Day 18. March 18, 1862. – We Saw a Grate Smoke Raise Up: Letters, Diaries, Wires from the Valley of the Late Rebellion

every mother’s son assumes a horizontal position….

March Tuesday 18 1862

Quite a fine morning and the sun came up clear. At 3oclock this morning we got orders to have three days rations in our haversacks and ready to march from Camp Shields. At 10oclock pm we took up the line of march. The roads was fine and dry. We passed through Winchester and went on out on the Staunton* and Winchester Turn Pike then came to Newtown 8 miles south of Winchester and passed through Middletown a small village. We passed through some fine country along the road and we heard in the afternoon some reports of cannon. We took up courage** and marched on quite fast. We saw a grate smoke raise up and it was the Turnpike Bridge over Cedar Creek that the Confederates burnt that was the place where the fireing was done. We marched on until dark we camped in a field without tents and had to sleep out of Doors on the ground. The cavalry and 24 pieces of cannon and the caisons and the other fixings to cannon made 60 wagons and 6 horses in each waggon. It made a long string they passed us before we camped for the night. I was very much fatigued this evenning. The 3 Brigade was the advance collum the 2 & 1 Brigade following up. There was a grand sight to see the camp fires after night. We made coffee and eat our hard crackers. I ought not to have come along as I was unwell and very bad cold but I expected that we would have a fight soon or expecting to have one so I thought it best to go along for I did not like to stay back and I concluded to go I did go and hoping to see something**

Note: See below for further firsthand accounts (by Strother & Beatie) of the bridge burning at Cedar Creek. The Battle of Cedar Creek will be fought 10/19/64 where Early’s army surprise-attacks Sheridan, but Early gets routed. This was where Sheridan made his infamous 20 mile ride (see May 8 for more info. & a poem). Sheridan succeeded in closing off this area as a route North for Rebels, which also secured the harvest.

*“Staunton held immense importance as a Confederate transportation hub & supply base, yet it was sparsely defended and unfortified.” The Shenandoah Campaign of 1862 Edited by Gary W. Gallagher P. 60

https://www.shenandoahatwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Staunton-Civil-War-Driving-Tour.pdf

https://www.cabincreekwood.com/civil-war-history-in-staunton-virginia/

https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/national_cemeteries/virginia/staunton_national_cemetery.html

https://www.loc.gov/item/99446930/

http://www.stonewallbrigadeband.com/history/

**Courage: Ephraim will use words like “unwell” or “not well” several times to describe himself, & mentions being on the “sick list” once. In the 1860s, the worst names you could call someone was coward or a liar. In a consciousness that once existed but is no more, men thought they’d forfeit in some way their American status if they did not become soldiers, whether they were recent immigrants or here for generations. It’s easy to forget Ephraim had no radio communication satellite, no internet data, no five color camo facepaint compact, no Humvee, surface-to-air missiles, no MREs, and he’s not getting on a jet wearing polarfleece or a flak jacket. For now, he’s livestock following the pack hoping to see something. He makes a point to note he & the men needed to raise courage to march toward the cannon, & the grate smoke that will raise up. Men had to find out if they’d be able to kill someone else…. Can I kill? How will I hold up under fire? Can I shoot back? Can I shoot straight? What will I have to do? What am I capable of doing? What if it’s bad? Can I last? Will I run away?How will I die? What about my family? They want to find out if they’ll be good at it, fighting. Because once a man was there, it was no small thing to turn back. Because once you crossed back through your county line, you better have a good excuse if you went back North in anything but a six-sided casket unless the war was over.

Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War George Worthington Adams 1952 P. 58

“Regimental surgeons, living and working side by side with fighting men, sometimes turned from their work of mercy to “grab a gun” and play a martial role. Caught by his medical director, and reprimanded, one replied: “I’m alright Doctor, I have done all the surgery of this regiment, and I have fired forty-five shots, by God!” Even the surgeon who stuck to his trade underwent the hardships and many of the dangers that threatened the soldiers of the line. With 42 of its officers killed in battle, and 83 wounded, the Medical Department proudly claimed that its casualties were higher than those of any other staff corps. In addition to these battle casualties the Medical Corps lost 290 officers through death by disease or accident, and four died in Confederate prisons. The number of those who sickened and resigned, only to die at home, or who carried with them for years the curse of chronic invalidism, will remain forever unknown.”

