CHAPTER
CI
On the morning of the 16th of May we broke
camp at about half-past 8 o’clock , and moved
past Harwood Church
On the 17th, we broke camp at ten o’clock , a. m., and marched until almost midnight . At about 4 o’clock p. m., we crossed Bull Run . The Col.
ordered the men to take off their shoes and roll up pantaloons, in order that
they might cross the run, and not be inconvenienced thereby. As a matter of course we expected soon to
bivouac for the night.
Soon after we crossed over the run a heavy thunder
storm arouse, and we were exposed to one of the severest storms it ever was our
lot to be in. The sky became of a pitchy
darkness, the lightning flashed with blinding brilliancy, and the deep-throated
thunder shook the rock-ribbed earth beneath our feet with its concussion, the
rain came down in torrents. We were
compelled to march through the entire storm; it did not abate until nearly seven o’clock , p. m., whilst we did not go in camp until
about an hour thereafter.
We have always considered this action on the part of
the commanding General, as the greatest piece of imposition ever perpetrated
upon us. Had we been marching in an
enemy’s country, or moving to the support of a besieged command, we could have
done so without a murmur, but the facts in the case did not warrant such a
summary procedure. Here we were within a
days march of the National Capital; wither we were marching for the purpose of
being disbanded. We are certain that we
heard fully as much growling and swearing during this night’s march, as we did
during the entire march from Atlanta to the
sea. The night was so dark that one
could barely see your hand before your eye, save when the lightning would
illuminate the road for a second or so at a time, and which would only leave
everything darker than before.
We were moving along with our left in front, and
Serg’t Schroyer had observed a deep gully in the road in advance of him and by
the aid of a friendly flash of lightning he was enabled to step over it safely,
Captain Clark of E, noticed Schroyer cross over the rut and coming to where he
thought it was, and endeavoring to step over it also, he had miscalculated and
fell into it head-foremost. A flash of
lightning revealed to us the gallant Captain floundering in the mud and water,
we presume that it is scarce1y necessary to add that we did not require another
flash to hear what Billy thought of the mishap, sufficient to say that if he
had not known that he was, we certainly would not have taken the Captain to
have been a Quaker.
We were soaking wet when we got into camp and as the
ground was also wet, we had no other alternative than to throw our damp ponchos
on the ground and thus pass the night until morning, and when the sun again
shone upon us, he certainly cheered the
hearts of the hardest looking set of soldiers we ever beheld, it wou1d have
been impossible for the mothers who bore them to have recognized them.
Our first move was to build large fires, and then
proceed to dry our clothing and blankets, and at the same time prepare our
breakfast, which was a very scant one, and consisted of a cup of coffee, and a
few stray bits of wet crackers.
We started on the move at about 8
o’clock , a. m., and moved forward at a sharp gate. We soon
ascertained the fact that we were only a few miles distant from Alexandria , and that we would be able to reach the camp
some time during the day.
At about 2 o’clock , p.
m., we went into camp at Cloud’s Mill. A
short distance from Alexandria . Here we were cheered by the presence of Mr.
George W. Keller and Mr. Joseph V. Gemberling, of Selinsgrove. It would be really hard to tell which party
was the most pleased at the meeting, the above named gentlemen or the members
of Company G.
Here we also met John G. Germon of Company B, of our
regiment who had been taken prisoner by the Johnnies in front of Atlanta , and who was at the time in camp parole, awaiting
exchange. We were pleased to meet with
Germon, as we had always been on the most intimate terms with him during his
service in the regiment.
On the 18th inst., we visited the 208th
Regiment, in which regiment a company from our town and county was attached. After considerable hunting we found the
command, and arrived at a very opportune time, the boys having just drawn
rations whilst their suttler had just received a fresh supply of lager
beer. Serg’t. Stuck and quite a number
of the boys were along and enjoyed the entertainment so kindly furnished by the
members of the. 208th Regiment.
We passed the night in tenting with H. A. Rohrabach,
John H. Wenrich and Vincent Galan, and in the morning we were served with the
very best breakfast that they cou1d scrape together and to all of which we did
ample and complete justice.
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