1862 April 26

[from the diary of Captain Jonathan B. Hager of the 14th U. S. Regulars, as copied at a later date from the original]

April 26   Saturday--to night I had the honor of ope-
ning a trench in front of the main works at
Yorktown.  Up to this moment this was to me
certainly the most interesting portion of my
military career, and a description of it may
not be uninteresting to others.
The 14th with detachments left Camp from other
regular regiments left camp at dark. By
some mistake we took the wrong direction &
marched through Egyptian darkness in mud
up to the knees & water up to the middle in

many places.  It had been raining for more
than a day.  the darkness was so visible
& tangible, that the numerous ditches which
had been recently dug to drain the immense
camp, could not be seen until we were
immediately upon them.  these were usually
of a width making it impossible to clear
them at a leap.  Each soldier carrying a
shovel in addition to his gun & accoutrements
had rather too much wright & many a one
found himself floundering in a puddle
of dirty water nearly to his armpits--
thus we marched, struggled & scrambled for
nearly an hour.  Finding ourselves too near
the enemy a halt was called.  Profound
stillness was enjoined & a messenger started
back to Head Quarters to ascertain our destina-
tion & direction.  After half or three quarters of
an hour had elapsed he returned, when------
horrors of horrors! We had to retrace our steps
and leave the camp in another direction--
The same programme was enacted.  We reached
the camp & took a fresh start.
As we approached the outposts our march
was every now & then arrested by a picket
sentinel, who would emerge suddenly from
the most unexpected places. Challenge in a
low tone of voice, ascertain to his satisfaction
that we were friends & dodge fr back into his
hiding place & we would pass on. Finally
at 10 o'clock we reached our destination.  the
Camp fires of athe citadel of Yorktown not
more than Seven or eight hundred yards distant
shone brightly in the darkness--Our regiment
was divided into two reliefs.  I took charge
of the first & Capt. OConnell of the second relief
I marched my men following Capt. Duane the
Engineer in charge of the works, to the point where
the work was to begin.  The only guide we had
was a white tape line stretched along the
ground.  This in the darkness could be seen.  The
men were posted three feet apart,  this took but
little while longer, perhaps than under ordinary
circumstances, for profound silence was the
order of the night, and orders & instructions had
to be communicated to every man in a whisper.
When each man was posted he laid his
musket in front of him on the ground the
butt towards him & instructed as expeditiously
as was consistent with silence to dig a trench
three feet wide & three feet deep and in case
the enemy fired upon us to drop his shovel,
seize his musket & take cover in the ditch.
The dirt was thrown so that the ditch was on
the side towards Yorktown.  The ground was

soft & fallow so that it made no noise & was
easily worked. It was not long before each
man had a hole large enough for this own
protection, while I kept a keen eye in the
direction of the enemy, ready at the slightest
flash to dodge under cover of a trench.  The
stillness was almost oppression.  A stranger
might have come along, transverse the whole
line & not even for a moment suspected that
five hundred men nay a thousand were
working within twenty feet of him--During
the progress of the work I stepped across our
ditch directing the work, & while there something
rolled against my feet.  I thought nothing of it.
It was repeated again and again. It became
mysterious and would  bear investigation.  I
stepped back and stumbled against a pile of
earth which seemed nearly as high as my head
I climbed to the top and lo! there in the darkness
I could see shadows, as it were, at work.  It proved
to be a detachment that had arrived on the
ground early in the night & had been at work
two or three hours longer than ourselves.  They had
been working there within twenty feet of us and
we did not know it.  I could scarcely realize it.
This is one of the beauties of military discipline
though I think personal safety had something
to do with it--At 12 o'clock I was relieved
& Capt. OConnell marched his relief to the
trench. then I withdrew mine neither sorry nor
glad to be relieved.  the novelty of the scene &
the excitement attending it, qualified the
fear of danger & I occasionally thought a
shot now & then from the rebel works would
add piquancy to the affair.  I marched my
relief to the protection of a hill where we acted
as a reserve in case of a sortie of the enemy.
Of course we had no sleep--a little good
brandy served to while away the hours, until
just before day the whole party was taken  from
the ditches & posted around under  [?] at various
points to protect the work until the arrival of the
relieving party which could now work in daylight

MSS 9044