In the Presence of Mine Enemies: The Civil War in the Heart of America, 1859-1864 Edward Ayers P. 257

“Staunton offered no natural means of defense– no bluffs on which to post cannon and no rivers behind which to take a stand– so armies were unlikely to occupy or lay siege to it. But as the anchor of the Virginia Central Railroad in the Valley, Staunton found itself swept up in every Confederate maneuver in the Valley. As an essential link in the supply chain the town received warnings when railroad cars suddenly appeared or wagons suddenly left. As the main hospital for a large part of the state the town felt the aftershocks of conflicts when dying and wounded men poured into Staunton. As a temporary haven for refugees the town shared in other people’s distress.”

Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command Volume 1 Douglas Southall Freeman Scribner, 1942 P. 691-692

“Even Staunton could not be regarded as altogether a safe base, because it was exposed to raids from the Northwest. To secure Staunton, it was necessary to command Western Virginia or, at the least, as already noted, to hold the crest of the Alleghenies.”

Virginia Yankee in the Civil War The Diaries of David Hunter Strother David Hunter Strother P. 15-16

“MARCH 18, TUESDAY.—… Colonel Brodhead got me a sabre from the quartermaster and about two o’clock we took the road. A few miles brought us to Shields’ column, horse, foot, and artillery, ten thousand men and five batteries, a very formidable turnout. After passing the greater part of the troops we overtook the General and staff. He was marching very slowly so as to allow Colonel [John S.] Mason, who led the flanking movement, time to get ahead. Ashby was reported to be at Middletown. When within a few miles of this place, as we stood upon a height locating the points of the surrounding country, Mason’s adjutant rode up informing us that his force had got into Middletown and that Ashby was in sight between them and Strasburg.”

Note: Below is the same bridge burning smoke Ephraim saw & wrote about today! It’s incredible he saw that same scene:

“I felt disgusted at this information, because I knew that a gull would stand as good a chance to catch a fox, as our force to catch Ashby. As we approached the town a grand column of smoke was seen rising toward Strasburg. This we were informed was the turnpike bridge over Cedar Creek. As our advance reached the bluffs overlooking this creek, Ashby opened upon them with three pieces of cannon. I immediately rode forward to reconnoiter his position and saw the cannon supported by a body of cavalry and a battalion of infantry. Our skirmishers stood or lay in groups among the cedar bushes, exchanging shots now and then with the Confederate sharpshooters. On the brow of the hill was a battery of Parrott guns entirely idle, why I do not know. The shot and shell whistled over us smartly for half an hour, doing but little damage, however, as but one man was wounded on our side. General Shields got up about sunset and made some dispositions to cross the creek above and below. A company of cavalry was ordered to cross the ford just below the bridge, but the officer hesitated to do so because the light of the burning timbers exposed him to the fire of the enemy’s riflemen. There seemed to be very little spirit shown on our side, either by horse, foot, or artillery. In the meantime it became quite dark and the troops were ordered to bivouac on the ground while Colonel Brodhead and myself returned to Middletown to find a bed.”

We Are In For It! The First Battle of Kernstown Gary L. Ecelbarger P. 59

“Shields’s division advanced to the creek, guided by the distant smoke rising from the burning bridge. They reached it as the sun set behind the Allegheny Mountains. The general examined the ground and decided to cross the creek both above and below the burning bridge; he deemed the waterway fordable at these two points. With night coming on, a cavalry officer convinced Shields that the crossing should wait because the light from the burning bridge needlessly exposed the soldiers to Confederate artillery fire. Strother despaired at what he considered to be a lack of enthusiasm in the men, but Shields acquiesced to the cavalier’s request. Fires were forbidden that evening; nevertheless, some enterprising Federals boiled coffee over the burning embers of the fallen bridge. During the night boards were placed over the partially submerged bridge timbers to span the shallow waterway for the next morning’s planned crossing.

