The Road to Washington

4/19/2013

Monday, 20 October 1862

Reveille was sounded at 3 am, and the volunteers of the 27th Maine Infantry began striking their tents and loading them onto teams to be sent to Portland. At 6:00 am, lines were formed, and the troops began their march into Portland towards the railroad depot, arriving there about 7:30. The train started its journey south at 8:30 am.

We arrived at South Berwick Junction, where we had to stop almost an hour to see a great many friends...and bid a last adieu to them - diary entry of Sgt Joseph Doe [Bryant and Gooch did not mention this stop in their writings]

The Providence Depot, Boston (looking south)

Arrived in Boston, Massachusetts at 2:00 pm over the Boston and Maine Railroad. The men disembarked from the cars, and had to march across the city to the Boston & Providence Depot, where another train was waiting. They did not leave until 5:30 pm, as they had to wait for their baggage to be transferred from one train and reloaded onto the other. From Boston, they rode to the coastal town of Stonington, CT [Gooch and Doe; Bryant's journal says Groton, while Pvt Davis wrote Fall River (which also ran a steamboat line to New York City)].

Tuesday, 21 October 1862

At Stonington, CT, the steamer 'Metropolis' was waiting to carry the soldiers to Jersey City, NY, a 100-mile journey [Sgt Doe wrote in his diary that the name of the steamer was the 'Commonwealth', so perhaps the regiment was loaded onto more than one ship]. The ship left port at 12 midnight, and would arrive at Jersey City at 6 am [Doe] or 10 am [Bryant] (perhaps at the wharf of the New Jersey Railroad Transportation Co, where other reg'ts were offloaded). The men were given some soup and hot coffee and proceeded to board the cars (of the Camden & Amboy RR) for the trip to Philadelphia.

From an 1880 map of the railroad system, showing the New Jersey Railroad from Jersey City to New Brunswick, where it hooked up with the Camden & Amboy RR.

The Camden & Amboy Railroad, from New Brunswick to Camden. During the Civil War, the troops would then have to be ferried over to Philadelphia.

Map of Camden, showing the rails ending at the wharf.

The train arrived at Camden about 4:30 pm, the men being transported across the river via ferry into Philadelphia. By 1864 (as seen on map at right), the rail cars were driven directly onto the ferry, as was done in Perryville. It is currently unknown whether this was operational at the time the 27th ME men passed through. They marched a short distance to the famous Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloon, where they were all served meals of bread, meat and coffee. After supper, they marched 2 to 3 miles [according to Bryant] across the city, where cattle cars awaited at the depot of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore RR. They left the depot about 10 or 11 pm.

The streets was full of men, women and children all giving us their best wishes Old men as much as 75 years old and little girls....all running to see the soldiers - Charles Gooch, writing about Philadelphia in his 10/23 letter home to his wife

Philadelphia map, showing the ferry route to the wharf at the end of Washington Ave.

Troops would march to the station at the corner of Broad St and Washington Ave, after being provided refreshments at the Cooper Shop, 50 yards south of Washington, on Otsego St (#20 on map).

Wednesday, 22 October 1862

Camden St rail yard (from an 1869 map).

At Perryville, PA, the train rolled onto the deck of the ferry there, carrying it across the Susquehanna River, and rolling back onto the track on the opposite shore at Havre De Grace. They arrived in Baltimore at 7 am [Bryant and Davis] or 8 am [Gooch]. They again had to offload from one train, then marched across the city to the Washington Depot of the Baltimore & Ohio RR (on Camden St), having breakfast before boarding another set of cars. These cattle cars were in worse run-down shape as the ones from the previous trip. The troops had to wait at the Relay House until about noon, when the train was ready to leave for Washington.

Depot of the Baltimore & Ohio RR, now at New Jersey Ave & C St NW.

At 5:00 pm, the train rolled into Washington, DC. The 27th Maine men went into barracks (perhaps the Soldiers' Relief Barracks, mentioned by other regimental histories) near the depot, where they would spend the evening.

Early map of Washington, showing the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad ending at Pennsylvania Ave and 2nd St (just north of where the Reflecting Pool is now)

Notes: Some of the information on times and places came from the following sources:

Captain Seth Bryant, Company I - kept a journal while serving with the 27th Maine
Private Benjamin F Davis, Co B, in a 24 Oct 1862 letter home to his father
Sgt Joseph Doe, Co B - kept a diary, some of which was mentioned in "A Shower of Stars" on pages 38-39
Pvt Charles Gooch, Co I, wrote about the trip south in a letter home to his wife, on 23 Oct '62

Map Sources:

4 Comments

Michelle Tucci

3/21/2016 02:14:28 pm

I finally read "A Shower of Stars" and was wondering about a number of places about which you blogged in this entry. My questions were answered. Thank you for your on-going excellent research which you selflessly share with all.

Steve

3/22/2016 10:26:46 am

It was fun researching their route to DC. I need to get back to writing about the different locations where they were encamped while in Virginia.

Scott Mingus link

4/22/2017 10:01:25 pm

One minor point - the bridge at Perryville did not exist until 1866. Previous to that, there was no bridge (it had not been burned). Ferry service was all that was available until the PW&B finally bridged the Susquehanna after the Civil War.

Steve

4/23/2017 09:38:57 am

Thanks for that, it has been edited. Now, to look back through my notes and find where I got the (bad) info that a bridge had been destroyed there. I recall searching A LOT about that ferry, as I thought it amazing that a train could roll right onto one and cross the river.

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