A Visit to Perryville
Located on the northern bank of the Susquehanna River, two hotels, two little stores, a shoemaker's shop and post office constituted the town of Perryville, Maryland. With the outbreak of the Civil War, the town turned into a major depot and mule school for the Federal army. A reporter from The Cecil Whig visited the bustling depot in the fall of 1861 and wrote the following account.
We stepped out of the Philadelphia train in company with some friends on Thursday morning and spent a few hours strolling about the various encampments of men, horses, and mules.
The first object we came upon, worthy of note, was the horse camp – we suppose it must be termed, that word being a la mode in these military times. We were very politely shown through the horse department by Mr. Arad Alexander of Northfield, Mass., who is chief manager of all the horses – having an amount of 2,000 at present in his charge, a large number having been, the present week, drawn from the Perryville depot, for the use of cavalry and artillery companies of Harford and Cecil, which have been fitted out for active service. The horses are very neatly and comfortably housed in long sheds, open at the sides, with boxes and troughs for feeding: by this economical arrangement, saving much provender, which, when fed loosely on the ground, as is the case in the green mule department, is unavoidably wasted. Mr. Alexander has his horses very methodically arranged, animals of the same color are placed together, classifying them according to color. A squad of men is appointed to take charge of the animals of a certain color, and by this judicious arrangement, when one gets loose, his locality is at once known, and the keepers cannot evade the responsibility of neglect of duty. The horses are in fine keeping and are mostly beautiful animals. To people fond of viewing fine horses, a peep at those under Mr. Alexander’s charge at Perryville will richly repay the trouble. The cost of head was $120.00.
THE QUARTERMASTER
Charles Sawtelle, an 1854 West Point graduate, organized the supply depot at Perryville under General McClellan's direction. He later took an active role in the Peninsular Campaign, disembarking and transporting troops and supplies to the Army of the Potomac..
Quitting the horse camp, we next proceeded to the large mule pen below Mr. Stump’s mansion, where some 4,000 green mules were penned. These animals are fed by tumbling bales of hay and straw about on the ground inside their enclosure and emptying grain out in the same manner. Large quantities, of course, are wasted by the slovenly mode of feeding. A bunch of mules collect around the bales of hay, and a general exchange of kicks is kept up by the pugnacious animals during the meal; the “bullies” being in possession of the heap, the weaker cattle, to a greater or lesser extent, are compelled to play the “grab game,” and snatch a bite between kicks. The animals, however, were in good flesh and looked remarkably well. There are about 9,000 mules, broken and unbroken, in the various camps. About 1,400 Regulars are encamped on this part of the Stump farm, who, at the time of our visit, were drilling in squads. This farm is about one of the best locations for the use the Government has appropriated it to, of any that could be selected in the country. Mr. Stump receives $4,000 a year, we are informed, as rent from the Government and the manure, which is piled up already in immense heaps, will be worth many more thousands of dollars to him.
HEADQUARTERS MANSION
The Stump mansion, pictured here in the 1890's, was requisitioned by the federal army, sharing it for a time with the Stump family..
Barracks are being erected for the better accommodation of the soldiers. These wooden quarters will greatly add to their comfort, and the constant coughing with proceeded from the ranks was sufficient indication that further protection from the inclemency of the season was much needed. Mr. A. J. Scott, of Elkton, is chief “boss” in the carpenter’s department, and a very arduous duty he must perform, but he seems fully competent at the task.
The next – and perhaps not the least pleasant – feature our visit to drop into the mess room of the principle clerks and employees of Captain Sawtelle, who have resolved themselves into a club numbering 14 members – Captain Sawtelle has his headquarters at Mr. Stump’s Mansion – where we where hospitably dined on Government fare, which we are free to confess is good and as bountiful as any hungry man could wish to enjoy. The Government ration is much more than they can consume, and the members of the club informed us that they had quite a surplus to dispose of, which formed a kind of, etc. fund. From the dining room of the club, we were next conducted by Mr. Townsend, chief Commissary of the station, to the storehouse, which is one of the old depot buildings, where we were shown the life-imparting qualities of the army, and without which but a few short hours were required to annihilate the most valiant army that was ever collected in battle array. Here, barrels of flour, barrels of coffee, barrels of molasses, barrels of sugar, barrels of rice, and hard biscuits, boxes of bacon, and quarters of fat beef were heaped and piled all around.
