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JOINING 13TH CORPS-MOBILE POINT.

On the 19th of February we received orders to embark on the steamer "Clinton" and report to Gen. Granger at Mobile Point. We arrived there on the 21st and were assigned to Brig.-Gen. Benton's Division of the 13th Corps. This point of land is situated at the entrance to Mobile Bay, and forms a long, low peninsular of white sand as destitute of verdure and as bleak and barren as Ship Island itself, to which it bears a close resemblance. Here we were stationed for three weeks, living under shelter tents, and subsisting upon exceedingly "short commons." Gen. Canby's theory was that efficiency and mobility would be secured by rejecting everything not essential to field service, and he accordingly issued an order, for the campaign, that clothing should be limited to the suit the soldier had on, and a change of under garments and an extra pair of shoes; that coats should not be issued when blouses could be supplied; that camp equipage should be reduced to the lowest possible limit, and that shelter tents only would be issued; that all cumbrous articles should be left behind; that the equipment of officers should correspond to that of the men, and everything in excess of the established. allowance was to be rejected by the inspectors. Subsistence also was to be limited to the essential articles of bread and meat, and a reduced amount of small rations, and when obtainable, "bacon and hard tack" were to be given the perference. The troops also were "habitually" to have on hand three days cooked rations "so as to be in readiness to move at any moment." With such a bill of fare, and under such a programme it will be seen that we did not " riot in

sumptuous living," nor was it possible to obtain any luxuries. Sutlers, those wonderful purveyors of small comforts, were rigidly interdicted, consequently all dainties from that source were cut off, and so we were brought down to the rugged realities of "glorious war." We had experienced, it is true, greater deprivations and hardships before, but still we did not find " camping out" under such circumstances altogether agreeable. The periodical February and March storms were not at all conducive to a comfortable life under shelter tents, located as ours were, upon a promontory, across which the breezes had a purchase in every direction, nor did the continuous rains add to the felicities of the occasion. When, therefore, marching orders were received there were none who regretted leaving Mobile Point.

Gen. Andrews in speaking of the plan of operations says: "The fortifications around Mobile were so strong that a "direct movement on the place from the western shore would "have encountered unequal resistance, and involved a pro"tracted siege. It was therefore determined to flank them. "The base would be fixed on the eastern shore, and the "main army moving upon that shore, with the aid of the

navy, would carry the forts on the islands and mainland, "and then approach Mobile by the Tensas river or one of the "channels coming in above. On this plan a large portion "of the troops and supplies could be moved by water into "Fish river, affording a secure base within twenty miles of "Spanish fort. If the reduction of the eastern "shore defences demanded too long a time, then the army "would pass them, move on to Montgomery-which was

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162

DEPARTURE FROM MOBILE POINT.

really the objective point-leaving Mobile to fall in due "time by these indirect operations."

We broke camp early in the morning of March 17th; Gen. Andrews thus describes our march: * * * "The "movement [i. e., the opening of operations] was commenced "by Benton's Division, 13th Corps. The first day they "marched nine miles along the peninsular and went into

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camp in an open pine forest. On the 18th they marched "thirteen miles on a good road, over a natural shell bank, "and camped at 3 P. M. on Bayou Portage. On the 19th "the unreliable and swampy character of the ground dis"closed itself, the firm-appearing surface proving, when wet, "to be a mere crust, under which was a bottomless quick"sand. Through this crust the wagons sank to the hubs. "The head of the column passing round Bon Secours' Bay "moved only a few miles, and the rear guard got only a "mile and a half. Large details were set at work corduroying the worst places. On the 20th, starting at 9 A. M., they moved slowly, the rain falling in torrents, and the corduroy afloat, and made four miles by night. On the "morning of the 21st the rain was still pouring; Benton's "division moved on, but the train could not even get out of "park. Every team seeking an untried path soon got mired, 66 and wagons were seen in all directions sunk down to the "axles. The poor animals, in their struggles to haul the "trains, half buried themselves. In this dilemma long ropes "were made fast to the teams, and the soldiers, with cheer"fulness and alacrity, hauled both animals and wagons out of "the mire with a rush, and it was only their speed that saved

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PLEASURES OF THE MARCH-ARRIVAL AT FISH RIVER. 163

"each team from again sinking at every rod. The same "laborious efforts were applied to the field artillery. * * * "In hauling the 26th N. Y. Battery through a bad place, where the newly-made corduroy had been washed away, the men moved some distance in mud and water "waist deep. These labors were watched by Confederate "scouts. Only about two miles were made that day. The "division went into camp at 3 P. M., and made some fortifi"cations on their right. * * * On the 22d the division "went into camp, near Fish River, and on the 23d moved over a fair road, though hilly, six miles, to the north fork "of Fish River, crossing it on a pontoon, and went into camp on the right of the Sixteenth Corps, the bands playing, 'Oh, ain't you glad you're out of the wilderness?'"

This description of our march gives but a faint impression of the obstacles and embarassments we had to overcome. Officers and men were kept constantly at work with the axe or spade, felling trees for roads or throwing up temporary fortifications. Our artillery and trains gave us infinite trouble. With roads and a soil such as Gen. Andrews has described, it may be imagined that escorting and pulling mule teams through the mud was not a pleasant occupation. Those who have had a similar experience know how little such duties tend to soften or sweeten the disposition, and I fear our men, like the "Army in Flanders," frequently used language more forcible than polite. While bringing up our division train a squad of rebel cavalry attacked our men, but they were soon dispersed without serious loss on our side. We remained at Fish River until the 25th, thus having a

chance to become somewhat acquainted with the men of the Sixteenth Corps, which was commanded by MajorGeneral A. J. Smith. It had moved across the bay on transports from Fort Gaines to Danley's ferry landing.

This corps was made up entirely of Western men, and was typical of the "free and easy" discipline which pervaded many of the organizations hailing from that section of the country. No deference was paid to rank, and it was oftentimes impossible to distinguish an officer from a private. All alike believed in the inalienable right to forage as much as they pleased, and it was a common saying that after the Sixteenth Corps had been ten minutes in camp no chicken was ever heard to crow within a circuit of five miles. Nearly every organization maintained a squad of "bummers" whose duty it was to scour the country and confiscate all poultry and pigs for the use of the company or regimental commissaBut few, if any, of the officers ever interfered to prevent such a system of rapine, and the practice seems to have been regarded as entirely legitimate. Indeed, the reply imputed to a western Colonel, to whom a southern matron is said to have made a bitter complaint because some of his men had made off with her hens and chickens, very well illustrates the sentiments of Smith's men on this subject. As the story goes, the dame upbraided the Colonel for the license he allowed his men to plunder the barnyards of helpless women, and insisted upon reparation being made in the form of a restoration of her fowls. This demand the Colonel was constrained to refuse, with the observation that the "rebellion must be put down if it took every hen and chicken in the

riat.