The 14th Indiana Volunteers rush to hook up with McClellan's Army of the Potomac as it retreats from a failed campaign to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond.
June 15, 1862
Sunday. Got marching orders this morning and retreated towards Front Royal. Fremont also fell back to Mount Jackson. The rebels have had their forces vastly increased. Hence the idea of falling back as the rebels set for strategy (sic) purposes.
June 16, 1862
Came to Front Royal this evening and camped. There is considerable reinforcement for us here.
June 20, 1862
Ordered to get ready to get on the cars and after doing so went down to the rail road when the order was countermanded and was ordered to prepare for a five days march. There was much indignation manifested by the boys at these proceedings for we thought that after marching so long and hard that we would get to take a nice ride on the cars but from one cause or other it had been countermanded. The fourth Ohio had gone about an hour before on the cars.
June 21, 1862
Started this morning on "the five days march" through to Manassas Gap.
June 22, 1862
Sunday. In motion about noon we took the road to Salem just before coming to Rector Town.
June 23, 1862
Passed through Salem and after marching about sixteen or eighteen miles we camped. In the evening a tremendous rain storm came up and the boys scattered out for shelter. It was I believe as hard a rain as I ever beheld. We intended to move farther on but the branches were so swollen that it was next to impossible.
June 24, 1862
Arrival at the rail road four miles south of Manassas Junction and camped.
June 29, 1862
Got aboard the cars and got to Alexandria. We could see several Forts here, part of the city and the great dome of the Capitol. It thrilled every soul with Joy to look at our glorious Capitol most or all of us for the first time. On the night of the 29 we got on a steamboat and lay till next morning on the broad bosom of the beautiful Potomac. Our destination is Fortress Monroe. We steamed off in the morning down the Potomac. A considerable distance down on the Maryland side is Fort Washington which is mounted by from appearances by thirty or forty heavy guns.
A few miles down on the Virginia side is Mount Vernon famous for the birth place of George Washington. While at Fredericksburg, I saw the house where Washington once lived. It is old and dilapidated and nothing standing but part of the walls.
July 1, 1862
I waked up this morning walked out upon deck and saw the huge (sic) bull dogs of Fortress Monroe frowning upon us. I have been wanting to see this for some time and now my curiosity is gratified.
While I am writing on the upper deck of the "Columbia" the tall spires of vessels ports me in mind of a large (?). There are many shifts, schooners, while steam boats with their gigantic engines plow the foaming billions of the Chesapeake Bay. Besides the Columbia there is the Vanderbilt, South America, Herald, Commodore, FF Secor, Metamora, Henebec, Georgia, Louisiana, Georgiania, and a number of others too numerous to mention.
July 2, 1862
After laying at anchor a while this morning we landed on the Richmond side. The left wing of our army have fallen back to this point. It is 16 miles (?) the river from Fort Darlings (?) has been two or three desperate fights in the last few days here. It is stated that we took four of five thousand prisoners. Our loss in killed wounded and missing is represented to be over twenty thousand. Both armies occupy the position they had in the last days fight which was on the first of this month.
Having just got here we know nothing only what the boys tell us that were in the fight. The state that most all prisoners we took had a canteen full of whiskey and a great many of them were drunk. The prisoners we took belonged a great many of them to Beauregards late army. From this it is evident they largely out number our forces.
[Owen's second journal comes to an abrupt end here and there are a few lost pages. The third journal is also missing some pages and begins again in the middle of an entry just before July 14, 1862. ]
