After chasing Stonewall Jackson all around the Shenandoah Valley during the Spring of 1862, the 2nd Massachusetts went into bivouack near Stony Creek. The Rebels took up residence directly across the river. Neither side seemed inclined to get into a real fight, although there were daily exchanges of pleasantries in the form of artillery rounds, and the sharp buzz of rifle-balls.These messengers of potential disability and doom no longer created much of a stir. Capt. Samuel Quincy noted that half of the Rebel shells lobbed in their direction failed to explode. And Lt. Bob Shaw had grown so accostomed to the sound that while out on guard duty with F Company one night, the sleeping officer never even knew that their position had been shelled, even though one round had fallen so close to Capt. Charles Mudge and Lt. Tom Fox that it threw gravel over them.
It was rather the pesky Rebel pickets who took pleasure in sniping at the officers of the Second that vexed them. "They work themselves into safe covers and pop away," Maj. Wilder Dwight complained. "They seem to act with a bitter personal hate and venom."
Lt. Charles Morse experienced this "venom" first hand when he was on outpost duty one day at the edge of Stony Creek. With his servant, Pvt. Patrick Hogan, he decided to make a little reconnaissance of the enemy's pickets. "It was foggy, and I couldn't see more than a hundred yards. All of a sudden the sun came out when pst-pst-pst three bullets came past me. One cut a sprig off a pine tree over my head; another struck a rail of the fence I was sitting on; the other went into the ground."
Morse did not remain on the fence long. "You may have seen the Ravels execute some pretty lively movements, but the one Hogan and I made to get behind the fence beat them all."
As soon as they got under cover, they sought out the snipers. "None could be seen, but Hogan shifted his position, exposing himself a little and drawing their fire again." This time Morse could see where the puff of smoke from the enemy's rifles. They were hiding behind a fence about 250 yards from his position. "I saw at once that we could not touch them. The nearest cover from where we were was about one hundred feet away; that place had to be reached in order to get back to my post. I waited some time before I could make up my mind to exposing my valuable life."
Finally, Morse hit upon an idea. "I put my cap on the point of my sword and raised it over the fence; their bullets struck the rails all around it. Hogan fired a shot where the smoke came from, and then we ran for it!"
Both men reached the safety of a barn. Said a relieved Morse: "I tell you, I never felt more comfortable than when I got two thicknesses of a barn between me and the other side of the river."
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