Five Vermont Soldiers Spend a Quiet Year on the Canal

by Grant Reynolds

Jo and I have lived in Potomac, Maryland, for 36 years. The 10th Vermont has been "my" regiment ever since I learned that it "marched up the Great Falls Road" on its way to Muddy Branch, and "camped on the high ground East of Offuts Crossroads" in November 1862. We also have a home in Tinmouth, Vermont, a small hill town in southwestern Vermont near Rutland. 1860 population - 631; 2000 -  567.  I edit the local historical society journal, in which a longer version of this article has appeared.

This is a story about five1 men from Tinmouth, Vermont, and how they spent their first year as soldiers in the Union Army. It is about a war without battles, though they fired at the “enemy” often on dark nights. Since we don’t have specific details from them about their activities, we have to generalize from what we know about their company, Company C of the 10th Vermont Volunteer Infantry. A number and a letter, 10/C, are a mundane address for the most important human institution of the war. The company, 100 men and three officers at the war’s start, were the soldier's home and family. He ate, slept, marched, and fought with them. His mail went to the company; his orders came from its officers. The commander of the Army might order the Sixth Corps from the left flank to the right, but when the captain issued orders to his soldiers all the men would hear would be “fall in; 60 rounds of ammunition and 3 days rations; hurry it up!”

Although the War Department suspended recruiting in April, 1862, believing it needed no more men to win the war, the brutal battle at Shiloh in the West and the Seven Days battles outside Richmond demonstrated that it was painfully wrong. On June 18, the Department telegraphed Vermont Governor Holbrook: "Pressing need of troops. What can you forward immediately?" The governor offered the Ninth Regiment immediately and asked if a Tenth Regiment would be needed. "Send your tenth regiment" was the immediate reply.

John Andrus Salsbury of Tinmouth was one of the recruiters for the 10th Vermont. He assembled a large number of men from Tinmouth, Clarendon, and Middletown for Company C, and was commissioned as one of its two lieutenants as a result. Tinmouth is credited with nine men in Company C, though my research indicates that only six actually lived here. The rest enlisted here for various reasons - friends went together; Salsbury was popular; or the Tinmouth enlistment bounty was attractive.

The regiment arrived in Washington by freight car and flat car on Sept. 8. Washington was summer-hot and sticky, full of people, soldiers, horses, stinks, diseases, and noise.2 Vermont men from small mountain towns were happy to be among ranks of other men rather than facing this confusion alone. They marched from the station down what is now the Mall and across the Long Bridge on 14th Street into Virginia.  There they camped on Arlington Heights, then the confiscated property of Rebel General Robert E. Lee, but today Arlington National Cemetery. 

Most new regiments spent several months in camps of instruction in Maryland or Virginia after they arrived in the Washington area. There they learned the finer points of Civil War soldiering – drill and handling the musket especially. It may seem surprising, but in 1862 it is likely that relatively few young men from Tinmouth had actually used firearms. The area’s forest had been largely stripped away for settlements, charcoal, and sheep farming, leaving little cover for game animals. The militia organization as a mandatory activity died in the 1830's, though voluntary "uniform companies" existed in larger towns.

But there was a war on, and the Tinmouth men remained in "boot camp" less than a week. On September 14, they were ordered into line with their obsolete Belgian muskets, haversacks, bedrolls and tents. General Lee had invaded Maryland, placing him on the northwest side of Washington. The Union Army was crossing the Potomac at Edwards Ferry in Maryland in pursuit. Along the river and the C&O Canal, several thousand Union soldiers were stationed to serve as canal guards and defenders of the river crossings.  Rebel soldiers, mostly irregular cavalry like Mosby's Rangers, were thick on the Virginia side at that time, and indeed for most of the war. While General McClellan demanded that every soldier available join the Army of the Potomac in Frederick, Maryland, President Lincoln and General Halleck, the nominal commander of the Union Army, would not let him strip the 60 forts defending the city itself of their garrisons. The C&O Canal and the river crossings were less central to their concerns. Longer-service regiments in the Potomac River guard force were detached to join the Army of the Potomac, and inexperienced regiments like the 10th were ordered to take their places.

