“I was in 24 battles, and I saw what war really was,” recalled H.A. Hadley 40 years after the end of the Civil War.

In 1905, Hadley reminisced about his experiences for the Lewiston Evening Journal. From the safe distance of years, the 65-year-old Leeds resident looked back on an experience that at first seemed exciting but soon became a horror story.

At the beginning of the war, Hadley was an eager 19-year-old recruit detailed at Washington, guarding the White House with his company. It was a time of fanfare and optimism.

“I remember when we marched into the city, President Lincoln welcomed us at the station, and he marched with us to our camping grounds,” Hadley said. Lincoln visited their camp many times, mingling with the men, shaking their hands, giving them words of encouragement.

“Those were stirring times,” Hadley said, “for the war had just begun.”

In July of 1861, his company marched south and joined the first major battle of the Civil War, the first of two battles at Bull Run. Hopes were running high as northerners imagined putting down the rebellion in a matter of months.

Politicians, journalists and even casual observers turned out to watch the first fight between North and South as it if were a sporting event. But their light-hearted moods quickly faded as the Union Army fell into disarray.

“It was as hot a Sunday as I ever saw,” Hadley said. “They double-quicked us five miles to the valley A good many of the boys fell out of the line and lay panting by the roadside, to be gobbled up by the Confederate army We were thoroughly tired, but we were rushed into the battle before we knew it. The blasted rebs were on every side.”

His belt buckle deflected a bullet, and he got out of the battle stunned but unwounded.

Hadley went on to fight in more than 20 other battles before the Civil War finally ended four years later.

Looking back, he said, “I got enough of the horrors of war to satisfy me.”

Luann Yetter teaches writing at the University of Maine at Farmington. She can be reached at [email protected].