John D. Billings, The history of the Tenth Massachusetts battery of light artillery in the war of the rebellion

[277] farmers the occupants had fled—a foolish proceeding on their part, for inhabited houses were, as a rule, more respectfully treated than those that were vacated. The fact of a family being fugitives was taken as conclusive evidence that their sympathies were enlisted on the side of rebellion, and hence, in the expressive language of the army slang, the soldiers frequently ‘went through’ such dwellings. The barns in this section were well filled with tobacco in the various stages of curing; and lovers of the weed took the opportunity to replenish their stock at a figure considerably lower than sutlers' prices.

Our destination was as yet only surmised, but every indication pointed to the correctness of that surmise; viz., that we were aiming at Petersburg. About the middle of the afternoon we reached the Petersburg and City Point Railroad. And now, in order that the reader may follow more understandingly, the movements of the corps¹ will be noted in brief, from the time of its arrival at the James until we rejoined it before the city, and any of the Company who read this will, we hope, obtain a little clearer view of what the ‘Old Second Corps’ was doing, and why it failed to do more at this time.

Gen. Hancock says the corps was all across at an early hour on the morning of the 15th, save one regiment and four batteries. On the evening of the 14th Gen. Meade had given him orders to hold his troops in readiness to move, informing him that he might be instructed to march towards Petersburg. Later in the evening he was ordered to move by the most direct route to that city (after having received from Gen. Butler and distributed sixty thousand rations), and take position where the City Point