Four Years With the Iron Brigade

by Lance Herdegen

  October 31, 1864

  And fine day. And we are to work on our Shanties. We borrow an ax now & then & when we havent tools to work with we do something else. But are getting along fine. The news in the Papers is that we extended our line 3 miles on the left & our last move was a perfect success & captured 900 Prisnors.

  We were mustered today instead of yesterday as I before stated we would be. But we didnt stop work & we are getting along fine. We will be able to move in tomorrow.

  November 1, 1864

  And fine day & we are still at work like Beavers. But we work to a great disadvantage by not having tools, have to borrow & lend &c. We are not so fortunate as to have an ax. One of my tentmates had an ax but give it to Cap to carry & that was the last of it. But in such a time as that we would throw away all such things. We got the tents on today & the chimney built & moved in & will sleep in it tonight.

  But I havent told you my tentmates yet. They are George Booth & Thomas W Blunt.219 They will sleep togather & I will have to sleep alone for the man I was tenting with, J. A. Drew has been detailed to the hospital. I am sorry to have him go away for he is a good fellow & so are Tom & George. I think myself verry fortunate in get men of good morals & steady fellows. They always will do their share & which will make us live happy &c.

  November 2, 1864

  And fine day & we are at work on Shanty again. We slept in it last night & I took cold. I had to sleep on the floor. Jake stays with me yet till he gets his finished. He is building with the Hospital Steward, [Leonard] Davis.220 The news through the Papers is good. Gen Grant in his Official dispatch says the last move is a complete success, evrything is going right all around.221

  November 3, 1864

  And verry rainy day, especially in the latter part. I washed my shirt & drawers today & rubed the skin of one knuckle & made a blister on another. We done a little finishing on the shanty today. It is most finished now. But evryday we can see something needing to be done to add to the comfort. For instance, made couple of stools & hung the table to the wall so as to be let down at pleasure. And for a door made a frame & tacked some pieces of old rubber on said frame. One of the Colporteurs222 came around today with religious papers & writing paper & envelopes &c. He seemed to be an agreeable man. I like to have such come around occassionally. I got a State Journal today so I have the news from the state.

  November 4, 1864

  And fine day after 10 oclock but rained a little in the morning. We worked a little more on shanty today, fix, fix &c. We have a full sett of cooking utensils as follows. 1 frying pan, 1 6 quart pail with lid, 1 2 quart coffee kettle. That makes the sett, we can fry or stew. The latter articles I just bought, Bucket $ 1.50cts, Coffee Pot $1.00cts & George had the pan. I take cold evry night since I came into shanty. Hope it will not continue long. I wrote a letter to Mother today. Rec’d one from Lu too, she was well. But had met with a slight disappointment in getting a room to start buisness. But this I hope she will soon overcome & get started at her trade.

  Well most all have finished building. Officers & all. Evrything goes to show that we are to stay here. Evrything is quiet on the lines, there is a detail evryday to work on fortifications.

  November 5, 1864

  And fine day & we clean up the street today. By chopping off the stumps close to the ground & sweep the ground clean, get the trash &c into piles prepartory to hauling of with a team. I wrote a letter to Henry today. [See Appendix 1] The news in the Papers is nothing exciting.

  November 6, 1864

  And fine day. And we finish policing the street and we have a nice camp. All goes on well. This being Sunday, we have Co. Inspection. Today appears most like Sunday of any for a long time. We sit in our shanties and read, write & converse and we enjoy ourselves well. But our health is not the best. We have bad colds & Tom is most sick abed but we will soon get over this I hope.

  November 7, 1864

  And rainy bad day but we are dry & warm. The detail to work on fortifications work. George is on today. Last night we had to get up for the Rebs raised a fuss away up on the right. Tis said they charged our works twice & were repulsed. & last night half of the different Regts in the brigade had to be up all the time. We, the right wing, was up till 1 oclock and then we went to bed & the left wing watched, but the Rebs didnt truble us the night. Tis said our men took 600 prisners. The Rebs want to do something to effect the Election but we will watch them. I received a letter from Mother today & answered it. Mother is well but Cornelia is sick with the chills & fever, which I am sorry to hear. We are having good living now since we got our mess kettle. We have soup half the time. We have flour. I bought a ball & we drew potatoes, so with Beef, Pork, Potatoes & flour we have some good messes.

