters home beside the railroad track, on the ends of the sills. Various reports from the army were in circulation, respecting the result of the battle, and the movements of the enemy, subsequently found to be unreliable. After dinner had a battalion drill, and when all expectation of the train had been given up, between 3 and 4 o'clock it suddenly appeared. Cheers greeted its arrival. It consisted, like the one in which we had come down, of house cars adapted for the present purpose, and we boarded it just in time to escape a shower which began falling at this moment. Were off, at length, and after a short halt at Greencastle, where I laid in some provisions, arrived about 6 o'clock at Hagerstown, which we found occupied by a considerable militia force that had been pushed forward within the past two days. Were surprised to find the companies of Captains Hunter and Eisenhower, from Reading, already there, as they had started from home after we had. Were informed by them that they had left Harrisburg on Tuesday night, and arrived at Hagerstown on Wednesday morning. They had been attached to the 11th Regiment, to the command of which Charles A. Knoderer, a talented civil engineer of Reading, who went as a private of Captain Eisenhower's company, had been promoted. The regiment was encamped a short distance below town on the Williamsport pike. Heard more definite intelligence of the result of the great battle fought yesterday, which is claimed as a decided Union victory. Were informed of the death of Captain William H. Andrews, of the 128th Regiment, who fell in the battle, and also of its commander, Colonel Croasdale. Captain Andrews's body had already arrived in Hagerstown. Several other members of Reading companies had been killed.
Our company was separated from the regiment and marched in the dusk of the evening into a narrow lane not far from the railroad depot, where we were told we were to pass the night. The ground was wet from the rain which had fallen, and a slight drizzle continuing, a most gloomy and uncomfortable aspect was imparted to the surroundings. The prospect for rest was extremely unpromising. There was nothing to lie upon except our gum blankets, and no better shelter than what could be improvised by stretching the tents—with which we were now temporarily provided—from the top of a fence to the ground. There appeared to be some confusion as to the arrangements for quarters, and we could not understand why a better situation had not been selected for the night's bivouac. After supper K. and myself went through the town to buy some lanterns and other things for the quartermaster. We were conducted by an old negro whom we picked up by the way, and obtained what we were in quest of, as well as a couple of bottles of good whiskey, procured at a grocery store, notwithstanding the fact that the town was under martial law, and the sale of liquor to soldiers had been prohibited.
After having made a pretty thorough exploration of the place, we returned to quarters, where we found a sharp discussion going on as to the propriety of the Governor's sending us across the State line, the authority for which some of the men were disposed to question. The objection evidently proceeded from those who did not like our present proximity to the seat of war. The debate ended, however, in a tacit concurrence in the opinion of the majority that it was all right. Passed a miserable night in this uncomfortable situation. Slept but little, and caught a severe cold, from the effects of which I suffered for several weeks.
Friday, September 19. Orders came about eight o'clock to go into camp at a place about a mile below town, on the Williamsport pike, and in the course of a couple of hours the scattered regiment had been collected and transferred to the point indicated. The spot was known as the old Washington County Agricultural Fair Ground, and but a few days previously had been occupied as a rebel camp. Its principal attraction was a large and fine spring of pure water. The 11th was in the same vicinity. Before the company moved from the lane, I had been detailed, with a squad, to go to a certain farm-house, about two miles out of town, for the purpose of impressing a team for the conveyance of the regimental luggage. Went to the place designated, but found that the farmer's wagons were already in service—at least he so informed us. Lieutenant William P. Brinton, of Company H, and myself then proceeded half a mile further upon the same errand, and found a man plowing in a field. Told him that we wanted his team, and he complied without protest. I rode one of the horses to his house, and during this time heard some pretty heavy artillery discharges in the direction of the Potomac, or rather to the eastward, apparently about six or eight miles off. This was occasioned, as it was afterwards developed, by the escape of the main body of the rebel army across the river, below Williamsport, under a fire from detachments of McClellan's forces. After we had been kindly treated to a good lunch by the farmer, the team was conducted off in the charge of the lieutenant, while I took the nearest course to the farm-house first visited, to bring