Soldiers' record, 1869-01-09

              D e v o t e d t o t h e I n t e r e s t s o l t l x e S o l d i e r s a n d S a i l o r s o f t h e l a t e W a r .
VOL 1. HARTEOllD, CONN., JANUARY 9,1869. NO. 27
BATTLE-HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC.
BT MKS. JULIA WARD HOWB.
We reproduce by requoat that spirited and flppropri-ate
piece of verse entitled the BATTLB HTMK OP THE
REPUBLIC, which has rosounded through the land
earrying an inspiration like that of the Jphn Brown
Chorus, to which the words are adapted. The \ttempt
has been made to make the hymn national with tiner
orinore artistic music,but ihe popular voice rings out
the inspiring words and the glorious song together.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the
He i^trampling out the vintage where tho grapes of
wrath are stored ; , . -n -r.
He hath loosed the fateful ightning of His terrible swift
sword: , . ,.
His truth is marching on.
I have seen him in the watchfiresof a hundred circling
camps; . , . i
They have builded him an altar in the evening dews
and damps; . , .. j n
I have read His righteous|sentenco by tho dim and flar-ing
lamps:
His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of
steel : . .
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my
grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush tho serpent with
his heel, ^ ^ . , . „
Since God is marching on.
He hath sounded forth the trumpet that shall never
call retreat; , , ^T • ,
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment
seat; , , . ,
Oh ! be swift my soul, to answer him 1 be jubflant,
my feet!
Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the
sea.
With a glory itt His bosom that transfigures you and
me;
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men
free, While God is marching on.
PAST DAYS.
BY IfiPES SARGENT.
We will not deplore them, tlie days that are past;
The gloom of misfortune is over them cast
They are Icngtiied by sorrovv and sullied by care ;
Their griefs were too many, their joys were too rare ;
Yet now that their shadows are on us no more.
Let us welcome the prospect that brightens before ;
We have ciierished fair hopes, wo have plotted brave
schemes.
We have lived till we find them illusive as dre.ams ;
Wealth has melted like snow that is grasped in the hand.
And the steps we have climbed have ciepartod like sand;
Yet shall we despond while of liealth unbercft,
And honor, briglit honor, and freedom are left ?
Oh ! shall wo despond, while the pages of time
Yet often before us their records sublime !
While enabled by treasure more precious tiian gold,
We can walk with the inurtyrs and heroes of old ; ,
While humanity whispers such truths in the ear,
As it softens tho iieart like sweet music to hear ?
Oh! shall we despond, while with vision still free,
We can gaze on tho sky, and tho earth and tho sea ;
While tho sunsliino can waken a burst of doligiit,
And the stars aae a joy and a glory by night;
While each harmony running through nature can raise
In our spirits tho impulse of gladness and jiraise •?
Oh ! let us not longer, then, vainly lament
Over scenes that are faded and days that are spent,
But by faith unforsaken, unawed by mischance.
On hope's waving banner still fixed by our glance ;
And should fortune prove cruel and false to the last,
Let UB look to the future, and not to the past!
§mxs at iome.
PASSING THE FORTS.
BY J. O.K.
An ex-oflieer of tiio 13th C. V.
Shall we ever forget that night in the
Chalmette Oemeteiy?" Suilering all
the torments of Tartarua, doing no good
to ' tho cause,' and all to gratify the whim
of one man, who, wishing to test our mili-tary
kno wledg, sent us out of our comfort-ble
quarters, in a drenchingrain,to change
camp from one side of tho city to tne other,
merely for one night, and just on tho eve
of a campaign ; sent us too to the cemetery,
where the poor victims of camp diseases,
yellow fever and small pox were being
buried at the rate of twenty-five pei- day;
and where (at least so Jerry said) tho pe-culiar
exhalations from the groand an-nounced
to sensitive nasal organs, the par-ticular
diseases they represented.
How that one man was execrated!
G-allinippers, bloodthirsty and ferocious,
broke through musquito bars of every de-scription
and murdered sleep and sleepers,
until at last, exasperated beyond measure,
we crawled from under our temporary
shelter, built firee, lit pipes and walked
the remainder of the night incessantly
gesticulaling right and left at the attack-ing
hordes. Many, were the imaginary
punishments visited upon' tho cause of all
our woe. One gentle youth, now a bloom-ing
theologue, wished him stripped naked,
tied to a tree and left to the mercy of the
foe. Others were more severe, but—no
matter—like D. Webster ho still lives, and
he proved himself living then too, for be-fore
night had worn away to the gray of
early morning, orders came to break camp
aud move back to Headquarters, nnd nev-er
were orders more gladly or rapidly
obeyed. Shutting our eyes to keep out
the musqiiitoes and their allies, the gnats,
and trusting to the instincts of our horses,
back to Headquarters we went and found
them blissfully sleeping under substantial
musquito-bars, with no thought or care for
suffering humanity outside. So we laid
down on the sidewalk and on the steps of
a friendly church, and once more aud more
successfully sought" repose."
