Four Years With the Iron Brigade

by Lance Herdegen

  Well it is dinner time but I am not much hungry as I have been eating a lunch consisting of bread and cheese and butter also. The two latter articles I buy with my own money and keep them on hand all the time for sometimes we get boiled fat pork and nothing else but bread and we have that anyhow at all times. So you see that is rather rough living and I think that all a man lives for is what he can eat and wear that is and not buy it therefore I spend some of my money in that way. I only sent ten dollars back home this last payday, therefore kept back sixteen dollars and was owing one dollar and thirty cents to different ones in the Co. And I got two dollars and a half worth of tickets from the sutlers but loaned one dollar and a half to two of my tentmates which made about three dollars that I had loaned amongst the Co including all small debts. We had to buy a stove and it cost three dollars and I had to pay one dollar and a half towards it myself before I could get the boys started. And we got the stove at last that we have needed so long and when they saw that I was going to pay so much, Frank Boyanton said he would pay me fifty cents back next payday so that will be coming next payday.

  And it being the muddiest time I ever seen. The mud being knee deep in place and all over it was shoe top deep and had been so for some time and the right wing of the Regt having to go on picket and all that was able must go and that included me so I concluded to buy a pair of boots and did so. They cost five dollars and they proved to be to small by the time I got out to the advanced picket lines and I traded with a fellow and made a good trade and come home a little easier than I went out. And that was not verry easy I tell you for either or both pair of boots being new it made it hard walking and mud being so deep and sticky in places as to nearly pull ones boots off.

  Last Wednesday which was the 22nd, we started for the picket lines which we reached about eleven oclock and were duly posted with from four to eight men on a post. Half of a regiment pickets the same length that the whole regt used to do and has a small reserve. But as soon as we started from Camp evry man picked his road and some walked faster than others and we got strung out to a mile in length along the Road. That is just our Co, for each Co, as soon as they got ready, they started and just as they got there they relieved the sixth Regiment boys and glad they was for us do so for they had been on duty three days. The reason of them being on the third day is as follows. We were to have gone the day before or 21st and it was raining in the morning and verry muddy and Gen. [Rufus] King sent word to the sixth to stay until the next morning. But the three days they were on duty it rained and snowed and stormy all the time.

  We were posted on the left wing of the line on the most advanced posts. Our Co and Co C were on at the left wing and Cos A, D and I were on the right wing. I and five or six others were on post (as it is called) the full time or forty eight hours. There is only one man stands at a time and they are relieved and go back to where the others is. That is where the four (or more) have a fire. I was on what was called the first reserve which [consists] of as many men as the commander chooses to put on the first twenty four hours. There was fifteen of us. Then the commander which was our Captain in the absence of the Major had all but seaven called back to the reserve and our Co being large, there was enough on the reserve the first twenty four hours to relieve those that had been on and when that was done all but us first reserve went back to form the second reserve and had all taken away from our post but me and six others. And Lieutanant Woodhouse was relieved by Lieutanant Young and he chose the men he wanted to stay which being me and the other six I have spoken of before. We had one post to watch, it being right on the road but our fire was back a hundred yards or more from the post.

  About three oclock in the morning of the second day there was a hog come up to within four rods of me. I made a jump towards it and it run off and in a few minutes a fox or something that barked like one came up to the opposite side of the road and barked. I strained my eye to see it but it being so verry dark I could see nothing. It was as dark a night as I ever stood on guard or done anything in fact. The pine trees are so thick and the dead branches interwoven so close that a man has no little labor to get through the forest.

  We relieved each other evry hour. I do not know how the boys done on the other posts but we all wanted to be on post all the time. That is the second reserve would rather be out on the advanced lines than back where they were for evry one wants to see the Elephant (as the saying goes).36

  Well it is dark and I begin to write by candlelight and behind me are two of my tentmates playing cards. That is bad but no so bad as long as they play peaceable. As when we have a tent full of visitors and they get to playing and get mad and make a terrible fuss. I cannot enjoy myself at all when there is so much fuss. And hard feelings it sours evrything. I have done all I could to keep cards out of the tent but a man must let the majority rule.

  There was rather a bad affair happened in our Co this evening. It was as follows. Lieutanant Young, Orderly Sargeant and first Corporal got a pass to go to Washington yesterday morning and to come back this evening. And when they came back, the Orderly and Corporal were drunk but could just walk and that was all except that they commenced hollowing and the boys gathered around them and some way or another I don’t know how, they got started about the affair of pulling the first Corporal out of the office of Comisary for the Company and that sett him raving to a high degree and the Orderly disappeared and I suppose went to the tent. But the Corporal made considerable noise, then James Garner came in and said he was going to carry the boys their supper that was on guard, he being on water guard. And they have to carry the guards their meals, at least it is so in our Company. And I said help him take their supper to them and when we got up to the Cookhouse, Lieutenant hollowed to me wanting me to build him a fire. But he was as sober as I and I never drank a drop of liquor in my life but I often do little jobs for him. And he said for me to go on and take their suppers to them and when I came back I went to see if he had got a fire started yet which he had. And I sit down to have a chat but the Captain came in and wanted to know of Young how it was and he told Capt in a kind way how it was. He cleared himself of any foul and Capt said it was his duty to arrest the Orderly and Corporal. He said he was sitting eating his supper and a man came to the door and said there was a great noise in Co F and that he had better attend to it. So he started (but as I went to the Lieutanants tent I overheard the Captain in the Corporals quarters talking in this style - says he, you are drunk and it is my duty to arrest you) and ferreted it out and that it had played out, this getting drunk and making so much noise and that he would arrest the one that done so and Cap went out and that is the last I heard of the fracas. I didnt like the Captain verry well at first but I like him now as well as any officer in the Regt almost. The Lieutenant I have spoken of in the affair, I rather trust him with the care of the Co than any other man I know of. But he has his faults and so have I and so has evry man the world over. Well I will let this subject drop by the name of a ridiculous affair.