While the 10th had marched a few miles in short spurts, this was to be a long haul of 25 miles to Seneca. On the first day, they marched to Tennallytown in the northern part of the District of Columbia; the second day, out Conduit Road (now MacArthur Boulevard) and then up Great Falls Road in Maryland to Offuts Crossroads; the third day, they reached Seneca Lock, where the left wing halted, while three companies went an additional several miles to Edwards Ferry.

The area the regiment spread across, Montgomery County, Maryland, was largely farming country.  Tobacco farming in the 18th Century had depleted the soil severely, and even in 1862 much of the land had not recovered. Still, there were prosperous farms, especially in the western part of the county where little tobacco farming had been attempted. This was slave-holding country, though the farms generally grew wheat and corn, and did not need the large labor inputs that cotton, rice, tobacco, and indigo required. Even if their lives were easier than those of plantation hands, slaves were still enslaved, not hired, and could not leave without incurring sometimes deadly pursuit. As happened throughout the Confederacy and border areas, the slaves strongly but secretly supported the Union forces, providing intelligence, guiding marching units, and assisting in the escape of captured soldiers. There were not many Union supporters among the white civilians in the 10th’s area,3 though at times even Rebel sympathizers could be polite and hospitable to individual Union soldiers. The Confederates, however, “seemed to have an uncanny knowledge [of Union troop movements]”4, so perhaps the hospitality was not without deeper motives.

The 10th's area of responsibility included Poolesville, Seneca, and Offuts Crossroads (now Potomac). River Road runs 17 miles from Offut's Crossroads to Conrad's Ferry,5 with Seneca about in the middle and Edwards Ferry several miles further upriver. The "ferries" ran across the Potomac River, which was unbridged from Washington to Point of Rocks. Poolesville, five miles northeast of Conrad's Ferry, was the area’s only significant village,6 but the ferry landings often had stores and mills. None of the ferries operated during the war, since the Virginia shore was Confederate territory.  A number of shallow spots where the river widened were often forded by farmers and by Rebel armies and raiders.

Company G of the 10th was sent back three miles from Seneca to the small fort at Muddy Branch, built the preceding winter. It sat high on a bluff overlooking Muddy Branch, the C&O canal, and the Potomac west of Offuts Crossroads. The remaining companies were assigned to Seneca Lock (including Company C) and Edwards Ferry. Apparently at first the companies camped wherever they could. On Oct. 11, the detachments were called in from their camps to form a regimental camp at Seneca. Soldiers were sent from there to the duty locations. The camp was not a success. It was located on sloping ground, with a swamp between it and the river.7 Every tenth man was sick. Men began dying of various diseases, with five dying on one night alone. Charles Dayton, one of John Salsbury's recruits in Company C, was the first to die, on Sept. 26 – less than a month after leaving Vermont. He worked on John Norton's farm in Tinmouth in 1860, though his family lived in the next town, Middletown. The men took a collection from their meager pay to cover the cost of embalming his body and shipping it home. This practice soon stopped. There were too many deaths.

Vermont regiments in general suffered severely from illness. More died of disease than from battle. In the 10th Vermont, 189 died from disease, including 36 as Confederate prisoners, while 141 died in battle or from combat wounds. The city men had been exposed to more diseases, and acquired more immunities, than farm boys from the hills of Vermont. None of the  Tinmouth men died except Dayton, but probably some were ill. 

When the incompetent lieutenant colonel who was second in command of the regiment was "allowed" to resign in early October,8 the resulting promotions left a vacancy in command of Company I. It was filled on Oct. 8 by election, a practice that soon stopped, but in 1862 was still common in the volunteer regiments. Lt. Salsbury of Company C was elected Captain of Company I by vote of the entire regiment. He chortled to his aunt back in Tinmouth that the men had elected him from among 20 lieutenants. Salsbury commanded Company I for the rest of the war.9 Awarded the rank of brevet major for heroism at Cedar Creek, he was known as Major Salsbury for the rest of his life.

