An observation from 2012: The march back to Alexandria was likely on the 15th. Please see discussion in Ron Baumgarten’s comment below. – Mike Goad, 3-18-20121
Alexandria, 16th.–Received orders last night to march at 4 this A. M. Simultaneously with the receipt of the order came a northeast wind and heavy clouds. The clouding up kept pace with our preparations to march, and such a day of rain I have not witnessed in Virginia. To-night, after a march of twelve miles through mud and rain, the men lie out without shelter, except the little tents debris, which in time of rain are good for nothing. I shudder when I think of them, exposed, after a hard day’s march, to the driving storm. And whilst they are thus exposed, I feel almost guilty that I am in a fine hotel, by a fine coal fire, “comfortable and cozy.” But sickness brought me here. For three nights I have not slept, and last night I had an attack of cholera morbus. This morning, being sick and worn out, I asked permission to return to Vienna, (two and a half miles), and come in by rail. Permission was denied me. Sick or well, I must march, and look after the management of ambulances, and transportation of hospital stores. Arose at three o’clock, working part of time, and the rest cholera-morbus-ing till four. Started with the Brigade, but at Fairfax, for the first time since I entered the army, had to fall out. Went to bed, slept two hours, arose, took a cup of coffee, mounted my horse, and pressing my way through dense masses of the army for five or six miles, overtook the Brigade. When within a few miles of this city I was so sick that I insisted on being permitted to seek lodgings out of the weather, and having received permission, came on here. Have got dry and warm, and am now feeling better. I am gratified to learn to-night that my two poisoned boys are doing well, though it will be a long time before they entirely recover.
When I left Fairfax this morning the scene was grand beyond description. The soldiery, densely filling the road, leading from the town, had been pouring steadily forward for more than two hours. I looked back, and as far as the eye could reach down the two roads coming in, the dense body blocked them in both directions. The three roads presenting a long blue line rendered more striking by the glare of the bayonets, which at a short distance looked like a solid body of glittering steel over the blue bulk below. How far back the lines extended, I could not see, but I pressed forward for six miles, through the dense crowd. Verily, the army is now in motion.
16th.–’Tis Sunday morning. Returned to my regiment this morning; found all quiet. No one yet knows our destination. But from the fact that some forty river steamers await us, we infer that we are not going to sea. A singular fact, worthy of note: On our arrival here to embark, not a steamer had coaled, and there was no coal to take on!!– Why is this? ‘Tis terrible to even suspect that treason may be at work in the very heads of our departments.
- Comment by Ron Baumgarten, March 16, 2012:
First off, I wanted to thank you for bringing this diary to my attention. I have been blogging about Camp Griffin for quite some time now, and, thanks for your blog, I was amazed to discover this source, which contains entries related to Castleman’s time in the camp. In fact, I live right near the home that was used as W.S. Hancock’s brigade hospital. Castleman mentions this house at least a few times. This diary is the first mention I have seen of this hospital in primary sources. In any event, recent research I have done on the movement of Baldy Smith’s division to Alexandria from the camp at Flint Hill raises questions about Castleman’s entry for March 16. In fact, Smith’s division appears to have marched from Flint Hill, through Fairfax Court House, to Alexandria starting at around 6 a.m. on March 15, 1862. This March 15 date is confirmed in a variety of sources. (See, for example, Vermont in the Civil War (1886) by Benedict; the Adjutant General’s Report for the State of Wisconsin (1863); OR, 1:5, 55, 755.) The weather and other descriptions in Castleman’s entry for March 16 sound very much like the March 15 movement to Alexandria I recently wrote about. (See http://dclawyeronthecivilwar.blogspot.com/2012/03/mud-march-to-alexandria-mccall-and.html ) The weather actually was pretty clear on March 16, and was stormy on the 15th, as depicted in Castleman’s entry for the 16th. Moreover, Smith’s division moved en masse on the 15th through Fairfax Court House. I think that the “last night . . . at 4 A.M.” that Castleman is referring to may be 4 a.m. on March 15, and that he wrote this entry in the early morning hours of March 16, when he described how “[t]on-night…the men lie without shelter.” In fact, that night of March 15/16 was miserable by all accounts. In any event, this date issue does remind us all of how primary sources, although reliable, sometime raise as many questions as they answer! Thanks again for bringing this source to modern readers’ attention.