back some men who had been left there. Finding that they had already gone, I walked into Hagerstown, where I had some difficulty in ascertaining the whereabouts of our regiment, the marching orders having been executed during my absence. Took the opportunity to reconnoitre through the town for the purpose of laying in some provisions. The great frequency with which that occupation is noted in this narrative need excite no undue wonder, since, as we were nearly always eating, our private supplies were in a continually deplenished state. Hagerstown is an antiquated looking place, and is, at the present time, the seat of unusual activity, owing to its proximity to the centre of military operations. The population was said to be about equally divided in its political sympathies. It had been held alternately by both sides, so that everybody had had in turn an opportunity of "giving aid and comfort to the enemy." At the present it was transformed, for the time being, into a vast hospital, many of its public buildings being occupied for this purpose. Governor Curtin was here looking after the welfare of the Pennsylvania troops. By the Williamsport pike, a number of our wounded soldiers were still being brought in from the battle-field, a distance of ten miles. The sight of these sufferers was touching. Some were in ambulances, while others lay in the bottoms of ordinary farm wagons, with little or no shelter from the hot sun. Their wounds had been dressed, and the heroic courage which they manifested was something inspiring to witness. Many bodies of the dead had been sent in for transportation. In a wheelwright shop to which my attention was attracted, I saw the lifeless forms of two officers in uniform—a major and a lieutenant—awaiting boxing. The faces were ghastly, and I turned from them with a feeling of pain as I thought of the hearts that even now, perhaps, were being torn with grief in the distant homes. These sights were realities, not pictures, and gave me a more vivid idea of the horrors of war than the most graphic pen descriptions I had ever read. Alas! I thought, to what extent is this slaughter to go on, and when will the sacrifice for patriotism's sake be complete?
Came up with the camp at length, and found the men engaged in clearing the ground and pitching the tents, which work was continued until dinner time. Toward the middle of the afternoon, great interest began to centre upon the road, occasioned by the frequent and furious galloping up and down of cavalry pickets and aids, and the report spread that a considerable body of rebels was advancing up the pike in the direction of Hagerstown. The long roll was beat, and the command to fall in was given. We were now supplied with sixty rounds of ammunition per man—the first that we had received—and loaded our guns, which looked like business. In default of the usual appliances for that purpose, the cartridges were deposited in our overcoat pockets. Thus ballasted, we were marched down the road about a mile and a-half, and halted at a point where detached lines of battle were being formed. Our regiment was deployed in two ranks to the left of the great road, in a ploughed field, on rising ground, and was in the front line. The Gray and Blue Reserves of Philadelphia, supported by a battery, constituted a portion of the right wing on the other side of the road, and the Maryland Brigade, a uniformed body of three years' men, five thousand strong, commanded by General Kenley, were posted on our extreme left. A regiment of skirmishers were in a wood a little in advance of the brigade. Some twelve or fifteen thousand men were thus concentrated in several lines, and the whole force was so disposed as to afford a converging fire upon the road. Major-General John F. Reynolds, who we learned was in command, had his headquarters on a hill, to the right of the road, where the colors were planted, and at which point aids were observed to be constantly reporting.
Things now began to wear a serious appearance. A number of farmers were noticed removing their household goods from our front, towards Hagerstown, by the road. They were evidently alarmed, and expected a battle. It was also remarked that portions of the fences along the pike had been torn down, and the rails piled up at different points in the road, by way of obstructions against the advance of an opposing force. We stood at a rest in the line, with guns half-cocked and bayonets fixed, momentarily awaiting the appearance of the foe. An incident occurred at this juncture which, though trifling, drew the attention of the entire force for the time being. The report of a musket was heard in the woods where the skirmishers were, followed by a loud shriek and audible groans. It was at once surmised that one of the militiamen had been accidentally shot. Presently, a crowd was observed conducting a man up the road toward the town, and it was then explained that this person was subject to attacks of mania-a-potu, and that the excitement of the moment had made him crazy. The occurrence could not but be suggestive of a similar catastrophe to the reason of some others of the force, who were just then exposed to the like danger.