When Mr. Townsend first took possession of the post, he ordered 80 pounds of beef per week; now, 4,000 pounds are required to provision, for the same length of time, fresh meat, the employees of the Government at this post. The bread heretofore has been baked in Havre-de-Grace, but a new oven has just been finished, capable of supplying the post with fresh bread. A new commissary building, 80 feet by 48, is being erected to supply the present wretched storehouse. From the neat and methodical arrangement which have been effected by Mr. Townsend in his present inadequate and inconvenient quarters, it is evident that the Government has a most efficient officer in the commissary department at Perryville, and the new and commodious building that is being erected, for the Commissary’s use will much convenience and assist in facilitating operations in this department.
We next bent our steps to the mule breaking quarter. This we found to consist of a muddy pen, containing at the time we looked in, a little mule with a bridle on – a kind of “decoy” to another wild individual of the long-eared family, and three or four stalwart darkies with poles, wading through the mud and lashing the frightened animal into a corner where the “decoy” stood ready to dart into a narrow stall when the negroes closed in upon them with their long poles. The mule was at length driven in a rope passed round his middle like a girth, and another rope fastened to the animal’s forefoot and slipped through the girth rope. The mule being thus tied up, with the addition of another rope fastened about his head, the side of the stall was opened, and the animal jerked into another pen covered with tan and held down by “n*****” power; he was soon harnessed and forced outside, where a wagon awaited his muleship, he was hitched in along with some quiet, broken animals, and started. During this operation, there often occurs some grand and lofty tumbling, but being plenty of force, the mules are generally managed readily. It is generally believed that the mules are managed by the Rarey system, but there is nothing of the Rarey management whatever. Rarey’s science consists of persuasive and gentle treatment, while the Perryville system is one of force and compulsion altogether.
It is impossible to give the reader a fair conception of the enormous amount of hay and straw that is piled round about the place. Perhaps if we say there are mountains of this kind of provender, it was the best figure to convey the idea we can make use of; while out on the wharves are piled bags of grain, and boats unloading more, and far out on the river and bay steamers may be seen towing barges piled up with bales, to keep up the supply which is daily consumed by so many thousand pairs of jaws.
At 3 o’clock p.m. the steam whistle blew, and stepping into the cars we took leave of Perryville and the sights and sounds of that military depot on instruction to man and animal. 
INTERESTED IN TAKING A BREAK FROM I-95?
The VA Maryland Health Care System operates a museum on the former grounds of the Stump Mansion. The old Stump grist mill located on the campus of the Perry Point VA Medical Center is open seasonably from March to November on Thursday and the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month. The mansion is an easy walk from the museum and worth a visit.
For directions: Take I-95 to exit 93 for Route 222 east toward Perryville. At the end of the ramp, turn left onto Route 222 and proceed for about two miles to the end of the road and turn left onto Broad Street. Continue for half a mile and turn right onto Ikea Way. In a quarter mile, turn right onto Marion Tapp Parkway. Follow the road until you come to the gated entrance of the medical center. After passing the medical center’s entrance gate, continue onto 5th Street. After a quarter mile the road splits and you will bear left to continue on 5th Street to Avenue D. Turn left onto Avenue D, then turn right onto 6th Street. Follow Sixth Street to the end and turn left onto Avenue A. The museum will be on your right shortly after turning onto Avenue A. The Stump Mansion 500 feet north along Avenue A
credits: Cecil Whig, 11/30/61All photographs courtesy of Library of Congress unless otherwise noted. Mule: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 14, 1863; Stump Mansion (post-war): Perry Point VA Medical Center