In the meantime, Colonel Ashby retired his force four miles from the creek to the town of Strasburg where the men took quarters in houses to shelter themselves from the cold. At midnight Ashby abruptly woke his men from their slumbers when he learned that the Federals had bridged Cedar Creek; he withdrew his force a few hundred yards south of Strasburg where they rested at the roadside until the light of day drew upon them. Ashby led them nearly two more miles southward on the Valley Pike where the dominant ridge line of Fisher’s Hill overlooked the area. Ashby well knew that he opposed a sizable Union force and was doing so with one regiment of cavalry, four companies of infantry detached from the Valley District army, and three cannons– less than 700 men in all– but he was determined to make a stand. He ordered Captain Chew to place his artillery in a good commanding position on the height and waited for the Federals to react.”

Army of the Potomac: McClellan’s First Campaign, March 1862-May 1862, Volume 3 Russell H. Beatie P. 160

“Shields’ division had marched slowly in order to give Mason’s flanking column time to reach a position behind Turner Ashby’s cavalry, which was reportedly at Middletown. Within a few miles of Middletown, Shields’ staff officers mounted a height from which they could see most of the surrounding countryside; and Mason’s aide reported. With this visual and reportorial information Shields resumed the march south. As he approached Middletown, he could see a tall column of smoke arising from the burning turnpike bridge over Cedar Creek; and when the head of the column reached the bluffs overlooking the creek, the men could see Ashby on his huge white horse and three guns on a hill on the far side of the North Fork of the Shenandoah.

A puff of smoke.

The shell landed half a mile short in the river.

Derisive shouts in blue and regimental colors waved vigorously.

A second puff of smoke and a “WHAM’ overhead.

A man of the Seventh Ohio fell dead.

A third puff of smoke.

Not a man to be seen as “every mother’s son assumes a horizontal position and does it quick, too” wrote a member of the Seventh after the war.”

Note: Aftermath of Fort Donelson: “The blow was most disastrous and almost without remedy” writes Albert Sidney Johnston to Davis. “The magnitude of the victory was fully appreciated at the North. “’The underpinning of the rebellion seems to be knocked out from under it,’” wrote Chase. “’The almost universal feeling is that the rebellion is knocked on the head,’” said Oliver Wendell Holmes. History of the Civil War 1861-1865 James Ford Rhodes P. 92

Note: Less than two weeks after Donelson falls, Davis passes in a secret session a martial law proclamation for Richmond & the 10 miles around it, as well as suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Grant reflects in 1884 on Donelson, writing that, “My opinion was and still is that immediately after the fall of Fort Donelson the way was opened to the National forces all over the Southwest without much resistance. If one general who would have taken the responsibility had been in command of all the troops west of the Alleghanies [sic], he could have marched to Chattanooga, Corinth, Memphis and Vicksburg with the troops we then had, and as volunteering was going on rapidly over the North there would soon have been force enough at all these centres to operate offensively against any body of the enemy that might be found near them.’” History of the Civil War 1861-1865 James Ford Rhodes P. 97

Note: Van Lew writes of life under Habeus Corpus:

A Yankee Spy in Richmond Elizabeth Van Lew P. 96-97

(From September 27, 1864)

“[There] was a feeling of strange bashfulness in standing thus in prominent isolation, mixed with and almost amounting to a source of guilt and shame. But the promise, “as the day the strength shall be,” was fulfilled. Our true hearts grew brave. Love of our country in its trials absorbed our being; enthusiasm lightened gloom. Fine patriotism principles and strengthens character. I have known the best of men feel their lives in danger from their partners in business & from their sons-in-law, who felt differently from them. Some aged parents endured much from their children who were disloyal. Ministers lived ever under a siege of terror. I was afraid to even pass the prison. I have had occasion to stop near it, when I dared not look up at the windows. Have turned to speak to a friend and found a detective at my elbow. Strange faces could sometimes be seen peeping around the columns and pillars of the back portico, & can name gentlemen, some of our oldest and best citizens, who trembled when their door bell rang, fearing arrest.

