Read Online Drummer Boy at Bull Run by Gilbert L. Morris - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Gilbert L. Morris
Ads: Link
shirts, and army hats turned up at the side. Across their shoulders they slung their scarlet blanket rolls.
Daily the troops poured in, until finally Mr. Carter exclaimed one day, “There’s only so many cats you can put in a sack! I don’t know how many more soldiers they think they can stuff into this town.”
But the Washington populace greeted the newcomers with glee. There had been rumors that the South was mounting an invasion, and Congress and the people welcomed the soldiers. A high board fence had to be built at the depot to protect thetroops from the cheering crowds. Every day the population turned out to see them parade onto the avenue. From New Jersey came 3,200 men, the largest group that Washington had ever seen in line. The well-equipped regiments received their baggage and were sent to make camp on the hills around the city.
By the middle of May, vast loads of freight were coming to Washington by rail and by the Potomac. The navy yard was filled with steamers, schooners, and tugs carrying thousands of blankets and tons of coal, hard bread, and groceries. A herd of cattle ordered to provide fresh beef for the soldiers was put on the grounds of the Washington Monument. Many of them fell into the canal. It took a day and a half to drive them back to the shore, and six fine beefs were drowned.
Daily they flowed in, and a gaily dressed and carefree crowd strolled through the grounds to the tune of “Yankee Doodle,” “Upidee,” “The Girl I Left Behind Me,” and “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean.” Saturday afternoon Marine band concerts went on regularly, and the president hoisted the big new flag contributed by the clerks of the Interior Department.
One regiment of New Yorkers attracted more attention than others—the Seventh Infantry. A young man named Elmer Ellsworth had recruited a regiment from the volunteer fire departments. A gang of roughs dressed in gray, scarlet, and blue Zouave costumes were armed with rifles and huge bowie knives and encumbered with handsome presentation flags.
Heavy-shouldered, hard-faced, spoiling for a fight, the fiery Zouaves tumbled off the cars askingfor Jeff Davis and growling over the fact that they had not gotten into battle yet. As they marched up the avenue, Ellsworth took the cheers of the gathering crowds. His Zouaves were ready for battle, he declared.
The fiery Zouaves had little respect for anything. In their gaudy, fancy dress they swung themselves down ropes from the cornice of the Rotunda and hung like monkeys from the edge of the Capitol dome. They had great respect for their little colonel but were as wild as wharf rats. One day some seized a wandering pig, cut its throat, and ate it. They bought new shoes at a fashionable bootmaker’s and directed the bill be sent to Old Abe—President Lincoln. Dinners and suppers, cigars and transportation, were charged to Jeff Davis.
So Washington’s prayers for soldiers were answered. The country town had been turned into a great confused garrison, and the entertaining novelty soon began to pall. Quiet residential neighborhoods were in an uproar. Soldiers drilled and bugled and drummed all over the place. Irresponsible as children, they fired their weapons in any direction—in the streets and even in houses.
Leah and her father could not keep enough supplies. The soldiers quickly bought them out, which meant they had to make trips into the city to get more and more supplies for their wagon. They gave away many tracts and Bibles, and almost every night there was a religious service somewhere in the vicinity of the camp.
Royal and his friend Jay Walters, who had enlisted with him in Pineville, spent a great deal of time with Dan Carter and Leah.
Another young fellow had joined Royal, whose name was Ira Pickens. Pickens was a tall, lean youth with a head of bushy black hair. He was plain almost to the point of ugliness but spent a great deal of time boasting about his sweetheart back home in Rhode
Daily the troops poured in, until finally Mr. Carter exclaimed one day, “There’s only so many cats you can put in a sack! I don’t know how many more soldiers they think they can stuff into this town.”
But the Washington populace greeted the newcomers with glee. There had been rumors that the South was mounting an invasion, and Congress and the people welcomed the soldiers. A high board fence had to be built at the depot to protect thetroops from the cheering crowds. Every day the population turned out to see them parade onto the avenue. From New Jersey came 3,200 men, the largest group that Washington had ever seen in line. The well-equipped regiments received their baggage and were sent to make camp on the hills around the city.
By the middle of May, vast loads of freight were coming to Washington by rail and by the Potomac. The navy yard was filled with steamers, schooners, and tugs carrying thousands of blankets and tons of coal, hard bread, and groceries. A herd of cattle ordered to provide fresh beef for the soldiers was put on the grounds of the Washington Monument. Many of them fell into the canal. It took a day and a half to drive them back to the shore, and six fine beefs were drowned.
Daily they flowed in, and a gaily dressed and carefree crowd strolled through the grounds to the tune of “Yankee Doodle,” “Upidee,” “The Girl I Left Behind Me,” and “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean.” Saturday afternoon Marine band concerts went on regularly, and the president hoisted the big new flag contributed by the clerks of the Interior Department.
One regiment of New Yorkers attracted more attention than others—the Seventh Infantry. A young man named Elmer Ellsworth had recruited a regiment from the volunteer fire departments. A gang of roughs dressed in gray, scarlet, and blue Zouave costumes were armed with rifles and huge bowie knives and encumbered with handsome presentation flags.
Heavy-shouldered, hard-faced, spoiling for a fight, the fiery Zouaves tumbled off the cars askingfor Jeff Davis and growling over the fact that they had not gotten into battle yet. As they marched up the avenue, Ellsworth took the cheers of the gathering crowds. His Zouaves were ready for battle, he declared.
The fiery Zouaves had little respect for anything. In their gaudy, fancy dress they swung themselves down ropes from the cornice of the Rotunda and hung like monkeys from the edge of the Capitol dome. They had great respect for their little colonel but were as wild as wharf rats. One day some seized a wandering pig, cut its throat, and ate it. They bought new shoes at a fashionable bootmaker’s and directed the bill be sent to Old Abe—President Lincoln. Dinners and suppers, cigars and transportation, were charged to Jeff Davis.
So Washington’s prayers for soldiers were answered. The country town had been turned into a great confused garrison, and the entertaining novelty soon began to pall. Quiet residential neighborhoods were in an uproar. Soldiers drilled and bugled and drummed all over the place. Irresponsible as children, they fired their weapons in any direction—in the streets and even in houses.
Leah and her father could not keep enough supplies. The soldiers quickly bought them out, which meant they had to make trips into the city to get more and more supplies for their wagon. They gave away many tracts and Bibles, and almost every night there was a religious service somewhere in the vicinity of the camp.
Royal and his friend Jay Walters, who had enlisted with him in Pineville, spent a great deal of time with Dan Carter and Leah.
Another young fellow had joined Royal, whose name was Ira Pickens. Pickens was a tall, lean youth with a head of bushy black hair. He was plain almost to the point of ugliness but spent a great deal of time boasting about his sweetheart back home in Rhode
Similar Books