  Well the drums are the roll call and I must dry up writing for this evening and call it a half a day (and go home I was going to say) and quit.

  January 30, 1862

  And raining again and has been all of this day which now two oclock and raining. O but the mud is deep, it being the worst I ever seen in any place in my life. Therefore we have done nothing in the way of work. I received a circular last evening from J. W. Yate of Syracuse New York to act as ageant for him in the sale of writing desks of an improved kind. And I addressed him a letter with one dollar therein for one of the desks or more just as the money would buy and have them sent by mail. And if they are what he represents them to be they are a great thing for a soldier. So handy and neat and he gave me great inducements to purchase. He will warrant me the sale of the order but I only sending a dollar. I thought if I get one for myself and nothing more, I cannot loose much. Therefore I risked it.

  Oh, I am so tired of sitting around and doing nothing. But there is such a report that we
make a move next Monday and it being Thursday now we will soon be on the move. The Ordinance Sargeant has just been in our tent. He says he thinks we get our new guns tomorrow. He has made out the requisition for them. They are the Austrian Rifle. They are a splendid gun. The Second Regt has got them and it leaves us the only regt in this brigade with the old musket and our officers are trying for them and they have the promise of the first that come.

  February 6, 1862

  And it has been a week since I wrote. I have had rather poor health in the time but it is improving and I begin to feel natural. I was on guard the first and caught cold and it settled all over me which caused evry bone in me to ache. Well the weather has been different evry day since I last wrote. It is raining now quite hard and has been since seaven oclock. And this morning came my turn to get wood and I have got some but not enough to do a day so I shall have to get some more. Rain or shine I never seen such bad weather as I have since I came to the sunny south as the poets calls it. And if it is all like this part I know they lie and it is verry bad weather for the sick ones and makes a great many hearty ones sick. But through all the little sickness I have had I never was excused from drill but once and never asked for it then. I can and do thank God for blessing me with good health which is the first and the best thing to take care of and pays the best of anything. Whew how hard it rains now, but our good faithful old tent turns all the water and we keep dry. And that is the greatest and best thing for good health. I believe my taking so good care of myself is the reason of me having so much better health than my comrades and some even laugh at me for acting so old womanish. But it soon turns so that I can twit them for their negligence and I sometimes make them bite their lips.

  Well I hope and I also think that the war will soon end for there was a flag of truce come from secesh down on the fourth and the Congress cleaned out the house it is said. And proceeded to hold a secret session or meeting of some kind. We don’t know yet nor neither will we know for a while what they are doing. It is also rumored that there was another flag came in yesterday and the talk is, but I guess nobody here in Camp knows, that their terms are verry reasonable. And I hope they are. The boys are in high spirits about getting to go home soon but I think we will have to stay here awhile yet. But I am tired of staying here in this Camp for it is mud shoe top high and has been for a month and is likely to be a month more. The [place] we are encamped on is a sticky clay soil with a little gravel intermixed and it holds water like a cistern almost. Ever since we have been here whenever and wherever there is a hole dug to the depth of two feet it would fill half full of water in a few minutes in the dryest time we had here. And if does not stop soon we may have to build boats to go out to roll call. Well wherever there a track it rains full and stays so. But to go one mile either way from here we might get ground for a camp where there is gravel and sand and stone and there the ground keeps in as good order as need be for the water soaks right through. We have drilled two or three times this week for as some mornings the ground has been frooze so as to bear up, but it soon thawed out.

  Well we had a queer affair happen on the fourth inst. It is as follows. We had dress parade at nine oclock in the morning and after going through it which ended by the adjutant reading a great many orders and the resignations and promotions. The resignations were as follows. Col. Joseph Vandor and Corporals A. Clark and Philipps (forgot given name) all of the seventh Regt. Wis Volunteers. The promotions are Chester R. Garner and I forgot the other mans name as Corporals instead of the two that Resigned. Both resignations and promotions were in Co. H, seaventh Regt Wis volt but that leaves us without a Colonel and we are better off without one if we cannot have one better than Old Vandor. For he couldnt drill us to amount to anything for he hadnt patience to drive volunteers and one day soon after we came to this Camp he went out as usual and got so much vexed that we didnt drill more than an hour and came back and give up the Regt to Lieutanant Colonel [Robinson] to drill which he has done without any truble and Vandor never came near us but once afterward and then it was about two weeks after when we went on brigade. He came and took command and made a bad job of it and disgraced us all he could I believe and he never as much as come to see us afterward. The Lieutanant Colonel has had command for about four months and he drilled us without any swearing and scolding the officers as the old colonel used to do. I am expecting evry day to hear the promotion of Lieutanant Colonel W. W. Robinson read on dress parade as being Colonel of this Regt.

