Day 95. June 3, 1862.
Note: Ephraim wrote May 3, but it’s June 3.
95
but Jackson was gone….
May Tuesday 3 1862
Quite wet this morning and quite cloudy as if we were going to have another wet day. Although it cleard of about 8oclock and the sun was quite warm the buissy drying their cloaths. The men all very much woren out as they have been on the march for 25 days accept a few days that we rested. I never felt more woren out then I do at this present time and I don’t think I can stand soledering much longer as I feel the affects of it. We have no news. We are all looking for something. It was reported that Jackson rather got the worst of the fight on sunday and monday. It is another wet evening and the men must do the best they can (note: crossed out illeg. Words). The roses have been out in full bloom since the 15th of last mounth. The cherries are beginning to colour
Note: Strother writes today about the thieving men; Ephraim will write of them tomorrow:
A Virginia Yankee in the Civil War The Diaries of David Hunter Strother David Hunter Strother P. 55
“JUNE 3, TUESDAY.—Fair and warm. Rode over the river to Martinsburg. Found the troops in possession, behaving very badly. They were robbing and insulting everyone, searching houses and breaking into stores***…. When our troops left here on May 25th, a number of women with tears and grief lowered the U. S. Flag and gave it to a trusty messenger to carry after our army to Maryland that it might not be desecrated. The Confederate troops who came here were chiefly Ashby’s men, although most of the young men from here enlisted in other corps to see their friends. They took everything they could lay their hands upon in the way of clothing and food, especially salt, sugar, and coffee, but in other respects did not misbehave. The younger ones talked wildly about going into Maryland, but there seems to have been no special intention of that sort among the leaders. Their coming to Martinsburg was in all probability not in their original plan…. General Banks and staff came into town about five o’clock in the afternoon, the troops had a dress parade, and things assumed a more cheerful aspect….”
Army Life According to Arbaw: Civil War Letters of William A. Brand 66th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Edited by Daniel A. Masters P. 67
“By early June, Jackson’s army was again retreating up the valley towards Harrisonburg with Frémont’s and Banks’ armies pushing him from the north. The men of Shields’ division arrived in Luray at the foot of the Massanutten Mountains which served to threaten Jackson’s flank, but found that Jackson’s cavalry had burned most of the bridges along the Shenandoah River. Engineers worked for three days trying to construct a new bridge over the river, but the swift current was too much for Yankee ingenuity. Disaffection started to creep into the ranks. Captain Stewart of the 4th Ohio wrote that “many of the officers and men expressed the sentiment that we ought not to move further into the enemy’s country without a supply of shoes and provisions. Some days our rations were flour and water baked on a stick or friend in a tin pan, beef without salt and broiled in the same way.” The grumbling made its way to General Shields who responded by issuing a circular that enjoined the men that “the enemy is on the other side of the mountain near New Market and the cannon of our friends pursuing him could be heard this afternoon. Are we to lie down at Luray and take no part in this glorious cause? Let the officers who are afraid to advance resign. Let the soldiers who are afraid of their calling make it known and they can remain in Luray.” The appeal worked, but the seeds of dissatisfaction with Shields’ leadership had been sown.”
Note: When they arrived at Luray today, 270 men of the 4th Ohio had no shoes. (P. 67, above)
My Will is Absolute Law: A Biography of Union General Robert H. Milroy Jonathan Noyalas P. 46 yes proofed
“By June 3, Jackson’s Valley army had crossed the Shenandoah River’s north fork at Meem’s Bottom and rested comfortably south of New Market. After the army crossed the North Fork, Brig. Gen. Turner Ashby’s cavalry set fire to the bridge, for the moment cutting off Frémont’s pursuit. Heavy rains swelled the river so that no point was fordable– Frémont’s only option was to build a pontoon bridge. As the sun began to set on June 3, his engineers went to work constructing the pontoon bridges, but to no avail. Fierce rainstorms “raised the river so high that we did not get our pontoon bridge across the river for two days,” recalled Milroy. By the afternoon of June 5, the waters receded, the pontoons bridges were laid, and Frémont’s army marched across; but Jackson was gone.