Towards the close of the war Jeff Davis was earnest to have a writ of Habeus Corpus again suspended and to be clothed with fullest power. Visitors were watched. When the cold wind would blow on the darkest & stormiest night, Union people would visit one another. With shutters closed & curtains pinned together, how have we been startled at the barking of a dog and drawn nearer together, the pallor coming over our faces & the blood rushing to our hearts, as we would perhaps be tracing on a map [General William Tecumseh] Sherman’s progress and Sherman’s brilliant raids, or glorying in our Federal leaders. Then to follow the innocent visitor to the door, to lower the gas as, with muffled face, they said good night & the last words often were, “Do you think I am watched?” Such was our life, such was freedom in the Confederacy. I speak what I know. The very names of freedom and liberty in connection with the Southern confederacy were a burlesque in curious accordance with our monopoly of the words chivalry & honor. The confederates of the north look and care to stay where they could speak as they pleased, and enjoy this fresh pass. Let them remember this [word unintelligible], and not presume when they speak in favor of the Confederate Government, of which they knew nothing, and from which they kept at a safe distance.”

Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s Piers Brendon P. 491

Note: Brings to mind other epochs, other places:

“The gulf between what could be voiced and what could be thought was deep but it was also murky. For what Stalin’s subjects said with their lips tended to corrupt their minds. They took refuge from the yawning gap between private and public opinion in the licensed schizophrenia which Orwell called “doublethink.” As a student of this “dual consciousness” has written:

“At public meetings, and even in private conversation, citizens were obliged to repeat in ritual fashion grotesque falsehoods about themselves, the world, and the Soviet Union, and at the same time to keep silent about things they knew very well, not only because they were terrorized but because the incessant repetition of falsehoods which they knew to be such made them accomplices in the campaign of lies inculcated by the party and state.’”

Marching with Sherman: Passages from the Letters and Campaign Diaries of Henry Hitchcock, Major and Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers, November 1864–May 1865 (1927) Major Henry Hitchcock P. 31-32

IN THE FIELD KINGSTON, Ga. November 4, 1864

Friday Evening 8 P.M.

“I wish I could send you a picture of the scene in front of our Headquarters tonight,—a picture that you could hear as well as see,—as it was for an hour or so after dark. One of the brigade bands came over to serenade the General, who is passionately fond of music, as is also Gen. Barry, who I find [is] a brother flutist somewhat after my style “only better.” It was rather a picturesque scene, and a very pleasant one, in spite of a few drops of rain towards the close. The house is a one story double frame house, with a small porch in front of the main hall, and looks northward across the plain I spoke of in a former letter hence, towards the railroad track, some 150 to 200 yards off, the interval being open save a few trees in and in front of the yard. On the left of the house are pitched the tents occupied by the staff, in a row,—some half a dozen, the General and several of the staff being quartered in the house, where we also take our meals. In front of each tent blazed a fire, built of logs, brush, rails and whatever comes handy—whose combined glare lit up the foreground and alternately illumined and deepened the shadows among the branches of the trees, and lit up the darkness of the plain, disclosing also the presence of knots and groups of the men who had followed the band over to hear the music. At and between the fires, and on the little porch, and in front of just within the tents were standing or sitting the staff and other officers, enjoying the music,—not in parade dress though in uniform, and bearing unequivocal tokens of the mud which hereabouts doth abound; while in the rear of the line of our tents and fires flashed up now and then the glare and half-lurid smoke of the servants’ fires, while in the intervals of the tents their dark figures now and then intercepted the light as they moved about or drew near to listen. Around and against the horizon duskily rose the outline of the low hills which surround this locality, sparkling with distant camp fires—no matter how many, but enough to add a feature to the scene. It was something worth seeing and which I shall remember as one of my earlier sights of camp-life,—though I shall doubtless see many more such.”

