"Hancock Has His Drawers"

Monday, April 28, 1862, On the railroad near Fredericksburg

It is so very good to be back in Virginia. The trip to get here was long and not without difficulty but it was worth it all. The regiment was formed up to the sound of the drummers beating the long roll. Was this is response to another Yankee raid? Far from it. We were soon on the road marching away from the Yankees towards Pocotaligo Station. Were we in another retreat, we wondered. Our officers were guessing as to the reason for our move but no one professed any actual knowledge. We are just soldiers and are sure of only what is in front of us.

There was a train waiting for us and another one behind that one. The officers and our own dear Corporal Flynn were shouting at us to board quickly as if the earth would open up and swallow us if we hesitated in the least. We were needed somewhere but where?

The train was facing away from Savannah so we knew that was not our destination. Once the locomotive steamed up, the train pulled away from Pocotaligo and headed towards Charleston. Aha, the Yankees were threatening Charleston and we were to save her. However, once in Charleston, we left our train and marched to the terminal station of the South Carolina Railroad where we boarded another and headed towards Columbia.

Were the Yankees somehow threatening the state capital? Were we going to Beauregard in Mississppi? If so, this would be a long and convoluted way to get there. It did not take but a few hours to discover that we knew where we were going and were lost at the same time. We did not know where we were after a while but we could tell from our direction of travel that out destination was Virginia. Home, sweet home for me.

We changed trains several times and each time had to get off and march a distance, sometimes a long one, to board yet another train. Most of us rode not in plush passenger cars but in common box cars with the other freight. Let us say that the smells coming from an enclosed car would not remind anyone of an apple pie. I thought that I would spare my nostrils from being assaulted by riding with some others in a platform car with some artillery pieces. The sights and smells were agreeable but then it rained.

For the last part of our journey, I held my nose and rode in a boxcar. Some of the boys kicked a few boards out of the car to give us more air. The railroad will not like this but we did not care a fig.

Once we arrived in Richmond, by what route I know not, we again left our train and marched through the city to the terminus of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. The city was all abluster with activity. The crowds were large and noisy. We could tell that as we were going towards the heart of the city, there was no small amount of activity directed in the direction from which we had come. Was this an evacuation. Again, we are soldiers and know nothing.

As we left Richmond and headed towards the north, we became full of bluff and bluster. Let McClellan have Richmond. The Lancaster Hornets, with the help of the rest of the regiment, would take Washington by storm and put that despot Lincoln in chains. We all knew no such thing would happpen but soldiers are a boastful lot.

When the last train of our journey came to a halt, we were told that this was as far as we would go. We asked where was this place and was told thatv this was Milford Station some miles south of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Once encamped, we had a decent meal and settled in to some real sleep.

Hancock has his drawers.