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59 Chapter 8 Soldiers and Civilians The presence of Union soldiers in Columbia County elicited emotional outbursts from those in uniform and civilians with whom the troops interacted. A few surviving snippets from the Columbia County Republican indicate that loyalists appreciated the presence of troops because many genuinely were afraid of acts of reprisal against them from the men who opposed both the draft and the war. The paper praised Lieutenant Colonel Stewart, calling him “an able, judicious and efficient officer. . . . The loyal men of this county appreciate his services, for he has not only succeeded in thwarting a widespread conspiracy and crushing a threatening rebellion in this county, but has induced a large number of ‘peace Democrats’ to enlist in the service of their country.”1 The troops comprising Stewart’s command have already been enumerated , but a closer look reveals some interesting facts. Even though the men in Stewart’s First Pennsylvania Battalion had enlisted for a mere one hundred days, many of the soldiers were already veterans of military service. An unscientific survey of soldiers from this battalion indicates that perhaps at least one-quarter of the soldiers in each company had previous military service. In Stewart’s own Company F, the previous units in which its members had served included the Tenth and Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserves, and the 54th, 56th, 67th, 78th, 101st, and 135th infantry regiments. Most of the Keystone Battery’s artillerists had served with the battery in 1862–1863. The Veteran Reserve Corps was composed of men with previous military experience. Only Lambert’s horsemen were primarily without any military experience—only a dozen men had served previously.2 The fact that a large percentage of the soldiers serving in Columbia County had previous military experience meant that these men could share their experiences with the recruits and help them acclimate to life in the army. A soldier’s day was governed by numerous army regulations and a daily routine of drill and discipline that left little free time. Soldiers with free time often were trouble to civilians, whether they were friends or enemies. To prevent any possible 60 The Fishing Creek Confederacy conflicts with local civilians, General Cadwalader issued strict orders shortly after coming to Bloomsburg. “Straggling from camp is positively prohibited,” said Cadwalader, “and no officer or soldier will leave the camp except with written permission and that only for a short period in case of necessity or business in the immediate vicinity of camp and within hearing of the drums.” The general himself would personally examine all requests for exceptions to this order . However, the same day that Cadwalader issued this order, he asked Colonel Stewart why a portion of the troops had not been supplied with proper rations. “The men are straggling over the country for miles,” wrote the general, “and some of them begging for food, thereby bringing the service into disrepute.”3 In this same order, Cadwalader also stipulated that there was to be no firing in camp unless it was during specifically designated times and with designated targets. Taken together, these orders were issued to ensure that there would be a minimum of interference with local civilians. Given the fact that many residents opposed both the war and the draft, Cadwalader wished to avoid any negative contact with residents and in turn not give such people the ammunition to use against the army in terms of public relations and bad press. The few surviving soldier accounts paint a negative picture of local residents in the upper townships. Their accounts, of course, are partially colored by information supplied to them by loyal residents and their own reading of the two Democratic newspapers. “Is it any wonder,” declared a soldier, “that there should be trouble up the creek among those who read none but such papers .” Even soldiers with Democratic affiliation were affronted by the antiwar rhetoric in the Star of the North and Democrat. One of Lambert’s horsemen was sad that the “insurgents” in northern Columbia County had not stood up to fight the soldiers. “Had we advanced at this time we might have had a chance to administer some of the same kind of Union arguments to those scoundrels as their friends in the South have been receiving at the hands of our soldiers. But disloyalists are cowards, and so soon as the excitement of bad whiskey had passed away the mass of their force lost heart, and those men who had property to lose...

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