FIrst attempt at Enlisting
After President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to join the Union Army after the attack on Fort Sumter, Clay MacCauley immediately enlisted in a company in his college town of Carlisle. MacCauley was full of zeal towards fighting in the Civil War. The war deeply resonated with him, and thus left him with a determination to do his part. This first enlistment was merely an attempt. Once MacCauley's parents got word of his enlistment, they were livid. Clay MacCauley recalls this in Memories and Memorials:
My father, in response to a telegraphic announcement of my enlistment, sent the answer, "You must not go. Your Mother," and himself appeared in Carlisle that afternoon. He cancelled my enrollment at once, and took me back with him to Chambersburg, a thoroughly humiliated youth, far from being in a religious state of mind.
This marked the end of his education at Dickinson College. Back home in Chambersburg, MacCauley was resigned to frustration over his inability to take part in the fight to save the Union. He channeled his frustration into his religious life and applied and was accepted to Princeton to pursue his ministry work further. During his winter vacation in 1861-62, MacCauley volunteered at field hospitals caring for the sick and wounded. MacCauley was deeply committed to helping the Union in any way he could.
Joining the fight
Like the tenacious young child who got into fights against injustice, Clay MacCauley felt the moral pressure to join the Union and fight in the Civil War. While working for his Uncle's Presbyterian ministry in Long Island, New York during his summer vacation, MacCauley finally decided to take a stand against his parents and follow his moral duty to join the war effort as a nurse. Despite his empassioned plea, his parents still said no to his request. He returned home to Chambersburg, PA and continued to beg his parents for approvel to join the army. Finally, they gave in and Clay MacCauley enlisted in the army, much to his mother's dismay. His service began on August 6th, 1862.
Life as a soldier
Clay MacCauley certainly kept up his morale as a soldier. He thoroughly believed in the cause he was fighting for. MacCauley's mother, Elizabeth Maxwell, was a nervous wreck over MacCauley being in the army. MacCauley wrote frequently to his family in order to calm his mother's nerves.
One such letter from January 1st, 1863, describes MacCauley's life in the war and his attempt to reassure his family of his decision.
THE BATTLE OF Chancellorsville
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After becoming a lieutenant, Clay MacCauley fought at the Battle of Chancellorsville. The battle took place from April 30th to May 6th 1863, and was a major confederate victory. MacCauley's account of the Battle of Chancellorsville is one of chaos and confusion. The area where the battle took place was heavily wooded which made it hard to see. At one point, MacCauley got seperated from his fellow Union soldiers. In Memories and Memorials, Clay MacCauley describes this experience:
No sooner had I left touching distance of my company when an irresistable sense of loneliness and dread seized me... I never felt more alone or helpless than in those few moments of seperation from my comrades. The air seemed full of hissing, shrieking demons; and I expected that each next moment would bring death.
MacCauley tried to run from the battle. In his own words, it was run or be killed. In a dash of sheer panic, MacCauley caught the attention of a confederate soldier who aimed his musket at him. Out of pure fear, MacCauley did not resist or fight back. Once the confederate soldier saw how young MacCauley was, only 19 years old at the time, he took mercy on him and did not shoot. The confederate soldier helped MacCauley to safety and they waited out the battle. MacCauley then surrendered to Confederate General Rodes. Clay MacCauley was now a prisoner of war.
LIBBY PRISON
Clay MacCauley was held captive at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virgina during the Spring of 1863. The prison was infamous for its terrible conditions. Upon entrance to the Prison, MacCauley was ordered to strip and his possessions were taken from him. He was confined in an overcrowded room. According to MacCauley, "more than two hundred men, as I found out afterwards, had been made occupants of this space of, say, one hundered by forty feet in area." Many prisoners did not have beds. The food that was given to the prisoners was sparse. Clay MacCauley entered the prison on his 20th birthday.
Clay MacCauley's suffering at Libby Prison ended two weeks after it began. MacCauley returned to freedom on May 20th, 1863 because of the prisoner exchange program. Soon, MacCauley's experience in the Civil War would come to a close and a new chapter of his life would begin.
Sources
Clay MacCauley. Memories and Memorials; Gatherings from an Eventful Life. Tokyo, Japan: Printed by the Fukuin Printing, 1914.
Thomas E. Graham. “MacCauley, Clay.” American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press, Feb. 2000. http://www.anb.org (accessed November 19, 2016).
http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/?p=8797
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/libby_prison
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-chancellorsville
Thomas E. Graham. “MacCauley, Clay.” American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press, Feb. 2000. http://www.anb.org (accessed November 19, 2016).
http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/?p=8797
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/libby_prison
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-chancellorsville