Our march to Washington and thence to the Monocacy was without event worthy of notice now.
You cannot have forgotten how you forded the Potomac on a sudden march to Leesburg to surprise the rebels in that town. The water was up to the necks of all the short men. and all of you had to hold above your heads your muskets and cartridge boxes. But you got through and succeeded in capturing and paroling a great many skulkers and shirks who were hiding in that pleasant Virginia town; how many, I forget, but one of your officers who was there tells me we paroled more men than were in the 57th. Not much glory in that kind of work, though!
The "Jeb Stuart raid"' around our army was the most striking incident of our Monocacy campaign. We heard of Jeb before he came. Contrabands and Union men told us. Ward's brigade was to intercept him. Our brigade was placed, for that purpose, I suppose, on the brow of the steep hill that overlooked the road which ran between the hill and the Potomac. The 57th was next the brow of the hill. The hill was too steep for cavalry to climb; the road was narrow; the river deep. Jeb Stuart was never in greater danger than he was in that beautiful morning. When I heard the distant tramp of his horses, not having received any orders, I galloped over to General Ward, who was not further off than two hundred yards, and asked for leave to attack. He said he could not give it without orders from General Stoneman! I urged the emergency, but he refused to take the responsibility. And so, I had to stand quietly on that hill-top and look at the gallant Jeb and his gay horsemen as they went riding by!
The great opportunity of the 57th and of its temporary commander passed with them; if we had received the leave asked for, the 57th would have made itself the crack regiment of the army, and its commander would have sported a star on his shoulder strap eighteen months earlier than he did. But such are the fortunes of war!
When Colonel Campbell returned to his regiment, I asked General Stoneman to give me an order to report to my own regiment. He responded by putting me in command of the 38th New York. Here was a change! But the New York boys who had run with the machine gave me no reason to complain of them. In the battle of Fredericksburg, where some of the fighting was hand to hand, the Sergeant-Major saved me by a timely pistol shot, from being bayonetted by a rebel soldier.