  November 8, 1864

  And rather rainy today. The Election goes off quiet but with considerable sport with some McLellen men. Our Co went 22 for Lincoln & 3 for Mac and the Regt went about the same proportionately, Lincoln getting 4 fifths majority. I was one of the Clerks & Corp [Albert] Morse the other of the Election. There was not much Electioneering & considerable fun. I expect they at home are having exciting times. My hope is that Lincoln will be Elected and I believe I shall realize it. There is many Deserters from the Rebs coming in. Most evryday some come into our Brigade. The Boys with the Big hats wont fire on them they say & in fact our boys & them are verry friendly on the Picket line. They say they cant trust the others.

  We draw rations. We get good rations now, some vegetables.

  November 9, 1864

  And rather showery. Nothing especial transpired. I got a letter from Cornelia. All well. I wrote one to Lu in answer to one I reed sometime since. There is lots of Deserters from the Rebels coming in evry day.

  November 10, 1864

  And fine day. Nothing unusual except going on Picket. I & both of my tentmates with most of the Co, we get on a guard post. We have to stand an hour a piece at night & set up by the fire one hour.

  Fatigue Detail [from Company G]

  H. Christman [Henry Christman of Milwaukee]

  — Parry

  B Peck [Benson Peck of Durand]

  Eley Cadatt [Joseph or Alexander Cadott of Sterling]

  H. Sioux [Henry Sous of Osceola]

  A. M. Attwood [Abner M. Atwood of Grand Rapids]

  J. King [Joseph King of Polk]

  J A Samuels [George Samuels of Barre]

  H. Felix [Henry Felix of Centralia]

  J. Buck [John Buck of Barre]

  November 11, 1864

  And fine day, we & the Johny are verry friendly, trade papers &c frequently. We built us a Bough house & fire right in front which makes it comfortable. The firing is kept up all night away up on the right.

  November 13, 1864

  And fine day. Last night orders come that we must have no communications with the Rebs as there was contraband news in the papers through some source. It is that Sherman has Burnt Atlanta & left 2 Corps to look after Hood & started someplace with the other 5 Corps supposed to be going to Charleston or Mobile.223 I got a letter from Lu today. She is as well as usual & is going to start a shop soon.

  4 P.M. And we are relieved by another Regt & come home & are soon comfortable.

  November 15, 1864

  And fine day. We have Brigade Review today. Come out in pretty good style considering our bad clothing. We will soon have our new clothing now. There is Rebs coming in evry night.

  November 16, 1864

  And fine day. We have Co. Drill in forenoon & in afternoon. Inspection by Division officers & right after Battallion drill & then Dress parade & then supper & oh, what a good supper, consisted of a delicious soup & so ended the day.

  November 17, 1864

  And fine day & the same drill as yesterday. But George & I got excused from Co. Drill to fix up the end of our cabin so I could take the oilcloth of to use & we made a good job of it. There is slight rumors about moving & I expect that we will have another move before winter sets in unless it comes soon. We
can buy anything we want at the Commissary so we can live better, for we can get vegetable. George went & bought 25 cts worth of onions & we have some fine soups &c.

  November 19, 1864

  And rainy day & no drill. We have drawn our clothing so there is considerable washing going on. I washed my old pants last night & will wear them on fatigue so as to save my new ones. I drew a coat also & will wear the old one on fatigue also. I wrote a letter to Miss———[left blank]. Most all think there is a move on foot &c.

  November 20, 1864

  And rainy day. This is the holy sabbath day. But no inspection. Nothing known of the move. Rumors various & Rebel deserters.

  November 22, 1864

  There is rumors that we will have 100 recruits inside of a week. We will be glad to see them & as many more as the state will send us.