Everybody wakes up sooner or later.
Even Headquarters cannot sleep forever,
and before noon our Mogul had made his
appearance. With no thought that we
had passed a miserable night, he l)Iandly
ordered some of us to Lake Pontchartirain,
with all neceseary equipments for the field,
while certain others were directed to era-bark
immediately with sealed orders, on
board the tug Perry, with no equipments
excepting those needed on shipboard
We belonged to the latter class, and
sadly turned adrift our noble steeds (most
of us never hearing of them again) and
marched to the' Perry, a diminutive pro-peller
with more diminutive accommoda-tions.
After being delayed for several hours,
wo finally let go our hawser and steamed
down the Mississippi, grand in its maj cstic
muddiness and labyrinthic windings.
Once under way our sealed orders were
opened, and we found ourselves bound,
where we had already surmised to the fleet
under Admiral Parragut, off Mobile Bay.
Before reaching Fort Jackson the Per-ry,
like most Government vessels, was
obliged to break down, and we were for-ced
to return once more to New Orleans,
where we ghidly availed ourselves of the
opportunity to have a good night's rest.
Then camc breakfast at Oassidys, sudden
partings with our stay-at-home friends, a
hasty embarkation on the tug America,
and again we were off naval glory.
Now came the assignment of the various
officers to their posts on the different ves-sels
of the squadron. Oapt. D. to the
Brooklyn, Adams to the Lackawana, Dane
to the Richmond, Jerome to tho Bienville,
Maj. M. and Lt. K. to tho Hartford, while
' instructed men' with flagmen were as-signed
to lesser vessels.
As we passed from tho < muddy' to the
briny,' the rocking of our little craft made
some of the land lubbers wish they hadn't
enlisted. The accommodations on tlie
boat were ofa very limited character, no
berths or state rooms being attainable, and
wo spent the night on deck under cover
of our blankets. During the night some
improved the opportunity to " cast their
bread on ihe waters," aud at morning when
we sighted the fleet wo were rather a for-lorn
crowd ; not so miserable however as
not to bo able to perpetrate sundry jokes
at the expense of the most sea-sick. It
must have puiszled tho different quarter-masters
of tho fleet to "make out " our
vessel, as wo steamed toward them, with
the black flag of the signal corps flying at
our peak. Immediately after breakfast a
cutter from the Hartford took us aboard
that vessel; the different vessels to which
we were assigned were signaled, and in
a short time we were scattered to our tem-poary
homes on the raging deep. This
was the morning of August 4th, 1864.
In the afternoon the Admiral, with the
Capts. of the fleet, made a reconnoisance
on the Oowslip, commanded by the illustri-oiis
Wiggins, running inside of Sand Island
to what was then called " Monitor Bay,"
a sheltered cove where the monitors were
anchored, and going near enough to give
an excellent view of Fort Gaines and Mor-gan.
Gaines lay on the left, on the west end
of Dauphins Island j a small brick fort,
mounting some heavy guns, but too far
away from the regular ship-channel to
cause much uneasiness to the fleet. Some
distance in its rear, our troops under Gen.
Granger had effected a landing and invest-ed
the fort. »
Morgan was on the right, bristling with
the ^best armament that England could
furnish, having three tiers of guns and. a
formidable water-batteryj £.11 in point
blank-range of the channel, through which
our vessels must pass. The enemy con-sidered
the fort impregnable, but they did
not depend on it alone for the defence of
their harbor. Just back of the fort could
be seen that afternoon, three gunboats
and the celebrated ram "Tennesse," with
steam up and all ready to aid ; while in
front, unseen, stretching across the chan-nel
in various places wore lines of torpe-does,
planted so thickly and arranged so
skillf'uly, it was considered impossible for
any vessel to pass over them unharmed.•
It was an interesting sight to soe the
officers on board the Cowslip, as she mov-ed
leisurely along within easy range of the
Ibrts. There was the old Admiral, with
his plans all arranged, affable and jolly,
not seeming r,o think it among things pos-sible
that the coming attack could be
failure, and filling with enthusiasm every
one with whom he came in contact.
Next was the tall figure of Fleet-captain
Drayton, gentlemanly and courteous to all
but quiet and reserved, though with a de-termined
look that augured success. In
his death, a few years later, our- service
lost one ofits most brilliant and promis-ing
officers, and the cause of liberty and
imman rights a devoted friend. Those
who think Admiral Farragut could be in-duced
to be a Democratic candidate, could
hardly have known the kind of man he
chose for fleet capiain and confidential
friend.