While Jackson easily observed Frémont’s movement he had scant idea what Shields intended to do. Knowing that all bridges over the Shenandoah River’s south fork had been destroyed, Jackson surmised that Shields could enter the Valley at only one point– where a bridge crossed the North River at Port Republic. Jackson feared a pincer movement– Frémont from the north and Shields from the south. Jackson decided to redeploy his Valley army to Port Republic, a point from which he could strike at either Federal army.”
The Civil War, A Narrative: Fort Sumter to Perryville Shelby Foote P. 456
“The North Fork of the Shenandoah intersected the Valley turnpike just above the railroad terminus at Mount Jackson, and as Frémont’s advance approached that place, the last gray cavalryman crossed the bridge and set it afire, leaving their pursuers stranded on the northern bank.
Beyond the mountain, Shields was toiling through the mud; he would be at least a day behind and badly worn by the time he reached Conrad’s Store, where he would reenter the tactical picture. On this side, there was the danger that Frémont might bridge the swollen river**– he had brought a pontoon train across the Alleghenies for just such an emergency– but Jackson doubted if this could be successful, considering all the water that was trickling down the slopes of all the mountains. It was not. Frémont got his pontoon bridge across all right, but before he could make much use of it, the North Fork rose twelve feet in four hours. He had to cut it loose from the southern bank to keep it from being swept away and lost in the raging water.
A bridge spanned North River, connecting the town with Harrisonburg, nine miles away, but all the other crossings were badly swollen fords. Once the South Fork bridge at Conrad’s Store was destroyed, this upper bridge at Port Republic would be Shield’s only way of joining Frémont. If Jackson’s army got there first, he would be between the two, and therefore able to deal with them one at a time. Defensively, too, the position was a sound one. If Frémont attempted an advance on Staunton, Jackson would be on his flank; or if Shields somehow managed to cross the South Fork and marched toward a junction at Harrisonburg, he could then be served in the same fashion.
P. 468
Neither of the Union forces was yet in sight, however, so the Valley soldiers had time for reading their mail, which had just been forwarded along with the latest newspapers. Elated by their victories, the editors had broken out their blackest type. The Charleston Mercury called Stonewall “a true general” and predicted that he would soon he “leading his unconquerable battalions through Maryland into Pennsylvania.” By way of contrast, gloomy reports from the northern press were reprinted in adjoining columns.”
A Confederate Girl’s Diary Sarah Morgan Dawson P. 62
(Writing from Baton Rouge June 3, 1862)
“What a day I have had! Here mother and I are alone, not a servant on the lot. We will sleep here to-night, and I know she will be too nervous to let me sleep. The dirt and confusion were extraordinary in the house. I could not stand it, so I applied myself to making it better. I actually swept two whole rooms! I ruined my hands at gardening, so it made no difference. I replaced piles of books, crockery, china, that Miriam had left packed for Greenwell; I discovered I could empty a dirty hearth, dust, move heavy weights, make myself generally useful and dirty, and all this thanks to the Yankees! Poor me!”
[Telegram.]
“Washington, June 3, 1862.
Major-General McClellan.
With these continuous rains I am very anxious about the Chickahominy– so close in your rear and crossing your line of communication. Please look to it. A. Lincoln, President.”
Civil War Weather in Virginia Robert K. Krick P. 59
Note: Tonight: “’A terrific discharge of the electric fluid” flashed down from the skies and sizzled through the tents of Battery E, 1st New York Light Artillery. It stunned or burned twenty men, knocking several of them unconscious, and instantly killed Corporal James Bryant. Harper’s Weekly published the story, illustrated by an artist’s depiction of the event, four weeks later.”
P. 62
“7a.m. 71; 2p.m. 92; 9p.m. 76. .15 last night.”
*Ephraim can’t take it much longer. The average human walking speed is 3.1 miles per hour, so in 6 hrs they could have gone 18 miles. On maybe one maggot-infested cracker.
**Swollen river: North fork of the Shenandoah River– previously a line fragment of a river Hotchkiss drew for a map now looking like a forger’s tremor now rises 12 feet in 4 hours. The line runs too deep on the map to follow now & you can’t hear words over water; the wind carries the words to him then past so Jackson’s men can’t hear him. They use rudimentary hand signals to lead. To follow.
