Chenango Telegraph, Norwich, NY, February 19, 1862
Letter from Robert H. Stanton, 5th Regiment, Excelsior Brigade
The following letter from Robert H. Stanton, of this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY] to Harvey H. Bloom has been kindly handed us by Mr. B. It is of general interest and we gladly give it a place in our columns. "Bob" writes of what he knows and it is reliable.
Camp Magan, Liverpool Point, Md., January 18th, 1862
Dear H. Yours of the 2d inst. has just come to hand, and in obedience to your request I will tell you something of our situation.
After leaving Camp "Good Hope" (near Washington) we went to Port Tobacco, Md. where we were employed in cutting off communication between the rebels of that vicinity and those of Eastern Virginia. From that place we came here, and are now stationed about one-eighth of a mile from the Potomac, on Liverpool Point.
Our position is excellent for viewing the Potomac, but it would be very much exposed if the rebels should see fit to fire upon us, as we are nearly opposite their batteries at Acquia Creek. The other regiments composing the brigade are stationed above us along the river at intervals of from half a mile to two miles, Gen. Sickles' headquarters are about half a mile distant in a thick grove of small pines. The country here is very thinly settled and is mostly covered with woods, What few houses there are are miserable, compared with country houses at the north.
One great source of trouble and discomfort to us at this season of the year, is the mud, which is truly of "sublime and unfathomable depths." You can form no idea of it, or of the state of our roads from anything you ever saw in old Chenango. In going from our regiment to another on foot, you might easily become so fast in the mire that it would be impossible to get out without assistance. It seems to serve one good purpose: that of making military life more democratic by destroying all distinction between officers and men, and leaving only faint lines of the person discernable. We use it, also, in erecting log houses, in filling up the chinks. By the way, while I think of it, our regiment is building winter quarters about one-fourth of a mile from here, out of small logs. It is the general impression, however, that we will no more than get into them before we are ordered to move on, and everything now seems to be done with a view to a forward movement in a few days.
For provisions we get the regular army rations, with the exception that we get no soft bread. We are obliged to content ourselves with the hard pilot-bread, in comparison with which the nether millstone is a miracle of softness. We have the usual round of bacon, salt and fresh beef, salt port, &c, and twice per week we have mixed vegetables, rice, molasses, potatoes, &c. Purchases are made of the Brigade Commissary expressly for the use of the officers of a better quality than are the supplies for the men, and in much greater variety; but the officers have to pay for all their things immediately. A great deal is of course bought outside the regiment.
After all, the cooking is the great thing, and the great difficulty is to obtain good cooks. When we had so many contraband negroes from Virginia, we selected one of them, a splendid fellow, for our cook, but after remaining with us about a month, they were ordered away to the landing, to unload Government boats, and since then we have fared as best we could.
The men of the regiment who came from Chenango are all healthy and looking well, including Sergeant White (of Otselic?) and Terry, and David Hoteal?, Barnes?, Cady, Dwight Adams, Niedick, Brown, Miles G. Lander? &c. Andrew Landon was sick at camp "Good Hope" when we marched from there, and I have since heard that he died at that place. He was a -?- soldier, and will long be remembered by his associates, as he should by all, as one who willingly gave up his life in the service of his country and of liberty. White has been promoted to the 1st Sergeantcy of his company, by the Colonel, who had noticed him and became favorably impressed with his abilities and integrity.
A few nights since we discovered the store houses of the rebels at Acquia Creek, nearly opposite us, in flames. We are uncertain whether they were set on fire by them fearing an advance by us, or were accidentally burned. I think it however accidental, as the railroad which runs from there is still in a flourishing condition. We can hear the cars running very plainly while in bed at night and can see them in the daytime from a place a little distance from our encampment. We can see the smoke shoot up from their cannon as they fire at our vessels and see the balls as they strike the water. the other morning, the Pensacola, mounting thirty-two guns came down from Washington to join the Burnside Expedition The rebels had been expecting her and were lying in wait for her. Just as she got a little past our regiment, the batteries at Acquia Creek with their heaviest guns fired upon her. I have not heard them fire so heavy guns before; such terrible thunder shook the ground like an earthquake. I was not watching them at the time, but understood that it was the Pensacola, and so wrote to my folks at home. I have since learned, however, that the Pensacola run all the batteries of the rebels without firing a gun or being hit by them to injure her.
Most of our provisions are landed here at Liverpool Point, and come in Government vessels from Baltimore. Between here and Washington the rebels have so many batteries that none of our gunboats can run them. At Mattawoman landing, twelve miles above here, they are at work building batteries and it is unsafe although we do run our boats from there to Washington. It is by that route that we bring our mails and express matter, and by that route is all the travel between our Division and Washington. In going from there to Washington you pass Mount Vernon, in passing which, all uncover their heads in veneration for him who reposes there in silence, while all around is tumult and war. You can see from the boat the house and Washington's tomb. The grounds seem to be unoccupied. You also have an opportunity to test your courage, for every boat that comes in is fired upon several times by them, and of course you cannot tell where they will shoot, but they have not yet chanced to do much injury. You can generally tell the timid, and I am sorry to say that a couple of days since two officers went below deck in passing the batteries, rather than face these dogs of war and laugh at their awkward shooting. Sometime since the Drummer boy of Co. I, Tommy, (as he is called) an intelligent and good looking little fellow, and another little boy who stays here with Lieut. Andrews, together with three men from the 2d Regiment went out in a boat and went over so far on the other side that they were captured by the rebel pickets. We thought they were lost to us for the present, but the other day the two boys appeared here and are of course now the heroes of our brigade. They were taken (I speak of the boys, not the men now) to Richmond and there lionized by the rebels. They had what "shin plasters" given them that they desired. They were lionized and feted by the ladies as well as the great military men and on the whole had a great time. "Tommy" says that he kissed the belle of Virginia. He was closely questioned in Richmond, and told them that he was not in service but was Capt. Wilkinson's son, which was a stroke of policy with him, as he would have been held for an exchange had he acknowledged himself drummer They were sent to Fortress Monroe under a flag of truce, from thence to Washington where they were introduced to the President and Gen. McClellan, and congratulated by them, and finally returned in triumph to camp. They are now at home to the great rejoicing of their mothers no doubt, and having seen a trifle of experiences which they will remember through life. "Tommy" got a very good idea of the situation of the rebel regiments opposite us and described them with a great deal of precision. He says not more than half of the rebels he saw are uniformed, that they were very ragged and most of the guns he saw were the flint lock musket.
The rebels are now firing at a schooner that is coming in from Baltimore and the boys are all running out as far as they can within the lines to watch her. the batteries are a little below us and the shells that strike on this side are mostly about 1/2 or 3/4 of a mile below us. There are any quantity of broken shells down there on the shore. One of the boys in Capt. Glass' Company got a whole one which was thrown over by them but did not explode. They took out several pounds of powder and the shell weighed 72 pounds. Capt. Glass took it to Pittsburgh with him, and the Union Pitt works of that place recognized the shell as one of their manufacture.
Yours truly, R.M. Stanton, 5th Regiment, Excelsior Brigade
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