These was the fire-proof Alden, Strong
whose name was an index of his charac-ter
; Marchaud of good fighting memory;
Stevens, fond of Shakespeare and with a
Shakespearian'fondness for good things;
with the youngest but sco,rccly less Te-nowned
Jouett and Perkins. Each man
was a host in himself, and, together with
adequate commands, could defy any navy
In the world.
As wo steamed slowly along inspect-ing
closely every hostile point, the Reb-el
transport Keys landed at Fort Gaines
and commensod discharging cargo. At
signal from tho Admiral one of ^tho mon-itors,
by way of practice, opened on hor
at long range, and as the first huge fifteen-inch
siiell went whistling by, she stopped
work and left as rapidly as possible.
After completing the reconnoisance and
inspecting the monitors, the party return-ed
to the Hartford, a council of war was
held, final preparations made and final or-deis
issued. In deference to tho request
of all his captains, the Admiral, contrary
to his own wish, gave tho lead in the or-der
of battle to tho Brooklyn, under Cap-tain
Alden.
Towards evening the Richmond arriv-ed
from Ponsacola, with tho ill-fated To-cumseh,
commanded by tho gallant Craven,
who had hastened on to be in time for
the light, and just arrived hi time to bo
tho first to die.
At sunset everything had been arranged
for the morrow, and a deep quiet settled
down upon the 'fleet. It was the stillness
which precedea the storm. Most thought
of homes and loved ones far aAvay and
wrote messages to be forwarded in case
01 de^th.
In the ward-i oom of the flartford, as
we sat down to supper, the chronic jokers
had to find vent for their feelings at the
expense of the expected fight. Heyward
proposes to have a final 'walk-around,' as
it may be the last chance. Tyson wishes
to know "which you would rather do or
go by Fort Morgan?" All agree they
would rather 'do/ Adams contributes
the squib, appreciated by all Naval Acad-emies.
"Well, fellows, I hope we will
do, as well as I hope we will do." The
standard series of conundrums are pro-posed
and answered of course by the pro-pounder.
There is a sort of forced lev-ity
among all, as they go forward to the
forecastle, to take the last smoke before
"turniag in" to dream of home and peace,
many to wake for their last time.
At three o'clock next morning We
were called up and a lunch of sandwich-es
and coffee served. No time for regu-lar
breakfast until after the fight. In the
gray dawn the appointed vessels moved
through the fog,made fast to their pait-ners
and" formed line of battle. The
four monitors were to precede; the orders
being that they should lead the advance
and attack the ram 'fennessee, for the
purpose of keeping her ( or him) away
from the wooden vessels. At ^six the
monitors started, moving forward very
slowly. The remaining vessels followed
ill order of battle, and were fairly under
way soon after six. The Brooklyn and
Octorora led, the Hartford with the Met-acomet
being next in line.
The morning opened unpropitiously,
being damp and foggy, but as we moved
along, a light breeze sprung up, drove
away the fog, and the sim came out clear
and bright. The Admiral had chosen the
time, when the tide was running in, so
that if any pair of vessels were disabled,
they might be carried in by the current-
Our course lay to the right of Sand Island,
through the channel running close to the
point on which Fort Morgan was situated;
so close that at the nearest point a biscnt
might have been thown ashore. Just be-fore
passing Sand Island and coming with-in
range of the Fort, the Admiral ordered
the army signal officers to go below into
the cockpit, to assiistthe surgei nsas their
services would not be required on deck,
until the forts was passed and the fighc
over, when they would be needed to open
communication with the army in the rear
of Fort Gaines. Much against our own
wishes wo obeyed and joined the sur-geons,
whom wo found in the lower hold,
with their instruments and bandages all
ready,waiting for the death-work to begin.
As we waited, second after second, to hear
the opening gun, the moments seemed
like hours, and tho suispense of lying idle
and ignorant of what was transpiring was
far more trying to the nerves, than any
fears occasioned by the sights and dangers
on deck. Very near seven o'clock wo
passed Sand Island and knowing we »vero
in range, listened intently for the first gun
to break tho dread'ul silence. Ten min-utes
wo were kept in suspense, and thea
the ball opened. We heard the first shot
whistle over us, and then they came and
wont in rapid succession, while the thun-der
of our broadsides shook the vessel
from stem ro stern.
At twenty minutes past seven (having
nothing else to do as yet, we consulted
our watches continually) we heard tho
crash which announced that wo had been
struck. Then came orders that a signal
olficer was wantf^d on dock immediately,
us tho Brooklyn had stopped and was sig-nalling.
Glad to escape from the stifling
air of the hold, we hurried to tho forecas-tle
and received from tho signal officer of