On Nov. 13, the brigade changed commanders and the new one, Col. Davis of the 39th Massachusetts, promptly ordered the entire brigade back to Offuts Crossroads.  There they could camp on high, dry ground in open fields10 east of the village. Marching to Seneca and Edwards Ferry for duty must have been tiresome, especially as the November weather was cold and rainy and the roads were terrible.  Beyond Edwards Ferry the area was held by the 11th New York Cavalry (Scott’s 900). The move did not reduce the sick list. Twenty-five men died in five weeks, although “we were on high ground in the open field, well sheltered with tents, and under good police regulations. Many of the men were thoroughly disheartened and half of the officers were too sick to be useful.”11

The Vermont Thanksgiving Day, which was on Dec. 4 at that time, was a lovely Indian summer day. The regiment celebrated with foot races, football, a pistol shooting match won by a corporal (the major was second), and a greased pig chase. Companies A and F won the pig, but A stole F’s half that night. “From that day began the improvement of our sanitary condition.”12

Col. Lige White’s Confederate 35th Virginia Cavalry crossed the river at Conrad's Ferry on the night of Dec. 15 and hit Scott’s 900, seizing a number of prisoners and even more horses. The men were released at the river crossing, but the horses were Confederate steeds from then on. The brigade was ordered back to Poolesville, strengthened with an artillery battery and by the 6th Michigan Cavalry, which replaced Scott’s 900.

On Dec. 21, the regiment marched to Poolesville and the new brigade camp there, named Camp Heintzelman. The regiment’s left wing was now at Edwards Ferry, the center at Conrad's Ferry, including Company C, and the right at the Monocacy Aqueduct, which was critical to the usefulness of the canal. If the aqueduct were destroyed, Washington would lose its Maryland coal supply, so three companies were sent to guard it. Perhaps expecting some disorganization among the newly deployed soldiers, Mosby’s raiders crossed the river that night at White’s Ford, just above Conrad’s Ferry, but left when they discovered a strong picket posted there.

       A peaceful winter of 1863 followed. Camp Heintzelman sat on level ground east of Poolesville.  Between drilling and picket duty, the men visited around, wrote letters, and read (the Iliad and Shakespeare are claimed to have been favorites). The Belgian smoothbore muskets were exchanged for new Springfield rifle muskets. The citizens were mostly kind, submerging their hostility to the Union cause in their usual good manners.  There ensued “the most delightful season of the year (spring). Light winds bore up the fragrance of green and flowering fields and budding woods.” Cpl. Frank Swan of Company C, from Pittsfield, took every opportunity to return to the “malarious neighborhood” of Seneca Lock, where so many had taken ill the previous fall. A 30 man picket detachment was posted there, changing every 24 hours. Swan volunteered not only to serve as Corporal of the Guard there, but as an ordinary soldier when it was not his turn to command the picket post.  The lockkeeper had a relative, Miss Mary Gartner “from the interior of Maryland … she has no fear of the Northern vandal.”  Cpl. Swan and Miss Gartner were married by the chaplain on June 14, Lt. Col. Henry and other officers of the regiment attending.13

Only a week later, the regiment marched away. General Lee had invaded the North again, and his troops were already into Pennsylvania. The night before the wedding, a detachment of the 6th Michigan had been attacked by Mosby's Raiders14 at Seneca Lock. Retreating up the creek about a mile to Seneca Mills, 30 Michigan soldiers under Captain Charles Deane made a determined stand against a reported 250 Rebels.15 Only when part of the rebel force crossed the creek below the cavalrymen and outflanked them were they “routed.”  Two Michigan soldiers were killed, and six Confederates. The fleeing cavalrymen rode into Poolesville at 4 a.m., causing the camp to be barricaded; however, a detachment of Rebel cavalry was not interested in attacking a brigade of infantry, even with the benefit of surprise.