Note: I actually swept two whole rooms! That was a lot of words not mentioning how she was neck deep in entitlement psychosis. Southern White male entitlement psychosis was slavery. But it was also female. For every slave owned by a White man, several family members & extended kin in communities also benefited from that slave’s free labor. Over 20% of southern White population directly benefited from slaves! 4.8% actually owned them, but everyone seemed to benefit. 1 out of every 7 Americans was owned by another American; that included men, women, children.
Note: 1864: It’s said by noon today, in two years, 7k Northerners will die, get lost, injured, or captured. Grant will come to regret this day the most; before it commences, hundreds of Union troops pin their own names to their own clothes so they can be identified later. Battle begins at dawn. Poor planning, poor execution, to hold palm & finger meet at the base of the thumb, a Springfield can get 3k at auction now.
Men will refuse to fight, which makes Meade mad, & when they acquiesce, 632 of 850 die. Then Meade blames them for their own deaths. In 7 weeks 65k Northerners gone, just gone, & 25k Southerners, but no one has good numbers down to the present day. In two months, 90k wiped out on both sides. “Casualties.” This is how Grant got the name The Butcher, this is how Lincoln said “the heavens are hung in black,” and it brings to mind Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.
The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple Jeff Guinn P. 468
“Kool-Aid rather than equality is what the rest of the world remembers.”
P. 447
“But there were holdouts. They refused to move or shouted defiance or cried as they begged to be spared. Jones urged, “Lay down your life with dignity…. Stop these hysterics. This is not the way for people who are socialists or communists to die.’”
Touched by Fire: The Best of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War Edited by Harold Holzer P. 758-759
Introduction to 1864 Joan Waugh
(Note: There was a seven mile front at Cold Harbor)
“By month’s end, the Federals reached a crossroads northeast of Richmond called Cold Harbor, where 59,000 well-entranched Rebels faced 108,000 Federals across a seven-mile front. On June 3, Grant’s massive early morning frontal assault on Confederate lines failed miserably. The campaign’s previous battles were inconclusive, but Cold Harbor was a victory for Lee. That day saw some 7,000 Federal casualties (no less than 1,500 for the Rebels), shattered three Union corps, and ended a month of incessant campaigning for both armies. The Union had suffered 50,000 losses and the Confederacy 32,000—41 percent of Grant’s forces and 50 percent of Lee’s. Those losses were terrible for a South unable to replenish its armies, but also a blow for the Northern morale needed to finish the war.”
Note: Only later, after Gallipoli, did they figure out that frontal assaults– the massed tactical formations, charging through open ground against fortified lines– aka murder– guaranteed nothing but mass death. Wouldn’t you think they’d have figured it out after the first line of men went down like whackamoles. Was this the “fog of war” at work? Could they not see, over & over, exactly what would happen? Yes, yes they could. They saw a higher purpose than death, apparently. Or they were insane. Take your pick. And it’s also a fact that firepower in the 1860s was nothing like weaponry today, which stops massed men in their tracks without lines of casualties to accomplish. As well, shooting in lines was mainly undertaken when defending territory. Most combat in the war took place in four-man skirmish teams– “comrades in battle”– who moved from cover to cover. Massed battle lines appear more in Hollywood than anywhere in the war, in part because dramatic open land assaults are easier to film than four men hiding & cautiously moving from behind tree cover, for example. The movement away from direct fire to Indirect fire was the ‘mid-nineteenth century revolution in warfare,’ along with the technology that allowed it the like panoramic sight, clinometer, gyroscope, goniometer, etc. which were either invented or evolved, depending. By 1920, indirect fire became the norm. For more on 19th century Civil War land warfare, see Eric Michael Burke’s work, plus “The Art of War: Waterloo to Mons” by William Lloyd McElwee. Most of all, see “The Act of Killing” and “The Fog of War,” a 2003 documentary with Robert McNamara, the ‘architect’ of the Vietnam War (& others).
I don’t think I can stand soledering much longer….
I got nothing.
It’s time to go.
That’s about it.
He waited until he couldn’t take it any longer.
.
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