A Rout in the Rifle Pit

On August 25th, Philip discusses a “a rout between the 12th Regiment of Veterans Reserve Corps and the Provisional Corps” resulting in several injuries. I am assuming this Provisional Corps is the one he refers to as “being stationed in the rifle pits between Forts O’Rourke and Farnsworth.”  A Provisional Corps was a temporary unit often formed to serve a specific purpose. Although both the Union and Confederate armies used Provisional Corps, Philip does not specify exactly who the combatants were. However, I feel from his description of the events it was a scuffle between two groups of Union soldiers.

Locations of Fort Farnsworth and Fort O'Rourke
Source: Civil War Defenses of Washington

At the start of the Civil War, military tactics reflected those of earlier wars such as the Revolutionary War with troops positioned in lines or columns marching against similarly positioned enemy troops. The Civil War saw soldiers using rifled guns with increased range over the previous muskets. The old-school tactics combined with newer weaponry resulted in troops being decimated on the open battlefield. By 1862 and 1863, soldiers were digging earthworks such as trenches and rifle pits to enable them to fire on enemy troops from a protected position. In 1864, Union General Joseph Bartlett remarked, “We have never before used the Spade as we have this summer. In any two days of the campaign we have constructed more works than were thrown up by us two years ago during the whole time we were in front of Richmond.”

A rifle pit is similar to what would be referred to today as a “foxhole.” They were trenches with earth mounded up at the end to protect soldiers lying prone so as to fire from a protected position. A series of earthworks, including rifle pits, connected Forts O’Rourke and Farnsworth.

The remainder of Philip’s week was fairly uneventful. He does mention a barrel of whiskey with quinine “to keep the fever off” which harkens back to one of my previous posts about alcohol during the Civil War. He also mentions receiving the first installment of four months of pay amounting to $1.14.

Sources:

_______

AUGUST 23RD
Went after peaches about three miles from camp. Came back with three haversacks full of them. Took the Mount Vernon Road to go to the orchard. Had no money to pay for them so we got them for nothing. Came back and had dress parade.

AUGUST 24TH
We have orders to be ready at a moments warning to go into the fort. The rebs are at Annandale, a small place 4 miles from here, in force with artillery. Orders were read to us on dress parade for every man to fight on his own. Hear the Provisional Corps was stationed in the rifle pits between Forts O’Rourke and Farnsworth. They are a mixture of all kinds in the field. They come from camp distribution.

AUGUST 25TH
This evening there was a rout between the 12th Regiment of Veterans Reserve Corps and the Provisional Corps which resulted in several persons getting hurt. While Lieutenant Thies of our battery was trying to stop the combatants, he received a blow on his cheek which knocked him down. He then drew his revolver and fired twice at the person. Then the whole garrison was called out under arms. We thought this was going to be a heavy fight and it was with the greatest difficulty that we brought them to order again. On the 26th they received orders to go to Fort Ethan Allen and at 1 o’clock they left. Since that, everything has been quiet.

AUGUST 27TH
I received a pass to Washington City draw my commutation(?) money (that’s what the word looks like but I doubt that is correct as “commutation” was money a draftee paid to get out of service) which was $6.75. It gave me the opportunity to have a good time, which I took. Returned at 6 o’clock.

AUGUST 28TH
Was sent out on police and remained there 24 hours. All was quiet.

AUGUST 29TH
Was relieved this morning from picket. Came into the camp. Went over to the city of Alexandria. Spent a few hours there. Came back in time for dress parade. We drew a barrel of whiskey with quinine in it to keep the fever off which prostrates a great many soldiers every fall.

AUGUST 31ST
Was mustered this morning for pay, which we have four months due us and our first installment of it amounting to $1.14 and out of money at present.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Starting Over

Image
Back in high school (early 1980s) I became aware that my grandmother had a Civil War diary from my great-great grandfather Philip L. Loufman. At that time (way before personal computers), I went to her house with a pad of yellow lined paper determined to transcribe the diary. It didn't take me long to be overwhelmed by the task (probably 5 or 10 minutes). The entries were all written in pencil and difficult to read. Add to that my almost total lack of interest in the Civil War, and I had little to no context to understand much of what my great-great grandfather was writing about. What I could understand wasn't very exciting - days on end of drills, fishing and picking blackberries. Needless to say my first attempt at a handwritten transcript didn't get very far.  Years later, in the early 2000s, after my grandmother had passed away, I asked my mom for the diary so I could transcribe it. This second attempt went much better. I had slightly more patience and knowledge of the ...
Read more

1st Regiment, West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery C

Image
Philip L. Loufman was a Private with the 1 st Regiment, West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery C.  The history of the battery is a little confusing but I've pieced together some information from various sources. The battery started out as the 18th Ohio Volunteer Militia, Company B, which was mustered out in August 1861. In September 1861, almost the entire company reenlisted as a battery of light artillery and was offered to the service of Governor Pierpont of West Virginia. The company traveled from Marietta, Ohio to Wheeling, West Virginia.  Battery C (Pierpont Battery) was organized in Wheeling during the first part of 1862.    Most of the men in the battery were from Washington County, Ohio.  I was not able to find a picture of Battery C. But I imagine this photo of Battery F gives a good idea of what Battery C might look like. The battery fought in several battles throughout 1862 and 1863 including Cross Keys, Chancellorsville, the second Battle of Bull ...
Read more

Long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror

Image
The title of this post is a quote I’ve seen and heard in various forms. I have not been able to pin down a definitive source of the quote but a version of it seems to have been around as early as World War I and seems to apply to the Civil War as well. The life of the soldier was filled with military routine: drills, guard duty, picket duty, work details and the same food every day. Many fought boredom by playing games, sketching, whittling and making music, among other activities. This is a photo of two Union soldiers whittling.  The title quote is ever present in my mind while I’m transcribing Philip's diary. There are often several days in a row with entries stating “Nothing new to report,” “guard duty all day” or “went blackberrying.” This was one of my downfalls during my previous attempts at transcribing the diary. Because of my lack of time and patience, I kept looking for all of the action. The movies don’t focus on the monotonous days of drills and guard duty. More informa...
Read more