I believe "our body is just like a machine. That is what it is made for and that is its nature. Leave life to take care of itself, and it will fight its own battles a great deal better than if you paralyze its powers by weighting it with remedies. Our bodies are like a good watch, made to go a certain time; but no watchmaker can open it; he can only treat it blindfold and feeling his way. Our body is a living machine, neither more nor less." I recovered from a typhoid fever, went to my sister's farm at Champlain, N. Y., where there were all the good things to help me through the hungry period which follows such fevers. After my full recovery I followed the advice of Horace Greeley and "Went West," landing at Milwaukee in October, where a sister had preceded me. The war fever came on me again. Wisconsin, like Vermont, had the same patriotism. Thirty-five regiments of infantry had left the state for the front, as well as batteries and cavalry. The Thirty-sixth was called for and was being organized at Madison. First Lieutenant and Adjutant Frank A. Haskell of the Sixth Wisconsin (which was with the Iron Brigade) and then on the staff of General John Gibbon, was commissioned colonel. I wrote him on February 13th, asking for the position of sergeant-major, and received the following: MR. J. M. AUBERY, Milwaukee, Wis. : MADISON, Wis., February 24th, 1864. DEAR SIR: I have just returned and find your note of the 13th. I cannot promise you the place you desire at present, but should you enlist and go in with heart to the work of helping to fill the ranks of the regiment, I shall consider you entitled to every consideration. Yours truly FRANK A. HASKELL. Having forgotten my vow taken in Virginia the previous year, at the time of the "mud march," after receiving Colonel Haskell's letter I enlisted, at Milwaukee, February 29th, 1864, under Lieutenant James Frisbie, who was recruiting for the regiment. On March 1st I went into camp at Madison, at Camp Randall. W CHAPTER II. AT were the conditions of affairs at the front, where destiny was soon to take the regiment? To show it I must take a retrospective view from the beginning of the year 1864, showing the commencement of the plans for the campaign in which the regiment was to figure so conspicuously. I take from the Yearly Encyclopedia and official reports, the following: At the commencement of the year 1864, the Army of the Potomac was at Culpepper Courthouse and commanded by General Meade, General Lee commanding the Confederate forces in front and south of him. General Grant was with his command in front of Chattanooga. February 1st, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for five hundred thousand men. February 29th, President Lincoln approved an Act of Congress creating the grade of lieutenant-general and sent the nomination of General U. S. Grant to the Senate for confirmation, which was done March 3rd. President Lincoln on the 9th of March presented the commission to General Grant in presence of the Cabinet and others with the following words: "General Grant: The nation's appreciation of what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what remains to do, in the existing great struggle, are now presented with this commission, constituting you lieutenant-general in the Army of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you, also a corresponding responsibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need to add that with what I here speak for the nation, goes my own hearty, personal Concurrence." To which the general replied: "Mr. President: I accept this commission with gratitude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsibility now devolved on me, and I know if they are met, it will be due to the armies, and, above all, to the power of that Providence which leads both nations and men." The following order was, on the 17th of March, issued by General Grant: [GENERAL ORDER, NO. 1.] HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES, In pursuance of the following order of the President EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., March 10th, 1864. Under the authority of the Act of Congress to revive the grade of LieutenantGeneral of the United States Army, approved February 29th, 1864, Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant, U. S. A., is appointed to the command of the Armies of the United States. (Signed) A. LINCOLN. I assume command of the Armies of the United States. My headquarters will be in the field, and until further orders will be with the Army of the Potomac. There will be an officer's headquarters in Washington, to which all official communications will be sent, except those from the army where headquarters are at the date of the address. (Signed) U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General U. S. A. General Grant left Nashville for the Army of the Potomac on the 19th of March. On the 24th, General Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac, issued the following order: [GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 10.] HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, The following order has been received from the War Department: [GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 15.] WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, By direction of the President of the United States, the number of army corps comprising the Army of the Potomac will be reduced to three, viz.: The Second, Fifth and Sixth Corps; and the troops of the other two corps, viz.: The First and Third, will be temporarily reorganized and distributed among the Second, Fifth and Sixth, by the commanding-general, who will determine what existing organizations will retain their corps badges and other distinctive marks. The staff and officers of the Second Corps, which are temporarily broken up, will be assigned to vacancies in the other corps, so far as such vacancies may exist. Those for whom there are no vacancies will cease to be considered as officers of the general staff of army corps. |