The history of the 10th Vermont says the attackers were Stuart’s regular Confederate cavalry on a reconnaissance of river crossings. However, Virgil Carrington Jones in Ranger Mosby (University of North Carolina Press, 1944) describes the raid in some detail as a Mosby adventure. He says that Mosby "struck a superior force drawn up at Seneca Mills."  That's Deane's 30 men. Jones says that “Mosby's appearance north of the Potomac had the desired effect.  Troops were rushed in force up the left bank of the river from Washington.” Actually, the 10th marched away towards Harpers Ferry on June 24. Stuart's three cavalry brigades crossed at Rowser’s Ford, just below Seneca Lock, on the night of June 27 without being challenged. One brigade marched through Potomac village, turning smartly left at Offut's store to head for Rockville. The officers held a ball there that night.

When the regiment marched for Harper’s Ferry, Cpl. Swan’s new wife was sent to live in the District of Columbia.16 Chaplain Haynes recorded this farewell to Maryland:

Their Poolesville friends were right, of course. The regiment was no longer on guard duty but fully engaged in the sad business of fighting. It fought the Confederates for two more years, taking hundreds of casualties and distinguishing itself on many battlefields. None of the 1862 Tinmouth enlistees was killed in battle, though two of the later ones were, and Judah Hall died of his wounds.

A few soldiers paid a brief visit to Poolesville the next year when marching from Washington to the Shenandoah Valley and Cedar Creek. For most of the men Poolesville was a pleasant memory among many not so happy.

Notes:

1. Six men left Tinmouth for Brattleboro with Company C, but Charles Dayton didn't live for the year, dying within six weeks.

2. Reveille in Washington, by Margaret Leech, gives a colorful picture of wartime Washington.

3. In the 1860 election Lincoln received only 50 votes out of 2000 in Montgomery County. While there were enough “Union Democrats” in Rockville to hold a meeting and pass a resolution against secession in 1861, they subsequently found it necessary to keep their sentiments to themselves – if, indeed, they retained them. Soderberg, Civil War Sites in Maryland, White Mane Books, Shippensburg, Pa., 1998, p.55.

4. Soderberg, p. 70.

5. Conrad’s was purchased after the war by Col. Elijah “Lige” White of Poolesville, commander of the 35th Virginia Cavalry (Confederate) throughout the war. As White's Ferry, it is the only one now operating. Soderberg, p. 68.

6. Today, the land looks surprisingly as it did in 1862. From Seneca west it's in the Agricultural Preserve, where 25 acre lots are the minimum and most land will not pass a percolation test for septic systems. The houses on the occasional developed lots tend to be “McMansions,” a far cry from the modest farms of 1862!

7.  Today, it is on the property of the Bretton Woods Golf Club, owned by the World Bank.

8. Though enlisted soldiers were strictly held to their enlistments, officers could resign at any time; however, their resignations did not have to be accepted, usually they were only when the officer was disabled or regarded as of no great value to the service.

9. Tinmouth Channel, Vol. 1, No. 1, Fall, 1999, p.4.

10. Today, the brigade camp is covered with houses. A local history, The Potomac Adventure by Anne Harris, doesn't mention it, though it apparently remained in use for the rest of the war.

11. Edwin M. Haynes, History of the 10th Vermont Regiment, p.24

12. History of the 10th Vermont  Regiment, p. 25

13. History of the 10th Vermont Regiment, p. 30.

15. I wondered why Chaplain Haynes devoted a couple of pages to a Michigan regiment's skirmish, so I did a little research and found that Capt. Deane was originally from Grafton, Vt.

16. Swan avoided capture in the retreat from the Battle of the Monocacy, but when the regiment was thrown against a Confederate division at Cedar Creek, Swan was “missing" and never found. History of the 10th Vermont, p. 31.

17. History of the 10th Vermont, p. 31. The brigade had been part of the Defenses of Washington. The Army of the Potomac was a field army separate from the Defenses.

(This article was published in the December 2007 issue of Along The Towpath, the newsletter of the C&O Canal Association.)

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