Note: “The Bivouac Fire at the Outposts of our Army on the Potomac” wood engraving as seen in Harper’s Weekly, 1861, can be viewed at www.loc.gov/item/89706333

CAMP N.E. OF GEORGIA CENTRAL R.R.

1 MILE FROM STATION 5½ AND

1 MILE S. OF “PARIS ACADEMY”

Nineteenth day out

Sunday, December 4/64

“Just here the land lies nearly level, and the camp scene tonight is quite pretty though without any bold features. Three or four fires blazing in front of our tents, the chief a big old pine stump about seven feet high, burning like an altar on top, and round it sat the General with Blair (whose Headquarters are near), on camp chairs, with say a dozen staff officers sitting and lying around it and them. In rear of our tents glow and flicker our mess fires, around which lie and sit the servants; and beyond them thro’ the trees can just be seen the horses picketed. Some distance in rear on the right (facing thither) the otherwise deep shade of the pine grove is lit up by the camp fires of our escort,—off to the left, still farther, on a little ridge of open land, the more numerous camp fires of one division of XVII—while directly across the road in front of our tents, sparkle drops of flame scattered all over the large open fields they occupy, across which stand out the dark moving figures of men and horses. Presently up the road come shouting, laughing, singing—as if they were just beginning a holiday—the troops who have been all day hard at work tearing up and destroying the railroad. They file off into their camps, and then the music of a fine band begins to swell upon the air, just far enough off to lose all harshness. They are playing the sacred airs—good old hymn tunes….”

Note: The last line of the above diary entry: “It is past 2 A.M.—but my diary is brought up to date.”

Marching with Sherman: Passages from the Letters and Campaign Diaries of Henry Hitchcock, Major and Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers, November 1864–May 1865 Major Henry Hitchcock P. 192-193 (excerpt)

IN THE FIELD NEAR SAVANNAH, Ga. December 16 1864

Friday Noon

“It was a most lovely moonlight night, the weather soft and balmy—(today is uncomfortably warm and a thunder shower seems to be threatened) and we had a charming time. Gen. Sherman was in fine spirits—he is never low-spirited—and after supper we had a group of twenty-five or thirty officers around the camp-fire, kindled quite as much for light as heat, chatting, telling stories, singing songs—and there was some excellent singing to a guitar,—and having a good time generally, which nobody enjoyed more than the General, though he took chiefly a listening part, with intervals of the most entertaining reminiscences of former campaigns, etc. Besides this, the Headquarters band of the “Army of the Tennessee” gave us some very pretty music,—and so we managed to pass the evening very well for such suffering martyrs as I’m afraid a good many thousand tender loving hearts have been pitying us for.”

Note: When Confederates retreated they’d often blow up bridges. If I can’t have you, no one can.

Note: Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864, the last Shenandoah Valley Campaign battle (Union victory), made the news 153 years later because a 61 year old sex offender Confederate reenactor tried to frame Antifa in a letter threatening reenactors, spectators, priests, the surgeons, and embalmers, everyone present because he got kicked out of his unit. A couple lines: “Many of us have dogs, so will bring dog feces to throw on people! We will also throw cups of human urine!” A pipe bomb was located, so the 2018 reenactment was canceled. It was bloodless, mistaken, out of another century. And there hasn’t been a reenactment since.

we saw a grate smoke raise up….

This was a grand sight to see, the camps at night across the ragged low hills, the fire-bright sky & the black stars at the edges, the Crow Moon, light side of the moon shining down over the men swarming the black plumage hills, how the sky has a limbicness to it tonight, the hills adorned in bonfires & throwing up fire flickered spikes like pieces of the night had come off, loose, the individual embers on the move now, red flames shooting into outer space above a countryside full of teepee tents, horses, mules in motion up the hills too, & the soldier’s skulls bright, tiny lit-up skulls across & down the countryside like hanging nests lit up, or shiny white primate teeth, ascending.

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