Touch the Elbow - Blogging the Civil War

The 18th Massachusetts and the rest of the 1st Brigade marched through Emmitsburg, Maryland at seven in the morning in a slow drizzling rain, traveling in a southerly direction on roads “cut up by artillery and cavalry.” The going was slow and men “fell out by the scores,” taking “shelter wherever they could find it.” The column, in spite of the conditions, made its way to the outskirts of Utica, Maryland, arriving after dark. The latter portion of the 18.5 mile march was completed in a pouring rain that, in combination with the darkness, reduced individual vision to the man directly in front in the line of march.