  November 23, 1864

  And rainy day & uncomfortable weather. We do nothing today. I put my time in studying my arithmetic & writing a letter to Henry. We have got things fixed up so now that I can put in a good deal of my time improving my mind.

  November 24, 1864

  Rainy today & rained great deal last night. There is rumors of a move but I guess this will stop it. There is some troops moving but I guess they are only changing a little.

  November 25, 1864

  And cloudy but no rain but rained hard last night. The recruits came today that we have been expecting. We got 100 & the 6th [Wisconsin] Regt got 180. We got mostly substitutes & the 6th, drafted men. As a general thing they are stout men & mostly Norwegians & clearly evry one are foreigners. They came so late that they couldnt be assigned to their companies, we took them into our Shanties & let them sleep on the floor. Evry shanty took 2 of them.

  November 26, 1864

  And fine day. & the recruits were assigned to the different companies, the weakest taking them so as to equalize all the Co of the Regt. Our Company is the largest & we didnt get any. & I am glad of it for we will not have squad drill now. If we had got any I should of had a good deal of the drilling to do.

  We have roll call 3 times a day now & things will be carried on according to regulations hereafter. We have a new sutler. The Major got a new one & told Mr. Shirrell the old one that he didnt want anything more to do with him. We can get anything we want now on credit & it will be a great accommodation to the Boys.

  I and my tentmates buy a few needy articles but don’t go in verry extravagant.

  The recruits are verry busy putting up their Shanties & the boys help them some. They drew tents today & will camp out till they get their shanties up. We will have no drill till then.

  November 28, 1864

  And fine day & the same as yesterday. The recruits draw clothing so they will be in uniform with us. They were in Military uniform but they lacked the big black hat. They draw caps when mustered in but our Brigade wears hats so they must wear hats too.

  The Rebs still continue to come in. Three come in & went through our streets today to be turned over to the Provost Martials & then to be sent to City Point where they will have a chance to take the Oath of Allegiance & either go north or to work in the quartermasters Department, they having their choice.

  The Rebel Papers says that Dutch Gap Canal is finished & they expect to see Grant Pitching into them. & that is the rumor in our army too. The weather is the finest I ever saw it. Tis verry pleasant. There is troops moving now. The 9th Corps is going by to the right of us. I don’t know [how] far to the right though.

  November 29, 1864

  And fine day & things about the same as yesterday. The recruits still at work at their Shanties. There is some more troops going to the right & some to the left. Tis said only the 2nd & 9th Corps changing Places.

  The rumor is that that fleet of Men of Wars men went through the canal this morning. How true it is we cant tell. But we can hear the heavy roll of canon up in that direction. They are no common pieces either. All is anxiety about the move.

  There is great rumors of Peace propositions being offered to the Rebs. Some say he should not offer them. That they are the ones to sue for peace. & I think we had better show mercy & then if they wont why then, Pitch in & give them hail Columbia.

  The rumors from [Union General William] Sherman is through Rebel sources & that is to the effect that he is, to use the Johnys words, just tearing the guts out of the confederacy. This is cheering to us & hope he will continue to tear.224

  November 30, 1864

  And fine day as ever there shone on the earth. Nothing of importance today. The recruits are still at work building their shanties. This is the last day they will have. They will have to drill some hours evry day after today. But our Co will not have squad drill for we have no recruits. The rumor is to the effect that there is 200 more coming to our Regt. Let them come, we will welcome them.

  December 1, 1864

  And fine day & the recruits have their regular 4 hours drills daily from now on. Our Co. don’t drill & perhaps we will not till the recruits in the other companies gets drilled enough to have Co. Drill. Then we will have to come out. There is another heavy detail for Picket out of our Regt today. The boys don’t know what to make of it. Our whole Co except the sergts.

  December 2, 1864

  And fine & I am alone today same as yesterday & have a good time writing, studying arithmetic & I wrote a letter to Lu today. There is lots of Johneys coming in. There has about 20 come in today & yesterday & some of the South Carolinians which are supposed to be the best troops they have.

