At Yorktown the regiment embarked for Alexandria and from thence were speedily transferred by rail on the Orange and Alexandria road to a point near Warrenton Junction.
At Alexandria many of the men took the opportunity to imbibe a liberal quantity of liquid refreshments, the first chance they had to do so since the issuing of whiskey rations in the swamps in front of Richmond. To the credit of the 57th, but very few indulged beyond their capacity to carry their load steadily, but such could not be said of some of the other regiments in the division, notably one of New York, in which there were not a sufficient number of "sobers" to care for the "drunks." The cars on which we were shipped to the front were the ordinary "flats." By the time their "drunks" were safely deposited on these cars by the "sobers" fully one-half had rolled off into the side ditches, and so the process of reloading had to be repeated time and again with many intervening, and sometimes amusing, sparring matches to add to the confusion and delay. While these bacchanalian exhibitions were going on General Kearny and staff rode along the side of the railway track, doing what they could in the way of encouragement to the overworked "sobers" in their apparently endless task. As the general passed the 57th some member called out to a comrade near to the scene of drunken strife in progress on the adjoining cars, inquiring if any of the 57th were engaged in the fracas then going on. The general promptly turned in his saddle and shouted back, "No, thank God, there's none of the 57th!"
It was not the regiment's privilege to ride all the way from Alexandria to its destination at the front. Disembarking near Catlett Station it advanced by easy marches.
Somewhere on the Virginia Peninsula Captain Maxwell, of Company F, had secured the services of an old negro as his cook. At Malvern Hill this old fellow had not put sufficient space between himself and the enemy for safety, and found himself in rather close proximity for comfort to the shells of their batteries. While at Harrison's Landing it was the delight of the boys to get this old man to describe the battle and give his experience under fire. His inimitable imitation of the screaming shot and shell accompanied with grotesque pantomime was amusing in the extreme. We little thought, however, the deep impression these scenes and experiences had made upon his mind until again we came in sound of the enemy's guns. As the regiment advanced toward Bealeton the cannonading in our front became at times quite heavy. The old cook was trudging along by the side of the marching column, carrying a camp kettle, when suddenly the batteries opened fire. He stopped, looked and listened, with fear depicted in every lineament of his dusky face. "Dis chil' done gone fur 'nuf dis way!" he exclaimed. Then turning about took toward the rear as fast as his legs could carry him. It was the last seen of the captain's cook.
CHAPTER V.
BY J. M. MARTIN.
Second Bull Run Campaign—Battle of Chantilly—Death of General Kearny—His Body Escorted to Washington by a Detachment of the Fifty-Seventh—Retreat to Alexandria—Conrad's Ferry—Colonel Campbell Rejoins the Regiment.
Our stay in the neighborhood of Bealeton and Warrenton Junction was brief. Lee was moving northward, the main body of his army being west of the Bull Run mountains, while Jackson with Stewart's cavalry was on the east. The 3d corps in which the 57th served fell back to Centerville by way of Greenwich and Manassas Junction. As we passed the latter the buildings and many cars were smouldering ruins, showing that Jackson's outflankers had recently been there, and that the main body of his troops could not be far distant. The night of the 28th we bivouacked at Centerville and the next morning marched out the Warrenton turnpike. On our way we met quite a number of paroled prisoners who had just been sent through the lines by Jackson. They were quite jubilant, reporting that desperate fighter completely hemmed in at the base of the mountains and likely to fall an easy prey to our army. With this hopeful intelligence we pressed on with stimulated zeal toward the front. Arriving on the battlefield Kearny's division was deployed on the extreme right of the line, which position it held during the two succeeding days of the battle, most of the division at one time or other being hotly engaged. The 57th, however, escaped, though frequently under fire. Along the left and center the battle raged fiercely. The issue hung upon the ability of Pope to crush his antagonist, the redoubtable "Stonewall," before assistance could come to him from his chief beyond the mountains. But alas for our fondest expectations! Longstreet pressed his way through the insecurely guarded mountain pass, Thoroughfare Gap, and late in the afternoon of the 30th, when victory seemed about to perch on our banners, threw himself with irresistible force against our left. The onset was so fierce and unexpected that it did not lie in human power to resist, and in a few brief moments, all hope vanished, rout followed, and an almost fac simile of the disaster of the preceding summer was the consequence, except that our legions were veterans now, the army retained its morale and (especially the right wing) fell back in good order upon Centerville, the enemy, either from being sorely crippled, or satisfied with his success, giving little annoyance. The army in this encounter could not be said to have been defeated. Fully one-third of its efficient force had not been engaged. A general impression prevailed in the ranks that we either had been outgeneraled or that some stupendous blunder had been made.
Rumors of disobedience of orders by officers high in rank filled the air, and mortification and chagrin the breasts of all. We were not whipped; that would have been satisfying. The story was that in the game of war our adversary, in playing his winning card, had been aided by the petty strifes and jealousies among our own leaders. Happily history has done much to remove this feeling and as well the clouds that overcast the fair name and fame of at least one of our corps commanders, whose bravery and ability none doubted. But then it was different, and provoked by defeat, slight evidence was sufficient to call down maledictions loud and bitter.
During August 31st and September 1st the regiment camped near Centerville, but in the afternoon of the 1st received marching orders and filed out on the road leading to Fairfax Court House. Marching leisurely along, all unconscious of the near presence of an enemy, we were suddenly startled by the sound of skirmish firing to our left. A moment later General Kearny and staff rode past at a gallop. The desultory firing of the skirmishers increased rapidly to volleys and soon we were advancing to the front at a double quick. Wheeling to the left of the road on which we were marching we were deployed in line of battle; part of the division immediately advanced and soon was hotly engaged. In the midst of the roar of battle a fierce electric storm burst upon the contending forces, and the flashes of lightning and peals of thunder mingled with the crash of musketry and booming of cannon, while rain descended in torrents. While the regiments of the division were being advanced General Kearny sat on his horse but a few paces from the 57th. Some of his staff suggested that the regiment be assigned to the advance column. "No," replied the general, "place the 57th in reserve. If these men have to retreat I want them to fall back upon men that won't run!" These were the last words he ever uttered in our presence. Within a brief hour he lay cold in death within the enemy's lines, the victim of that spirit within him so often manifested on the field of battle and at the post of danger, never to send another where he himself would not willingly go.