Piecing together the Civil
War experiences of my six ancestors with only the official record and the
memoirs of other participants care must be taken not to embellish the events
being written about. So phrases, such as
‘he might have done …,’ ‘it is possible that…,’ ‘it would be normal if…’ ‘imagine
if you will…,’ are uses to maintain the historical accuracy while still telling
their stories. Never the less, when an
entry in a diary or a line in the official company record converges with a specific
point on the historical timeline becomes so overwhelmingly powerful, I want to
believe the event actually took place.
December 1863, the Army
of the Potomac had crossed the Rappahannock River. The Mine Run campaign was over; the last
attack had been cancelled due to the nature of the terrain and the concomitant
bloodshed such an attack would cause.
General Meade ordered the Army of the Potomac into winter quarters at
Brandy Station and the surrounding areas of Culpepper County, Va. The Daily Report for Company M 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry on
December 6, 1863 states “Corporal Beal on pass to Brandy Station for 4
days.” The Second Mass Cav. had gone
into winter quarters at Vienna, Va. which is 85 plus miles from Brandy Station.
Question, why did Merrill
travel 85 plus miles on a four day pass when he could have gone 15 miles to
Washington D.C.? What reason did he have
to spend precious leave time with the Army of the Potomac? The answer is simple this was a chance for
all four brothers and their cousin to get together for Christmas.
Merrill Beal, 30 year
old butcher, volunteered February 1863; Eleazar
Beal, married, shoemaker, 36 years old when he volunteered in August of 1861, was in the 22nd Mass Volunteer Infantry; William H. Beal single, farmer, 22 years old when he volunteered in August of
1862, was in the 39th Mass. Volunteer
Infantry; Jesse Beal, married, 32 years old, shoemaker, was drafted in July 1863 into the 12th
Mass Volunteer Infantry; Selah Alden, their cousin, 32 years old, shoemaker when he
volunteered in July of 1861, was with the 13th Mass. Volunteer
Infantry, all these units were in the
Army of the Potomac. The 39th,
and 13th were encamped at Mitchell station. The 12th was encamped in the area
of Kelly’s Ford and the 22nd was encamped at Beverly Ford.
When the Army went into
winter quarters, it was a time of rest and refit. The routine of picket duty, patrols,
inspections, and parades were kept up, but there would have been plenty of free
time. The military railroad connected
Vienna, Va. with Brandy Station so Merrill could have made the journey in a
half day on the military railroad. The
historical records strongly suggest that the brothers were together for a few
days in early December of 1863. What was this gathering of brothers like?
The romantic in me imagines a poignant
gathering of men who had seen the realities of modern war and realized the odds
were against all of them coming home alive. Who did
Merrill look for first? Were the
brothers all able to get together? What
did they talk about? Did they have a
group picture taken by one of the many sutlers contracted by the Union Army to serve the Army
of the Potomac while in winter quarters?
Again only theory and logic can answer these questions. There is no factual evidence, at this time,
to definitively say they were together that Christmas season of 1863. Consequently, theory, logic, and
imagination, along with some common sense must tell the rest of the story.
Imagine if you will,
Merrill riding the U.S. Military Railroad train down the Orange and Alexander
railroad. Sitting in his seat, or in one of the freight cars, gazing upon the devastation,
mile after mile, the war had brought to Virginia. The weather is cold the leaves are off the
trees and signs of war are everywhere he looked. Union soldiers on picket duty
guarding the railroad against attack, from Mosby’s Rangers, can be seen from the train
warming themselves by a fire.
As the train headed for
Brandy Station, Merrill would inevitably have thought about the last Christmas
with his family back in 1859. He had not
seen any of his brothers, except Jesse, or his cousin Selah Alden for three
years. Surely Merrill was remembering
past Christmas celebrations with his parents, Calvin and Sally Beal, were
alive. Did the family adopt the custom
of having a Christmas tree? Was he
remembering how they made the decorations for the tree and the Christmas
dinners his mother Sally made for the family?
Merrill would have to have been inhuman not to have those memories playing
like a movie in his mind, as he traveled to Brandy Station to find his
brothers.
Merrill’s older brother
Eleazar, one of the original volunteers in August of 61, was on detached duty
with his division’s ambulance corps at that time. Did the God's of Christmas conspirer to make
this reunion happen by having Eleazar at one of the depots in his ambulance
transferring wounded soldiers onto a train bound for one of the General
hospitals in Washington D.C.? It is not out of the realm of possibilities. The
Mine Run campaign had just ended a few days before so Eleazar’s duties would
have had him constantly going back and forth to the train depot transporting
wounded men. Merrill could have spotted
his brother at a train depot.
Let’s say that is what
happened. Eleazar would have told Merrill where to find the encampments of
their other brothers’ regiments. Once
all the brothers, and their cousin Selah Alden, gathered together, what happen?
Well since Merrill was
in the cavalry, his brothers probably ribbed him about never having to walk
anywhere and having an easy time of it.
To which Merrill’s response might have been, ‘Yup' real easy, except at
the end of the day. While the infantry is sitting around the fire drinking
coffee, the cavalry is tending to their horses.
Before we can get warm and have anything to eat or drink, the horses
have to be taken care of first.’
Merrill might have
continued with, 'But, promotions are fast in the cavalry. You guys are still
privates. I’m already an acting
sergeant.’
And then the laughter
would have started and the individual stories would begin to unfold. Questions such as what is San Francisco like? Where
you were at Gettysburg? How bad was Antietam?
What kind of fighters are Mosby and his men?
Each brother would tell his story while the others listened. No embellishments with individual heroic deeds
just brothers comparing their common experiences of their temporary profession. There was no sibling rivalry just a common
atmosphere of respect. Each brother had proved
himself in the crucible of war there was no need for embellishments.
I’m sure they talked about their brother
George, who was 35 and married with a ten year old son, and how smart he was to
stay out of the war. (George would
enlist in the 3rd Massachusetts Cavalry a month later) Eleazar and Selah would have talked about
their enlistments coming to an end in the fall of 64. They might have good
naturedly taunted the others with the fact they still had two more years to
serve. They might have shared letters
from home and talked about old friends who enlisted but where gone.
The stories from Christmas past and old songs
might have been sung while they sat on hardtack boxes around a camp fire
drinking coffee trying to stay warm during the cold Virginia night. The glow of
the fire hiding the emotions each brother felt for the other. The log huts of the winter quarters were most
likely still being built.
The following day they
would have visited the sutler’s store and purchase some delicacies for a
soldiers feast. If the sutler had a traveling photography studio, they might have
had a group picture taken that they could have sent home to their wives? But all too soon, the gathering would have
come to an end. Each brother would go
back to his regiment and fight his war.
Each brother separately wondering if this was to be the last Christmas
they would have together.
As I stated previously,
the documentation I found, though slim, strongly suggest that Merrill, his
three brothers; Eleazar, Jesse, William and his cousin Selah spent a few days
in early December of 1863 together at Brandy Station Va. This story is how I
imagined it would have been. They were
celebrating a Christmas far from loves ones and home, at a miserable army camp,
in the middle of war torn Virginia. It was a gathering of brothers for Christmas.
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