  Well to return, well after the orders were finished the Colonel closed us in mass and examined us for we had laid still so long he wanted to see what condition we were in. And after he had examined all he steped out and said as follows. That he never seen the Regt in worse condition since he had command of it with the exceptions of Co. F and it was as usual all right, clean and tidy. He said that no other Co should have a pass to go anyplace but Co. F until they could come out in better condition. He said that included officers and all that couldnt have a pass. Then each Capt took their Cos and drilled Co drill awhile and come home. Evry Co in the Regt is our enemy now. We cant walk around without hearing denunciations of all kinds. It made us feel big as well as paid us for working to keep things clean.

  February 8, 1862

  And all is right this morning. And I am enjoying good health. But I feel rather bad from the affects of standing guard. Which I done yesterday. I was on the first relief which I like the best of the three reliefs. I went on post as follows, half past eight, half past two, half past eight, half past two, standing two hours each time. The guard is not allowed to leave the guards house more than ten minutes at a time. And this only in a case of nature. So we have to stay in that old guards house all the time when of post with no place to lie down to sleep except on the muddy floor. But there is a good fireplace which makes it more comfortable that it was in the forepart of winter. And we have to stay until half past eight in the morning to receive the new guard. And have to go without our breakfast until about nine oclock and upon the whole it is no fool of a job to stand guard. Especially when a man comes on once a week or more. But however it cannot be remedied as I can see for there is a good many sick and there are so many detailed for other duties.

  The Regt has to chop its own wood now and there are five men detailed evry day from each Company for that purpose. But our guards around the Camp have been limited to a great extent. So much so that there are only ten around Camp and two to a house nearby which makes in all twelve on a relief. Which makes the total number of privates thirty six and I think that is as few as could be done with and have any guard around the Camp at all. Well, I had a good place for the number of my post was eleven which was by the aforesaid house and the weather was good but soon after I got home it began to snow but has quit. And I hope will stay quit as long as we stay in Virginia. The mud has dried up some but is verry bad yet.

  Well I must soon quit writing in this book until I answer a letter I received from Newton on the evening of the sixth inst. Which brought news of himself and relatives being well. But I must mention about the great victory of the Federals in Tennessee where they took Fort Henry (a verry strong Fortress) and one hundred privates and officers prisoners. Also thirty five guns of heavy caliber. It is really a great victory. And the rumor is that the Cameron Dragoons took thirteen rebel prisoners last night out near Fairfax courthouse. There was a Captain and a Sargeant wounded and one of the rebels were killed. I will give a more detail account tomorrow of the victory of our troops when it comes official in the papers.

  February 9, 1862

  And it is Sunday evening and the mud is drying up verry fast yesterday and today. I have written one letter today. It was to my brother Newton. I answer to one I received from him last week. It brought the news of George [George Metcalf married Ray’s older sister, Sarah Ray, in 1855] being verry bad and he had been called to see him die but he got over the bad spell. But I expect evry letter I get from home that it will bring the news of death which I should b
e verry sorry to hear. I got a paper this evening the title of which is the Missouri democrat and bore the name of A. A. Bennett written with a pencil. So I suppose that it came from him. He is my old schoolmaster. It is from his teachings that I learned or got most of my schooling such as reading, writing, spelling & arithmetic and that is all I ever studied except I studied Geography a verry little.

  Well I am writing on a patent desk as it is called. It is the one I sent for to Syracuse N.Y. I have spoken of it heretofore. He sent me one and twenty seven cents in postage stamps. It cost forty three cents to bring it and it did not prove to be as good as I anticipated for it is all paper and got somewhat crushed up by coming by mail. It contained a lot of paper of different kinds. Also so many envelopes as there are sheets of paper, a bottle of ink, a pen and penholder and a silver pencil and a black led pencil. And there is a checker board marked on the desk and there are checkers to play with also but for all that it is not worth what it cost I think, which was seventy five cents. But I cannot lose much for there is so much paper &c in it which will come useful but it is paying dear for the whistle (as Franklin said when he bought a whistle).

  Well the business of that flag of truce that came from the Rebels was to let Government know that if they hung the bridge burners of Missouri that they would kill evry prisoner they had got from us. And I have not heard yet what terms they settled it on. There was a man in our Co bet five dollars that we would be in Wisconsin in a months time. I hope it will be so but under the present circumstances I will term him a crazy fellow or some kind of a fellow and probably a good fellow if it turns out to be so but I would be verry glad.