  December 3, 1864

  And fine day, a verry light shower last night. The boys come in today from Picket & they count up to the number of 27 Rebs that have come in on our Division Picket line in the 48 hours they have been out. But there is orders strictly Prohibiting any communication with them anymore at the Present. Captains Young, Johnson [James Johnson of Columbus] & Lieuts Weaks [Charles E. Weeks of York] & Camel of our Regt were mustered out of the U.S.M. Service today and they start home tomorrow. Success to them but some of them promised to stay with their Cos till they went home. But I cant blame Capt Young any for his buisness at home was in such a bad condition that he must go & him going gives me a chance to rise some in the scale of Military Promotion. For the Orderly sergt will be first Lieut & the first Lieut will be Captain so there will be a new lot of promotions in the Co. There is but one line officer left in the Regt that come out when it did, all the others have gone this way & that. & now we are commanded by officers that have risen from the ranks. We have almost a new sett of such officers & this pleases me & most all of us. I like to see men that have carried the knappsack so long have a chance to make something now

  December 5, 1864

  And fine day. This being Sunday, we have inspection. Inspected by Sergt Roberts, Boyanton [Boynton] not being able. He is still verry unwell & I fear he will never be able to take command. The rumor is that we are going to move out of these quarters & the 6th Corps which has just come from the Valley are going to take our place & we are to go out & build new quarters & as night draws near a brigade comes up & camps for the night on our Parade ground. & to wait till morning when we will go out. Tis said about 1 ½ miles & will have a much better place than here. We are ordered to be ready to march at 5 A.M.

  December 6, 1864

  And fine day & we move out according to order. March to the rear & come outside of the rear line of works, march out about 2 miles southeast of the camp & go into camp by pitching our tents on the ground. This seems hard but tis honest. We now are pretty certain that we are going on some kind of a raid, some say to the South Side Road & some say to the Weldon road & others say to the right of the army, the other side of the James River, but time will soon tell. We draw rations late this evening & have orders to be ready to march at half past 5 in the morning. I got a letter from Lu this evening.

  December 7, 1864

  And fine day, little cloudy & like rain but didnt. We marched at the appointed hour, go out to the Jerusalem Plank road
& follow on it marching pretty fast till about 2 P.M. when we stoped having come about 15 miles. Here we get dinner & lay here till about 5 P.M. when we start going pretty fast. After going 1 ½ miles we come to the Notaway river which is considerable of a stream. Here we crossed on Pontoon Bridge & go to within ½ mile of Sussex Courthouse. Here we camp for the night. We calculate we have come 22 miles today & we are verry tired. Great discussions arises as to where we are going. But most all seem to think we are to strike the Weldon RR and follow it on down to Weldon where we are to meet with Porters fleet. But we have met with no opposition as yet.225

  December 8, 1864 [Reconnaissance to Hatcher’s Run]

  Cloudy, sprinkles a little once & awhile. But not enough to do any harm to marching. We arose early & march at 5 A.M. following the same road past the courthouse for several miles when we turn square to the right & take the shortest road for to strike the RR which the women & negros at a house on the corner say is 7 miles. We march past & the boys keep well closed up. After going some 5 miles we hear firing. There says our cavelry has struck the rebel Pickets. Which proved to be so for going a little way, we halted in sight of our Cavelry drawn up & a battery come rattling by & took position in the cornfield to the left of us. But we soon marched on & the battery limbered up without firing a shot & followed us there being the other 2 brigades ahead of us. The 2nd Brigade was throwed into necessary shape & sent the rebs a flying. There being only a few cavelry, said 300 only, we hurried on & soon emerged into a large open field and the cry runs along the ranks that the cavelry have burned the RR Bridge across the Notaway [Nottoway] River & looking away to the right about 1 mile we see the Bridge burning. This cheers up the Boys & going a little up on the rising ground, we stop & get coffee & eat Persimmons which are plenty & watch the bridge burn & speculate on whats to be done for about 3 ½ hours which brings 6 P.M.